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Very interesting and easily misunderstood. A lot of, shall we say, "older sellers" firmly believe that buyers look on their mobile devices, go home, fire up the PC, and buy there.
I disagree. many buyers no longer have a PC. Their life is in their hands. People search and buy from their telephone. That segment is growing.
What does that mean to me. Well, Poco, as you got me doing a couple years ago, I use eBay to host all my pictures and they are all at the top where mobile users can see them. Pictures in the body of the listing do not come up in that frame. Buyers do not want to go hunting for pictures.
What else? I am rapidly moving to free shipping. That is now the majority and growing. Again, on the first screen, buyers can see their total cost, rather than scrolling through screens, clicking here, clicking there, "Oh, forget it".
But, but, but, calculated shipping is the exact and true cost. No, it is not. Buyers believe we are making money on shipping. Buyers do not want add on numbers. That segment is growing, rapidly.
Keywords suddenly become more important, especially the first few words. That is your hook and that is what the buyer sees. Mobile devices are not 22" screens, they are 4-6. That is all I have to work with.
I have to convey title, pictures, total cost, all at one time, in a little square.
In a few years, PCs will be passe. Tablets will be yesterday's news. Everyone will be operating from a mobile device. It will contain their entire life. Mobile has not grown as fast as predicted, but, it is steadily growing.
@rose-dee wrote:Wow, thanks for posting this 'poco'. The "Velocity" stats are interesting, but if an item sells at a greater 'velocity', does that mean it's a hotter item, or that there are just a lot more of that type of item for sale on eBay?
So we have 800 million listings chasing 155 million buyers, 1 buyer for every 5 listings (or 5 listings for every buyer -- lots of choice, but lots of competition for sellers). I'd love to see how those figures compare with the same stats even 4 years ago.
Also, that figure of 80% new merchandise tells me that the writing on the wall I think I've been seeing in the past year or two really is there -- used/vintage/antique items represent a pretty small percentage of what's offered on eBay. No wonder almost all of eBay's in-site advertising is for new, brand-name consumer goods.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry at these stats.
Neither. Use them to your advantage. Those stats tell me how the buying market is changing.
I am setting up my listings to convey all the info on a mobile device yet be easily readable on a PC.
I do not think there is an issue between new and used. Many widgets can only be found used. What eBay seems to be doing, and this is shown in the UK update, is they want listing fresh. A lot of us have listings that are years old. eBay is growing distasteful of that.
I am moving my listings to free shipping and 30 days. Going to 30 days means I have to look at them once a month. I can bulk re-list or make adjustments. With the listing special, a few days ago, I re-listed from my unsold folder and found several listings with errors.
I can pick and choose the work I want to do. It all keeps my listings fresher. New listings always sell better. I have known that for years.
@rose-dee wrote:
Also, that figure of 80% new merchandise tells me that the writing on the wall I think I've been seeing in the past year or two really is there -- used/vintage/antique items represent a pretty small percentage of what's offered on eBay. No wonder almost all of eBay's in-site advertising is for new, brand-name consumer goods.
I'm not sure why anyone is surprised at this. 80/20 is probably still very high relative to global retail. I'm not sure if there is any category other than automotive where used goods represent anything more than a tiny share of the whole market.
Even in the early days of eBay the percentage of used goods was a lot smaller than most would believe. There's a feeling that eBay was built on small sellers of second hand collectibles when the real truth is that eBay was really built mostly on porn and as an outlet for (new) stolen goods.
The porn isn't a big part of the business anymore but I'm sure the stolen goods still are.
@rose-dee wrote:
@recped wrote:Even in the early days of eBay the percentage of used goods was a lot smaller than most would believe. There's a feeling that eBay was built on small sellers of second hand collectibles when the real truth is that eBay was really built mostly on porn and as an outlet for (new) stolen goods.
Wow, I guess I was looking at all the "other" listings back then!
All I can say is that in the categories in which I used to buy, there was a huge variety and a great deal of inventory that just isn't there anymore.
I have noticed that as well. I do not list that which will not sell. I am also seeing new items at drastically lower prices than just 18 months ago. I want a toner cartridge for my printer. I bought one online, eBay seller, 18 months ago and it went dry after 4 months. Paid full price at a real store and I am on month 14.
Online one was half the price of a B&M store.
Now? Now I can buy two for less money than the "one" I bought 18 months ago. So, I can buy 4-6 for the price of one from a B&M store. That slowed me down real quick. Free shipping and everything, in Canada.
The market is changing very quickly, and, I think that is the point of Poco's post.
