Views have absolutely cratered since mid May. Anyone else?

[fergua3]

My views have dropped enromously since mid May.  Items that would normally get 7-10 views per week are now getting 1 or 2 per month.

Along with that sales have dropped to nearly zero.

The other sites i sell on are doing normally for this time of year.  What gives with Ebay?

[marnotom!]

Your point about the performance on your other sites being "normal for this time of year" is interesting, but we don't know how your "normal" on these sites compares to your "normal" on eBay.  If your "normal" on those other sites is pretty low to start with, there's not much room for a statistical decline.

Did you see a similar drop in views or sales on eBay this time last year?  It may be that eBay is just more sensitive to cyclical change for your merchandise in the summer than those other sites.

[fergua3]

i have never, ever, ever had views drop this dramatically.  Ever.  It was like a switch flipping.  I was rolling along normally for May and then boom.  Sales stopped almost dead and views have been steadily declining.  This is not a 'July norm' at all.  It's a sudden and abrupt decline.

I was simply asking if anyone else  has experienced this.

[flipistics]

June was terrible for me, but it was last year too (by far my worst month). My media and book stores both tanked. My main store was fairly normal in volume, but all of the sales were low value items.

All 3 stores are looking a lot better so far this month, and both sales and views are up sharply in all 3.  As soon as the long weekend passed, things have really picked up.

[reallynicestamps]

My sales normally drop from May until September, but this year has been strong except for the times when I was not listing when they went down to "normal".

My strong months are Boxing Day to Easter, with the holiday shopping period normally being a drought.

Is the drop in number of sales or in value of sales?

It's harder to keep track of, but is the norm in a particular category (paper ephemera, action figures?) or is it an across the board norm?

One of my accounts has dropped so low that I lost TRS status on it this month, but I also have not been listing anything on it for weeks and weeks.

[38e_avenue]

My traffic is low, but that's normal for june / july, traditionally my worst months since many years. 

The number of offers (sent/received) is also as usual (+50 pending). 

Here is the graph: 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@fergua3 

@38e_avenue 

@flipistics 

@reallynicestamps 

@marnotom! 

Report for May 20 to July 20, 2024

Report for Mar 20 to May 20, 2024

My Impressions went up by approx. 150,000 between the 2 time periods.

Views went down by 400 between the 2 time periods

Year to year is just too difficult to compare with all the variables.

With "Halo" traffic/sales it is has become very difficult to make heads or tails of the "eBay numbers" and/or  if they are accurate /relative. Every time you start a new promo or 1 ends it throws a wrench into the totals. Then any additional tinkering eBay is doing under the hood will affect numbers even more. In speaking to sellers on dot com in the recent past be able to view these HALO sales using the link below. It appears to have been deactivated by eBay for reasons we will never know. Just wayyyy too much smoke and mirrors!!!

https://pls.ebay.com/plsweb/sales 

https://pls.ebay.ca/plsweb/sales 

Full dot com discussion attached. See post 15 for eBay response.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Seller-Tools/New-Advertising-Dashboard-Question/m-p/34564498#M46789

[reallynicestamps]

Year to year is just too difficult to compare with all the variables.

Impressions and Views are people who didn't buy.

The only thing that matters is Sales.

You keep records, separate from eBay, of your actual sales and income don't you?

That is what you should be comparing.

There are waves in retail. You can't sell BBQs after Father's Day. There is a reason Christmas items turn up in October.

And in any shop I worked in, we scheduled planning discussions for Tuesdays at 2 pm, because that was when there were the fewest customers. Consistently, over three different product lines (woodstoves, patio furniture, and stamps).

How were your Sales in May-July 2023?2022? 2019? (Again skipping the outlier pandemic years.)

[mrdutch1001]

This isn't anything abnormal....

Selling is about the product>its uniqueness,quality,price points, supply and demand,target market,etc...

This also is not universal across all sellers...Just as there may be sellers experiencing same as you, there will be sellers unaffected>business as usual...

and similarly your experience on other selling sites will not be universal>sellers selling on other sites may be seeing very slow sales...

it's the way of the world>the way of online selling...

C'est la vie!

Que sera, sera!

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

---

@reallynicestamps wrote:

Year to year is just too difficult to compare with all the variables.

Impressions and Views are people who didn't buy.

The only thing that matters is Sales.

You keep records, separate from eBay, of your actual sales and income don't you?

That is what you should be comparing.

There are waves in retail. You can't sell BBQs after Father's Day. There is a reason Christmas items turn up in October.

And in any shop I worked in, we scheduled planning discussions for Tuesdays at 2 pm, because that was when there were the fewest customers. Consistently, over three different product lines (woodstoves, patio furniture, and stamps).

How were your Sales in May-July 2023?2022? 2019? (Again skipping the outlier pandemic years.)

---

@reallynicestamps 

@fergua3 

April 20 to May 20 - 21 Sales

May 20 to July 20 -31 Sales

I list in a variety of categories so actual sales are entirely random. Mixed lots and refurbished USED to be awesome for me. Because of all the category tinkering eBay has done over the last 2 to 3 years, not so much. Much of the decrease in sales is being caused by the neverending tinkering ebay has done and less about what us as sellers are doing. Traffic keeps flip flopping between found on eBay and found on Google. Something I have zero control over. As for sales totals while the number of sales went up in the 2 periods, dollar value per transaction is down. 

Prior to Aug 2021 I would consistently do 30 to 45 transactions per month. Now 15 is being very optimistic.200 day windows for comparison.  

1. July 20, 2022 to Mar 5, 2023 - 147 Transactions

2. Jan 1, 2023 to July 20, 2023 -  112 Transactions  - 20 % Total Sales Drop (1 to 2)

3. Jan 1, 2024 to July 20, 2024 - 108 Transactions  - 35 %Total Sales Drop (2 to 3)

As a side there has been advertising/the suggestion that dot com is pushing vintage/antique/collectible. Personally I am not seeing anything to confirm that is actually happening. Areas I have numerous listings and rarely any sales.

[reallynicestamps]

It's useful to have actual numbers rather than the vague feelings that many of these reports seem to be based on.

I see advertising for eBay Motors on YouTube Shorts, and usually get eBay ads on FaceBook, although those are not usually for collectibles.

I don't watch much TV, mostly Netflix which has no commercials, and my radio is permanently tuned to CBC RadioOne, so I am unable to comment on TV and radio advertising.

[needsmorerobots]

---

@fergua3 wrote:

My views have dropped enromously since mid May.  Items that would normally get 7-10 views per week are now getting 1 or 2 per month.

Along with that sales have dropped to nearly zero.

The other sites i sell on are doing normally for this time of year.  What gives with Ebay?

---

My views dropped too, but only because June was a bad month for me trying to juggle real life. Ebay took a back seat as the need from elderly parents increased. I'm trying to get into the mode again.

I usually don't have a bad month, that I've noticed.

Could it be the Priority Campaign Strategy that Ebay added that is affecting things?

[luv4orphans]

I have. 2 sales in the last 2 months and practically no views. Doing better on Etsy than on ebay. I had a couple of items listed on here and 1 was there for 4-5 months. Sold within a week on Etsy. Other one was not on here long, a couple of weeks but as soon as I put it on Etsy it was gone. Ebay is really slow for sales. . Not sure why. I've seen slumps but never this bad. 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

---

@fergua3 wrote:

i have never, ever, ever had views drop this dramatically.  Ever.  It was like a switch flipping.  I was rolling along normally for May and then boom.  Sales stopped almost dead and views have been steadily declining.  This is not a 'July norm' at all.  It's a sudden and abrupt decline.

I was simply asking if anyone else  has experienced this.

---

@fergua3 

How do your numbers compare using this view? See my  settings. I do have a feeling it could be directly connected to the new roll out of priority promoting and what we are now seeing for suggested rates for general promotions.  Like at the casino, 20.00 slots are out of my comfort zone.  😧 As others are pointing out, value per sale is heading in a down direction.

-Lotz

[fergua3]

well, in June and July so far i have had 3 sales total.  Normal this time of year would be 10-12 per month at least, most likely more.  In July to date i have had one sale (the other 2 were in June).  The July sale was for $14 to a zero feedback buyer from Mexico.

I've been on Ebay over 2 decades and have never gone through anything like this.  I've had some nasty slumps but what is happening now is in a whole new league.   

I have no intention of ever promoting any of my listings.  Ebay fees are high enough and they are raising them almost every update now.   If that means i don't get any more sales on Ebay, then it's not a big deal for me.  I have limited inventory left and once it's gone i'm done selling.  WIthout Ebay sales it simply means it will take a few months longer to get rid of everything, but in the end it will all be sold.

Whatever change Ebay has made it has demolished my sales.  If they don't want my money any more the other places i sell still seem perfectly happy to take it...

[aviatorsparadise]

I've just had my best July ever on eBay - my sales normally peak in December/Janurary but this month so far is the second best this year only behind Janurary by a few dollars.