eBay

ammolitehunter · ‎11-23-2013

A while back I posted on big sales declines at my store and invited commentary.

From that--helpful posters offered good critique and I made some major changes based on their input and my own research.This involved a complete site and listing overhaul--a careful study of how Cassini was choosing its listing preferences and the result is this.

From having almost no listings in "best search" I have gone to top lister in the "fine jewelry" section of my Ammolite Jewelry world and the traffic to my store has doubled.

I do all the things that Ebay wants--ship in 1 day.Refund either 14 or 30 days.Free shipping.Classy images and so on.I have top feedback and good seller ranking.

So here I sit with double the visitors to my site than a month ago--in fact much more than a year ago when my sales were humming.

The end result of all of this is I have increased my visitors substantially to my shop with these adjustments-- BUT at what should be the busiest sales time of year--sales are still dismal.

So.

I have doubled the traffic to my store so Ebay is doing its job--it IS bringing me lots of visitors--but those visitors are NOT buyers.

So the big problem lies outside Ebay's sphere of influence and I can only speculate what the problem is.

So I checked with people in my exact line selling OUTSIDE Ebay and they report that their sales have declined dramatically also.

So after all this I have come to this conclusion.

The problem does not lie with Ebay because if you follow their "best practices"--they DO bring buyers to your store.

The problem is a change of attitude among the buying public--and that attitude is FEAR.

I strongly believe that buyers are anticipating the mother of all financial crises looming on the horizon and so they are not buying.

The only buyers are the wealthy as evidenced that my few sales are big ones of the most expensive items I carry--so I have doubled my inventory of such items and hope for better results.

My only comment on Ebay is that they now give preference to large listers of trash items pretending to be quality in the "fine Jewelry" section.It suggests that Cassini cant tell trash from quality which is a disservice for seekers of quality.

I invite your comments.

bb_cool_stuff · ‎11-23-2013

Back in 1981 we were paying over 20% interest for first mortgage.

Same year, same interest rate on our first mortgage also.

Richmond, BC, 970 square foot, two bedroom condo, for hard to believe then, 133,000.

Prices really shot up again in 1985, the year before Expo.

ammolitehunter · ‎11-23-2013

Glad to see you do follow these things and it appears we have the same hobby of financial matters.

You should easily take my point of view then.

I must say though that your thesis will founder if the Fed does not taper and unlike you,I have seen no concrete signs that it will any time soon--and if they don't--then the world as we now know it WILL most certainly change and those who have positioned themselves with hard assets will prosper--a minute part of the population-- and the rest will come upon VERY hard times.

cumos55 · ‎11-23-2013

You have made the adjustments.... You have the visitors.

Now those new visitors need time to sort things and come back....to buy.

I made adjustments to my listings.... and views went up a bit and do look good.

Sales were so-so until 30 days ago.. with a higher number and higher average price for books sold over the last 30 days....

Over the last three months I have also added close to 325 listing to the store...

and even with that things took time to take off.

One thing I did do was branch off into new categories...... outside my major categories... but also books in topics that should sell reasonably well

And I can see many view new items as they get listed to eBay...

And then sales settle to a specific level and now the last 30 days have exploded with sales... number and value..

Every category is different.... We can address the basics of getting Cassini to show our listings......

It is one thing to get the viewers to come to the listings..... It is something much different to get them to buy....

and that means new strategies.

You have the viewers.... Now you have to find ways to make them buy....

Each of us will continue to adjust as things happen..

What is next... I keep asking that each time I buy new inventory and list, list, list

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The one thing I have found is that by building up a major category... the potential for multiple purchases has increased, with a reduction in cost of shipping per item bought ... something that is important for heavy weight items such as books.

Shipping costs may not be critical for jewelry.... However, providing an option for multiple purchases may work.

ammolitehunter · ‎11-24-2013

You may be interested in this clip.

Excerpt article of Nov22/13

In the meantime, the US stock market is making new all-time highs, also fueled by QE. Stock investors are totally oblivious to what’s happening the real world. This is a dangerous market which will end in tears during 2014. The percentage of bears is the lowest in 23 years, at 15%. And earnings estimates are now going down, while stocks are going continuing to go higher.

Of course the Fed knows, and Yellen knows, that there is no chance of stopping QE. Stock markets would collapse. Bond markets would collapse, and so would the whole economy. The Chicago Fed President Evans just confirmed that QE could be $1.5 trillion next year. In my view QE will be a lot higher thereafter. I believe that in January and February there will be no real solution to the US debt limit, and this will trigger dollar selling and bond markets falling.

Egon Von Greyerz.

pierrelebel · ‎11-24-2013

It is important to put that paragraph in its proper context. Here is where it comes from:

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/KWN_DailyWeb.html

It is presented by "gold bugs", folks promoting the purchase of gold. It represents one perspective.

One needs to keep an open mind.

ammolitehunter · ‎11-24-2013

No matter where it comes from--the truth of it is inescapable.

mr.elmwood · ‎11-24-2013

Other experts are predicting that there is no ceiling for what is happening. Some are saying we are at the bottom, right now. World tensions are dropping like a rock. The accord with Iran is a perfect example of that. The agreement between Russia and the USA over Syria is another example.

More has been accomplished with diplomacy, in the last six months, than all the wars have ever accomplished.

Why is gold dropping? Gold is the hedge against the world going wrong. World markets do not believe in things going wrong.

Corn is dropping. There is more than enough for food and ethanol.

There are a lot of key indicators that say all is well and getting better. For the USA, the world's largest economic engine: consumer spending is up, disposable income is up, personal income is up, and, trending up. Sales taxes are up and trending up. Income taxes are up and trending up.

If you want to only see doom and gloom, that is what you will see. I see a whole lot of published information that says the opposite.

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cumos55 · ‎11-24-2013

Once upon a time ago...

It was predicted that silver would be valued at $250 an ounce.

http://moneymorning.com/2013/04/25/5-factors-that-will-push-silver-to-250-an-ounce/

The highest for the last silver rise was close to$50, and it stayed at that level for about a week, and then it sat at $40.

For a moment there ... that $250 looked possible.

The only problem with a quick rise...to $50 or even $250 is that the fall can be much, much faster.... and who will buy silver at $250.... with the understanding of what happened when silver topped at close to $50. Today it is close to $20 an ounce

The only people that did well with silver at $40 an ounce were those that sold silver

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The US Mortgage problems in 2008 made many investors invest in safer options outside the US.

The US may not be safe from the next fall.... They came close, but the markets barely changed in response to the last threat of debt failure.

The next step will be in a few months..... and in anticipation, who will continue to invest in the US. before the next cliff hanger.... and who will NOT?

rose-dee · ‎11-24-2013

@pocomocomputing wrote:

For your information, when you reply, if you look down under your reply you are composing, there is a link "View discussion in a popup" just before the post content you are replying to. Use that if you want to see what others have said in posts other than the one you are directly replying to.

LOL - you're so good, I'm glad you always pop up whenever there's a computer conundrum, thank you! I now see the "View discussion in a popup" more or less right under my nose, and I've given it a try when writing this reply.

It's taken me a while to get accustomed to this new forum platform. Amazing what you don't see when you don't know to look for it...

rose-dee · ‎11-24-2013

@pierrelebel wrote:

Take a look at 2008 financial crisis. While a few large companies went under, most survived and, five years later, now do very well.

I know this is tangential, but my understanding is that the companies who did survive 2008 are back to the same old nefarious practices, just under a slightly different guise. It's as if there was a huge game of musical chairs, and after the shuffle, most are back in their (somewhat altered) seats.

I'm not a 'chicken little', but I think analysts, pundits and experts focus far too much on the day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month details and fail to see the panorama in front of them. Why else do we hear so many of them say in retrospect that crises and crashes were reasonably foreseeable, if not predictable? That's almost funny if it weren't so devastating for ordinary folks.

"Investment" on the Goldman Sachs, et al scale is nothing less than high-stakes gambling on a national, if not global scale, and the Federal Reserve continues to support such obscene behaviour by artificially propping up the underpinnings of the system that permit these high rollers to carry on their obviously lucrative but arguably criminal activity (which is what I call it, since integrity and hard work has little to do with it).

It seems the world has forgotten what it means to actually invest in something, i.e. take a personal risk and involvement in supporting something tangible with the expectation of a reasonable gain at some point.

mr.elmwood · ‎11-24-2013

fail to see the panorama in front of them

They do not fail to, we block their view and tell them not to. CEOs are made for replacing. Our political system is based on giving them 4-5 years and then replacing them. Where is the incentive to look forward when the population will not allow it?

Everyone in power is replaceable, in the short term.

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rose-dee · ‎11-24-2013

@mr.elmwood wrote:
fail to see the panorama in front of them

They do not fail to, we block their view and tell them not to. CEOs are made for replacing. Our political system is based on giving them 4-5 years and then replacing them. Where is the incentive to look forward when the population will not allow it?

I was actually thinking more of those "experts" who are in the business of analyzing, not being direct players, and are (at least ostensibly) above the fray.

I imagine that term (expert) may also extend to people at the top of the advisory and executive food chain in the US government and the Federal Reserve who are supposedly there to protect the interests of the population as a whole. I doubt they really are. I expect they in turn are being played by corporate puppet-masters or turned in the wind by one powerful interest group or another, depending on the flavour of the day. We've certainly seen this in Obama's far, far more cautious and circumspect pronouncements and actions in the last year or two when compared to his earlier idealistic (and some would say naive) view of the world. I think hidden behind that caution is a lot of real-world pressure.

In my view, in the end, the population -- that is, the majority of average folk -- have little say in how powerful, controlling corporations are run. Sure, their shareholders have a voting position, but not all of them do, and the ones with the most clout are generally the ones closest to the centre of control.

I recall a reporter saying once that he had asked one of the younger Rockefellers what else he (or the family) could possibly need or want, having achieved such enormous wealth and corporate power. He reported the rather chilling reply: Rockefeller (according to this reporter) said the family wanted everybody in America to have an electronic implant. In other words, what he meant was absolute control over the monetary system. And remember, these are the sort of people who were behind the Federal Reserve to begin with -- they weren't there to help out the government or the people, they were there to tile their bathrooms in gold.

reallynicestamps · ‎11-25-2013

all those baby boomers who had money to collect things and buy for home and personal use are now hitting retirement and finding they have to be more careful about where that money goes.

I disagree. Boomers (the oldest of us are 67 btw and there is a twenty year tail behind us) are going into their pension years when, if we were reasonably lucky, we are mortgage free, kid-free and have fewer work-related needs (nylons and ties and steel toe boots and transit passes). Plus we get all sorts of breaks for being old: cheap transit passes, movie house discounts, lower train fares and hotel prices. If you didn’t have to watch your pennies when you were working, your pensionable years should be the same. If you were living from paycheque to paycheque, you’re still in the same boat.

But to be cruel, the paycheque to paycheque guy is not our customer. Especially those of us selling vintage paperbacks, DVDs, jewelry and custom made gowns.

Stock investors are totally oblivious to what’s happening the real world.

AMEN!

I never thought the stock market, as it is currently working, had any more to do with the economy and how industry works than does Casino Rama.

It's gambling and just gets in the way of real investment in plant and workers.

ricarmic · ‎11-25-2013

There have been a lot of interesting points here, in my opinion: (remember I'm a stamp guy)

-I agree with Pierre that the stamp market seems to be shrinking, at least in terms of a "traditional" collector in North America

-I agree with Reallynice that the baby boom generation is just moving through now, I have had a lot of new customers who have just retired and are looking for stuff to do, in my case they are re-awakening their stamp collection, and they have money.

-I am not sure that the stamp market is shrinking internationally, I have a lot of customers from emerging economies like Russia, China, Latin America etc and it seems as though the collector base there is not as "old" as tends to be the case here

-I am not sure that the actual stamp "collector" base is shrinking, I think there are a growing population of "collectors" who keep certain stuff. A good Canadian example would be the Hockey Related stamps from years ago and current. My nephews would be a good example. They aren't stamp collectors of any sort, however they got some of the hockey stamps because they are big hockey fans. In the stamp world this is called topical collecting.

My thoughts on sales declining:

-so far my sales have been fairly consistent/stable in the last year

-however the percentage of sales as a result of repeat buyers is growing and the number of new buyers is shrinking

-this is especially true in North America. I wonder if my sales are remaining stable only because of the number of international folks finding me and buying has increased. Certainly it seems as though the percentage of international orders is increasing (although I don't have a way to track that)

-in my perspective the free listings days hurt me because it creates a flood of cheap/99c items

-I think Pierre mentioned this as well, while I am full time and earning my living from this, there are piles of collectors who are using eBay etc as a way of disposing of their material, and they don't care if they make money, they're really just interested in getting their initial investment back. As well they have lots of time and don't mind the time involved in selling a $1 item. This is hard to compete against. Having said this with all the "rules" in eBayland, it might dissuade the part timer folks over time which actually helps me!

-I have customers that bridge sites (ie they buy from me on eBay and other sites). Some are current on both sites, some it seems (I have never asked them) have migrated away from eBay. I think some people see eBay as a scary monstrosity and prefer some of the smaller more specialized sites (perhaps because the seller set is more defined - ie the other sites don't have Chinese sellers generally). I think this also at least in the stamp world causes some of the customer decline - it may also apply in other selling areas too

Having said all this these are just my speculations......

ammolitehunter · ‎12-08-2013

Up until a month ago--my sales had reached the floor of a downward spiral that started with the intro of Cassini.

So I knew something had to be done so here is what I did.

In my category some listers with far lower quality product were consistently getting better search rankings and so I learned very quickly that they had figured out what Cassini wants and were supplying it. I was not.

Basically Cassini wants a very descriptive headline and all parts of the item application filled out and 12 attractive images.

All this varies with what you are selling so you have to experiment.

Having done all this I now lead in position rankings in my category and sales have improved but nowhere like they were in the past.

I then drilled down into my analytics and discovered that since making the changes--I am actually getting more visits to my Ebay shop now than a year ago but sales are down 50%--so that paints a picture.

Ebay IS producing the shopper to my shop--but they are buying far less than a year ago.Cant fault Ebay here.

I then checked with retailers in my line OUTSIDE Ebay and they report that their sales are down too.

Another significant pointer is that my expensive items set in gold are selling very well--but the ones set in silver at a lower price point--not so much.

So those with money are still buying while that huge group in the middle--my silver customers--have pulled in their horns.

So I decided to try something new.I built a stand alone website and stocked it with my more expensive items and used google ad words to pull in the shoppers.In the first 30 days my new site is well into the black over and above my Ad Word costs--so I now have two sources of sales and income.

I have tried Etsy in the past but find that for my category it is not the place to be as buyers there tend to shop for lower priced lower quality items.

The sum of all this to me is that there is a spreading malaise among middle income shoppers--they are pulling in on shopping and are afraid. Blaming Ebay holds no water really.

Perhaps this is a harbinger of a serious withdrawal of spending by the consumer to be followed by what----fill in the blanks!

i*m-still-here · ‎12-08-2013

You can analyze it to death but the numbers won't help your sales.

When I do a search for sold ammonite jewelry you're right up there at the top for selling high end pieces.

EBay buyers are varied, but when it comes to One of Kind Items etc., eBay draws bargain hunters in much greater numbers than other sites do.

When a buyer does a search for ammonite jewelry and finds a piece for $39.99 which looks the same as yours does at $399.99, what do you expect that buyer to do?

Most buyers are not educated in ammonite like you are.

With competition like that you're doing very well.

It's possible that you've milked eBay for all it's worth.

cumos55 · ‎12-08-2013

OP's frustration was well noted a few weeks/months ago.

It is now apparent that things have changed and eBay is being worked to a maximum..

Sounds very good.....

Moving to a website was advantageous.

Now ... Is there a complementary inventory that you can add to eBay? Is there a product where you can go head to head with those that sell in that below $50 price....

The high end items are available.

When I list and sell... I have the philosophy

The lower priced items pay the bills and keep on selling while it is the higher priced items that really make the profit.

Buyers can be fickle when it comes to the higher priced items....

However over the last 8 weeks those higher priced items have been selling.... atleast for me.

I am always looking for new categories of inventory to sell..... I will list, list and list more items... and then they start buying....

Major category... Canadian history

Subcategories.....Mennonite History, Birds of Canada, Environment , Canadian Art and Artists, History and Culture of Ukraine and perhaps the most unexpected of categories is Bibles in languages other than English.

Every subcategory ties back to Canadian history... Canada and everything Canadian

There also appears to be number of listings... perhaps 30 .....before sales start on a continuous basis.... but category dependent as to the intensity of sales....

New listings will always bring them back to my store... over and over again....

cumos55 · ‎12-08-2013

The important thing any seller can do is

Observe what is happening...

and as this happens .... work to understand .... Why?

Too many sellers come here, list and leave it... and then sales die..... not knowing ... Why?

eBay is fickle... and Cassini is something to understand.... One does not have to know what the Cassini algorithms are... but one should know what input is required to have a listing show up well in a search... OP has shown that it can be done..... understand the input required to get a super result....

Too many seller blame eBay for ... less sales.....

It is more important to understand how to meet eBay's challenge..... understand the Cassini enigma

mr.elmwood · ‎12-08-2013

Basically Cassini wants a very descriptive headline and all parts of the item application filled out and 12 attractive images.

I have been saying that for six months. For six months I have been told I was wrong, ms-informed, and that I should mind my own business.

Back in about March, eBay PUBLISHED what they want:

GREAT descriptions

GREAT pictures

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ammolitehunter · ‎12-08-2013

Ammonite jewelry?

Please!

It's AMMOLITE Jewelry.

Common mistake though.

I offered my experience in the hope it might be of help to others--I am not here to "milk Ebay" what ever that implies.

There is a market for $39.99 low grade ammolite jewelry and there are many volume sellers doing just that making $3 profit on each piece--I choose not to play that game.

I have never seen a $39.99 piece of ammolite jewelry look the same as a $350 piece.

For me quality is everything and it appears the higher the quality I offer--the better it sells.

And if you feel that analyzing wont help your numbers-- then obviously you got little from my post that clearly shows that analyzing is vital to survival in sales.

to each his own.