Sales Downfall in March 2024

[theglo-68]

I wonder if anyone else noticed a sudden downfall in sales.

Sales are non existent in March however January and February were reasonabley good months.

Please share your thoughts!

[thobu_8660]

The fees are to expensive and they quote postal charges that are too low.

The buyer pays the requested amount including the low postage then when you go to post the charge is much higher meaning you get much less from the sale.

Ebay takes a commission on both the sale price AND the postage. So the seller losses a fee on the selling price, the post quoted then a further loss because we have to pay extra to post the item because the quoted price was too low.
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[proudfootuk]

Totally agree with the comments about postage.

So post office charge £3.69 for a small parcel. To this I have to wrap/box the item including protective packaging, tape, a box, labels, drive to the post office and finally add the surcharge that ebay charge on the postage cost. In simple terms the postage charge to the buyer for a small parcel needs to be around £6.80!!!! I charge £4.29 for a small parcel. Anymore and I get accused of excessive postage charges.

On top of this we have to deal with a few, and to be fair it is only a few, crazy buyers. Three weeks ago a buyer opened a case against me as he had not received his item. He opened the case three hours after I sent him the item which he bought that morning!!!

Myself and my good lady have been keen Ebayers for over 20 years but we are now finding that it is less stressful to take our bits and bobs to a car boot on a Sunday.

Best wishes to all.

[Anonymous]

As an ebayer buyer and seller since the beginning closed my old account and opened a new one in  2017 and I have seen things change considerably with ebay. 

I remember the days when it was sell your unwanted items save the planet and recycle to then become a business and sell on ebay. 

Since then selling costs have risen over the years and also the postage Royal Mail is very expensive as you can’t post with out tracked or your taking a huge chance today. 

Plus drop shipping now on eBay and items 6 times the price from the actual drop shipper directs price. 

Things change I guess

[discountdeals_365]

We simply can't carry on with eBay at this pace March 25 sales absolutely none existent we will be bankrupt our sales normal level £21,000 per quarter down to £5000 per quarter and in March up the 15th we have sold £50 worth of goods out of 300 listings our business is seeking other avenues before we have to close.

Definitely something eBay has done everyone is reporting these down turns are around the same dates no way is that a coincidence VERY WORRYING.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

You do realise that others can see what you have sold?

So why say that you have sold only £50 up to the 15th, when in fact looking at your sold items, you have sold something in the region of £250?

I get that you might have some returns etc, but why reduce it so much?

Your even exaggerating the number of listings.  253, not 300.  I know it's not a massive amount, but that's equivalent to a false increase of 20%, which is quite substantial.

And in any case, if it's that bad, why are you not selling in other places?

Surely it's in your interest to do something about it, rather than just complain?

[discountdeals_365]

Get your facts right for a start we know what income we have received,we do sell on other platforms.

Look round there are lots and lots of complaints explain to me the sudden down turn

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Facts are correct.  And I'm not telling you your business.  I am asking why are you exaggerating facts?

Do you not know how easy it is to add up?

Oh, and that £250 doesn't include your postage fees.

And you clearly have only 253 listings, not 300 or is that not true either?

But if you sell on more than one platform, then you are exaggerating even more.
Do not think that people are idiots, they generally aren't.

[technthread]

I have noticed that when a multi quantity listing is ended by the seller (and has previous sales), the listing will appear at the top of the seller’s sold list . It will look like a recent sale that never was. That may not be the case here but filtering by solds as an outsider can be misleading.

[therenewalworkshopltd]

That's true.  But take a look yourself.

It's not one or two sales, but quite a lot.  🙂

There is actually a single sale there for £67.88 + £9.69 from the 6th March.

That alone gives lie to what was written.

I've seen this on many occasions and don't generally call it out, but it's getting ridiculous.

Why make things look worse than they actually are and make a fool of yourself at the same time?

It's childish.

[technthread]

With sales numbers and stuff like that if they don’t sound right I tend to give the benefit of the doubt that the poster is mixing up their turnover with net profit.

If someone asked me off the top of my head what my eBay sales were in March I’d have said about £120 gross but looking at it my total is actually £224. My point I guess is when I look at my bank account funds it is easy estimate that I sold less than I did and carry a negative number forward in my head without trying to be deceptive.

By the way I realise £224 or £120 are terrible numbers whichever one is was. It does seem quiet on here most days, I’m guilty of letting that stop me from listing so I spend a chunk of my eBay time selling elsewhere. 

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Fair enough, and I do understand that.

I would have to go and check, as I sell over a few accounts and not just this one.
And not just on Ebay.  Thank goodness for accounts software.  🙂

But I have a reasonable idea as to what it is overall.

As should anyone who is selling.

I really do think that the quietness in the main, isn't just Ebay.  It's everywhere.  They even reported that the economy has shrunk again in January.  But so much of the time, it's just people complaining.  They never seem to do anything about it.  Not everyone by any means.
Lots of things that you can do to increase sales.  The simplest being, to increase your range and ditch the lines aren't selling etc.  Sell in more places.  Lots of marketplaces now, though it does depend on what exactly you are selling of course.  It's virtually guaranteed though, that there are at least two other places you can be selling on without too much bother.

[madfroguk]

Agree, it's terrible at the moment and I don't think it will improve, if you not using promotions, you not selling at all, when you using promotions sales are still pretty bad, but you getting few sales, however your fees jumping to 40%, if you using ebay promoting suggestions, then  your fees are 60%, it's insane.

People in charge of ebay seams to have psychedelic obsession with milking sellers more and more with excessive promotions and they killed the platform in the process.

Sellers can take extra few %, but not extra 20-30% on top of the basic fees, it's mad and no surprise that sellers are leaving and focusing on cheaper selling platforms, obviously sellers have to pass excessive promotion fees on to the customers, so buying on ebay is not cheap anymore either.

I think ebay lost it big time, once they want to be Amazon Prime by using unrealistic EDD's, next they want to be like Vinted and pretending to scrap the fees for private sellers, just to reintroduce them in different form few months later, now they are just big sinking "no name" ship with fewer sellers and fewer buyers.

Why ebay don't want to be the good ebay from before that promotion madness started, cheap, seller and buyer friendly, the ebay which reward the sellers with best customer service, not sellers with higher CPC set in promotions, ebay with search not clogged with irrelevant sponsored junk, with app working also on older phones, so the most loyal older buyers can still buy there without buying fancy new phone, why alienate customers?

Sadly I don't see anything positive on the horizon, like scraping the promos and lowering the seller fees, so will focus on other platforms which doesn't cost the earth and have some buyers willing to spend some money...