What has happened to Ebay ?

KxMx

Markets change, that's the nature of commerce! Just because it sold well once doesn't mean it always will.

No way would I buy a cd or a magazine off ebay, that would be daft. The rare time I buy an album cd I buy it new off Amazon, otherwise it's MP3's. A book only if I am after a particular title, and they I will go with the cheapest BIN.

I am not the only one telling you your stock is outdated and that's the reason it isn't selling.

As for the badges, there must be something the other sellers are doing that you aren't. Have a look at the completed listings and try to see why those are attractive and yours are not. Maybe you need something like better pictures, clearer descriptions?

hubb

I am absolutely sick of "your Ebay item didn't sell" coming back to me when EVERY item used to sell. Badges have always been collectable, still are. Others are selling the same at 3 OR 4 TIMES the prices and making sales. I tried putting my prices up but it killed sales even more. I have 100% feedback and FREE postage and LOWER prices. Ten years ago a couple of badges I sold went for £30. Now I can hardly give them away. IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE !!!! In my private account I have various Dvd's, magazines and cd's for sale. Out of 32 items I have not a touch, not a single bid.

Sorry to rant but I am so frustrated because I am not doing anything wrong, trying to sell counterfeit or stolen etc. ALL my items are genuine (which I state in my auctions)

RFW

hubb wrote: »

Others are selling the same at 3 OR 4 TIMES the prices and making sales.

I'd bet they are doing more than just listing them on Ebay. There's lots of sellers (myself included) who market outside Ebay. Blogs/Facebook/Twitter, etc. if your competitor has a few thousand followers in various places then they will get the sale before you, irrespective of price.

hubb

I'm not convinced. Most buyers (me included) put a search on Ebay for the product they want and they ALL come up. Then you can clearly see the price comparisons and make your choice. I will look into my listings and tweak them more but I can't really do much more because I have run out of ideas.

RFW

hubb wrote: »

I'm not convinced. Most buyers (me included) put a search on Ebay for the product they want and they ALL come up. Then you can clearly see the price comparisons and make your choice. I will look into my listings and tweak them more but I can't really do much more because I have run out of ideas.

I don't just mean on Ebay, if, for example, you are selling Elvis Presley badges, if you have your own fan pages and link from them people will more likely buy from you even if someone else is cheaper. The traffic the other sellers are getting may not be from Ebay searches at all. Selling isn't always about price.

forgotmyname

Yep lazy buyers should be your target. Setup a fan site advertise your items and put links to the ebay auction.
They think i want that & dont mind paying that price so dont bother searching.

Instant sale. But dont spam message boards. Your likely to get lots of times wasters and poor feedback.

patman99

These days you need to move with the trends. I'm friends with an Iranian guy who runs a gothic clothing store in my town. He asked me if I could sell some stock on Ebay as he has no idea about that sort of stuff.

The one thing he does know about however, is what is selling at the moment and what will be the next big thing.
This summer, it has been baseball caps. I've been in his shop and seen him sell 10 in an hour. We listed 3 of each colour/wording on Ebay and sold-out in 2 weeks.

Last Christmas it was furry animal hats. Not sure what the next trend will be, but I'm sure he will be asking me to list something again soon.

I did look at Amazon for him. But he would have to price-match with any other service he uses if he wishes to use the same market identity across all sites (Amazon's new, easy-to-beat rules).

soolin

patman99 wrote: »

These days you need to move with the trends. I'm friends with an Iranian guy who runs a gothic clothing store in my town. He asked me if I could sell some stock on Ebay as he has no idea about that sort of stuff.

The one thing he does know about however, is what is selling at the moment and what will be the next big thing.
This summer, it has been baseball caps. I've been in his shop and seen him sell 10 in an hour. We listed 3 of each colour/wording on Ebay and sold-out in 2 weeks.

Last Christmas it was furry animal hats. Not sure what the next trend will be, but I'm sure he will be asking me to list something again soon.

I did look at Amazon for him. But he would have to price-match with any other service he uses if he wishes to use the same market identity across all sites (Amazon's new, easy-to-beat rules).

Patman, I agree entirely. The trick is always to be one trend ahead, if I just had a crystal ball I would be a much more successful seller.

As soon as one of my markets dies I drop it, I will not keep listing and get disheartened , I get rid of remaining stock as best I can through whatever sites will get me my money back- and I move on. On occasions I have so badly misjudged a market I have been left with stock that will not sell at all- that goes straight to the charity shop.

EDIT: I just remembered that I bought several furry animal hats from ebay as Christmas presents last year.......

Crowqueen

It's times like this where it would be useful to be able to see the OP's listings - see what the situation is with terms and so on, whether people are actively avoiding listings.

hubb

Again, I am not convinced buyers come from other websites. When I first stated selling these badges around 8 years ago, buyers came straight to Ebay. They were selling like hot cakes and still do for OTHER SELLERS !!!