What has happened to Ebay ?

Strapped

hubb wrote: »

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 !!!

Well look at what the other sellers are doing differently to you then. :wall:

Might be your T&Cs putting them off, postage time, or it may be visibility if you've been outsold for a long period of time.

It's not "eBay" if others are selling.

RFW

Strapped wrote: »

Well look at what the other sellers are doing differently to you then. :wall:

Might be your T&Cs putting them off, postage time, or it may be visibility if you've been outsold for a long period of time.

It's not "eBay" if others are selling.

Indeed.
8 years ago was a different world, Ebay was way more dominant and the economy was vastly different. I'm working ten times harder to get anywhere near the sales of 8 years ago, on and off Ebay.

Crowqueen

The thing with eBay is that it has much more competition now than it did in 2004, and perhaps that competition beats it on customer service issues.

In 2004 I might have gone straight to eBay to get something, now I will go to Google and see who's offering it.

hubb

My prices are the low. My rating is 100%. My customer service is good. What more do you want ?

charlies_mum

hubb wrote: »

My prices are the low. My rating is 100%. My customer service is good. What more do you want ?

In theory, nothing, but as others have said, there must be a reason why your items aren't selling.

You really need to look at your stock and decide whether to change what you sell. A couple of months ago, I couldn't keep up with sales, but now I have the residue of my stock listed, and sales have slowed right down.

I know the problem isn't Ebay, I just need to restock with what does sell.

RFW

hubb wrote: »

My prices are the low. My rating is 100%. My customer service is good. What more do you want ?

So you stick your items on Ebay and hope for the best. No one will know about your customer service unless they buy from you. No one will know about your feedback or prices unless they find your items.

Have you tried any other marketing as myself and others have suggested? Do you have a mailing list? A Facebook page? A Twitter account? A website?

Yes there are plenty of items you can put on Ebay and they will sell whatever and plenty that won't.

Being blunt, why waste your time moaning on here about it when you could use that time to promote your listings elsewhere?

Crowqueen

I know the problem isn't Ebay, I just need to restock with what does sell.

There's one of these threads on the Business Seller Board at the moment, people have shouted about eBay glitches and so on until the cows come home, until someone pointed out they were all selling in very saturated, competitive markets and they were competing, not with each other, but with many other large businesses in their area.

Hubb: why are other people in your market selling and you are not? That is the question you should be asking yourself. eBay is not a marketplace where you can just list something and it will sell, not any more. The novelty has worn off. Now it is just A N Other marketplace site and perhaps not even the best one. You have to set yourself apart from the herd.

I agree with RFW - this thread is a bit superfluous. Either you have what it takes to 'smell what sells' or you don't. If you are dependent on this for a living, take some initiative, put yourself out there, sell yourself, ask people what they want to buy, look at what is selling and what is not. Or give up and try something else, either in retail or outside of retail. But you cannot just sit here like a speak-your-weight machine blaming eBay for your troubles. eBay don't owe you a living - they provide a service. Ditch them if they are not providing that service.

I am on the verge of giving up on them myself for the moment, my items are selling like hotcakes on Amazon, although if I do decide to move back into selling off my postcards I will have to go back as those won't sell on Amazon. It's a simple 'business' decision (I say that with the caveat I am not a business, but private sellers feel a lack of sales too and so I treat it as a business rather than relying on the sentimental appeal of eBay). If things were selling well for me on eBay I'd move stuff over from Am but...for me at least it's the other way round.

Vary, diversify, generate followings, get to know your customers, get to know your market. 2004 is ancient history.

RFW

Crowqueen wrote: »

my items are selling like hotcakes on Amazon.

I've just had an upsurge on Amazon too. It surprises me the items that sell on Amazon and don't on Ebay and vice versa. Not even in different categories, I have an item in a couple of colours, one sells 3 to one on Ebay and it's the other way round on Amazon.

So try Amazon, could be a suggestion.

Crowqueen

I'm looking at one particular item.

Buy from eBay - expensive, coming from overseas (dodgy country), quality of some eBay sellers a bit questionable and certainly sellers in general have low feedback as item has only just been released.

Buy from Amazon - in stock, cheaper, probably sent from a UK warehouse. Very reliable.

No-brainer.

soolin

I agree with the above posts, if your stuff doesn't sell stop wasting money, dump your stock and find another line. You could try a 'sure bet' sale and if that doesn't sell then there *must* be something about your account that is outing people off

I had a successful book business on amazon, I was doing very well and theN literally overnight in Autumn 2010 everything stopped selling . I limped on for a while but it didn't improve so I closed down my sales and have started dumping hundreds of books at a time on the specialist oxfam book shops. I now have a small selling account, no more than 100 books listed and with no sales at all to speak off. I do though have a lot of empty storage space from clearing the books and have just moved into a different market.