eBay

alary_sport · ‎10-17-2018

I did extremely well last month on my sells and suddenly nothing at all, not even one sell. Sounds fishy to me. Look like ebay conspiracy or favoritisme. Is that normal? Maybe i should sacrifice a cat to a deity. Any good one that work ^_^

femmefan1946 · ‎10-17-2018

My Haitian colleague recommended a black rooster, a bottle of rum, and a cigar.
But the algorithm does that from time to time for no dicernable reason.

momcqueen · ‎10-18-2018

My sales performance has tanked this month as well, down 70 per cent from last month and 60 per cent from this time last year. (October is generally a decent month for sales.) I’m not certain as to the reason for this. The breakdown between google search and my store url?

hlmacdon · ‎10-20-2018

@momcqueen wrote:
My sales performance has tanked this month as well, down 70 per cent from last month and 60 per cent from this time last year. (October is generally a decent month for sales.) I’m not certain as to the reason for this. The breakdown between google search and my store url?

Octobers are usually poor for me (here), but I'm up slightly, if only due to timing of new arrivals. Slightly up over last year, but only due recent new arrivals but even then it is a steep drop over last month.

The consistent thing that sticks out is ebay just isn't seeing any meaningful user growth. It's pretty sad seeing competitors with 20-30k listings selling a few items per day. Those sort of turns in retail would see you out of business in a hurry. Until they figure out that the problem is buyer:seller engagement rather than buyer:marketplace engagement the beatings will continue. Perphaps the delayed earnings report will give some further insight.

kawartha-ephemera · ‎10-21-2018

I'm a member of a few Facebook Groups dedicated to the sharing of and chatting about various sorts of collectibles.

Yesterday the admin of one Group got a little testy with a few members who had begun to spam the group by shamelessly promoting their latest and greatest ebay listings while adding nothing of value to the Group.

Well, there were quite a few members who stated in no uncertain terms they as buyers no longer had any use for ebay due to their perception that the marketplace had morphed into a faceless corporation. They don't enjoy corporations, they enjoyed interacting freely with their favourite sellers. In other words collecting on ebay is no longer fun.

Facebook is seldom mentioned in this regard but a lot of ebay ooak items are now being bought and sold privately over there and it's fun. Maybe FB will take note of ebay's mistakes and not ruin a good atmosphere. They sure do push hard for those advertising dollars though.

momcqueen · ‎10-21-2018

I'm not clear on how Facebook Marketplace is *fun* either. I've bought a few things from other collectors through Facebook and I don't get my kicks driving across town to stand awkwardly in someone's front entrance while their dog barks at me and sniffs my butt.

Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

boutiquestepup · ‎10-21-2018

Same here too my sales tank so much its freighting! My heavy season is from September up to March. My biggest months is October November and right now my sales on ebay for the last 30 days are down 48% compare to last year...That's a big drop and I am 99% sure it is due to Canada Post strike.

lucitabby · ‎10-21-2018

I am wondering also, if the algorithm is holding back Canadian listings due to the possible Canada Post rotating strikes.

I had an amazing Sept. and a really good Oct. right up until last Monday - not a sale since Mon.

Could be a coincidence but, I think it's a bit odd.

momcqueen · ‎10-21-2018

I sure hope not but that's an interesting theory.

I was on fire through the summer and into September -- all without trying very hard because I could not, the kids were home from school and I was trying to enjoy that -- but October for me as a toy seller is traditionally pretty busy.

I had a few sales last week but I'm still in the red both in 12-month and 31-day comparisons. Like, a lot.

reallynicestamps · ‎10-21-2018

@lucitabby

I am wondering also, if the algorithm is holding back Canadian listings due to the possible Canada Post rotating strikes.

That's possible, although for Big eBay to notice a maybe situation is a small market like Canada is to my mind unlikely. Do they 'throttle' (to use the current buzzword) Search in Georgia when a hurricane is expected?

The general public is unaware of the possibility of rotating strikes, in any case. When I watched the news on Friday they were still excited about pot. Perhaps they had forgotten they'd already covered the story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PLC_cBJwk4

pjcdn2005 · ‎10-21-2018

Some sellers on the US boards have also been complaining about slow sales so I don’t think it has anything to do with Canada Post.

hlmacdon · ‎10-22-2018

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
Some sellers on the US boards have also been complaining about slow sales so I don’t think it has anything to do with Canada Post.

I would concur. I ship almost entirely with USPS and have seen the same periods of substantial drop-offs. Ebay has a growth problem, which is neutral to negative once you remove the number fudging that is being performed on reporting. They are focused on the same product segments as every other mainstream retailer that has been busy expanding their own online presence. Those competitors are seeing substantial double digit growth. Every one of those competitors has significant advantages in cost and logistics and frankly have brands which resonate far better with consumers. At the same time various niches that feel underserved or jaded here are splintering off into other marketplaces. The remaining customers here just sit and wait till prices drop here before spending money.

Hoping your growth problem is solved by the new next best thing since fidget spinners is not really much of a strategy, nor is blaming all your sellers for your woes.

femmefan1946 · ‎10-22-2018

@hlmacdon

Those competitors are seeing substantial double digit growth.

I agree but--growth in percentage or in numbers?

If I have 1000 sales a minute and add another 100 a minute am I doing better or worse than the guy who had 100 sales a minute and adds 100 sales a minute?

I have 1100 sales to his 200 sales.

He's growing faster but he's not necessarily bigger or getting bigger or making more money.

More to the point would be listing on multiple sites -- and watching sales very closely to avoid selling previously sold items.

goldnideas · ‎10-22-2018

Mine goes in very strange waves, can be nothing for a week and then 4 in one hour. Usually (before last couple of months) I have steady, very even sales. Now just selling our inventory out.

reallynicestamps · ‎10-23-2018

And then there are the sudden waves of sales to a single location. Today it was to Kansas.

alary_sport · ‎10-24-2018

This thing, that they're doing, has the same feeling as the government. (deceiving, Overtax, removing the fun out of it, not making the real change that need to be done, etc.) Hummm, Wonder why seller are leaving ^_^ I do understand that at one point when a company get too big it, start to fail because of the bureaucracy, and all it do is try to float. Sometime its will fixes its sell, sometime not so much.

They algorithm there using to be able to have one sale seems very counter productive. Forcing to relist, add many many new items every day(even if you can't), add new pictures, new title (even if everything is well done), add a second ebay store...etc. In another sense, if i don't waste my time to interact with eBay every day, all day, you don't get any sales.

Hope they algorithm also works with are eBay community and with my warehouse inventory management ? i used up a lot of time in there. 🙂

kawartha-ephemera · ‎10-24-2018

@momcqueen wrote:
I'm not clear on how Facebook Marketplace is *fun* either. I've bought a few things from other collectors through Facebook and I don't get my kicks driving across town to stand awkwardly in someone's front entrance while their dog barks at me and sniffs my butt.

Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

I was not referring to FB Marketplace, that's something new I've not explored. I was referring to FB Groups which are quite acceptable in my opinion. Paypal rules the day, shipped to the buyer's address. I would not drive to meet anyone either or have people I don't know at my door.