eBay

musicyouneed · ‎03-24-2016

Sales have just dried up and I am not sure why? I am constantly adding so it is not just the same things that I am relisting. I list on both .ca and .com. The only thing that changed is I changed my handling time to 3 days, put and changed the shipping options to prevent any more late shipment dings.

March 2015 - 33 Sales

April 2015 - 55 Sales

May 2015 - 53 Sales

June 2015 - 72 Sales

July 2015 - 41 Sales

Aug 2015 - 64 Sales

Sept 2015 - 58 Sales

Oct 2015 - 63 Sales

Nov 2015 - 73 Sales

Dec 2015 - 78 Sales

Jan 2016 - 35 Sales

Feb 2016 - 43 Sales

Mar 2016 - 6 Sales to date

See attached.

ricarmic · ‎03-24-2016

Hi Music, I put my problem solver hat on for a moment. When did you change the handling time to 3 days and changed the shipping options?

How many defects did you have before you switched (ie can you afford to try the following)?

If easily done, switch it back to the "old way" and see if sales pick up again to make sure the changes you made didn't diminish you in the eyes of the search/visibility algorithm....

I don't know your category and how much stuff is competing but it might merit consideration....

(you might be able to estimate if you have a way to compare views before and after your change ie items view count that were listed before you made the change vs items view count after the change pro-rated)

pocomocomputing · ‎03-24-2016

@musicyouneed wrote:
Sales have just dried up and I am not sure why? I am constantly adding so it is not just the same things that I am relisting. I list on both .ca and .com. The only thing that changed is I changed my handling time to 3 days, put and changed the shipping options to prevent any more late shipment dings.

March 2015 - 33 Sales
April 2015 - 55 Sales
May 2015 - 53 Sales
June 2015 - 72 Sales
July 2015 - 41 Sales
Aug 2015 - 64 Sales
Sept 2015 - 58 Sales
Oct 2015 - 63 Sales
Nov 2015 - 73 Sales
Dec 2015 - 78 Sales
Jan 2016 - 35 Sales
Feb 2016 - 43 Sales
Mar 2016 - 6 Sales to date

See attached.

I was wondering months ago when this whole issue came about if a seller changed their handling time to 3 days from one and extended their shipping estimates if it would affect visibility in Best Match. I would think that a 1 day handling and a shorter delivery estimate is better for Best Match search than the longer one. Who knows if your sales is affected by this.

I really think ebay.ca gave very bad advice to tell sellers to length handling time.

ricarmic · ‎03-24-2016

Well I did an experiment, I searched for "bowie digipak" (once I learned how to spell digipak) and Music's item came up #15 out of 205 so I am of the mind that his visibility isn't trashed. However it was a limited test....

musicyouneed · ‎03-25-2016

Hi Music, I put my problem solver hat on for a moment. When did you change the handling time to 3 days and changed the shipping options? Feb 15 2016 only for the listings on .ca. I left the 350 on .com as 2 day handling.

How many defects did you have before you switched (ie can you afford to try the following)? 3 Late Shipments

If easily done, switch it back to the "old way" and see if sales pick up again to make sure the changes you made didn't diminish you in the eyes of the search/visibility algorithm.... I'll try that in the next few days, when I relist about 600 using Canadian pesos.

I don't know your category and how much stuff is competing but it might merit consideration.... Lots of competition in my field but my shipping is low.

(you might be able to estimate if you have a way to compare views before and after your change ie items view count that were listed before you made the change vs items view count after the change pro-rated) Good idea, I will take a screen shot, plus if I make the changes and get some sales then I know that was the issue.

hlmacdon · ‎03-25-2016

Traffic reports sure would be handy wouldn't they?

musicyouneed · ‎03-25-2016

Yes they would!

hlmacdon · ‎03-25-2016

@musicyouneed wrote:
Yes they would!

I sure would like to see detailed traffic reports, as I had a noticeable drop once google banhammered ebay for spammy practices. It was quite handy to see the external forums that were driving traffic to listings.

zee-chan-jpn-books · ‎03-25-2016

My first thought that came to mind was that maybe you listed less when they didn't have any promo back in February? I had 700 items for sale up till late-February and then it dropped to about 180 items when there were no promos and obviously I sold less when I listed less. Did you have as many listings when you didn't have the promo?

I also increased (!!) my prices for the books from Japan by a bit so that I can afford to use AIR shipping instead of SAL shipping, but at the same time, changed my displayed shipping service to ground so that the delivery estimate is longer (the delivery estimate in order details is something like 3-5 weeks or no estimate available now) sooooo that could be why my sale dropped too as it's now "slower" and pricier than fellow sellers. Personally I never had problem with SAL shipping from Japan, I always receive my own books in about 2-3 weeks, but it seems SAL is not as reliable to Europe and the USA so I can't really afford anymore late shipment defects (I have 4 now) and INRs.

musicyouneed · ‎03-25-2016

My first thought that came to mind was that maybe you listed less when they didn't have any promo back in February? I had 700 items for sale up till late-February and then it dropped to about 180 items when there were no promos and obviously I sold less when I listed less. Did you have as many listings when you didn't have the promo?

That's true, I think that many items ended at the end of Feb. But I was listing a lot of new listings and there should have been more than six sales. Also of those 6 sales, 5 were off of .com, only one was .ca. I had about 125 listed and I usually sell about 10% so that would be about 12 or so. Over the years when I was building up my listings, many times I had that few listed and still I made more sales than 6.

pjcdn2005 · ‎03-25-2016

I think that you changed the shipping times estimates on both sites? Could that be a factor....especially to the U.S.?

I do find though that I go through periods with super slow sales even if I haven't made any changes.

musicyouneed · ‎03-25-2016

On the US site I originally had them at same day or one day but in Jan I changed them to 2 day handling, it was on on .ca that I changed it to 3 days and put the shipping to the US as small packet international and for international I put it as small packet air, USA. This info I got from someone on the boards on how to get the longest ship times. It works but somehow no one buys.

I'm going to change them back, but this month is the worst for me in the past 3 years.

dutchman48 · ‎03-25-2016

I have had 1 day handling on both sites and my sales have tanked this month as well.

Also less and less leaving feedback so late ding % will continually increase if this trend continues!

musicyouneed · ‎03-25-2016

I just checked one of my competitors (only lives a few miles from me) and he has 188 listed and so far in March he has sold 40 CD's, so it is not the type of merchandise. His prices are the same as mine and he has a mix of both listings in US $ and Canadian $, no store and 2 day handling.

It must be the way I have the shipping set up or I have become a ghost.

ariesofthenorth · ‎03-26-2016

Hi - i dont sell music, but have noticed a drop in March. I look back and march was slow for me last year too though..

I also changed handling time several times, and get the best results on 3 day handling - however, my items are all custom made, so when it gets busy again, i may have to increase to 5 days.

1st week of March was ok, past three weeks have been horrid. I even got my very first return request (my first ever, in 4 years!) and i dont accept returns since its custom made.

she claims bracelet was bent when it arrived, i said fine i'll send another one , and she went and cancelled the return and turned it into an item not as described !! so it makes a slow month that much better 😞