Ebay items just not selling any more - not even getting views, what has changed?

Pollycat

meg00 said:

Thank you all for these insights.

I wish I'd read them before listing my beauty items, only a couple of "watches" across 8 items and not even getting the views....

Can anyone reccomend an alternative? My listings will be high street fashions, bags and shoes etc., LKB, Reiss.Hobbs, Jaeger, all in immaculate or unused condition I had a look att vinted but felt it was a bit downmarket, aimed at very young people.

I'm 70+ and buy from Vinted...

I'd try listing on eBay with realistic prices for the condition and brand.
My friend has been selling some good brands (Paul Smith bags, Armani jeans etc) and has had lots of sales.
I think she mainly lists 'buy it now'.

RFW

Pollycat said:

I'd try listing on eBay with realistic prices for the condition and brand.

That's sound advice. I'm aware of Ebay's bad side as I've mentioned here, there can be limited traction but there is so much on there that is just over priced, especially in used items. If you pay £50 for a jacket you shouldn't think you'd get £45 for it after wearing it for two years.
My dad was in retail for many years and he used to say that there's no such thing as a bad product, only a bad price.

Dagoth_Ur

As a private seller who sells the odd personal item here or there for extra cash, I've noticed that eBay's traffic on listings has slumped big time. The global economy and lack of money might make it seem understandable, but it's general items people in the past would seek, now getting no views (PC gaming parts, an SDS drill etc). And even with some of the best prices you'll find for said items. 

Gumtree on the other hand has had about 14 times as many views..and some responses.

EBay isn't doing so good at the moment it seems. The unhelpful default 'simple' shipping each time, the buyer protection fee slapped on top of your price further pushing buyer's away, no traffic (maybe why they now advertise in the revision page 'boost listing by 100% & 200%).

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Very dry weather since the start of the year, Etsy is quieter than usual, eBay is very slow. I think people are spending their money out in the real world.

PocketWatchMan

Dagoth_Ur said:

As a private seller who sells the odd personal item here or there for extra cash, I've noticed that eBay's traffic on listings has slumped big time. The global economy and lack of money might make it seem understandable, but it's general items people in the past would seek, now getting no views (PC gaming parts, an SDS drill etc). And even with some of the best prices you'll find for said items. 

Gumtree on the other hand has had about 14 times as many views..and some responses.

EBay isn't doing so good at the moment it seems. The unhelpful default 'simple' shipping each time, the buyer protection fee slapped on top of your price further pushing buyer's away, no traffic (maybe why they now advertise in the revision page 'boost listing by 100% & 200%).

I agree. In addition to what you have pointed out, I think there are simply less people using ebay for other reasons. 

Some are leaving because of ebay's clear feedback bias, -- clearly in effect if the seller is a high volume money-maker. In some cases, a seller can be blatantly violating one or more of ebay's stated policies; or sell defective items, eg. item of clothing that clearly breaks apart within minutes of using. Amongst people I know, these are things that have happened in the last few months, and yet perfectly valid feedback has been removed by ebay. It's basically seems to be the Trustpilot model, in which if a company is a money-maker than they are guaranteed, that a certain percentage of negative feedback will be removed. even if & when you have screenshots or even photographic evidence to back you up. 

Other reason is the 30-items or £1000 limit, to which you could be subject to hassle by HMRC. A close friend of mine sold a few bits and pieces last year, some of it was from the 1990's or maybe even 80's and evidently was a little popular, so he made a small 4-figure sum in a couple of months. This was just stuff that had been in the loft for decades.  Now I see posts everywhere, people say 'if you're just having a clear out you don't need to worry' but this is on paper. In the real world, it's cost him in excess of £2k so far, because he is having to seek formal legal representation, having been accused of running a business by the revenue. A laughable accusation if you knew the guy, but that's the way it is. This is a hassle that simply isn't worth it for a lot of folks out there.

Pollycat

As a private seller, I'm really hacked off with eBay's new 'simple postage'.

I use Royal Mail Tracked 48 and until I find a printer that I'm happy with, I hand write the delivery label and drop off at my local post office.

Now, I can't do that (wef 15th April).
Now eBay are making me use a QR code at either post offices or Evri.
If you're going to mess about with things, at least sort out postage arrangements with other couriers e.g. Inpost and Yodel before you launch a massive change and give your customers - you know, the people you make money from - a full choice instead of restricting their choice to 2 carriers.

I've been a eBay member for 20 years and I'm seriously considering moving to Vinted to sell.

soolin

Pollycat said:

As a private seller, I'm really hacked off with eBay's new 'simple postage'.

I use Royal Mail Tracked 48 and until I find a printer that I'm happy with, I hand write the delivery label and drop off at my local post office.

Now, I can't do that (wef 15th April).
Now eBay are making me use a QR code at either post offices or Evri.
If you're going to mess about with things, at least sort out postage arrangements with other couriers e.g. Inpost and Yodel before you launch a massive change and give your customers - you know, the people you make money from - a full choice instead of restricting their choice to 2 carriers.

I've been a eBay member for 20 years and I'm seriously considering moving to Vinted to sell.

Before you move to Vinted please ask on here about how their system works, as the ebay system appears to be a direct copy of theirs.

On Vinted they do also offer Inpost  Yodel, DPD and one no one has heard of called Relay. Sellers can opt out of any of the couriers they don't want to use- but like ebay this can be over ridden, and on Vinted it often is. Once a buyer has selected a courier, the seller is sent a pre paid label, some are just QR codes, some can be printed - but there is no option to send yourself without using either a printed label or QR code. 

RedImp_2

PocketWatchMan said:

Dagoth_Ur said:

As a private seller who sells the odd personal item here or there for extra cash, I've noticed that eBay's traffic on listings has slumped big time. The global economy and lack of money might make it seem understandable, but it's general items people in the past would seek, now getting no views (PC gaming parts, an SDS drill etc). And even with some of the best prices you'll find for said items. 

Gumtree on the other hand has had about 14 times as many views..and some responses.

EBay isn't doing so good at the moment it seems. The unhelpful default 'simple' shipping each time, the buyer protection fee slapped on top of your price further pushing buyer's away, no traffic (maybe why they now advertise in the revision page 'boost listing by 100% & 200%).

I agree. In addition to what you have pointed out, I think there are simply less people using ebay for other reasons. 

Some are leaving because of ebay's clear feedback bias, -- clearly in effect if the seller is a high volume money-maker. In some cases, a seller can be blatantly violating one or more of ebay's stated policies; or sell defective items, eg. item of clothing that clearly breaks apart within minutes of using. Amongst people I know, these are things that have happened in the last few months, and yet perfectly valid feedback has been removed by ebay. It's basically seems to be the Trustpilot model, in which if a company is a money-maker than they are guaranteed, that a certain percentage of negative feedback will be removed. even if & when you have screenshots or even photographic evidence to back you up. 

Other reason is the 30-items or £1000 limit, to which you could be subject to hassle by HMRC. A close friend of mine sold a few bits and pieces last year, some of it was from the 1990's or maybe even 80's and evidently was a little popular, so he made a small 4-figure sum in a couple of months. This was just stuff that had been in the loft for decades.  Now I see posts everywhere, people say 'if you're just having a clear out you don't need to worry' but this is on paper. In the real world, it's cost him in excess of £2k so far, because he is having to seek formal legal representation, having been accused of running a business by the revenue. A laughable accusation if you knew the guy, but that's the way it is. This is a hassle that simply isn't worth it for a lot of folks out there.

I’m astonished someone has spent over £2k on legal fees to fight against selling not much more in possessions.  (Cheaper to pay the tax !)

RFW

RedImp_2 said:

Other reason is the 30-items or £1000 limit, to which you could be subject to hassle by HMRC. A close friend of mine sold a few bits and pieces last year, some of it was from the 1990's or maybe even 80's and evidently was a little popular, so he made a small 4-figure sum in a couple of months. This was just stuff that had been in the loft for decades.  Now I see posts everywhere, people say 'if you're just having a clear out you don't need to worry' but this is on paper. In the real world, it's cost him in excess of £2k so far, because he is having to seek formal legal representation, having been accused of running a business by the revenue. A laughable accusation if you knew the guy, but that's the way it is. This is a hassle that simply isn't worth it for a lot of folks out there.

I’m astonished someone has spent over £2k on legal fees to fight against selling not much more in possessions.  (Cheaper to pay the tax !)

I agree. It sounds odd that anyone would use a lawyer unless legal action was being taken. My accountant could deal with that in a phone call so legal help seems unusual. On one hand the person has only sold a few thousand pounds ("a small 4-figure sum"), on the other they've spent over £2000 on legal help.

One other point, there is no £1000 limit. The guidance is that Ebay (and other marketplaces) report to HMRC for sales of 30 items or the equivalent of 2000Euros. £1000 is/was the turnover for traders to declare sales, a completely different issue. All that said, if there are fewer sellers as a result that should result in more sales for others, not less.

troglodyte

Ebay_oldboy said:

Hi. Late commenting here I know but I've only just seen this. I've been selling professionally on EBAY since 2004 and at the risk of sounding immodest, I've gained a LOT of experience in that time and have seen umpteen changes. I'd summarise the early 2025 position as essentially "EBAY is dead for most category sellers". What follows is wordy, so apologies in advance but I thought it worth sharking my experiences.

Thanks for all your thoughts. I agree the excitement of winning an auction (and sometimes being pipped to the post) was part of the appeal but nowadays you are often the only bidder anyway - so a good price but no fun.

I have never been a professional seller, just getting rid of odds and ends because I can't bear to throw away anything someone somewhere might want. The thing is that often they are the kind of thing that only a very few people might ever want. In the old days, I used to buy and sell items via the 'small ads' in the local paper  (remember those?) and when Ebay came along it was like a version of that but with a wider reach, which was great. Now I don't know where to go. I've never joined Facebook and even if I did that seems to be mainly for local sales of things like clothes. Where on Earth could I sell odd things like a vintage Avon bottle or a bundle of metal meat skewers nowadays?