No Sales April - May

[jmcksofficialdesigns]

Hope you can give me some advice regarding my ebay selling experience 2025
Unfortunately am at a loggerheads!  Having sold 1 item sinve the 06/04/2025
I never really sell a huge amount of items but was use to selling 1 - 2 or even 3
T-shirts a week and cannot  figure Why things have slid in sales! Since ebay made its
changes my ebay App became incompatable with the new update which was a
a huge blow as using the App for myself was a breeze. Next came the Simple
Delivery option and since the changeover I have not made a sale wether this is
due to normal fluctuation with the economy or there is an actual bug with my
ebay Acc am not sure thats why I thought I'd reach out. I guess with the economy
& prices going up then I could at least feel reassured as I feel things will eventually pick
up again and patience is the name of the game, However if it is a bug then I
would like if ebay can give me some advice how to resolve the issue.

[guymafo]

@jmcksofficialdesigns 

You probably need to look at registering as a business seller:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sellercentre/selling/start-selling/create-ebay-business-account#do-i-need-a-b...

GM

[*maetrix*]

Being flippant (as I usually am on here,apologies)..it's probably down to ebay's genius new schemes they've imposed on every Tom,Dlck & Harriet since Feb 4th.

(Not) Simple Delivery.

Ripping off buyers with BPF (Wow,great idea).

Reporting sellers to hmrc for having the gall to sell more than 1 item a week.

I'm now in the process of de-listing items.

Cannot believe what's happened to this site in such a short space of time.

Agent Eve Williams - your vork here is almost complete.

[jokers_toybox]

Not only registering as a business, your listings need a LOT of tweaking, you're just not gonna hit the algorithm to get views and when you do, because you're currently running under a private account the BPF makes your shirts VERY expensive for what I can only assume are unlicensed shirts. 

I'll be happy to give you some pointers once you've sorted out your account though.

[jckl1957]

When Ebay added the Buyer Protection Fee to private sellers' items, it highlighted which accounts were business and which were private.

With money short, and demands high, I believe people are looking at every penny they spend and making sure it is spent wisely.

As advised, you are clearly trading and should have a business account.

I would not spend £30 on a TShirt from a business seller trading illegally without a returns policy.

You need to upgrade your account, have your business address on your listings, and have a returns policy in line with consumer law.

[kidmore_kats]

Do you have Shakin Stevens permission to sell 'his' t-shirts on eBay?

If I remember rightly, he doesn't even allow the sale of his records on here.

[*vyolla*]

As you're trading as a business, you should upgrade to a business account - they're not subject to having a Buyer Protection fee added or Simple Delivery.

A private seller is one who is just selling off their own personal items such as clothes from their wardrobe, bits from their loft/garage etc.

A Business seller is someone who buys or makes items to sell on.  They need to be registered as a business to meet the requirements of UK law. eBay will be providing HMRC with your details anyway so it's vital to keep correct accounts for your tax return. You can obviously offset more expenses as a business seller, but can't offset any at all as a private one.  

To correctly register as a business seller simply go to your Personal Information in your account and to the right of Account Type, which will be showing as 'Individual'  you'll see an Edit option.

https://accountsettings.ebay.co.uk/profile

This doesn't affect your feedback profile or any current listings, it merely upgrades your account so that you're compliant with current consumer and eBay policy.

If you're also selling your own items, just open another eBay account (you can have more than one).

Just a heads up - make sure that you have the copyright owners permission to use their name or logos on your t-shirts, else you're likely to end up with a large legal bill.

[superchallenge]

I'd echo the sentiments of other posters - you need to register as a business seller.

But that's probably the least of your problems when it comes to making sales.

Firstly, you're knocking out entirely unlicenced shirts with iron-on prints for £30 a pop plus £2.70 shipping. You might have a chance at making a sale at that price if you've rolled up outside a concert in a caravan and have a captive audience. On eBay though...less so.

There's no maker's name for the shirt itself (Fruit of the Loom, for example.)

Your item titles are poor. Your Shakin' Stevens shirt has the title of "Shaking Stevens" for example. Doesn't even say what it is. Just the artist name. That's not going to help people find your stuff.

You have two photos for each item. Just two. You need more. At least six. Throw in a sizing chart and that counts as three. Photograph the shirt tag to show the maker. That's four. Two more shots from different angles makes six.

Also regarding the item images...a blind man can see that the images are blanks you've dropped a poor-resolution image onto in Photoshop. You would have a much better chance of selling something if you actually had some ready-made shirts to hand that you could photograph. People can't see the item that they're buying. They may as well be looking at a brass rubbing of it that you did.

Plus you've somehow made the pretty stunning Rhianna look like the fella from Stargate.

[*vyolla*]

---

@superchallenge wrote:

Plus you've somehow made the pretty stunning Rhianna look like the fella from Stargate.

---

😂

[crn303]

There are currently 8000+ listings of Shakin Stevens on eBay worldwide … 6000+of them in the UK.

[luka0001]

You suggest eBay are highlighting private sellers who should be registered as a business. As far as I can see BPF applies to all and any private sellers and not discriminating their legal/tax situation All private sellers are subject to this. Myself I think buyers had a great degree of protection BEFORE ... BPF.

[jckl1957]

I don't believe I did suggest that 'eBay are highlighting private sellers who should be registered as a business.'

Just to clarify, that is not what I think.

I think the BPF has hlighted to buyers that there are different seller accounts on Ebay.  Also (my opinion only) buyers can now spot a private seller by the 'odd' prices which include the BPF.

Savvy buyers may well prefer to deal with a seller who is properly registered and is not denying them their right to return an item for any reason, especially of they are buying fairly pricey brand new clothing which they may not like or which may not fit well.  Buying online means there is no opportunity to feel the fabric or try the garment on.  That is why buyers have additional rights when they buy online FROM BUSINESS SELLERS.

My post was not about buyer protection - although it does touch on buyers' rights.