Ebay business school

[2112carl]

I was so right! Last year I asked what business school ebay went to as the reduced listings would impact on on my private selling account. Sales have been down by one third since. I have used up all my free listings and now will not be able to relist until April.

This month I have had ZERO  sales, and very few views. Ebay don't seem to like private sellers so I will have to find a site that I can actually make sales.

[andha-21]

You used up 300 free listings in half a month and you are complaining about eBay's business sense?

That's really quite funny.

[suelel1968]

Relists are not included in the 300. It's easy to blame Ebay, but take a hard look at:

what you are selling - is it popular?

sold listings, see if other people are selling the same items regularly

Your prices, are they competitive. 

Your photos, descriptions-are they any good. 

Can you find your items if you search for them? 

Check your metrics on the overview page. Improve them buy doing things differently. 

To be fair, ebay provide all the tools, but you can lead a horse to water..... 

[crafty_cat_lover]

This month I have had ZERO sales,

Except for the sandpit you sold on 8th March

[kath3735_wxmjn]

i think this post is on a different account because if they have already used up 300 free listings it is not this one.  Half a story as usual..

[vinylscot]

There have been a number of comments in various threads on here recently, similar to the original post.

We can't see the account in question, which makes it impossible to give a definitive answer, but there have been signs recently that eBay is trying to "nudge" certain "private" sellers into converting to business accounts, if they believe that would be appropriate in the individual case.

Perhaps OP's other account is one of these?

[crafty_cat_lover]

I think it is this account as there are over 400 completed items, mostly auctions.

Looks like the OP manually relists auctions, is it possible to have automatic auction relists that don't count against the monthly listing allowance?

[vinylscot]

I hadn't noticed that. You're right. He has been manually re-listing seven day auctions.

That would suggest that it is he who needs to go to business school, not eBay. If something doesn't sell on auction, there is a lower chance of selling it on auction with every re-list.

Also, obviously, seven day auctions only give seven days' exposure.

Once something hasn't sold on auction, I find it is better to re-list it at a fixed price. That can be higher than the auction start price, if you like. You will then have permanent visibility of the item until it sells, and each fixed price listing rolls over without affecting the seller's listing allowance for the next month.

If the OP is conducting his sales differently, that is down to him, and no fault of eBay.

[wyntersemporium]

It’s not only private sellers it’s business sellers also. 

[action_man]

Stick with your own intuition. You sound like you have a good handle on the situation. Every time someone like you posts something like this, the same handful of forum regulars (possibly some of which are also eBay staff, because staff can have accounts too) comes along to disparage and derail any conversation. They are obviously the forum gatekeepers. It's so transparent. What they say may or may not be true, but it is never kind and that's the point. It's a hostile forum. Rather than actually deal with the issues, eBay prefers to shut people's voices down. So, really there is barely any point posting here. If you read the Trustpilot reviews of eBay, a picture of what is going on emerges. It's a shame, because the site used to be good. Not sure what happened, but it's become rather weird.

In fact, I'm probably not even allowed to say any of this. So, I fully expect my post to disappear due to "hostile language", or some such nonsense. If the truth is the truth, then it isn't hostile to say so. The only hostility I see is from people dogpiling on virtually every thread.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

so maybe if you hate the site so much and think the forum is so bad why not just leave and stop commenting?   Why is your opinion the only valid one that should be heard?

[action_man]

Right back at ya. I've made 22 posts in 4 years. You've made 17 posts today! Pot calling the kettle black?

[papso22]

Did you understand the point being made?  It was that you should stop posting if you hate the forums, it was nothing to do with the number of posts by that particular poster, who doesn't hate the forums.

[action_man]

Thank you for your pleasant explanation.

[papso22]

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@action_man wrote:

Thank you for your pleasant explanation.

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You are welcome.

[johnwash1]

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@vinylscot wrote:

I hadn't noticed that. You're right. He has been manually re-listing seven day auctions.

That would suggest that it is he who needs to go to business school, not eBay. If something doesn't sell on auction, there is a lower chance of selling it on auction with every re-list.

Also, obviously, seven day auctions only give seven days' exposure.

Once something hasn't sold on auction, I find it is better to re-list it at a fixed price. That can be higher than the auction start price, if you like. You will then have permanent visibility of the item until it sells, and each fixed price listing rolls over without affecting the seller's listing allowance for the next month.

If the OP is conducting his sales differently, that is down to him, and no fault of eBay.

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Maybe many of us need to go to business school, considering how many are saying sales are down.  No other possible explanation.