My eBay Sales are down by 64% so far this year
Summary: The discussion revolves around declining sales on eBay, with participants sharing their experiences and frustrations. Common grievances include algorithm changes affecting visibility, increased competition from other platforms like Vinted, high fees, and general economic downturns. Some mention a significant drop in sales that have not even covered subscription costs. There's also criticism over questionable sales practices and unreliable customer service. Several users contemplate switching platforms or reopening physical stores, citing dissatisfaction with eBay's current policies and fee structures.
Has anyone else noticed sales on eBay are well down.
I can't even give items away! I either get ridicules low offers for BIN or
Item Not Sold in my auctions.
Beginning to despair, costs almost exceed revenues after fees, postage and packaging etc..
I used to have many, many oversea buyers - all gone now. Is it just me or across the board?
collectables-of-hatton
·Oct 13, 2026 at 9:12 PMI feel your pain, and to be honest i am praying that a government will turn up soon to help us small businesses and allow us to afford rent and rates and go back on the highstreet and sell. would help us who have become slaves to selling online , well thats my thoughts i have been monitoring this for a while let us online sellers move into redundant shops make high stretts safe and worth going to again, sorry to be boring but thats my thought how to solve no views or sales ...be visible in your neigbourhood if only we could afford crazy tax and vat then rent etc etc,... rant over bed time
theelench
·yesterday at 9:08 AMEbay is going down the same road as the High St. did before it. Landlords got used to hiking shop rents regularly, as did councils raising Business Rates and the cost of other services and charges. The cost was passed onto buyers.
When ebay came along sellers could undercut the High St. because their overheads were lower.
Having destroyed the competition, ebay is now doing the same.
Still getting my head around why a low cost (£5-£6) coin from a business seller can be sent to me for 91p, but the same coin from a private seller costs £2.70 Tracked (+BPF?)
Bought the same coin on another site for £3.99 FREE Delivery.
Ebay is pricing itself out of the market.
2010marguerite2001
·Oct 13, 2026 at 8:29 PMI seem to be selling to repeat customers with such low prices even when I promote my items. I am a genuine private seller and this is my hobbie. I love doing what i'm doing. No money can be made as businesses will only pay very low prices. I like knowing that people like my items enough to purchase and for me to re order replacements as it at least helps to get my talent out there. I have to shop away from Ebay as prices can be three times higher than other sites expecially with Ebays postage costs. It will never ever be a living. I have excepted that.
roger_roger_over_and_nowt
·Oct 13, 2026 at 8:36 PM"I am a genuine private seller" and then "I like knowing that people like my items enough to purchase and for me to re order replacements". ????
csltd2003
·Oct 13, 2026 at 9:13 PMHow can you be a private seller if you are purchasing to resale of course you can undercut business sellers if it’s a hobby but really this is one of the problems business seller are facing we have to support out families from our eBay activates and pay ever increasing ebay fees that you do not
the_book_seekers
·Oct 13, 2026 at 9:15 PMI'm afraid you can't be a genuine private seller while buying to sell as this is the definition of a business seller. It doesn't matter how much you sell and whether you make a profit doing it. Once a person starts buying to sell then legally that person is a business. By selling on a private account you deny buyers their consumer rights amongst other things.
fribblecollectables
·yesterday at 6:21 AMYou have now made eBay staff aware by posting on here.
You appear to be selling brand new items on an incorrect account type for this. This is possibly an oversight.
eBay require you to use what they have called a 'business' account. This does not necessarily mean you employ people, or have registered as a business legally. It's just what they call it.
They say in their Ts & Cs - "An eBay seller must register as a business if, for example, they sell items they have bought to resell".
This is on this page: www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/selling-policies/business-seller-policy?id=4710&utm
It is easy to do and takes just a couple of minutes.
Go to this page and read the bit about 'Changing from a personal account to a business account'
www.ebay.co.uk/help/account/creating-account/creating-ebay-account?id=4191#section5
You don't want your account suspended or listings removed simply by having the wrong account type.
Some readers of this forum might have now reported your account.
boundarycoins
·yesterday at 10:41 AM · EditedIt’s confusing though isn’t it because I see this when I sign into my private account:
They are helping the user run their business on their private account, explicitly say it as above, they brought back SKU’s for private sellers, CS tell people they aren’t at a threshold to be a business, forum posters are asked to stop talking about the issue. It goes on and on with examples of contradictions. We can get irritated by it and try to scare people but the fact is eBay probably won’t do anything, they know they have 2 choices, force people onto business accounts and wave goodbye to them to a competitor or let them crack on
glitz4u10
·5 days agousually caused by a mix of algorithmic changes pushing paid promotions, increased competition from alternative platforms like Vinted, stale inventory, and seasonal or economic spending shifts
glitz4u10
·5 days agoMy E Bay selling is very very poor, it never was like this ever, looking for a differend Platform now.
jomarjip
·1 week agoMight help if eBay increased their free listings. Used to be 1000 now its only 300 which restricts re listing.
jonatjonatjonat
·1 week agoDoes anyone really need 1,000 listings a month? For Private Sellers the 300 rolls over anyway, so within 3 months you could have near enough 1,000 listings anyway (which is wholly unfair vs business sellers).
koska1752
·1 week agono selling , problem with log (15-20 times) , items looks like hidden , contact with cs - impossible , eBay UK looks like off .... that's all
cobwebcottage
·1 week agoPrivate seller (??) 10k sold. Multiple listings. BFP added. No returns. No consumer protection.
Could this have anything to do with it or is it all just Ebay?
jonatjonatjonat
·1 week ago · EditedWonder if the Royal British Legion have found them yet. There's certainly no mention of charitable donations.
bunillidh
·1 week agoFor a laugh I sent out two 80% off offers on items that were already keenly priced.....nada..nothing.., my sales are currently 36% down, despite having some real decent stock. I am too old for eBay live and too tight to promote everything more than I already do, for the first time in 30 years I have though about quitting and re-opening my brick and mortar shop I closed after covid.
nigel_paul_wright7557
·1 week agoI have noticed my items rarely come up in a google search now on ebay.
This means I am losing a lot of customers.
Ebay now want to charge us £5 a day to pass on listings to google.
Thats just far too much for that service.
jomarjip
·1 week ago2 Things I think, eBay buyer protection on low value items plus the new import duty on items valued below 150 Euro entering the EU.
mervdaswerv
·1 week agoIts good to read im not the only one struggling with sales, I have been selling for 20 years on ebay and this is by far the worst period i have had, I put it down to the cost of living and people not affording there toys and luxury items atm, im roughly 70% down each week and when you get use to regular income and then it drops so much its hard! do i blame ebay....yes as they dont seem to advertise anymore, all these fees we have to pay and the worst thing letting these idiot timewasters and scammers keep getting away with day light robbery spoils it!
Not sure how its going to get better but I hope ebay get a grip and help us all out! oh.. plus trump stops this oil war to reduce the cost of living. hang on in there as only the hard core sellers keep going
suelel1968
·1 week agoHi, have you tried Buy it now? Auctions are time consuming for buyers I find. If someone wants a particular golf club, they will buy it, but if it is on auction they have to wait for the auction to finish and might miss out on another one or sale. I think that is why you get time wasters on auctions. They might bid on two things and put in an offer on another one, but they never wanted 3. Just a thought.
mervdaswerv
·1 week agoLot of my mates keep saying this but I’m really stuck on the old fashioned eBay and having a good old auction! let it battle out, but guessing might be time to move on and try this, thanks for the message
vinylscot
·1 week agoIf you have a shop, you're as well using the auction listings included in your subscription. I list them as seven day auctions first, and if the don't sell, then I re-list as "Buy It Now". It gives it a couple of extra pushes, once as a new listing, and one as one ending soon, and it onnly delays posting as a "Buy It Now" by a week.
iss504
·1 week agoI'm mainly a buyer. One can blame the down-turn on the usually suspects, trump, the Russians. climate change, fill-in the-blank,..but the real culprit in my opinion is Ebay. Ebay's insistent support for Simple Delivery, (read bungling Evri,) is murdering Ebay. I have too many horror stories about Evri. Ebay has shot itself in the foot with this delivery service. Ebay's increasingly blind support for fraudulent sellers; Ebay's poor and incompetent use of AI at all levels.;...for me it's gotten to the point where I don't want to trust Ebay with access to my bank account. Looking elsewhere is looking more attractive.
csltd2003
·1 week agoI agree with all said here and the most worrying thing is how a person can advertise items as being in the UK then ship them from china ,all at a cost I could not even ship from the UK to Uk, who is subsidising this ??.
greenwardrobe1955
·1 week agoyep mine are well down to so few viewings all ebay seem interested in is promoting the item which is a somewhat tedious system at least with Vinted you just bump the item its a set fee and you know where you are....policies becoming a stranglehold on sales to.....i found when i went to buy fish knives that i now have to hand over my credit card details to verify I'm 70 years old yeah right because we all want to do that (yet i can buy a garden implement like a dandelion skewer capable of inflicting serious damage to another with no identification needs1
carmaso_8
·1 week agoThe slowdown in sales is happening across the globe. It's caused by Trump destabilizing the Gulf region and its restrictions on oil supplies. This causes people to save their money. The EU fighting a proxy war against Russia. This also threatens oil supplies from Russia. The media are warmongering about WW3 , this doesn't help business confidence. Ebay don't help. They make it harder to sell , by being money grabbers. Isn't making $1.2 Billion enough ebay ?
allie75jane_1
·2 weeks agoI left a year ago went to another platform but came back. Just to try it for a month. I was lucky if I got my shop sub back . I sell things from Japan. I thought I would be fine . EBay’s fees are a massive joke. I’m back on the other platform now . Don’t waste your time. I saw the open video it looked dreadful.
I doubt I will be coming back soon
iss504
·1 week agoWhat platform did you switch
to?
pillarboxred
·2 weeks agoYou are doing very well compared to me. You can sell items here if they are very rare and in high demand but if there is more than one other one listed the only way to go is "beggar thy neighbour" as it traditionally called in retail: charge so little you get the sale offer free postage and neither you nor anyone else makes any money except eBay and the postage companies.
maarsy
·2 weeks agoi noticed when i was refreshing older listings in the last month out of the 1200 i took down about 200 - 300 were showing that they had no returns policy or shipping option . it was there when i made them clearly as otherwise they can't be listed and they keep renewing but i think it was a large issue why my sales went down as i can imagine they can't be bought or wont show to buyers . it might be worth taking listings down and putting them up again to see if they don't have anything missing meanwhile
crash_salvage_repair
·2 weeks agoebay keep removing my messages got no idea why if anyone wants serious sellin advice drop a line through ebay messages
i have extensive sales experience selling over £10k worth of parts on a monthly basis as a part time business
lookinpandorasbox
·3 weeks agoOne sale in the last 3 days
64loui64
·3 weeks agoYep. Only sold 1 item in 12 days since 9 sept
westnorfolknotes
·3 weeks agoMy sales are also down. Literally the last five days! (from 21st Sep), sales are down sharply. I have experienced 2-3 days in a row that might be slow or negligible over the last year or two, but five days in a row with almost nothing is unprecedented. Interesting to read in one of the comments about eBay and the algorithm, this month.
omniversecomics
·2 weeks agoI’m experiencing almost the exact same thing. Since around the 8th Sep everything has dropped dramatically, views and impressions down over 50%, sales down massively. In a month I’d expect maybe 1 or 2 days with no sales but over these two weeks I’ve had three times this.
Most of our sales were international, and around this date it switched us from GSP to EIS so don’t know if this change is why sales have plummeted.
htcpaint
·3 weeks agoEbay are just doing everything wrong and I feel like they're in a death spiral.
I'm a business seller. I have no idea why I maintain a business account because other people are operating private accounts who are clearly buying the same items as me in order to resell but they're getting away with no fees whilst I'm forced to pay around 20% in expenses by the time you factor in postage and all of Ebay fees. I try reporting these accounts for Ebay policy evasion. Ebay don't care. Nothing happens. They're losing money by not enforcing accounts and they just don't care.
It used to be a case that it was worth the Ebay fees because it gave you access to such a large market. Now that market seems to have disappeared. You see the same items on Vinted with more watchers, and selling at higher prices then they sell on Ebay.
Thinking about shifting over to Vinted and scrapping Ebay. The selling fees are just prohibitive and it's frankly not fair how they don't bother enforcing their own policy in regard to private sellers operating as businesses.
crash_salvage_repair
·2 weeks agohello, those private scam business sellers are slowly but surely being clocked on by hmrc, do you think ebay and hmrc is going to let them get away with it, soon as they meet a threashold in sales hmrc will come knocking with a bill for last 2 yrs of sales
just hold in there, i had it alot with my industry used car parts, there are loads private business scam sellers getting banned or having to change to business
i see it every other week
64loui64
·Sep 15, 2026 at 2:59 AMYes. Nothing since 9 Sept. Sales are down a lot. Ebay offering free postage so things must be bad!
dinosaur7742
·1 month agoThe word in the stamp business is that 'E-bay has lost it'. Sad because it used to be so good for getting rid of material that one no longer needed for one's collection. Too prescriptive in a distrusting world.
oneblankcard
·1 month agoI think sales have dropped since the introduction of no fees to private sellers . How can I compete when 25-30% goes in fees and charges. Charging fees on postage surely is against some law or other.
theelench
·Sep 15, 2026 at 8:00 AMPersonally, as someone who used to be a private seller on ebay, I don't think it was "Free to Sell" that caused the drop in sales for businesses. This was, if I remember rightly, only introduced at the beginning of last year. Many private sellers had up to 1000 free listings per month for years before that, giving them an edge even before its introduction.
IMO, it was the Buyer Protection Fee, introduced shortly after Free to Sell and Managed 'Simple' Delivery that put a lot of genuine private sellers off selling on ebay . They either stopped selling altogether or reduced what they tried to sell.
That IMO, is what has reduced sales for many businesses. You sell some very nice cards and stationary, I would think mostly to private individuals, many of whom would search here first because they also sold and probably had built-up an Ebay Balance they would use for buying.
Because ebay now restricts visibility for listings that don't pay to promote, which private sellers are less inclined to do than businesses, even private sellers who still list here are finding any sales harder to come by. The result, I believe, has been a significant reduction in activity, both buying and selling by private sellers who were once a 'captive audience' that businesses could rely on for regular sales.
That no longer applies and ebay business sellers are now not only competing with each other, but also with sellers on other platforms who, if they charge less fees, can offer the same items for less. A big advantage when people's spending is being squeezed by stagnant wages and constant price and bill inflation.
oneblankcard
·Sep 15, 2026 at 9:19 AMI have both a business page and a private page. I suppose buyers just look at the bottom line - payment. Some aren't even aware of all the extras that a business has to pay. eg I sell a card for £1.70 which is relatively cheap compared to a bricks and mortar shop, but add the £1.80 postage to get it to the customer in a reasonable time scale and it becomes a bit on the expensive side especially if they then have to post it on.(£5.30) The problem is that my fee for selling 1 card is too high. 11.9% on total £3.50) a regulatory fee, another fvf and VAT total £0.63. So from £1.70 eBay take 63p, I still have to pay for the card/envelope and the hardbacked envelope to post it. Well it gives me something to do!!! I'll never be a millionaire.
cheekychippy210
·1 week ago · Edited" I suppose buyers just look at the bottom line"
I dont think so. some of my items dont even appear in a search!
I know some items i had advertised were the lowest in that section but oddly items from others sold for £15 to £20 more.
Bottom line, then buyers would select lowest price. Is that working or do the promoted items still get pushed to the top? How is that doing a service to buyer?
I am in no doubt it this is all down to ebays promotions, push those items who pay more in fees to the top.
plenty on youtube about promotions.
toffeecat66-7
·3 weeks agoEverything is a luxury now that used to br an impulse buy!! Many not all are now watching the pennies!! With our propaganda press and media peddling the third world war ain't helping either!!
wgwillia
·1 month agoEbay as killed the golden goose that's laded the golden egg.
toffeecat66-7
·3 weeks agoEbay live as killed private selling!! Its making a few business lots of money but as can be seen the majority sales and views are down!! Even charities are onit now!! Businesses cant compete with them whi get ALL their stuff for FREE!!
2000appletree
·1 week agoThe introduction of the live shopping format was intended to boost sales, but reality has harshly exposed the flaws of this model, making it highly unprofitable for many businesses. A perfect, yet alarming example of this disconnect was the recent auction of a luxury Louis Vuitton handbag; despite its retail value of around £3,000, it was ultimately bidded out for a mere £101. Incidents of this nature clearly demonstrate that the platform is failing to provide the right audience structure and the necessary algorithms to attract buyers with actual purchasing power to these live streams. Attempting to offer premium goods in an environment dominated by extreme bargain hunters and cheap, mass-market inventory inherently exposes sellers to massive financial risk. Instead of building brand value and prestige, this format generates uncontrolled losses and lays bare a deep identity crisis within the service, which is losing its status as a secure marketplace for professional trade. In the current climate, committing high-value inventory to unproven streaming mechanisms turns into a lottery, where professional sellers bear too high a cost for the platform's systemic shortcomings.
sloanes3
·1 month agoexactly my thoughts. I sell model kits. until this year fine , now with buyers premium its dead. put items on for a reasonable price , nothing , drop price , get folks watching but no bidders
fribblecollectables
·Sep 15, 2026 at 7:39 AMIf you bought the kits with the intent to resell, you can use the correct Business account.
This removes buyers premium and gives you full control over postage options.
kh-567867
·1 month agoHas anyone else noticed a significant drop in sales on eBay recently, particularly around 10/09/2026?
Could this be related to any recent updates or changes in eBay's system? For instance, some sellers mentioned that alterations in eBay's algorithm or backend settings might be affecting visibility and sales dynamics.
It would be insightful to hear from others who are experiencing the same issue or have managed to solve it.
Share your observations, strategies, or any insights on what might be driving these changes.
We stand at ZERO sales all this week!!!
red357rose
·1 month ago · EditedHi yes our sales already dropped 3 days ago and yesterday and today 0. I am not sure what is that I putting every day new and new items. Last week was so good but this week very bad and when just serach few items what is on my account few days ebay just hiding not shows :((( Problem this is our main income so its very hard now :((
maarsy
·1 month agoit has been slow going in general but when i look at what it has been this week to the previous weeks i would say its down with another 1/3 rd
omniversecomics
·2 weeks agoI’m experiencing almost the exact same thing. Since around the 8th Sep everything has dropped dramatically, views and impressions down over 50%, sales down massively. In a month I’d expect maybe 1 or 2 days with no sales but over these two weeks I’ve had three times this.
Most of our sales were international, and around this date it switched us from GSP to EIS so don’t know if this change is why sales have plummeted.
knickersboxersglory
·1 month ago · EditedeBay used to have the lowest fees of all marketplaces, so we as sellers could list items at a lower price and still make a good margin.
eBay have progressively increased fees over the last 5 years or so, essentially forcing sellers to pay additional 'promoted items' fees to get any visibility, which can add an extra 5-20% on top of the standard 15% fees
Now the fees on eBay are higher than every other platform that we sell through. Higher fees mean sellers have to put prices up to maintain some margin.
When prices go up, eBay is no longer 'the place to go'. You can find the same items for the same price or less on other marketplaces/websites/shops.
It's a vicious cycle - the more fees go up, the higher prices go, the higher prices go, the less people choose ebay, the less people choose eBay, the more fees go up - and thus completes the loop.
eBay no longer have a USP either. They are competing with businesses selling on Amazon, Etsy and TikTok. They are trying to compete with TikTok with the eBay Live thing. They are trying to compete with Vinted for second hand clothes. They are trying to be all things to all people and sadly failing a lot of it.
Unless fees are reduced dramatically and eBay becomes the lowest price to buy again I think eBay will gradually lose market share as the years go on. They used to own the market, now things have become so complex (not just eBay's fault), that that isn't the case any more.
Brexit reduced EU sales for lots of sellers
The new '3 Euro per customs line/parcel" charge has virtually killed a lot of EU trade
Trump tariffs killed a lot of US business
Then it's just cost of living, higher taxes, people have less disposable income. People don't have money to throw around any more buying new shoes today, outfits tomorrow, pictures and mirrors for your walls the day after, new furniture.
Most people have less money and if people have less money to spend, they will spend less money. It's just basic economics. Until the economy improves significantly, taxes come down and people have more of their own money to circulate in the economy we will all be worse off.
toffeecat66-7
·3 weeks agoYou've hit it on the head!! Thus trickle down economy & our new monopolising state , not capitalism! Thats gone!! When companies own so much & so many other companies theres zero competition as we're all seeing in the rip off supermarkets, utility bills & our inflation rate is being rigged to keep wages down!! Mostvof my bills doubled 3 years ago but we eere told inflation was ? 10% they don't want us to av a disposable income it seems or small family run businesses either as we csnt afford to give them millions in donations can we 🤣
noggy_ratter
·1 month agoIs the decreasing number of sales linked to a corresponding reduction in items being listed. Simple Delivery is a nightmare and in cases where it's not available, eBay dictates delivery options. I've just had a terrible experience trying to ship via In Post/Yodel and won't send anything if buyer chooses that option. Similarly, Evri is shocking. Maybe sellers are not bothering due to these factors. Besides that nobody has any money!
knickersboxersglory
·1 month agoeBay was great when sellers could run their own businesses. eBay has become more and more regulated and sellers have very little control over anything now (whether that's right or wrong is up for debate). It's just become another marketplace to sell through like all the others.
To answer your point, I have sold personal items on eBay before. As a business seller I stick a label on it and send it with our other mail. Recently I sold an item an was forced to use 'Simple' delivery. Instead of sticking an address label on myself which would have taken 30 seconds, I was forced to take the package 3 miles away to a drop off point, it got scanned, 3 weeks later still not delivered, I'm not supposed to refund as eBay are in charge of 'Simple' delivery, but the buyer is messaging me (politely asking what's happening), I'm messaging eBay, eBay are saying that they can't do anything as I'm the seller, not the buyer, so I have to message the buyer and tell them to message eBay, but definitely don't refund anything, because eBay 'have me covered', then eBay open a case on the buyer's behalf, then the buyer messages to say they've done this, but eBay are telling them that they need to wait 5 days, as the item might arrive, even though it hasn't moved in 3 weeks on the tracking. Honestly if this is 'Simple' delivery then I don't know what the next level is. Surely I should have the choice of how to send things? More regulation, more lumping all sellers in together. Long story short, I won't be selling personal items on eBay in future, because for me 'Simple' delivery is anything but.
When we started on eBay it was a place where you could find amazing sellers, passionate about their businesses and products, and get items at a great price.
I don't think that most of that applies any more. I think a lot of sellers login in the morning and their first thought is 'what problems do I have to deal with today?'
We had a return policy. If clothes were worn or used, refunds were refused. If that happens now, buyers just open a dispute, and eBay take the money from you anyway. There's no fairness generally. Now you just have a generic site wide policy and lots of people know how to play the system..
Over the years eBay has become a very negative place to sell because you just can't escape the INR claims, negative feedback, returns abuse, technical issues, lack of seller protection, AI bot replies to questions, lack of engagement from customer support, the fact that customer support have no power to do anything because it's not in their 'handbook' and eBay is now totally biased towards buyers (copying Amazon in a way, but the difference is if this bias drives sellers away from eBay, there's nothing left, whereas Amazon can go all in biased towards the buyer, because if sellers get fed up, Amazon carries on).
iss504
·1 week agoA true account of what's going on.
tulip805
·1 week agoThis is so true, I ordered an item and instead of it being delivered to my address I got notification that it has been delivered to a shop in N.Ireland and was ready for collection. I don't live in NI or Ireland and had not opted to collect .
Have spent whole afternoon in frustrating loop of ai nonsense, the seller says it's the address she was given by "simple" via eBay so "take it up with them" ( it's not my address)
Impossible to get in touch with eBay customer services, repeated attempts yielded no results, hoping I have managed to attract help by explaining in the feedback area what has happened .
The customer service is shocking now, the AI assistant service is useless, in the past they would actually call you back eventually not now it seems.
toffeecat66-7
·3 weeks agoNo money & prices continuing to rise & will carry on going up because petrol will reach £2 a litre this year thanks to trump & his paymasters thirst for war
livehappy2015
·1 month agoI've been selling the same items for 12 years with fairly consistent sales with a little dip around summer months but July was lower than ever, August was half of that and now so far in September I've sold 2 items only. I can only put it down to eBay charging customers now for the guarantee? Can anyone put any more light onto this matter? I would love to know eBay's opinion on what is happening and if everyone's sales are down then is eBay making much less money too?
bugsbayuk
·1 month agoPosted a comment against this. Might help.
https://community.ebay.co.uk/forum/seller-central-14/topic/is-it-just-me-or-is-it-really-quiet-for-sales-on-here-52512/
Not sure this will help.. just read, maybe Ebayers are put off by gamers??
https://community.ebay.co.uk/forum/member-to-member-support-26/topic/humans-on-ebay-52483/
thething911
·1 month agoSame here I had a busy July then only one sale in the first 9 days in August , I keep saying this if i'm not selling on ebay means i'm not buying on ebay & I had a dozen items in my checkout ready to buy ( credit card due 9/8/26 ) but won't be buying now as ZERO SALES
vintage-books-media
·1 month agoebay is massively down for me too. I think Vinted is killing ebay in the UK and instead of helping sellers ebay are simply focussing on ebay live. The buyers just arent here anymore.
upda8077
·2 months agoI think people are not bothering to buy on ebay any more for a few reasons. I can only say the reasons that put me off, they are :
You cant trust a lot of sellers on here anymore, they lie about the item just to get the sale, its normally chinese sellers I have noticed that do it.
For a quick example, a normal pair of binoculars, the seller will say they are night vision and have a zoom, its all lies to try to get a sale. In the past week I have reported about 30 or 40 of them to ebay, the replies were always the same "Not in violation of our policy" (thats the ai reply) , then you have to put in a appeal, then I think a human checks it, agrees sometimes (but not on others ? that is a bit strange) and removes the item in some cases or gets the seller to change the text.
And I have noticed if a seller says "Night Vision Binoculars with zoom" (and they are not) you report it, if ebay agrees with you they give the seller a chance t change the description, that is fine, but the the seller will change the description very slightly, and it still will be misleading, so you report them again, and guess what, your not allowed to report them again, so the seller gets away with it.
Fake ssd hard drives, ebay is full of them, I bought one, realised it was fake, wanted to return it, the seller (chinese) did not bother and I had to go through ebay to get my money back. I also reported the fake drives to ebay and sent proof it was fake, but they would not remove it, so I left feedback warning others they were fake, ebay removed the feedback, when I asked ebay why they said I was not allowed to use the word "fake" in the feedback.
I did say to ebay after they removed my review saying the item was fake :
"you know that seller is laughing at you and us buyers, and you let them get away with it, from now if anyone buys one of those fake drives its your fault as you will not remove the listing and you will not let us warn other potential buyers they are fake"
But ebay are not interested, all they are interested in is getting commission from sales.
(and there are other words you cannot use, so ebay restrict your feedback but will not tell you they are doing it, I bet many of you who have left negative feedback ended up having it removed, and you will never know unless you check to see if its still there)
So, ebay must be aware there are tons of fakes, but they cant do anything about it, expect stop us from warning others, because if we do warn others nothing will get sold and ebay will not make money.
Sellers saying the item is somewhere in the uk, but it takes ages to get to you and when you finally get it you notice it has come from china, so you cant even trust where the seller says the item is anymore.
You will also find just one company has loads of aliases on here selling under different names, I have noticed that a lot, so there is no variation on here anymore.
(yes I know a lot of these things go against ebays polices, but the sellers know they can get away with it)
So people will just shop on amazon or somewhere else instead. but then amazon are slowly going the same way.
Luckily we still have the ebay money back guarantee when a seller lies to us about a item (be it the description, or being fake, or damaged). but even then its too annoying to buy something on here, realise its fake or does not do what the seller said it will do, then have to send it back, and in some cases it takes ages to do as the seller will not help and you have to go through ebay to get your money back, it can be too much hassle, so people just dont bother anymore in general.
You have to be really careful purchasing item on ebay nowadays, it can be bit of a minefield, that can put people off, and the good companies and the good sellers who play by the rules suffer with a lack of sales because of it.
This is just my opinium based on my experiences on ebay.
eternalgazeratstars
·1 month agoYour perceptions and opinions are exactly as mine are. Counterfeits/ fakes/ cheap copies of original budget electricals flooded eBay this last year or so. I am trying to get hold of another handheld fan, identical to one I bought from an eBay seller c.18 months ago, that seller is still trading, still with high percentage feedback, but no longer selling the fan. I wish now I'd initially bought three of them, instead of one. So, I find other sellers, UK sellers, with reasonable percentage feedback, with listing images indicating the fan they are selling is identical. No prizes for guessing, what I have received instead, twice...poor copies, made much more cheaply, only vaguely similar in look/ feel/ function, with nowhere near the same reliability, or quality. These copies are actually ineffective, they do not cool even on the highest setting, they are significantly more noisy and the noxious odour they produce, like burning plastic, or oil, I feel indicates they are unsafe, certainly unsafe to use while sleeping, which is what I need it for, which is what I use my fantastic original unit for, and have done without issue for c.18 months. I'm desperate to purchase back-up units, as this fan has served me so well, and nothing else similar I've found measures up, when this one dies, I do not want to be without. Two sellers I have messaged, out of ten, that are listing fans using identical images, have fed back to me honestly saying, thank you for being so specific/ descriptive, but they are not selling what I am after, their units are different, to the very specific specifics I have advised them of, thus, different to the listing images. I have not bothered to ask them to change the listing images, it's not my business if a seller wants to take that chance, of having a customer dissatisfied with the discrepancy between what is advertised and what is received, it's none of my 'bees'. Two others - one has said they will send me pictures of the front, sides and rear of the fan, once they have received the images of what they have from their warehouse, that was four days ago now. Another seller, fed back to me that my description seems to fit exactly what they are selling, but I further asked for pictures of the exact unit I would receive, and have yet to hear back,, also four days ago. It remains to be seen, if either of them are being honest, or just messing me about, maybe hoping I'll buy in desperation and lumber myself with inferior copies? We have to do all the legwork now, being specific, asking the questions, requesting images of the exact item that will be sent, because, failing to exercise 'caveat emptor' nowadays is more costly than ever, in time, money and hassle. It breaks my heart, there's such little integrity in this marketplace anymore, it used to be a haven, a panacea for all-things-wonderful, in seller, price, quality and service. I miss you, eBay, I mourn you.
upda8077
·1 month ago · EditedGive Temu a try, they are actually quite good. but avoid aliexpress, do not go near them. (But as always be careful of misleading descriptions, and fake feedback, but you may find the fan you are looking for, maybe try amazon as well)
eternalgazeratstars
·1 month agoThank you, for the advice - it is much appreciated. I've never used Temu before, I've always been somewhat hesitant, owing to some stories of disappointment with just that - misleading descriptions/ receiving things not as described, as well as items of terrible quality or incorrect sizing, along with complaints that feedback must have been fake. With things as they are now, though, options being more limited, I'm more inclined than I ever was before, to actually take the leap and give them a try. I've tried Amazon, twice thus far on there, same issue - listing images led me to believe one thing, yet, I received the same poor copies! The market seems to be flooded with them, it's blatant scam behaviour from these individual sellers/ people.
upda8077
·1 month agoYou are correct with what you say about temu, but just be careful, dont buy for instance things that can easily get damaged in the post as they only ship things in plastic bags from china and they may not survive the journey.
Be careful about clothing sizes, maybe best not to bother about clothing in general as their sizes are very different to ours
And as you say , lots of false misleading information for products, and fake reviews
But as you are only after a portable fan you should be ok with that.
Keep in mind Temu do have a £15 minimum order.
And if anything does arrive broken or damaged it can be returned, and it will be returned to a UK return address, so you dont have to send it back to china, I cant remember if you need a printer or not for a returns label (or just scan a qr code). You will need to check on what can or cant be returned, for instance Health and personal care items, Clothing items that have been worn, washed, or damaged after delivery etc cannot be returned
Maybe sign up, see if they have the fan you want, and anything else to make up the £15 minimum order needed.
Just avoid things that can get broken easy in the post, clothing, or anything where the cardboard outer box is important (like for a gift), or anything else that is just too fragile to survive the journey (as they only pack in plastic bags).
So as long as you are careful you can get some good stuff on Temu, so at least have a look and see if they have the fan you are after.
eternalgazeratstars
·1 month agoP.S. I had the very same experience regarding the review/ feedback I'd left about these copies on Amazon - my very detailed heads-up to other consumers, strangers whom I care about, far more than I do the rogue sellers, despite a message from Amazon regarding one of them, saying my review was live, has not been uploaded. Censorship that protects liars and thieves, allowing honest people to be fleeced, seems to be the norm from big businesses that make huge profits anyway, these days.
upda8077
·1 month agoYes, amazon censor reviews as well. For instance amazon are very bad at packing things for delivery, and sometimes they get damaged because of that, but you are not allowed to say "damaged because of bad packing" reviews like that will not be published.
In other words they know they have a problem with their people not packing items correctly, but instead of improving things it cheaper for them to just not allow us buyers to warn others about it.
So never buy any collectable items from amazon where the items box is just as important as the item itself. But if you do at least it can be returned.
igotlazymutts
·2 months agoI have zilch sales on the account, which is not a biggie, yet still noticeable. But recently realised how cr@ppy the search is now.
I was looking for a "cotton nightdress". Filter - lowest price & P&P before setting "new" filter.
On top of the results was "ebay live" with some bloke advertising some sort of pockemon (or other shite, didn't pay much attention) merch. I mean 3 or 4 videos of the same guy in a row. First WTF moment.
Then "sponsored" Chinese stuff that has nothing to do with "cotton" and not everything related to "nightdress". To "dress" yes. Kind of. Second WTF moment.
Then on the bottom of the 1st page "cotton nightdress" has started to get faint appearence heavily mixed with the same Chinese stuff from "sponsored" league but not "sponsored".
After having a quick glance on the 2nd page I simply gave up.
nutrafituk
·2 months agoIt is coming their way, just a matter of time. There is a limit how much they can be creative, the reality is going to catch up sooner or later.
sda_care
·2 months agoits just eBay getting greedy pushing sellers for PPC trying to behave Amazon BUT TOTALLY IGNORING TIKTOKK THEY WILL REGRET ONE DAY
theelench
·2 months agoWith many collectable coin prices falling, due to lack of demand/ reduced discretionary spending money ? I decided to complete my coin collection (Pre-decimal silver back to William IV.
Didn't ebay used to have a policy of not allowing fake / counterfeit /reproduction items?
Yet some of the coins I want the search shows plenty of "restrike/gap filler/ even a few museum specimen coins", but at least they are pointing out what they are and charging massively less than the price of genuine articles.
But then there are others with no mention of the above and perhaps just under the price of, hopefully, genuine looking items. Is it believable that coins from the 1800s described as EF/ AUnc don't have any toning, dirt or nicks and small scratches from use ? Have they been heavily cleaned or are they modern fakes as well. It makes one wonder when their IS don't specify .925 Sterling Silver and a few don't mention silver at all, in any proportion.
I've bought a couple of what I hope are the genuine article from ebay dealers who do look reputable and sell coins that look real, so far none of my purchases have stuck to a magnet. But I've also bought as many from a non-ebay dealer whose grading I can trust and whose descriptions fit what is to be expected.
With ebay allowing so many dubious items on its site it reduces my trust in every other ebay coin seller.
boundarycoins
·2 months agoIt is concerning how many fakes are about. My worry is if I haven’t had the coin before it can slip through the net.
On here it’s a fine balance of getting it right, I do see repro coins under the novelty coins section which are arguably justifiable depending on what they are. I tend to just set them aside myself but I am cautious. I just listed a South Africa 1 Pond token which says imitation sovereign on it and I think that’s ok as people collect them and I have listed it in the correct category.
Over on V it’s disgraceful people are selling fakes by the lorry load I don’t know how they ignore the karma. We can all make mistakes but I think all platforms need to do a lot more.
eternalgazeratstars
·2 months agoI've never sold on eBay, but, I can confirm, from a buyer's perspective, in the last two years, since the implementation of various inane policies like 'buyer protection fees' (I thought our purchases were already protected, by the eBay guarantee?); fees making things more expensive for sellers (chased away people whose margins were already tight/ caused sellers that remained to increase prices which chased away custom, especially repeat custom - why pay more on eBay and wait nearly a week, when it's cheaper on Amazon and you can have it tomorrow? - it was around this time, some sellers started to dishonestly inflate combined postage, which meant I decided to no longer make multiple purchases, from anyone, just because I couldn't be bothered to play the game any more "yes, I combine postage, it's four-times the price and you won't know until you commit to buy"!); eBay withholding funds from sellers until delivery is confirmed (caused a noticable, wholly understandable apathetic shift in seller attitude and behaviour - often poor packaging, generally when a low start bid with nobody competing against me happened, they just didn't care if I got intact items or not; sometimes, nonsensically, delayed despatch; the only communication was a message, or multiple mesages to ask if it had been delivered, a significant increase of no answers to queries, before or after despatch); then, the death-knell of 'simple delivery' (nobody knows, neither buyer nor seller, until purchase is made, who, in their infinite wisdom, eBay will dictate the courier to be, which is no help to buyers in that, those of us wishing to avoid certain light-fingered couriers in our individual local areas, can no longer do so, SO, now, we have to opt for 'click & collect', which means we no longer have the convenience of delivery to our door, and the inconvenience of having to collect a parcel, that may, or may not arrive - I've had a few in the last few months 'go walkies', or take many weeks to finally reach the destination - parcels that do arrive, may, or may not be ready to collect on a day that is convenient for us).
I have bought increasingly less, over this last two years; I used to be waiting on numerous auctions daily, especially weekend ones; I used to purchase numerous repeat items on 'buy it now'; I used to frequently haunt specific seller profiles for Santoro Gorjuss items; I used to buy numerous items of second-hand clothing, from various sellers that honestly and fairly combined postage.
I rarely bother with auctions, maybe once, or twice, in 2-4 weeks. My only repeat purchase now is my vape juice, once every 2-3 months, because he is still the cheapest overall and is still reliable. I rarely bother to seek out Santoro Gorjuss items now, searching maybe once a month - it used to be almost daily - I bought a bag a month ago, that is still not showing as ready to collect. The only seller I've made multiple purchases from in a year is a lady who combines postage at checkout, so, I knew beforehand exactly how much it'd cost - I did that three times for purchase of lovely gift items in bargain job lots, to cover me for gifts for the next 12 months. My second-hand clothing items compared to two years ago total next-to-nothing now - I've bought three second-hand skirts in the last 2-3 months (one of which has still not turned up at the Post Office). It's a hot mess, that I really can't be bothered to engage with that much any more. Add to this, the way listing searches have been flooded with items from the US (never buying from a US seller again, mostly for political reasons, but, also, the tariffs, ridiculous postage that's even more so now, and mystery of will-I-won't-I-get-stung-at-customs lottery), and China (filters do nothing to actually filter - so I don't see UK ONLY listings).
They reported a surge in profits with the increase in prices because of the buyer protection fees, but, that will not be the case next financial year, because so many of us now, are instead using dedicated clothing, electricals, chemists, toiletries, and health & beauty sites, and other independent online sites and marketplaces, including Amazon, Vinted, DePop, Etsy, et al. Many of us buyers have just shrugged our shoulders, adapted and walked, with no real impact to our lives. This impacts sellers, much more overall, and eBay's business generally, going forward. I just found myself shrugging my shoulders again. They made these choices, to negatively impact their business model, to effectively punish and make it impossible for sellers, for doing nothing more than trying to do business. It's not in my hands to help that situation, and eBay believe they have done everything for the best, so, it will never go back to the way it was before. I miss it, how it was before, but, I do not miss what it has become - I'm actually glad to do without it, it's just a headache I don't want or need.
*maetrix*
·3 months agoPersonally my sales were great January through to April but have fallen off of a cliff since then,barely sold a thing over the past 6 weeks.
reasonable.robert
·3 months ago · Editedtell me about it vinted is equally as quiet it seems to go in cycles quiet for a month then it picks up its nearly school hols time so its the quiet cycle it,ll possibly pick up in september as we head into the winter
im even considering car booting a couple of days a week
starmer and thieves crashing the economy hasnt helped either.
appletree23
·3 months agoSame here, won't be able to pay my rent this month, i sell and buy my items on here but as i'm not selling i am unable to buy either, so ebay is losing fees twice, ebay deny the new algorithm is causing it but it clearly is and their answer to everything is to give them even more money and pay to promote, which i can in no way afford, so, nice one Ebay, my business going under just as it was flourishing.
simplyessential_uk
·3 months agoJune has been shocking - Last year was my worst year but April/May saw a upturn, Amazon was the same, about 50% Less, and a drop in my own website so I dont think its just Ebay
sahotrocks
·3 months agoDue to US customs policies, the buyer of this item will need to pay import fees to the postal courier prior to delivery.
You will find this on all your listings to the USA
csltd2003
·3 months agoBeen selling on ebay for 20years and sales have never been so low as the last 4 weeks For the first time ever my last 3 day sales have not covered my monthly subscription charge so ebay will be taking money out of my bank what is going on ??
red357rose
·3 months ago · EditedMorning yes if not cover amount will taken from bank than. We are still minus on this week. This is the first time. our normally sales about 600-700 per week but this week we still -80 because fee. Before when taken the fee the same day the mimus covered now already left 3 days and still not covered this Ebay fee something very wrong. :( Our account value 34.000 Brutto so normally weekly sales must be 600-700 but this week very drop and now shows £240. All my items promoted and using coupons as well but still not enough so I do not really now whats going on :( I try talk with them but always says not available costumer service. Before I could talk with them but now only A.I. Why they do this???
vintage-books-media
·1 month agoebay shop sub fees are a joke especially the middle one!
red357rose
·3 months agoAnd the views down as well all day max 200 or 300 views before 500 and more
red357rose
·3 months agoHi
Our sales same this is the 3. Days and nothing sales. We almost have sales every day minimum 5 sales but ladt 3 days just dropped and nothing. But I see they changed inside Ebay app so probably because they touched again system something wrong and again gappening when yesterday taken the monthly fee so the account totally minus as not cover any sales. 🤔🤔😪😪
maarsy
·3 months agoi was in the same boat , sales just keep going down , so i have reduced my shop and am taking down items until i hit 300 stock . i only saw a slight increase because half my stock went on discount to clear out . i have said it before you can blame the economy but on other platforms my sales have tripled last month .
many of those sales do go abroad i have noticed , maybe ebay is doing something wrong here ....
1oct1914
·3 months agoBeen looking longingly at the " Close account " button recently, so Close.