eBay is dead

[red_apple_av]

So looking back over my last 7 days of sales on eBay, I have the following numbers

12th - £1137.87

13th - £246.93

14th - £301.94

15th - £331.92

16th - £1016.40

17th - £696.60

18th - £552.38

and today big fat 0

I'm sure the lack of sales is doen to eBay hiding listings. Seems very strange. With over 1100 listings you'd think I would get a sale.

[simplyessential_uk]

So you have concluded that due to no sales today Ebay is dead. 

You sell items ranging from £1.99 - £3359 so the figures you list have absolutely no context 

A few weeks back I had 1 day with 0 sales then overnight had a flurry so I really dont think you can make sure a striking statement over a 7 day period. Im sure you will get the usual sellers jump on this thread to tell you that you are correct.

[ducatimondo]

I am wondering if something has happened to eBay at platform level as we are way down on sales today and went for a period of over 12 hours without a single sale on either shop, which normally never happens.

When I check on sold items in a number of key categories or searches I normally use, that also shows hardly anything sold compared to normal too.

I use those as a double check, as an is it me or is it them and it definitely appears to be them

[nigel_paul_wright7557]

Ebay have changed the way "lowest price" search works.

The starting price is around £40 now !

Ebay is trying to make more money by omitting cheap stuff.

Even if that cheap stuff is relevant.

If you want to see cheapest stuff you have to click on "see  more results"

All this is doing is making buyers think ebays is expensive and they shop elsewhere.

Another classic case of ebay shooting itself in the foot.

[sheba-knows-best]

I agree with simplyessential

I looked at your sold listings: between 1st and 18th you range between 2 and 10 sales a day I think. with 13 out of 18 days being 5 or below. So a zero is not such a big deal (and there's still  two hours left). You need to look at sales with a bit more perspective.

[simplyessential_uk]

I really dont know why you keep saying this (on the other thread too) my listings are all under £40 and they are all appearing under Lowest price first searches.  I sell massage oils and if I put in Aromatherapy massage oils 2,000+ results lowest starting at £1.86 - yes the "We’ve streamlined your search results to show you the best listings" appears but as I mentioned on your other thread these are hidden for a reason - either they are dead listings, not relevant or the sellers not completed the filters correctly so the algarithms are not picking these up so the seller needs to probably put more info in the descripton/item specs OR ebay look at the buyers search history and feels that those are not relevant (cassini)  - If (in my example) unhide then I infact get 5800+ listings and they are irrelevant as they are essential oils or carrier oils used in aromatherapy NOT aromatherapy massage oils.  Admittedily Ebay has not got it all right in the limited listings but its far better then sifting through all the non relevant multiple duplicated listings 

[nigel_paul_wright7557]

I was referring to a search on one of my items not yours !

The lowest price is around £40.

My item is not only cheaper than £40 but very relevant and is far from dead.

Just look at all the "no sales on ebay" threads for the results of this unwise move by ebay.

I am selling next to nothing.

Ebay are getting desperate and will try any trick in the book to see if it works.

This one wont.

Ebay need t osort out the multi listings where they all start at 99p and some chancers have hundreds of the same item making searching a joke.

Recently I have bought very little off ebay and prefer reputable dealers where there is more than a 30 day MBG.

Whats the point in paying for listings that dont show up ?

Its taking money under false pretences.

[nigel_paul_wright7557]

DId another search tonight on same item now its up to £55 starting price in "lowest price" search.

Absolutely bonkers.

[nigel_paul_wright7557]

Just up'ed my price to £60 and it shows now.

[santlache_sales]

You should think yourself lucky OP.....

My turn-over on ebay this month has dropped over 400% what it used to be a few months ago.

I'm down well over £7000 on what I took September last year.

This is not sustainable and an utter disaster, I've taken £9.55 in the last week !

Someone on another thread  said they were now a business on eBay getting Hobby income, I'm not even getting that. I had one half-decent sale around ten days ago, and if it wasn't for that I have barely covered my Shop fees this month.

[the_book_seekers]

I have serious dobts that I will cover this months shop fees for the first time in a 20 year ebay career.

[magpiecorner1]

I've about 250 saved searches that I go through daily, all my lowest pric searches start at 99p, as they have always done.

[lcoll18]

Its  a Sh** show  Sales have been slow for ages but not too bad, beginning of august, they boomed for around 2 weeks, taking around £200 a day more than usual, since then they have dropped to the lowest I can remember, going from around £350 per day on Avg sales to £120 - £180

All seems to be since I had the phone call from them trying to push promoted listings advance and i told them i was not intrested whatsoever.

[santlache_sales]

Yes, eBay are your friend if you choose their premium products, cutting your profit and adding to their's.

That's the name of the game on here now, the 'Featured Shop' ceased being that long ago, as did equal and level pegging with your items appearing on merit at the top in searches done, according to how good a seller you are, not how much you are stuffing into eBay's pockets.

The founding principles of eBay disappeared long ago.

I think that is what is so disappointing for sellers and people like me who have been on here for 20 odd years, we saw ebay when it was at it's finest. Virtually everything worked primarily because they weren't changing the design every five minutes, fees were a fraction of what they are now, but more importantly they didn't take control every aspect of a sale like they do now, they let you get on with it with minimal interference.

It's become a corporate money making monster and lost it's way some while ago because of it.

[r.soles_sneakers]

Since June 2023 something’s changed in eBay . I have everything documented from what I sell every month and can clearly see a huge drop since then .
This month (Dec 2023 ) is looking like the first month ever which could possibly hit a ‘0’ sale month for the very first time in my years of selling on eBay ! Has never happened before!
That’s proof something up..
We’re on the 27/12/23
If I doughnut- I will have to consider another platform to sell on as this will not work for me at this rate

[montecarlo98000]

I am not a business seller. I just clear or attempt to clearout old items I have purchased , selling at a loss on everything as originally paid for out of taxed income and selling at asmall % cost of the original purchase price. Even so, sales are non existent. People dont have the disposable income available for unimportant discretionary purchases of secondhand items they do not need in the current economic climate. Ebay used to be a great bit of fun, sell an old item and perhaps buy another old item on Ebay. This just doesnt seem to happen anymore. Interest, collectables, rare hard to find items are becoming scare on Ebay now. Search is a mess too. Limiting the appearance of items in search is poor practice as those people listed items in good faith that they could be seen, but no more. If you dont do promoted listing your item will never be visible to all. So here we are in Jan 2024 and the site is going to take another hit as people just stop bothering to use it. The latest is the effect of the UK Gov Finance Act 2023, under section 349 of the Finance (No.2) Act 2023, COMMENCING JAN 1 2024. Basically as follows:-

Resale platforms to share information with HMRC amid tax clampdown

As of 1 January, online platforms such as Vinted, Ebay and Depop are now required to record how much money individuals are making and report back to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), as sellers face new tax rules.

The new rules require digital platforms to report the income that sellers are getting through their sites routinely. It will apply to sales of goods such as second-hand clothing, but also services including taxi hire, food delivery, freelance work, short-term accommodation lets and even renting out a driveway for parking.

The power to enable these regulations to be made was introduced under section 349 of the Finance (No.2) Act 2023. The regulations will support the government’s work to “bear down on tax evasion,” HMRC said in the policy paper published online.

While HMRC already has the power to access information from UK-based platforms on the income of sellers on their platforms, implementing the rules will enable it to exchange information with other tax authorities to access data from platforms based outside the UK quickly and efficiently, it said.

An HMRC said “These new rules will support our work to help online sellers get their tax right first time. They will also help us detect any deliberate non-compliance, ensuring a level playing field for all taxpayers.”

Under the rules, businesses will not be required to share data about sellers who make fewer than 30 transactions or equivalent to £1,740 each year.

“It’s only those people who are making a profit from selling secondhand items that might be eligible for tax and then it’s about their personal tax situation; what tax would ultimately be due to HMRC.

OK if you are a HMRC registered business VAT Registered etc perhaps, but otherwise its a potential disaster for all casual private sellers selling more than £1700 worth of goods a year. You will need to prove you havnt made a profit on those sales, taking into account your own personal tax situation. Who is going to bother ? Its just not worth the hassle to get a few quid for an old secondhand item as the selling and promo fees are too high and then you'll have to potentially pay min 20% tax ( dep on your tax band taxable income) on any proceeds on top! Better to give the item to Charity!  EG a secondhand item, a £30 jumper, less approx 20% cost in Real Ebay fees( promo fees etc final selling fees etc) so say £24 for sold item, then less tax @20% so £19.20 ish these are rough figures. Why bother when you can sell something like that on FB with no fees etc etc or better still give it to Charity in the first place? I just see all those private ( and many non registered business sellers) moving to FB etc to sell stuff privately without suffering Ebays high fees and then a potential tax hit and aload of cost and hassle ontop. Its nolonger worth selling under those terms and conditions. Its business sellers only for Ebays future. They want multiple sales of same items and ideally expensive items too. For Private sellers its already not worth the hassle effort and cost to try and sell anything under £25 anylonger!

Good luck to everyone.

[the_book_seekers]

It's not about profit. That £1700 is your turnover figure. Exceeding that figure doesn't necessarily mean you will have to pay tax. It may mean you have to answer a few question about your selling from HMR if your are contacted, but if it is obvious to HMRC that you are a genuine private seller you may hear nothing at all. 

Car boots may do well out of this. 

[simplyessential_uk]

cant delete ignore

[bittyboy101]

---

@r.soles_sneakers wrote:

Since June 2023 something’s changed in eBay . I have everything documented from what I sell every month and can clearly see a huge drop since then .
This month (Dec 2023 ) is looking like the first month ever which could possibly hit a ‘0’ sale month for the very first time in my years of selling on eBay ! Has never happened before!
That’s proof something up..
We’re on the 27/12/23
If I doughnut- I will have to consider another platform to sell on as this will not work for me at this rate

---

I agree 100%.

Exactly the same thing had also happened to me, since June/July of 2023, I noticed a MASSIVE drop in views and sales... My sales were never great on eBay since they changed the seller hub and FORCED me to have to use "managed payments" back in 2021.... Now over the last 4 months eBay has been totally DEAD. The only sales I have ever made since then were from old buyers who bought 1 or 2 items from me a while ago and then came back out of their OWN ACCORD because they liked my items and must have added me as a "favourite seller" on eBay... Apart from that, NOTHING, no sales from anyone else, just people (or bots?) watching my listings and doing nothing...

I've now gone from almost  60 items down to just 8... Even with only a few listings, no one seems to be buying anything...

Now in 2024... for a small private seller and carer to my mum trying to supliment whatever little income I have has now become a nightmare with all these new tax rules which are so confusing, one site says people like myself are only allowed to make up to a £1,000 a year now (when this used to be something like £12,000) ... and then one site says that small domestic sellers are only allowed to sell up to £83.00 every month ??... I am so confused and now scared to sell anything over £83 in total !

I can't understand this, nor understand why such UNREASONABLE limits for selling stuff monthly ???

OK, I can understand that small non business sellers are now no longer allowed to earn up to £12k anymore due to more stricter tax regulations here in UK, but what's with the only £83.00 a month limit ??, why is this so low ?, I mean why can't I just sell 10 items a year for £100 each ? or 4 items a year for £250 each ??.... I really don't understand this or WHY this government forbids anyone from making a decent amount of money in one go ???

Imagine someone wants to go on holiday to Florida and they would like to raise an extra £1000 before the summer to be able to afford to go on their holiday, with only £83 a month allowence they are only going to raise £498 ! in just 6 months and that is EXCLUDING fees and postage costs for selling on eBay and posting out items to buyers (now rarer than Hen's teeth ! on eBay !)... So this really isn't very nice and leads me to suspect that maybe the government is somehow behind the limit of all sales on eBay ???? ...ie, they have told eBay not to allow any sellers who are small, not to make any more than the £1000 YEARLY limit they have now set ?

[the_book_seekers]

The £1000 limit is a trading allowance for businesses. Private individuals have the £12,000ish personal allowance. If you have to report to HMRC will depend on your total income including online selling in a given tax year. It's as well to keep some records of what you are doing incase HMRC does come calling.