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?

[switch_elec]

Promoted listing is and will be the slow death of eBay. Years ago eBay was the place I made most of my online purchases private/business because it was usually the cheapest and I wanted to support similar business's to ourselves. Promoted listings has forced up prices which has meant eBay has lost its USP of why buyers use the platform in the first place. I spend virtually nothing on the platform now and instead buy from SMB websites. 

Of course promoted listings isn't the only reason (although personally I think it is the biggest). For years eBay has not looked after sellers, the list of reasons is endless and would result in a very long post. They have prioritised buyers, but in the end the platform is nothing without the seller and they have done a terrible job of keeping them on-board. 

We have been selling for 10 years on the platform and have felt unmotivated the past few years to continue putting our resources into it when the rewards are no longer there. Instead we have focused on our website which has seen a far greater ROI than if we put the same time into eBay. You only need to look at the big brands that no longer sell on the platform to see the current trajectory, if eBay doesn't motivate sellers then they will leave. 

[theelench]

I agree with you about PL and have posted, possibly on this thread, about my last attempted purchases on ebay, for three pretty basic household items.  Two of them I found considerably cheaper at my local Tesco, the third I did buy (a 2024 diary in April)  but only because I couldn't find it anywhere locally.  But even with reduced price offer the seller sent it was getting on for twice the price I paid for an identical diary, on the high st. in December.

But I don't think PL pushing prices ever higher is the biggest reason for the declining sales on ebay.  Even before ebay became the place to buy low cost new items its USP was person to person buying and selling of Collectables.  Collectors found in ebay both a cheap and easy way to buy items they couldn't find locally and to sell on items their collections had out-grown.

In its haste to welcome big-brand, new item sellers, it pushed Collectables aside, reducing what was visible, restricting buyers ability to browse and worst mistake of all, removing their paypal "collecting funds".

IMO PL has just about finished off Collectables on ebay, not so much because it's made them more expensive, but because it's become clear that unless sellers pay PL fees their chances of selling anything are remote.

The question I and many other private collectables buyers / sellers ask themselves is "Why bother with ebay?"   I rarely find anything to buy.  I rarely sell anything to raise the funds to buy with, if I do find anything.  So, like I do, they go look at other places to buy necessities.  Ebay threw away its biggest asset when it decided it no longer wanted to be the worlds biggest and best boot-fair, in favour of being an expensive but second rate shopping mall. 

[charlie1388]

I too have been on eBay many years selling PC's. It used to be an excellent outlet for me but this has gradually declined to the point where a pattern has now formed as the algorithm is clearly at play,  I sell virtually nothing now for around 3 weeks of every month. Then when shop fee's are due a miracle happens, a surge of interest and a couple of sales. Clearly to keep the seller interested when it comes to paying MORE of their fees. 

eBay is slowly suffocating itself with greed. The fees are quite frankly ridiculous! The new 'regulatory operating fee' yet another drain on margin. 

They have had to increase fees to retain their income but the knock on affect is their core business leaving in droves. 

They used to have discounted fees promotions, not seen one for a very long time. Now it's 'save £100' on pay per click/Beta' or whatever they call it?! More milking of profits and rinsing sellers. 

l'd love to see how many sellers have dropped away. Some competitors I followed have long gone. How long I can stay is debatable. 

Long gone are the good old days!

[theelench]

You'll never see how many UK sellers have dropped away.  From my interest in one particular niche area, I'd guess that .uk figures are even worse than the regular declines shown in their quarterly financial statements which are for ebay inc. and world-wide numbers.

When I started on ebay there were three long established sellers of glass I tried to emulate, one a world authority who maintains their own I.D Guide Site.  They've recently been advertising their items independently on google and I don't see them on ebay now.

The other two have gone to Esty, although one still advertises here infrequently.  When I last bought from one of them I got a flier telling me how to see more of their stuff elsewhere. 

I cant blame them, if you're selling big ticket items, you need the audience to appreciate (and pay) for them.

Difficult when, because they have no selling history, ebay gives them little visibility.

[dazzio-music]

I have a guitar eBay store.

My business and sales has been growing steadily.

I can sell 10-15 items a day.

Suddenly it went down to 1-3 items for a few days, then stopped completely.

I want to get my website out there.

I need my website to be more visible in searches. I used fasthosts, but I have to add extra tools etc. to promote.

I'm thinking about changing provider.

Maybe GoDaddy, Shopify or ecwid.

Any suggestions please? Thank you

[therenewalworkshopltd]

You need to remove your actual website details from the post, your not allowed to do that.

However, promoting websites is not so much about the provider, but how you have it setup etc.

Actual promotions, then you need to use the likes of google advertising and so on.

Look at things such as backlinks from other websites.

Do you have your SEO setup correctly?

For ideas, google "how to promote my website".  There is lots of information out there that will help.  And it's not all expensive, but free.  It takes time and effor though.

[plpmr]

"Any suggestions please? Thank you"

A major problem is that you are a business seller trading as a private seller in violation of eBay rules and the law.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Well spotted, I hadn't looked.  If I had noticed, the answer would be somewhat different.

@dazzio-music   For the record, your website is not diplaying your business details either.

As such, it's also illegal.  You have no T&C's visible anywhere on the site.

No delivery details.

All in all, loads missing and no wonder the search engines aren't picking it up.

[imperio-numismatico]

Hi

I have used Ecwid and is very easy and fast to use
Yes, Ebay is going down in the market this year.

I would be not surprised if ebay disappear in 2-5 years

It is getting more and more expensive and every day have less sellers and
material. Before was like a big marketplace, now have few variety and very
expensive for the buyers

i do not buy on ebay from Time ago, too expensive and never have the things
i look for

Try Lazada , at least in my country work really good

Good luck
Regards

[dazzio-music]

Thank you for all the info.

I didn't realise all these things.

I paid a web designer to make my website. Thought it would be more professional, and everything that needed the be done, would be done.

Not too happy.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Sorry, but it's not your website designers responsibility to have these things correct!

It is yours.

Are you even registered as self employed with HMRC?

You need to sort out your Ebay account as well.  You are running a business and are not a private entitity.

[dazzio-music]

I'm gonna need time to sort this all out.

I have my t's and C's on my old website, and delivery details.

I'll try to transfer it all across.

I might start from scratch and go through step-by-step.

Where do I check my business/private status on eBay? I thought I had automatically switched to business account when I became a shop.

Bear with me. I have a bit of work to do!

I'll get back to you when all sorted.

I appreciate all of your advice.

Cheers

[therenewalworkshopltd]

You need to update your account settings, to reflect the fact that you are a business.

How exactly you do that, depends on what type of business you are.  ie. Sole Trader, Partnership, Ltd Company.

The shop, is just a type of subscription and nothing more.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/account/creating-account/creating-ebay-account?id=4191&st=3&pos=2&query=...

[jolly-chef]

From my observations, eBay turns on and off their adverts on external sites like Google Search and Facebook. This has a massive impact on listing traffic. I seems like they run out of ad budget at particular times so the sales on eBay stop.

[potters_uk]

I've  now removed everything off Ebay.  I was doing ok but for the last few months it has been dead.  Luckily I do have other outlets which for some strange reason brings me customers, which sort of refutes the notion that it's the sellers and not Ebay.

Ive been around since around 2003 and enjoyed alot of the good stuff that actually made it worthwhile back then.  The ability to decide how long you wanted your listing to be visible rather than 30 days or nothing.  Where consistancy meant you would have continuous items reaching the top of the pile thus making it easier to sell them. Lots of other good stuff and Ebay not inserting it's nose into all aspects of your business.

We can sit here and argue all we want but the reality is, Ebay is no longer worth the time or effort and certainly not as your only source of marketing your goods. 

I'll keep my account open in the unlikely event that Ebay wakes up, but im not holding my breath and it will still be interesting to come here and see how things are for those who continue punishing themselves.

[btr.style]

"Ebay is no longer worth the time or effort"

That's very much a blanket statement. I can say differently. For me eBay is absolutely 100% worth the time and effort, even as the only place to market and sell my goods. 

With the business I own and stock I get, things have the potential to go massive on eBay alone. 1000's of listings, 100's of sales a week. The reason it was never like that was solely down to eBay fees on the unlevel playing field (business accounts Vs private account businesses with all the promos and perks), which was a kick in the teeth especially with having to go VAT registered if selling to that capacity. Fees fees fees. 

Things took a different path and I spent massive, borrowed, sold a load of my own stuff, had money off investors and took out loads of credit agreements to source all the stock I'll never need (something like 40k items) to achieve my lifetime financial goals. Now it's not about business growth but getting the maximum amount of money for the stock over several years and retiring young (hopefully before 45). 

All money coming from sales now goes into my pocket and I want as much of it as possible, not have to give away 15% of it to eBay fees while private businesses can sell clothing with no fees at all. So I've sought out alternatives. 

[krafty-kreations]

I've  now removed everything off Ebay.  I was doing ok but for the last few months it has been dead.  Luckily I do have other outlets which for some strange reason brings me customers, which sort of refutes the notion that it's the sellers and not Ebay.

It was like that for me for a while but now Ebay is doing better than the other site I sell on.

I did take all my listings off for about three months, but after losing my partner and now only having one wage some sales are better than no sales and decided to come list and see how it goes.

My only annoyance is there are so many sellers selling personalised on private accounts so can list thousands of different designs and they list the same design in different colours on seperate listings which no doubt gets them seen more and checking their selling history they get way more sales than I do... but it is what it is I suppose, I am done stressing over it because I just don't see eBay doing anything about it!! 

[apoldi82]

Yes, ebay is very greedy and not sure if it is good for them. Now they want us to pay for promoter listing advanced for better visibility. My sales on average were £700 a day and during Christmas £1200. Now since February to June 2024 it's only £300 a day and declining. July 2024 is the worst. I hardly have £100 a day. In order to have more sales I gave away coupons with 20% discount past few days and sold at loss just to see daily sales or else it's depressing. I have stock worth £40,000 retail value and can't see £100 to £200 sale a day is very depressing. Last year I had stock worth 60,000 retail value and in good days I used to make £800 sales and bad days £600, hence average £700. 

2024 is the worst.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

 I have stock worth £40,000 retail value and can't see £100 to £200 sale a day is very depressing. Last year I had stock worth 60,000 retail value

Do you know how meaningless that is?  You never value your stock at retail value, but at cost.  Which will more than likely be a third of that value or even less if your VAT registered.

It's only worth that if you sell it and even then, it's still not the value after the costs, such as postage and so on!

So whilst I understand where your coming from, don't fool yourself with those kind of figures.

You don't have to use Ebay's promoted listings.  Which makes them only as greedy as the people using them.  But think about it, if you had your own website, you would more than likely be using google adverts etc to promote your website.  The fees are not actually that extortianate.  Yes, they are more expensive than they used to be.  But they are in line with other sites such as Amazon.  But think about it, what hasn't gone up in price over the last few years?

If you read anything of the news, you can see that everywhere is experiencing a downturn in sales.  People just aren't spending, other than on essentials.  Hell, one of the biggest UK retailers (Carpet Right) looks like it's going into administration unless they can sell it in the next week or two.  And that's just one of a string of failures of the last year or two.

[theshoecupboard]

As an accountant of over 40 years experience I have seen a number of companies that have valued their stock at retail value - it very much depends on your business and the model you are using!