eBay

imaschnore · ‎08-09-2015

Sales have been down for 6 months. The number of Buyers and Dollar average has been decreasing. Defect count has gone UP due to fewer Buyers over the months. Hmmm. Better pictures, accurate description, currency, percentage discount, combined ship discount. Can not Control Sales must Manage Expenses. Suggestions Welcome....

femmefan1946 · ‎08-27-2015

they are bombarded by multiple commercial ads by large companies selling their "stuff".

I'm bemused by this, though I don't doubt that it is true.

I upgraded my browser yesterday and had ads show up on sites I'd been looking at, ad-free, for years.

So I installed AdBlock.

The average IQ is 100, so half the population.....

Seriously, just as most newspaper readers don't 'see' the ads, I suspect most computer users don't really see advertising on webpages either.

Unless they are actually interested in the specific product, I suppose.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎08-27-2015

I wasn't going to post anymore on this subject but I will one more time. These are the facts:

I started in October 2004 and was a Silver Power Seller after 3 months. In 2004 I sold over $185,000 and same the following year. I was a constant Gold Power Seller until about 3 years ago. I even hit Platinum once and my listings were never more than 450. I had constant 1500-1800 views a day and around 150 sales a month.

3 years ago in April eBay decided to limit my account so that I could "familiarize" myself with my business. I did NOTHING wrong. I called and the explanation was that "Its better for me" (How could less sales be better for me?", "Its better for the buyer" (How?) and "Its better for eBay (my fees dropped from $2500 a month to about $350) (so how was it better for eBay?)

Ever since then, my sales have been around $3,000 a month and only this year have they gone to $4.000-$5,000)

This is not bragging or whining but with the amount of money I have invested in inventory, its a pittance. I more than tripled the items for sale and yet my views have dropped to 300 a day down to 100 or less in the past year. Sales are around 30 a month.

We can hash this over and come up with all kinds of excuses. The fact remains that I was limited 3 years ago and the change was drastic. Increased inventory, free shipping, more pictures, discounted sales, etc. could not bring it back.

We are flogging a dead horse here.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎08-27-2015

Correct: 2005 and years after

Add: Sales were $12.000 to $18,000 a month and as much as $30,000 a month when I got "Restricted"

sylviebee · ‎08-27-2015

@gifts_of_elegance wrote:

3 years ago in April eBay decided to limit my account so that I could "familiarize" myself with my business.

What does that mean (to limit your account)? Does it mean that you were being forced to list fewer items?

gifts_of_elegance · ‎08-27-2015

@sylviebee wrote:
@gifts_of_elegance wrote:

3 years ago in April eBay decided to limit my account so that I could "familiarize" myself with my business.
What does that mean (to limit your account)? Does it mean that you were being forced to list fewer items?

Yes! After 3 months it was raised so I could list everything in quantity of 1 only but the sales amount never went back to $12,000-$16,000 a month, it stayed at $3,000, give or take a few dollars. Its only in the past few months that my sales limit was raised 10X previous amount and sales went to $4,-5000 a month.

I can understand sales declining over a period of time, but in my case it was sudden and I remember how it happened.

sylviebee · ‎08-27-2015

Did you see the post above telling you that your items weren't showing up in the search as they should?

Have you tried moving your Swarovski jewelry from collectibles to jewelry?

pjcdn2005 · ‎08-27-2015

I noticed the following day that everything seems normal on .com and that it is only on .ca that there is the problem that we talked about.

sylviebee · ‎08-27-2015

@gifts_of_elegance wrote:
@sylviebee wrote:
@gifts_of_elegance wrote:

3 years ago in April eBay decided to limit my account so that I could "familiarize" myself with my business.
What does that mean (to limit your account)? Does it mean that you were being forced to list fewer items?

Yes! After 3 months it was raised so I could list everything in quantity of 1 only but the sales amount never went back to $12,000-$16,000 a month, it stayed at $3,000, give or take a few dollars. Its only in the past few months that my sales limit was raised 10X previous amount and sales went to $4,-5000 a month.

I can understand sales declining over a period of time, but in my case it was sudden and I remember how it happened.

Does that mean that the items you have listed can't exceed $X.00/month or that you can't sell more than $X.00 / month?

If so, what happens when you've reached the limit and still have a week to go?

I'm not understanding how that works. It sounds like as soon as they raise your limit, you sell more, but how does that work?

sylviebee · ‎08-27-2015

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
I noticed the following day that everything seems normal on .com and that it is only on .ca that there is the problem that we talked about.

Right. They're showing up now on .com and not .ca

sylviebee · ‎08-27-2015

@sylviebee wrote:
@gifts_of_elegance wrote:
Does that mean that the items you have listed can't exceed $X.00/month or that you can't sell more than $X.00 / month?
If so, what happens when you've reached the limit and still have a week to go?

I'm not understanding how that works. It sounds like as soon as they raise your limit, you sell more, but how does that work?

Ooops. I see that you said it means that the number of items were limited, and not the dollar value of what you could sell.

Doesn't make a lot of sense. Do you have limits now? Where does one see their limits? I can see mine.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎08-27-2015

No, I haven't. The Collectibles Category is the right one for Swarovski made products. The "jewelry" catagory is flooded with anything that shines and are not necessarily Swarovski made products.

Thank You for the concern. It was very nice of you to try to help.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎08-27-2015

The total value of listings was limited and has been raised to 10X as much.....more than I will ever list.

They did not say that the sales amount was "limited" but it dropped down to $3,000 a month and stayed there. It has never been admitted by eBay that they have a "Selling Limit" (do not confuse it with Listing limits). However, one employee did disclose that there are "Secret Selling Limits" and the dramatic drop from $12,000 to $16,000 does prove it.

It makes no difference if I reach that limited in the third week. I just don't get any more sales or only some very low sales for the remainder of the month.

sylviebee · ‎08-27-2015

Maybe that's true, but when I did a search for Swarovski bracelet only your items in the jewelry section showed up (the 5 Dior pieces) and that's still true on .ca but seems to be resolved on .com

The items in collectibles weren't coming up in the search at all.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎08-27-2015

Everyone should read this:

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2014/12/1418064225.html

rose-dee · ‎08-27-2015

@gifts_of_elegance wrote:
Everyone should read this:

http://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2014/12/1418064225.html

It sounds from your story and this article that this isn't the best place for a small/medium seller to grow their business.

I guess I'm not the only one who is of the opinion that eBay favours its largest sellers, even though a lot of people still disagree that it's going on.

From the eCommercebytes article:

"Another Platinum-level seller who raised the issue of eBay throttling last year wrote to me again after reading Jarvis's thread on the eBay boards. He believes the limits are in place on smaller seller accounts so eBay can meet their promises to large box sellers of guaranteed sell through rates."

sylviebee · ‎08-27-2015

gifts: After seeing what I saw with the search for your items, it does look like there is something going on.

Why do you think they're "toying with you?"

I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that your type of item is (mostly) new and theoretically limitless while buyers are limited in number.

That won't apply to many types of items, and you are still here which means that you're making money here, but I'm starting to understand your frustration.

gifts_of_elegance · ‎08-27-2015

My items are not limitless. They are new from OLD stock. My Christian Dior and Burberrys of London are 25-30 years old. Even though they are in new condition, they have not been available in stores for decades.

My Swarovski items are almost the same except they are not all of them are that old or even new. They too are discontinued items, no longer available in stores.

sylviebee · ‎08-27-2015

If that's the case there are many possible reasons for the fall in sales which have nothing to do with eBay manipulations.

But it just goes on and on, doesn't it?

gifts_of_elegance · ‎08-27-2015

@sylviebee wrote:
If that's the case there are many possible reasons for the fall in sales which have nothing to do with eBay manipulations.

But it just goes on and on, doesn't it?

I no longer believe in Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny. I go by facts.

Maybe you should read the blog I posted above. But its not necessary. You are entitled to your opinion.

I enjoyed chatting with you, you are a very nice person.