Sales Downfall in March 2024

[theglo-68]

I wonder if anyone else noticed a sudden downfall in sales.

Sales are non existent in March however January and February were reasonabley good months.

Please share your thoughts!

[theelench]

Been there for years, it's been out selling ebay for the last few.

A word of advice if I may, read-up on the criteria for getting your ads. up-loaded to google shopping.

[coxandbudgebooks]

Hello all,

Has anyone seen any green shoots or improvement? I'm struggling to say I've seen any - the odd sale or odd flurry but viewing figures well down, sales even downer.

(Fully understand it's the first bit of nice weather / people's bank balances - but surely not everyone...?)

Perhaps I should just join the throng and go private (as an awful lot of people seem to do), or just pour everything into the other selling sites.

Be keen to hear if anyone's picking up anything good here.

Cheers

[therenewalworkshopltd]

If your a business, your a business!  Just because others may have changed accounts, ,doesn't make it the right thing to do.

By doing so, you are actually breaking the law, never Ebay's rules.

But this last weekend hasn't been too bad at all.  I've just completed almost 90 orders ready for collection.

And no, before anyone asks, not just this account!

There are sales to be made still.  Though it is quieter than a month or so ago, it's not dead at all.

[coxandbudgebooks]

Quite right - I think the frustration is my main category (books) is swamped with "privates" - the aggravation being I've seen what they're selling go through at proper auction only to be listed on ebay shortly after, and a couple of them I have known personally - they're plastered over the other bookselling sites - but here they don't have to pay, and get reduced FVFs. 

Pleased to hear you're making some sales, long may it continue!

[therenewalworkshopltd]

I get it, the biggest issue you have though, is the sheer volume of book sellers.  

And I do see the appeal of the private account.  I mean it's completely free listings for me if I where to change (Clothing).  That alone would save a fair chunk in fees.

But.....   there are drawbacks to this.  Buyers, in general, prefer to buy from a business.  They lose the option of change of mind, when buying privately.  But better to stay within the rules as I'm not here for the short term, but for the long term and it just isn't worth the hassle.

Why don't you look at expanding your range?  Add something that will sell regularly.  

Plenty of options out there, it's just finding the one that fits you and the right price point obviously.

You can keep within your current range, but go for something like book lights or stationary etc.

[coxandbudgebooks]

All good thoughts, thank you. 😊 Will have a ponder...

[woolyhippo-ltd]

Started advanced promotions and I am getting hundreds of impressions nearly everyday, so the stats say and virtually no sales for two days then two days normal then virtually no sales for two days maybe three. We have noticed others in our sector have the same sales patterns. I would almost swear we are all being rationed sales time. Something is very irregular with this platform. When I enquire I am told it is seasonal. Even when I tell them about others on here who are saying the same it's the same old tired excuse. So ebay everyone's sales nose dived all at the same time did they because it's seasonal. 👍

[gemolade]

Over the past few days - I am now convinced something is amiss.  Other platforms seem ok - though eBay...?

[handscartridges]

Our sales are shocking and have been for last few weeks, other channels have good days then a poor day but ebay just seems poor non stop for these last few weeks.

[woolyhippo-ltd]

I am having two good days then two to three bad days like clock work for 5 weeks on eBay. On the good days I have 100s of impressions on the bad days 10s of impressions. It it literally like I am being turned off and on. It's all been since the iOS update that eBay did and put the wrong delivery addresses. I think they have rebooted servers and we are all rebuilding our profiles. I have had this in the past when ebay had a mass hacking and it took weeks to rebuild our position. 

[leebrothersmc]

So did anyone get to the bottom of this??

[woolyhippo-ltd]

No, so far eBay has not offered a reason as to why some people's sales have all at once dropped off a cliff. 

I have also noticed that people who were further down the sales searches are now higher as we have lost our standings. Some people's servers are not in trouble, ours obviously is one of the affected I guess.

[red357rose]

Same us already started last week just suddenly dropped the sales after just less and less when talking with costumer service all the time same answer everything fine, but its not fine. I am 20 years on Ebay but before never seen this.:( Most of time they updating this is why our sales down or nothing 😞

[divine0606]

Yes same issue for us whats weird is that listings which are not sponsored or have very low keyword bid amounts are ranking high and listings which were converting well and high keyword bid amounts have now dropped in rank some are even on the 18th page it just does not make sense. 

I have a particular product which is a high converting product we sell on average 300-500 pcs of this daily we use advanced sponsored campaigns and i'm familar with how to run excellent converting PPC campaigns with the correct keywords where paying £0.90 per click per a keyword for about 26 keywords and all was fine until 3 days ago when the listing just disappeared from ranking at the top on the first page and whats even more ridiculous is that a listing i am not running any campaign's on has now taken its place number 1 postion on the first page and i'm not paying for it which of course i don't mind but still i have many other products and this issue is playing havoc with us at the moment and now getting to the pointb where its now effecting our cash flow. 

i've also spoken to ebay customer service and GUESS what everything is fine what a bunch of JOKERS apparently its always fine in eBay land, i mean what planet do these nutters live on. 

We also sell on other platforms our Amazon account is flying, sales are consitant no issues with search just how it should be. 

I was under the impression that pay per click was to increase visibility and not to decrease visability. Lol 😂 

If this continues we'll be shutting shop with these guys its just not working for us now, we have 16 ebay accounts of which we turnover over million a year you can imagine what are fees are like and yet they still can't get the simplest of things right! 

No wonder sellers are leaving in droves and also we all know ebay reps monitor these threads why why haven't they responded to there customers concerns or are they just not bothered which then also confirms how weak this platform is, i think the good old days are over with eBay if they continue like this. 

[woolyhippo-ltd]

You have just noticed the same today, we have gone from top 3 in search to no where. That means the server all our info is on has been rebooted. I know this as fact as I have had it confirmed to me by ebay reps yrs ago when Ireland was the main contact point for the UK customer services. 

This week has been the worst trading week of the past 7 weeks that this has been happening. 

[divine0606]

If thats the case then it seems there just trying grab more money because if the statistics on the promotions have been reset then obiously we'll have to increase our promotion % and keyword bid price and in return that will increase there profits that makes me sick if thats the case.  

But then that doesnt explain why some of my non promoted listing are ranking no 1 on the first page either way something is up 

come on ebay you can clearly see customers are unhappy atleast keep us informed if theres an issue or would you rather we increase our % on promoted listings 😠

[proudfootuk]

Got to agree. I retired 2 months ago even thogh I could have gone on working but I thought enough was enough. I have my pension and my small income from ebay......what income!!!! I thought my sales were just a blip but they have collapsed. Last week I sold 4 items in the whole week. I have good items that regularly sell within a couple of days of listing and now I sometimes have no views in a week.  I have been a member over 20 years and never known a slump like this. I feel sorry for the people who rely on ebay for a living. I have done a couple of car boots recentley and have sold items for the same value they sell on ebay with no wrapping time and materials costs and no trips to the post office or fees to pay.  20 years a loyal Ebayer.....hmmmm!!!!!

[woolyhippo-ltd]

Same here, sales collapse and we have done car boots for extra. Taking more from them than here. We have not had a high st shop for 6 yrs or a market stall for 10. Now it looks very attractive lol 

I think now any fed up customers have long gone and wont be back for months. 

I also notice that the stock exchanges all round the world are at record highs, that is normally the first sign of an economic collapse and retail is always the first victim. 

Just to rub it in they when i ring them they thank me for being loyal for 10 yrs 😂

[vintagecapsule]

My sales are sliding on eBay and have been for the past 12 months - eBay used to be perform really well for me.  I am loathed to buy into eBay's promotional listings and think now that my listings are buried for no one to see.  Promotional listings seem really greedy to me (on the part of eBay) - buying stock for me is expensive (I'm a vintage clothing seller) and margins are tight.  I can't afford to pay their final listing fee PLUS another promo fee.  Plus, offering private sellers a no fee platform for clothing has really really REALLY made me mad.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Maybe you need to start looking at where your buying from.  There are more than a few options out there.

Bulk purchases are the way to go, if you can do it.

Margins on used clothing are generally pretty good and not tight at all.

I'm averaging at about 30-40%.  Some items are barely profitable, but some extremely so.

Though there are some wholesalers out there, that are really squeezing profitability.  I doubt that they will keep the prices as high as they are for too long, as the market is not going to support them.

As to the private sellers getting free listings, it's really not that big a deal.

There are plenty of disadvantages to buyers, when buying privately, that eased considerably when buying from a business.

At the worst, it will bring in more buyers.  And I am ignoring those sellers that are business', that are getting around the rules.

I'm finding that promoted listings seem to be a bit of a waste of time and I'm gradually removing the promotions on mine.  I've not lost any views/clicks, though the impressions are dropping.  But it's really not making much difference at all.