WHERE HAVE ALL THE BUYERS GONE?????

[jackied2]

Business is WAY down compared to last year's Sept to December period. My offerings are just as good if not better than last year (I sell antiques and collectibles - 19th and 20th century). And I've significantly lowered my starting bid prices. The buyers just seem to have evaporated. I was hoping the Christmas season would make my year and instead, I'm seriously considering giving up on ebay altogether. Can anyone offer possible reasons for this sad situation? Is Ebay Express in the US having a negative impact on Canadian sellers? HELP!

Signed,
Disillusioned in BC.

[zarzuella]

Lots of threads on the .com powerseller board about this; reasons advanced range from eBay glitches/fraud etc turning buyers off - to lack of exposure in searches. The only thing NOT being blamed seems to be eBay Express, which is pretty much dead in the water.

Everyone is just guessing, no-one actually knows.

[jackied2]

Thanks for your comment zarzuella! I'll be sure to check out the .com board. I don't know if the powers-that-be at ebay read these postings but I'm initiating a challenge to them to respond to this grave concern... I would love for them to provide at least some statistics to support or refute the loss of buyers.

[elkagallery]

It Is very slow on EBay compare to last year this same season, No body knows what happened ?. All visitors on auctions drop down more than 70%.I contacted eBay and they don't know what happened ....? Dose any body know ?

[jakeeangel]

People are probably losing trust in eBay. Last year at this time I had $3000 in sales. Now, I'm just over $1000. :(

---

[laplaya29]

there has been a lot of bad press about eBay and the frauds that take place on eBay. That scares people away.

Bill.

[recped]

Is Ebay Express in the US having a negative impact on Canadian sellers?

It's NOT Express!

Although my own sales are relatively steady I do hear many sellers saying that sales are slow and prices not so good.
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915

[for_baby_and_you]

since the beautiful Christmasy/ holiday ebay.ca home page lunched I sold like 7pc in Canada... my whole business is US now.. before was 50/50... 😞

[for_baby_and_you]

sorry I didn't mean beautiful... I meant "beautiful"...

[onecrazycanuck]

I find zarzuella and many others to negative on these boards. My sales go up every year. You have to work at it as hard as you all complain. I totally refocused my idea's from last year and am having another great Christmas rush well over 600 sales and counting

[zarzuella]

Negative?

You need to learn to read. I responded with information pertinent to the OP's concern, which are apparently valid concerns for many sellers; on other threads I have posted that my own sales have doubled and indicated some of the reasons why.

What I did not do on this thread was ignore her concerns and post an unhelpful brag about a 'great Christmas rush well over 600 sales'

Ann

[jackied2]

Dear CrazyCanuck,
Your comment was not helpful. Zarzuella's comment on the other hand, WAS helpful. While I'm glad you're having success with your business and your suggestion about "refocusing" is all well and good, MY business is selling antiques and collectibles... vastly different from yours. It's an area of ebay that is clearly on the downswing, and I'm just trying to figure out why.

Dear Ann,
Kudos to you. 🙂

[treasure-pot]

CrazyCanuck... you were out of line.

I have read and reread Ann's initial response to the OP and I simply don't see how you managed to take it as being negative. Further, while I congratulate you on your success this holiday season, there are few powersellers here who would appreciate your comment "You have to work at it as hard as you all complain." I quickly recognized who is truly being negative here.

By the way, a quick look at the feedback numbers for Zarzuella and yourself would suggest that Ann had a considerably better Christmas run that you did. Maybe you want to pay attention to what she has to say and be less dismissive - you may actually benefit and enjoy her success.

Bill
Treasure-Pot treasure-pot

[ricarmic]

My personal experience in the last 7 years is that you cannot really predict what a given timeframe will be from year to year. Sometimes November is great, sometimes it isn't. I have tried to understand the cycles over the years and I have absolutely no idea what drives them.

I do think that outside eBay things influence folks too. There is an awful lot of phishing, a good chunk of it eBay/paypal related and reams of spam which is probably helping to turn people off a bit.

For a few years now I've relied more upon my eBay store than on the auctions, really all the auctions are is something to bring new buyers to my store. When auction sales are poor, I just spend more time populating my store, or my non eBay selling avenues.

My selling experience is almost 30 years now, and at least in my selling area, the traditional stores that used to exist had the same problem folks experience here, sometimes sales are like crazy, sometimes they're not. Some days people steal stuff or cheat you, some days they don't.

If you like what you're doing, are watching what's going on in your sales area (number and type of competitors) and treat people like you would like to be treated, you will probably do fine, although sometimes patience and good cashflow management skills will be required!

I hope everyone has a great holiday season and don't get too many "where's my package" notes this year!!

[katiusciav]

RICARMIC-WELL SAID!:-)

[bestshowtime]

I think that it is just so simple. If e-bay spend money on advertising or shopper's channel advertise you product, your sale jump up. Remember you really can't advertise you product!!!

[bestshowtime]

The best what can happen with you when shopper's channel advertise you product on TV!!! Now the idea is you should chose product that somebody advertise on national TV.

[bestshowtime]

About 3-4 months ago e-bay stop advertise on telus.net website. This of course impact sale in Canada on e-bay.

[gloriaguides]

I found that different things sold well in November than in previous years--this is my 6th Christmas at ebay. I used to get big bucks for memorable children's picture books that are out of print now, but this year they didn't fight over them as usual. They did however pay big bucks for book sets for the kids to read, which have often been ignored in Nov by Christmas buyers. So, I'm thinking they are buying more regular everyday stuff than collectibles. I also think that the sales in regular bricks and mortar stores are better than pre-Christmas prices in recent years, so there is more money being spent at the malls than on ebay. I'm thinking that there isn't much room for price cuts at the malls after Christmas so I won't need to rush out for Boxing Day sales. I also think that there is more emphasis on electronic items as gifts this Christmas. GLoria

[katiusciav]

..i totally agree with the electronics...especially...ipods???