IS EBAY PUTTING SALES LIMITS ON SELLERS

[custom_cars_uk]

I'm pretty sure that ebay is putting a limit on sales for some sellers.

We have been trading on here for 20 yrs and for the last few years have been suspicious on whether  a sales limit is in force, so for the last 2 yrs we have been testing out this theory.

No matter what we try, for the last 2 yrs our monthly sales have virtually stayed the same - literally within 1-2 sales difference each month.

We tried cutting our profit in half and reducing prices - same sales.

Some months later we doubled our profit and increased prices - same sales.  

We stopped overseas sales which made up 25% of our sales, so would expect a reduction in sales - but same sales

We offered free postage - same sales

We have retained all of our products but have introduced loads of new kits - same sales

I think ebay are applying sales limits - trying to manipulate sellers into paying extra fees for promotions - and if you don't pay for promotions, you're punished with a limit.

[four_mid_able]

I guess the simple answer is "you will never know" but i would have thought it a ludicrous action by Ebay to do that as they would lose commission.

But on the other hand they could divert sales to other sellers who do pay promotion fee's and overall make a bigger profit.

I'm thinking it all depends on what you sell ,how many items you list and what your competitors do ,again how many items do they list.

From what iv'e seen over the years the sellers who list more seem to sell more even if their prices are slightly higher than others.

[actual_uk_seller]

I suppose that the next experiment to test your hypothesis is to assign half your profit margin to eBay via promoted listings and see whether your sales increase beyond the putative limit.

[marco@ebay]

Hi pimp-up-my-ride, thanks for your post.

We have selling limits on place for sellers, if you click here you can see more about them. Also, if you are eligbile, you can request a limit increase from there as well. 

Thank you,

Marco

[cobwebcottage]

I believe the OP is talking about SALES being limited not selling (listing) limits.

[nigel_paul_wright7557]

I am finding the opposite with sales all over the place.

Like 5 sales in one day and zero the next.

The general trend in ebay sales for me is downward.

[jolly-chef]

Here's an idea...

Like many of the Chinese sellers, why not open multiple eBay accounts to get around the "sales cap"?

[custom_cars_uk]

24th Sept update - Since leaving our initial message on the 19th Sept - we have not made one single sale or received any buyer enquiries - we have 155 listings and have never had this before - coincidence or punishment?

[rubydoo007]

I totally agree with what you are saying, Ebay has got that big with millions apon millions of sellers I think it is physically impossable to display all of the items listed at the same time. So ebay share out the listings / promotions to keep everybody with enough sales to continue.

Our business started with just private listings and gradually building up to the first shop and then built up to premium and as you say our sales numbers are averaging the same numbers as when we first started only difference is we are selling more profitable goods.

[eastern-lights]

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@rubydoo007 wrote:

I totally agree with what you are saying, Ebay has got that big with millions apon millions of sellers I think it is physically impossable to display all of the items listed at the same time. So ebay share out the listings / promotions to keep everybody with enough sales to continue.

Our business started with just private listings and gradually building up to the first shop and then built up to premium and as you say our sales numbers are averaging the same numbers as when we first started only difference is we are selling more profitable goods.

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I can't really see it myself. Ebay don't "display" all of the items listed, they display only what buyers click on. It does not benefit Ebay to restrict overall sales, but perhaps it might benefit Ebay to steer sales to more profitable (for them) sellers. But that assumes that others are selling the same as you but somehow more profitably for Ebay. 

I've heard it claimed that Ebay sales numbers are dropping overall? If so they'll have no trouble handling reduced number of sales if they previously managed more.

Isn't it simple to see if Ebay are "hiding" your listings? Use another account to search for them?

[rubydoo007]

I am not saying that ebay are hiding listings, its just they do not display all the listings relevant to a search.

If I search my listings from another account and use my exact  listing heading... my listing will come up every time.

The difference is if I search using only simple terms, say two or three words from my listing (which most people will use) the intial results can be very different, with a lot of promoted listing coming up first.

We all must have listed somthing then searched for it using slightly different terms and the listing does not always come up in the results ?

[beechvale76_5]

What I find strange lately is my sales happen in groups. Yesterday, on my other account, two sales in the space of an hour around lunch time and last night three sale in six minutes around 11 o'clock. It is very rare I get a sale at night if at all but three in a few minutes!

[badger_3d]

We've thought this is the case for about 18 months now. We have ranges that are general plus those that nobody else has the rights to, as well as our own IP.

We were going great guns for a while with a previous range, introduced a soleus range and it was a tectonic shift from the old range to the new (different customer base, so I'd have expected a bump rather than flat sales). Now, we know there is competition out there on the old range, but it was like flicking a light switch.

Now, we look at our website sales and we have the expected mix of products being sold for a range of our size.

We've given up with trying to work eBay out. It's our third largest platform when it was the first a year ago. Lower average sales value, horrendous requirement for investment in views which results in a reduction in impressions regardless, hidden descriptions to mislead buyers and what has become a hostile selling environment.

We know the issues we're dealing with, we use it as a tertiary platform.

[2010safe]

I just recieved this email, even though im rated as Top Seller.

"We wanted to remind you that your seller performance has consistently fallen below our minimum standards in global markets. As a result, there’s now a risk that the selling limits will be lowered on your account, and in some cases, you may be permanently restricted from selling on eBay.

Here’s what you should do

Check your Seller Dashboard to see where you can improve your seller performance."

Why am I being restricted, surely this has to be an error?

[retrofootballshirtsukcom]

I tend to find listing activity helps overal sales.
If I have a consistent period of listing daily, old stuff moves easier.
Probably in my head, but I guess more listing equals more traffic.

[blimpy*boy]

You will need to go into your Seller Standard Dashboard, then click through, then change the region at the top to select different Countries to see your stats for those regions, as this mentions 'in global markets'

[blimpy*boy]

It's odd that some people have mentioned eBay 'hiding' listings as I've just had experience of this a few days ago.  I have been selling off my doll collection and wanted to find out the general Sales price.  So naturally, I search ebay using all the tools like Worldwide, sold, completed, etc. and the doll I'm searching for doesn't come up anywhere.

So I go searching on Google and one of the results shows ebay listings in USA for exactly the doll I've just been searching for, and it's a current listing and I can click through and see it on ebay.com.  So I then wonder if ebay didn't show that to me because maybe that Seller doesn't send overseas - but no, the Seller does send to the UK.

I also happen to have an old ebay account, which is still active but is via ebay.com (long before they'd gotten their .co.uk site going!) . So I then Search using my old account, but logged in via ebay.co.uk - the results are the same - no doll of that name listed.

I then considered that my Country location was being picked up and maybe ebay were not showing me that USA listing because of that - so I use a different browser and hide my location and also change my location on my PC.  The listing does not show.

So there you have it.  A listing that only exists via Google.

[Anonymous]

just read marcos message 

so by its own admission e bay moves the goalposts in favour of its more profitable sellers 

we can see which way e bay are going a wannabe amazon.

[*help_no_brakes*]

Both yourself & Marco have missed the point of the OP's thread.

The OP was talking about limiting/hiding listings.

All sellers have listing limits.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/listings/selling-limits?id=4107&st=3&pos=1&query=Selling%20limit...

[bittyboy101]

I THINK THAT YOU ARE 100% RIGHT !

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...  So it definitely seems like eBay (or maybe the Government) are limiting sales on eBay somehow and it is now VERY NOTICEABLE !

I also think that eBay are deliberately setting their checkout to throw up errors when buyers go to purchase cartain sellers items, as a few weeks ago I had a repeat buyer (an old buyer) comeback and try to buy something, only he was smart enough to message me to let me know that he was unable to buy one of my items because he was getting an error at the eBay checkout - I told him to message me from the listing of the item he wanted to buy and I would then reply back with AN OFFER of a few pounds less than the buy-it-now price and he could then accept the offer and see if the payment system would then let him pay - THIS WORKED and he was able to purchase the item. 

This got me thinking, though, as I have now noticed I get a lot of people watching my stuff, and after a few hours some of these watchers then stop watching... It could be that they tried to buy the item and eBay gave them an error at the checkout and they then gave up  and STOPPED watching ?? 

The bottom line is there is definitely something shady going on with eBay and suddenly no sales at all ?