How many sellers are closing their shops or running down their account in 2024?

[ovleisure]

We have been a seller on here over a couple of our accounts for many years now.   Over this time we have seen a reduction in sales from a max of £13k pcm to £60 pcm.    We have been through mass seller culls, more and more control over the seller/buyer relationship, the forcing of managed payments, increases in fees and requirements to use promoted/advanced promoted and now bid for clicks, to the point where ebay is taking an unsustainable percentage of profit.  

This in turn has lead to such search manipulation as to be virtually impossible for any of our listings to be shown unless we implemented all of the additional promotions, and even then since everyone is in the same boat, it makes little difference.   Search has been broken as a result of all this, and whereas in the past, if your product met the search terms, you could get your item to show, this is now not much short of a miracle!

Maybe you could argue some of it is the economy, but when your listings barely get any visibility unless you pay through the nose for it, it becomes a weak argument at best.

We have closed our shop and have halved our listings, and will be running down all of the stock we do have via other marketplaces.  

I'm just curious what other peoples plans are in 2024, are you bearing with ebay in the hopes of better times, or moving on?

[charmkeyrings]

Sorry for the delay in replying, I don't come onto this forum that often.  I wouldn't mind sharing at all.  In a nutshell I found a similar(ish) line to what I was already selling but with a way higher search volume.  That brought in more traffic which lead to increased sales.  Still early days and I realise that wouldn't be easy to do with one off vintage items.  

[theelench]

Thanks for replying at all.

I'm glad that you've found something you think might improve your situation.  As you say that's not something I can do when just trying to dispose of glass I've collected far too much of.

As it happens I've had a very good start to the year on the other site I use.  On ebay I've only listed 2 items so far this year.  One a zero bid auction, the other an unsold auction converted to BIN and both coming-up for their first re-list as Sell Similar.   It has the usual  Watchers but no sale although my item is considerably discounted compared to similar items.  Looking at the Sold pages, only one item has sold for a realistic price and a few others have sold for one-bid "auctions" for about a fiver each.

I think that for the sort of glass I sell ebay is just about finished, more or less the only buyers left here are the "penny pinching re-sellers" mentioned earlier.

Also thinking about the new HMRC reporting rules and what to me is a shocking requirement that I give a US corporation my NINO, something I'm very reluctant to do.

So my mind is (almost) made up, when it becomes a requirement to sell here, I will stop selling.

The other site has out-sold ebay for a few years, it's far cheaper and it's UK based.  Hopefully UK law will protect my personal data, something I don't think will be the case once it's held in the US.   

Also it will look rather less "incriminating" to HMRC should they inquire about how long or how much I've sold over the years and confined to one site, less like I'm trading but trying to stay under the radar by splitting my sales.  Whereas I've been offering the same items for sale on both and it's not really my fault that something, from my first years sales I thought would take about five years, has taken ten, due mostly to falling sales on ebay.

Good luck for the future.

[madcello]

Ebay is now dead, they completely ruined search, so you can't really find what you looking for and now you have to pay even 30% for pathetic promotions just to be seen and even after that sales are almost none existing.  It's like too many sellers chasing ebay buyers which are declined by 80% over the last couple of years.  Everyone of my friends which I ask stopped buyin g on Ebay, if they want something quick with decent customer service they go to Amazon, if they want cheap stuff they go to Temu and similar. We will be closing our shop on ebay shortly, for the first time today not a single sale and we pay 25% for promotions + 15% fees. There is no point anymore, the CEO or any other high ranked ebay manager responsible for those "promotions" and "improvements" should be sacked, yes ebay shareholders will get some extra moeny over very very short period of time, but in the long run they killed the platform, nobody want to shop on ebay anymore and sellers are annoyed by the never ending festival of glitches and changes and fees hiking. Time to say goodbye.

[charmkeyrings]

Ebay is not dead.  It's changed hugely over the few years I've been involved and continually finds more ways to bleed you out of your hard earned cash.

[charmkeyrings]

That wasn't a dig at you.  This is a good place to have a good old rant and get things off your chest.

[theshoecupboard]

My wife and I run two shops and are just putting everything into the one, with the aim to close it all in the next two years. Both have been operating for 18 years.

There is no seller support!

We are both now suddenly getting hit with utterly unjustified malicious neutral and negative feedback and now that the option for Customer Support has to review and remove feedback has been taken from them, all feedback reviews have now gone to the 'back office' . (One member of staff actually said that they never remove neutral feedback)

My experience of the 'back office' is that they do nothing, they send out messages telling you that they are not going to do anything because it's the buyers experience and you then cannot get to speak to them, they have no reply option to the message, no email address and no telephone number. They may as well automate the process and then sack all the staff and save the money, us sellers would never spot the difference!

I have over the years had some very good help from the Customer Service staff, but they have had the opportunities to help you gradually removed from them, ( I never blame the customer service staff when its ebay's rules and 'policies' that stop them doing what they know to be the right thing).

As a certified accountant, it is interesting to see the direction ebay is moving. The promoted listings being a case in point, you pay an extra fee to have your listings promoted, but when everyone does it, then what has happened is that ebay are just getting more fees from you just to be in the same situation as you were before. So you pay more fees and again everyone does the same. It ends up with ebay having 100% fees from no sales as they force more sellers to leave. Ebay are killing the golden goose and have no new ideas left!

Its a tired model and no one in ebay seems to understand that. 

I would never recommend anyone to sell on ebay, the listing process has become a nightmare (we sell footwear and no one reads the listing properly - it is easier to ask us the heel height than look through the item specifics even if you can find it in the app!). The search engine is a joke and it is almost impossible to get to speak to anyone if you need help with complicated issues, and just don't even bother with the 'back office'.

[greencrest-intl]

Yes we most definitely would consider closing down, the way things are heading.

"Promoted Listings" was an option for us at first, but now, we've cut back on percentages, it's just not helping to create sales.

We are down 20% in sales over last month. 

Recession rhetoric, global worries and much awaited drier weather have just about been enough to tip the boat for us. 

With very little hope for the future on ebay,  we'd rather not be the last to jump ship and be at the stage where there is noone to buy our stock , the downturn in sales online overall, looks set to hit very new low  within the next 6 months.

[litp*records]

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@madcello wrote:

Ebay is now dead, they completely ruined search, so you can't really find what you looking for and now you have to pay even 30% for pathetic promotions just to be seen and even after that sales are almost none existing.  It's like too many sellers chasing ebay buyers which are declined by 80% over the last couple of years.  Everyone of my friends which I ask stopped buyin g on Ebay, if they want something quick with decent customer service they go to Amazon, if they want cheap stuff they go to Temu and similar. We will be closing our shop on ebay shortly, for the first time today not a single sale and we pay 25% for promotions + 15% fees. There is no point anymore, the CEO or any other high ranked ebay manager responsible for those "promotions" and "improvements" should be sacked, yes ebay shareholders will get some extra moeny over very very short period of time, but in the long run they killed the platform, nobody want to shop on ebay anymore and sellers are annoyed by the never ending festival of glitches and changes and fees hiking. Time to say goodbye.

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Consider this:  number of active buyers on Ebay has reduced since 2018 year on year, from the 2018 peak of 175 million active buyers it declined to 132 million for the 2nd quarter of 2023 (back to 2013 levels). Who knows what it is right now but it's likely declined even further.  45 million buyers gone, just like that!!

And for the sake of ruining the site with promoted listings, in 2022 ebay only made £200m off promoted listings compared to the £8bn or so annual turnover, a drop in the ocean.

These are all publicly available statistics by the way, no big secret.  Can all be researched in a matter of seconds.

I dare say it corresponds with managed payments coming in.  Scared off a lot of sellers who'd keep money in their Paypal account to spend back on Ebay.  Now it goes straight into the bank and straight out on bills...

[exponential_developments]

If sales don't improve reasonably quickly i'll be pulling the plug.

[theelench]

Your figures are presumably taken from what ebay puts out at its quarterly Financial Statements?  They are the only ones I've ever seen reported and are for ebay.inc  -- the whole conglomerate, world-wide.

I've a suspicion that if we could ever see the figures for ebay.uk they would show bigger falls in buyers and sales than those for the whole company and that .uk is almost dead in the water.

[litp*records]

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@theelench wrote:

Your figures are presumably taken from what ebay puts out at its quarterly Financial Statements?  They are the only ones I've ever seen reported and are for ebay.inc  -- the whole conglomerate, world-wide.

I've a suspicion that if we could ever see the figures for ebay.uk they would show bigger falls in buyers and sales than those for the whole company and that .uk is almost dead in the water.

---

Yeah, that's a good point actually.  If users in "emerging markets" were growing, that could well hide an even bigger drop-off of active users here on .co.uk

AFAIK there are no specific data for .co.uk but I'd be interested to know

[the_book_seekers]

I've just read the following article on Channel X. It has some interesting points. I've removed a list of bullet points detailing ebay's Q4 figures to shorten the read.

eBay – The Future of Ecommerce for Enthusiasts

eBay’s Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 results are out and there are some interesting numbers for sellers on the marketplace for the fourth quarter. Revenue was driven by continued momentum in first-party advertising, expansion of eBay financial services offerings and the launch of eBay International Shipping. eBay were keen to emphasise that they have moved away from low ASP, low quality items with continued growth of focused category GMV and their drive to offer ecommerce for enthusiasts, which outpaced the remainder of the marketplace by about 6 points.

The big takeaway from these numbers is the phenomenal growth in advertising revenue compared to flat GMV. There’s really no way to spin this in a positive light for sellers – The message is coming through loud and clear that if you don’t engage with advertising then your products are going to be disadvantaged compared to those sellers who do pay Promoted Listing fees.

What we do like that eBay are doing is their focus on ecommerce for enthusiasts, with different product categories becoming what the marketplace term as ‘Focus Categories’ – essentially a category where the experience is tailored for the enthusiast. the experience varies by category, so for some it will be authentication giving assurance that products are genuine and as described, while for other such as motor parts there’s AI powered predictive maintenance meaning that eBay know when it’s time for those maintaining their own vehicles to buy a replacement as part of routine motor maintenance.

Addressing the economy in Germany and the UK, where the consumer is more stretched in cost of living challenges, deals and value are key with programmes such as refurbished (which has seen double-digit growth) that are propping sales up. eBay are seeing a move from move some of the enthusiast buyers, to becoming mid-value buyers and say that the eBay value proposition is really resonating for those customers.

Specifically on the rise of platforms like Temu, eBay CEO Jamie Iannone says that eBay haven’t really seen a significant impact yet, and this is because of their enthusiast buyer in focus categories and lower reliance of low ASP, low quality goods, coupled with eBay being a destination site where enthusiast buyers start their search.

We really have a differentiated strategy, with what we’re doing with our focus categories and going after non-new in season, for the business. And years ago, we really moved away from the low ASP, low quality items on our marketplace.

And that hasn’t been a focus for us for many years now. So I think, that’s the first key differentiation I’d call out. The second is that, obviously some of the competition is spending a lot of money from a marketing standpoint in the marketplace. But one of the great benefits of eBay, is just the vast amount of organic traffic we have. The vast, vast part of our traffic either comes directly to the app or types in eBay.com.

– Jamie Iannone, CEO, eBay

Jamie went on to explain that eBay has one of the lowest customer acquisition costs of any platform, mainly driven by customer life time value – this all comes down to their ecommerce for enthusiasts strategy and that comes back to the focus categories which is why eBay have aligned their teams around the world to focus on verticals and why we’re seeing so many categories with differentiated offerings tailored to the type of buyer it will attract.

To summarise, eBay’s GMV is flat or slightly declining, their revenue growth is propped up by promoted listings, and their goals have shifted and those that will benefit are those that lean into the focus category products with the big three to jump in on being Motors Parts & Accessories, Refurbished, and Luxury

[mewde60]

Ace, thanks for the info. Your summary makes perfect sense. Ebay does seem to be shifting away from private sellers like myself. I'm seling items I've collected over the years due to ill health. It has actually been pretty successful up until the last year. Now sales have died and Ebay is flooded with cheap asian imports. Covid and the ensuing recession has destroyed the economy and is hitting many buyers who are most probably in survival mode. Everybody still have to keep their cars running though! Luxury items will always sell because there's a lot of people working in the financial and public sectors that don't have to worry about losing their jobs. The big question is, how long before the Banks start failing as people just can't afford the constant price increases? Most of our Council's are now going bankrupt because many people are discovering that Council Tax is voluntary (no Council in the Country has been able to prove in court that Council Tax is a legitimate Tax!) Just google: 'landmark court case finds council tax illegal'. For a much more detailed explanation on how councils are racketeering and where you actually stand legally, go to:

https://newsletter.martingeddes.com/p/how-due-process-can-stop-the-council

The writing is on the wall, people are 'Waking up'. 

People started protesting all over the world back in 2018/9 about the cost of living and stagnant wages. A worldwide movement started against Globalised Political and Corporate Corruption as 'people Power' started taking shape. China's export industry was booming and the 'belt and road' initiative was threatening the West's and the USA's economic future. Then a miracle happened. The Covid-19 virus escaped from the American funded labs in China which shut down the world so nobody could protest anymore and manufacturing came to a standstill. Was it a coincedence or was it engineered? What has happened at Ebay is a direct response to the global lockdown and to a much lesser extent, not the best policies regarding protecting genuine business sellers against private sellers with 1000's of listings. I think Ebay is just another victim of the economic downturn and are just trying different policies to keep the business going. My hope is that eventually they'll hit the right policies which will better impact the website and make it a better, safer place to buy and sell. It would help to ban the scammers and bad sellers who I'm sure, anyyone reading this has had to deal with. Good luck to us all in 2024, we are going to need it.

[the_book_seekers]

I've always wondered why there has been a lack of ebay advertising and the comments from the CEO explains it.

The second is that, obviously some of the competition is spending a lot of money from a marketing standpoint in the marketplace. But one of the great benefits of eBay, is just the vast amount of organic traffic we have. The vast, vast part of our traffic either comes directly to the app or types in eBay.com.

Senior management clearly doesn't see the need for advertising having the expectation that buyers will simply turn up. Amazon, with all its market dominance, sees the need for advertising. Ebay has seen a consistent drop in buyers since 2018 which isn't acknowledged. Expecting sellers to pay for off site promotion isn't going to do much. I find the complancency a little breathless. 

[theelench]

Interesting and a bit perplexing is my take on the article.

1.  "... phenomenal growth in advertising revenue compared to flat GMV."

2.  "And years ago, we really moved away from the low ASP, low quality items on our marketplace."

3.  "ebay are seeing a move from (move) some of the enthusiast buyers, to become mid-value buyers...."

4.  "But one of the great benefits of ebay, is the vast amount of organic traffic we have."

So he admits that PL is propping up revenue and GMV (Sales) are flat?

He says that "Focus Categories" are a growing(?) success and ebay was right to move away from low quality goods.  And that some enthusiast buyers are widening their buying to include "mid-value" items.

Does he offer any evidence that the enthusiast buyers have replaced the revenue lost by ebay's rejection of low value / quality, or is that goal still a hope rather than anywhere near a bankable reality?

He says that the "vast amount of organic traffic we have" gives ebay an advantage in buyer aquisition.

Surely that organic traffic is "vast" because of ebays past reputation as the "find anything" site and subsequently its reputation for being a place to find low value / cheap products.

I wonder what makes him think that this isn't a race against time for ebay.  The Focus Categories have got to replace and even exceed the lost revenue from the low value marketplace that ebay no longer wants. 

They have to do this before the desperate sellers propping up revenue streams by throwing money into PL advertising give up and stop paying.

And also before the vast organic traffic dies away as those seeking the unique and/ or cheap realise neither are on ebay any more.  (IMO that's well underway in .uk already)   

I'm definitely in the low value category of seller that ebay doesn't want any more so I'll continue my plans to do without ebay.  Not too difficult as my buyers have mostly deserted ebay already.  And unless someone can put a rather brighter interpretation on the article, I'd advise anyone not fortunate enough to be selling in one of the Focus Categories to do the same ASAP.

[theelench]

Complacency isn't the word , he still thinks it's 2010, when it seemed like everyone was buying and selling on ebay.  Barely anyone I know does either these days.

Out of interest how much does ebay expect sellers to pay for off-site promotion?

On ebid I pay 5p to list an item, that includes up-loading to google shopping (if the listing qualifies).

[the_book_seekers]

If ebay believes that 'the vast amount of organic traffic we have' is drawn to the site without the need to advertise, why then introduce the off site promotion. The comment makes the off site promotion appear a bit pointless.

[theelench]

Isn't there a bit of "Smoke and Mirrors" going on here?

To repeat part of what I said earlier, how much of "the vast amount of organic traffic (ebay) have" is drawn to the site by the low value stuff and cheaper priced collectables?  The very types of sales that the CEO says ebay have turned their back on and is happy to see declining.

But with consistent reductions in buyers, sellers and GMV (sales), although the Focus Categories may have "double digit" growth they are not replacing the lost sales, let alone growing them?

He admits that advertising revenue is propping-up profits, I suppose that reducing the advertising budget is also helping with that.

Personally, last year I only bought two items for my collection last year (a reduction).  A knock-on from that was I bought nothing at all from tech. or household goods sellers on ebay.

The reason being I've almost given up trying to browse for my collection, my sales have declined to the lowest they've ever been on ebay and I don't spend anywhere as near as much time as I once did on ebay.  Ebay is no longer the "destination site to begin my search".

So on the one hand he is telling everyone that 'the vast organic amount traffic' is one of ebays greatest assets, while doing everything he can to drive people like me off the site.  (Rubbish search, fewer sales as I won't promote)

It's definitely working, I'm losing interest in ebay both as a buyer and a seller and so are many others.  That's why, so far this year, I've already sold more on the other site I sell on than I did on ebay in the whole of 2023 and bought more on another site (or the local shops) than I have on ebay.

[british-ceramics-and-paintings]

One reason only..... to squeeze more money out of business sellers.

[candytan67]

I totally agree. I've given up with eBay and am now directing and concentrating my efforts elseware.

Established good sellers now get no rewards/thanks/sales for paying to use this site.   😒