Survivable Sales Drought Or Terminal Decline?

[blueskystore777]

Even ebay admit these are 'exceptional times for sellers'. It's clear that sales for the majority are down by large and unprecedented percentages, whether measures M.O.M or Y.O.Y, the trajectory is vastly down.

I'd be interested in opinions, so, a simple question:

A. Have you convinced yourself that ,whatever the cause, this is an exceptional 'Sales Drought' and if it can be survived, ebay will again return the sales ranges it held for years and maybe ever better? Or,

B. Do you believe this is a 'planned or unplanned', Terminal Decline that will, for whatever basket of reasons, mean the end of ebay as a viable sales option?

[exponential_developments]

Yes but Paypal give the same protection, so do credit cards, so what advantage does ebay have......they have become annoying with constant site changes.

I too asked my daughters to ask on fake book, the answers were very consistant, Chinese tat, private seller businesses, adverts all over the site, promoted listing, and the fact it's nolonger cheap on here. Never mind all the competition ebay has, and its doing nothing to help itself.

Ebay managment think sellers can somehow absorb the constant fee increases and postal increases and still be competitive compared to shops.

[1956glyn]

Add to that ...if one buys from a retailer direct on their site (i am thinking more of designer clothes or the latest iphone etc ) you know the items genuine.

Yes you may pay more for it but we think its worth it.      This is my adult sons opinion too.

[exponential_developments]

Yep, the items i sell, some people need advice and going to a shop they can ask directly, take their old part with them and and not have to wait.

A few weeks ago i bought several items on here for work, EDD, ebay says ETA, 10th for example, 10th passes and ebay say delivery running behind schedule or words to that effect........It's darn frustrating espesially if one has to be here for a delivery all day, simply to deal with ebay's pass the parcel guessing game.

[theelench]

I wonder if US court decisions have anything to do with this?  Google has recently been found guilty of being a monopoly in some types of search (not for the first time?).

One thing I've noticed is that I can now always find some of my ads. (from the other site I sell on) on the first couple of pages of G. Shopping.  It wasn't always like that, I used to think myself lucky to find one ad. amongst the wall-to-wall ebay and etsy listings.

These days I find the first couple of pages of results show less from the on-line giants and a lot more from smaller platforms and independent / small business web-sites.

Perhaps all the giants are getting a bit nervous that congressional committees, courts (on both sides of the ocean) and competition watch-dogs are eyeing their vast size, market share and the profits they squeeze from their dominance?

[the_book_seekers]

And the squeeze goes on. Introducing promoted shops on a pay per click basis -

The cost for each click is based on a second price auction, which means the fee charged will be determined by factors like historical performance on eBay, your bid amount, other sellers' bids, and a reserve price (the minimum amount we've determined a click is worth, taking competition and marketplace thresholds into consideration).

Another idea from ebay whereby the user will have no means of knowing how ebay works out the cost. Historical performance, an unknown minimum price per click, competition and marketplace thresholds?

Not for me thanks. 

[exponential_developments]

As the saying goes, It's like watching a slow motion train wreck, everyone with any business experience in this country and how British people view things in life can see things don't look good.

[theelench]

As a private seller and read that I understand a little better why ebay seems to have so little interest in seeing my stuff sell for a mere 13.2% fee, probably even less if I list under a FVF Offer, when they expect to make as much or possibly even more from that sort of 'deal'.

I wonder if there's any point even listing when any other seller who's signed-up, no matter how bad they might be, will be ahead of me when it comes to which listing gets shown to prospective buyers.

We're not even talking the same language any more, it's incomprehensible to me

[british-ceramics-and-paintings]

I have been doing some keyword research for my website over the last day or two and Ebay doesn't even come up in the top 10 Google searches for lots of search terms I entered, the other site beginning with E generally does quite well often with top 5 rankings.

I thought this was very concerning and I do think it will be playing a big part in the downturn many are experiencing. Despite how things seem to be I still expected Ebay to dominate the top of searches however it doesn't. Not good at all.

[nigel_paul_wright7557]

Brexit killed about half of my sales.

High p+p fee's and VAT just makes buying from UK not worthwhile for foreigners.

There is less money around now.

Ebay doesnt help by forcing customers to go through hoops to add a funding source.

A lot of people just buy elsewhere instead now.

[padanpcparts]

Yeah that's my experience too. When I started selling 10 years ago, EVERY member of my family were like 'Oh wow, your on E-bay? That's amazing, I bought x y z last week from there'. Now, NONE of them buy ANYTHING here. Various reasons, Price, dodgy delivery estimates, Poor experience with sellers, Cheap chinese copies, the list goes on. I'm the same, I buy a lot of business related stuff here as they have a semi monopoly on IT/laptop stuff. When I'm buying anything for my personal life it doesn't even cross my mind to look here anymore most of the time. 

[exponential_developments]

I now tend to do Google searches as the search on here is cronic and i can't be bothered with all the carp it throws up, worst i've ever known it, seems like ebay employees don't shop on here otherwise the search would be altered.

Sad to say but ebay has had its time in the sunshine.

[ojewellery]

@exponential_developments  I started using your google search tip a while ago and do find it easier to locate the items I want.  I don't know if its the system picking up I'm more likely to click eBay links (learning my behaviour) or an interesting eBay development, I'm recently getting a lot more eBay shopping options in my google shopping offering.

[british-ceramics-and-paintings]

Is Google shopping becoming more and more prominent full stop ?? When I do searches products are dominating the front page.

Anyone else seeing this ?

[ojewellery]

I'm now getting three rows, I think it used to be one.  A mixture of sponsored and google shopping

The first one is a horzontal scrollable shopping options, it says sponsored above, then two rows of shopable options followed by a view more products option.

[padanpcparts]

When I do market research for the small repair shops that predominantly buy stuff from me, they generally say that they search using google for E-bay now. Madness. Does make me wonder if I should set up website and do direct sales...

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Yes, you probably should.

If your prepared to spend the time and effort on it, it can pay well.

Just don't expect an overnight sucess with it, it does take a fair bit of time and effort to get it running sucessfully/profitably.

If nothing else, it's a separate income stream that is gives you an alternative, if things where to go south on Ebay, or wherever else you sell.

[british-ceramics-and-paintings]

Given that one of Ebay's recent moves was to expect sellers to pay for off site ads that bring buyers back to Ebay I think having a website is a must, why pay Ebay for off site ads and then final value fees / other fees on top, the only winner is Ebay.

I appreciate some sellers cannot do this due to competition / expense however if you are selling in less saturated markets I think a website is as valuable now as it has been for a long time.

The market is changing, small businesses can use Google search and shopping more and more now.

[ojewellery]

I agree that offsite ads are yet another eBay revenue stream and with ever increasing costs its frustrating to have a charge for something that historically felt inclusive but we are where we are.   Regardless of how much it feels the scales have become unbalanced. 

Being cold and business about it we all have to see what stacks up for our business' in the ever evolving world we're in now.

My eBay offsite ad performance currently stacks up well.  My Return On Advertising Spend (ROAS) has never dropped below 10.  Thats at least £10 turnover for £1 ad spend.  For offsite ads thats people who weren't on eBay, that are unlikely to have bought anyway.

I have a website and other sales avenues. I link to my eBay from my website.  I think its sort of social proofing, validating the business and its longstanding consistent feedback score.  For some (many millions of customers) they'd rather buy off a name than an unknown - so they'll click the eBay known business name ad but wouldn't buy of the Ojewellery site - even with price incentives.  That for me is why I continue with offsite ads.  The website has more momentum than a year ago, its growing, but I think for many customers they are loyal to platforms and would rather buy from the known than risk a small business.

[british-ceramics-and-paintings]

Have you tried ads that take customers to your own platform ?

[exponential_developments]

On your site, couldn't you emphasise customer protections they have if paying with paypal or credit cards, i find many people don't have a clue about distance selling rules etc etc.