Upgraded my whole listings and my visibility is gone

[rocketscollectibles]

Anything i did wrong?

I used to have 2+ views on my new listings most of the time in the first minutes and often reaching 10+ in the first day. Even once in a while i had 40+ in one hour on random not popular at all listings (was very very suspicious). I decided last week to revamp everything since i have a better set up for my photos and received a better camera. I literally upgraded everything, i changed my username to a better one, better photos, cleaner title, lowered a lot of prices, added back free shipping, lower shipping to US. I relisted everything as sell similar and i took the time to relist them around 10 listings per day on many days. I relisted the same way and at the same times i used to do

Now like over 50% of my listings are stucked to 0-1 view and not a single one reached 10. I noticed i lost 0.2% in sale conversion as well. So i worked like a crazy to upgrade everything over 1-2 weeks and i'm punished for it, this is weird

I wonder if something i did is punished by the algorythm? Like a username change or ending all our listing to relist all as sell similar? I removed a small logo i used to put on my photos there's no way it was what bringing me lot of views but i wonder... Maybe free shipping cause of higher looking prices...

Not sure what i did wrong, i really felt like i upgraded everything. I did put a lot of work, but it won't work having 0-1 view on 50%+ listings. Any thoughts

[femmefan1946]

Free Shipping is six of one half a dozen of another. Those who dislike the higher asking price are offset by those who like Free Shipping.

And using Sell Similar instead of Relist should make the bots think these are new listings instead of revivals.

How were your sales at this time in 2019? In 2018? (2020 was such an outlier with the pandemic surge in sales that we probably shouldn't compare 2021 sales to those.)

[rocketscollectibles]

@femmefan1946

How were your sales at this time in 2019? In 2018? (2020 was such an outlier with the pandemic surge in sales that we probably shouldn't compare 2021 sales to those.)

I just changed my username i was under teamraccoons. No data i started selling things on ebay just a few months ago

I'm doing some researchs and i'm clearly punished in the algorythm for an unknown reason. I see myself at the bottom of the searchs on most cards i research.

Exemple here i'm searching a card named ''giovanni's nidoking'' and there's this guy using false specifications and who is rewarded for it...

He just put ''giovanni's nidoking'' as card name specification ( noticed he do that with all his cards, random specs so his cards seems to appear in additional random searchs ) and his cards that are not even this card appear upper than my REAL giovanni's nidoking. I did put a lot of work and i see that, this is so **bleep** insulting 

[femmefan1946]

How long has he been selling and how many items has he sold?

Both of those make a difference in Search, since it is set up to reward success.

[richardcm]

I think you changed your eBay ID four times since you started selling a few months ago. I think this messes up your visibility. Never had anyone change their eBay ID so much. I liked your raccoons ID as it was simple and easy to remember.

[rocketscollectibles]

Yeah i agree i changed a few times but it's the good time to doing it i think, after you are known there's a point of no return where you have too much to lose to change it. It's the good time to find a username i'm confortable to keep a long time. I just have a few months of experience i'm still tryna find myself and find the right fits

I did not liked the raccoons ones to be honest i liked them first but changed my mind quick

I just wonder if ebay punish a seller in the algorythm for a name change. That's probably bad for them. That's even surprising they allow it once a month 

[recped]

eBay has made some changes to the View counter (about time!).

Those views you were getting immediately on new listings were from bots not actual eBay users, it took more than 20 years but eBay has finally removed bot views from the counter. They have also made some changes that have eliminated some duplicate views and possibly (not specifically stated) views by sellers looking at their own listings.

eBay view counters have been so riddled with errors they have not really been very meaningful.

[musicyouneed2]

There is something going funny with listings now.  When I used to list an item on ebay.ca it would show up within an hour, now it is closer to 30 hours later.  The item shows up faster on .com than .ca.  On this ID I would sell a couple a week, now it is close to nil on this ID, not much better on my other ID.  Ebay must have done something funny with the searches.  

[rocketscollectibles]

eBay has made some changes to the View counter (about time!).

Those views you were getting immediately on new listings were from bots not actual eBay users, it took more than 20 years but eBay has finally removed bot views from the counter. They have also made some changes that have eliminated some duplicate views and possibly (not specifically stated) views by sellers looking at their own listings.

Bots giving a few views is not everything. Bots do not buy, they do not send offers, they do not send messages, and they have nothing to do with my items getting pushed at the bottom of the searchs. It's like i'm totally invisible right now.  Also as shown in my previous message, there is even cards that has nothing to do in the search i'm doing that appears higher than mine. Something really happenned to profil, I'm clearly pushed down by ebay algorythm

[recped]

I searched for three of your items using a few words from your titles.......

Found them all, in Best Match one was quite high (near top of page one), one was about #150 out of almost 300 matches, the third was #3 of 113 matches.

What search words are you using?

Are you signed in on your selling id when searching? If so then all your results will be different from a search done by an unrelated buyer.

[rocketscollectibles]

By the way i started to notice there's many sellers with dishonest search manipulation like this:

His listed card is a card named Giovanni's Gyarados and when i search for my Giovanni's Nidoking, this card is over mine... Because the seller manipulate the specifications, and he put Nidoking in his characters. So the algorythm put together Giovanni's Gyarados (in title) + Nidoking (character spec) + good score seller and bang he's higher than a lot in a search he has nothing to do there. He's probably in the searchs of everything he put there while everything is false, and steal visibility to legit listings. He use consciously all false specifications and he's rewared for it, it's disgusting

I started to notice many listings like this, from many sellers. All high score sellers. And they won't see their listings suspended for this, those sellers bring money. In a sense there's actually collusion from ebay using favoritism... That's annoying to see. I reported a few yesterday cause it's not supposed to be legit to do this, we can report: listing pratices > search and browse manipulation > other search and browse manipulation. It worked the listings have been pushed down, but nothing else. If a lot does this on all their listings, it's almost impossible to counter

[rocketscollectibles]

When i search i mainly using the card name. Or if the card is just a pokemon name with no specific name, i'll put the name plus the set name

I might should test when i'm not signed yes i'm doing it while signed

[richardcm]

Use a different browser to search your listings not logged in. This way you have no influences from your logged in eBay ID on the main browser you use. 

[richardcm]

One thing I did notice years ago was if you used a different browser to search for your listings and used a different eBay site, it could influence your views and click through counts.

When I created a new listing, I had a printed check list to verify the listing and proofread the listing. On the checklist was to view my new listing with other browsers as well as to search for it while on other eBay sites not logged in. Canada and USA sites as well as UK, France, Germany, Italy, Australia.

This added to my views and click through but was not my intention. I was just checking my listings to see if the HTML worked properly and the correct shipping was charged.

Sometimes I would get international sales from those countries I had viewed. I often wondered if my checking listings significantly influenced my sales.

Checking was too time consuming and once I was confident the listings were working properly I stopped.

I had some complex HTML in my description which would check the eBay site the listing was viewed on and show my other listings in my showcase on the appropriate language of the site.

No longer allowed to active code in the description because it would make listings load slowly. It was a good decision by eBay but now they make listings load so slowly because of all the other listings they put in now

[rocketscollectibles]

I'm doing researchs a lot those days to try to figuring what's going on

One more story... I got one card that i have 12x in near mint/mint condition, i listed it like 0.05$ under the smallest price listed, burning all the competition, and that's a popular one. I did not spend much on those and i listed it this way losing a bit of money, but as only purpose to bring views and buyers to watch my stuff. Sort of promotional listing. You know what, i got 1 view on the listing in a few days. And 3 got sold since on ebay, at higher prices. It's like there's just nothing to do, i feel invisible i'm desperated lmao

I might should put back the logo i used on my previous pictures, i lost something like 2.5% in click tho rate since. I start to think it was something helping my views a lot

[musicyouneed2]

Not always are the first views from bots.  I have listed a couple of times and they sold within 15 minutes.  They must have had a saved search for those items. 

[intimewithmusic]

Did you notice the difference after changing your user name from Honest Racoon to rocket_hideout?

Maybe former customers and interested potential customers for your items are looking for your old user name. 

[rocketscollectibles]

Did you notice the difference after changing your user name from Honest Racoon to rocket_hideout?

HonestRaccoon was a while ago, from my last yes, but i did changed so many things at the same time. Actually i think that ending most of my listings to relist them as similar slowly a few everyday on 1-2 weeks was the mistake. I start to have more activity since most everything is relisted. Did a sale, received a few offers, many watchers, back to normal views. It's back alive

But to be honest i'm thinking about changing my username again next month lmao...  I might should get rid of all those usernames using the ''team rocket'' as reference, might be a turn off to some pokemon buyers. It's a team in pokemon who are actually the bad guys and tryna steal people if you're not familiar. Might not be the best idea to use this as image. I see so often sold cards at higher prices than mine are listed i just wonder why some ignore me and prefer to pay higher prices for similar or worse condition, and it might be one reason. Low feedback may be the deal breaker for some too, this system hurt for a very long time...

[parts_and_diecasts]

keep the views and the frequent username changes for IG

the only metric I care about is conversion rate, it's in your "Performance & Traffic" tab, on the top right

anything 3% or above is solid (the average for e-commerce is 3%)

username doesn't matter, I don't remember half of the sellers I frequently buy from (I don't have to, they are in my "Saved" sellers list and "Purchase History"). 

Pricing, accurate description and pictures, quality items, fast shipping, customer service are the only things that matter for the buyers. Username is the last thing they care about and I speak from experience (mine doens't mean anything and is not particularly easy to remember). Having said that, changing your username so frequently probably doesn't help either.

Again, as I said in the other posts, focusing your energy on things that literally don't matter (username, perceived search rankings, whether your competition is using legit keywords or not...), won't help your sales.

Do not take this forum as a training manual, most people come here to complain when things go wrong, similar to car ownership forums where you here mostly about what can go wrong with a specific model. The best way to learn and grow is to actually do it. You can watch hockey 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week, that won't make you a Stanley Cup level player...

Stop waisting your time on this forum and go actually do it, come back and report in 3 to 6 months from now, not before.  

[intimewithmusic]

Hi. Buyers trust continuity. Just ask "McDonalds". When you change your username, store or no store, eBay and it's sync'd trackers such as Google digitally end relationships with your previous username. 

The term "username" should be shelved by eBay in favor of "businessname".  "username' sounds personal. Store or no store, all usernames on Ebay are business names. 

Since February you changed it approx 4 times. Ebay has a very useful feature for both buyers and sellers called "Save This Seller".  Anyone who likes what you sell, or has purchased from you, may  save your user/business name to view your future items. If you change your business name that person will not be able to find you in their list.  Ebay will automatically replace your old name with your new name.  Hence you have lost all the hard work you did to gain their trust and interest. All of your traction is lost and those who do notice the constant name changing will not only not buy from you they will warn others. 

Generally, businesses only change their name if the initial one was a  ONE TIME honest mistake ( IE: your first choice incorporating the word "poison") , or an infringement of registered intellectual rights IE: "Finger Lickin' Goods" or, if they don't want to be recognized because someone got food poisoning or ripped off in some such way...

Until a few years ago Ebay, via your personal public profile would publicly list every seller's name history. At least then a buyer could see if you're the same loveable person they dealt with before your name change. 

To make a long story short, before you move to name number 5 in 9 months, consider where you bank. For example if it's HSBC how would you feel if it changed to  HCBS next month & "Bank Of Jumpin Jack Flash" the month after? 

Brick & mortar rule #1  = "location location location".  In terms of online business Ebay buyers seek "continuity & trust" just like McDonalds.