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Ok, I know we have all talked/argued about this topic before but I think there is some renewed relevance. I’m sure others have noticed in Jay and Ryanne’s numbers how their 2nd store has been languishing since they stopped adding new items and their recent uptick in sales now that they are pumping out new listings at a nice clip on their main store with the assistance of their helper. Coincidence? Maybe, but I can’t help but feel there is a correlation. I know if I neglect my MUCH smaller store for a week or two my sales fall off a cliff then a nice productive week of listing will bring me right back even though the stuff that starts selling is not always the items I listed. I’ve noticed the same result if I list a nice batch of high demand items like video games. Something like classic Nintendo games get a TON of views and they sell almost instantly. At the same time a lot of my other stuff will suddenly start selling even if its been listed for a long time. So my tin-foil hat conspiracy theory based on these ideas:
1.) There is a fair amount of speculation that new listings get a temporary boost in traffic through better search placement or the fact there is a “newly listed” filter that some buyers may use.
2.) There are folks who theorize that more activity/views of items in your store somehow creates better sales across the board. Either through something in the eBay search algorithm or maybe just people finding your other items through the newly listed ones
These are ideas that are very hard to prove without having access to eBay’s own data or setting up a large scale scientific experiment so take them for just that “theories”. That said, personal observations of my own store and Jay & Ryanne’s numbers make me suspect that listing creates a boost in item views due to theory #1 which then creates more visibility for other items based on theory #2 these two things combined produce the commonly cited observed results that frequent listing = better sales for the entire store.
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As you said, because there is no proof of these hypotheses, then it’s just a personal choice. For some sellers, this means ending their listings every 30 days and listing again as if they are new. Depends where you want to spend your time.
We focus on continuously listing new items. Does listing new items boost sales? Maybe. But listing new items is just good for business regardless if it helps eBay’s algorithm. More items in our store means more search terms to capture buyer’s attention.
Our second store is an example that sales happen even if we dont list. Maybe we dont have great sales, but we’ve been averaging $1000/month just on autopilot.
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As a person who has the listing foot on and totally off the gas for weeks with a basic store, I can just share that I definitely get some sales right after I have a listing day. My personal experience over the last couple of years with this pattern has led me to believe that there definitely is some relationship. Items do sell when I’m not listing, but it’s way more sporadic. See Ann Save on Youtube has mentioned the rumor that putting your store in vacation mode might relieve the “no listing penalty”. I have only taken a couple of vacations with my store open, so it’s hard to have an opinion about that one. Finally, I noticed when a rare auction successfully ends in a sale, I get a little boost. It would be an interesting experiment to save up scheduled listings, and then dribble them in daily. Personally, I don’t have time to end and sell similar regularly.
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/marciaturner/2017/01/31/how-ebay-sellers-can-increase-sales-with-just-a-few-tweaks/#4bcc8792f8c5
Interesting that Suzanne A. Wells is coming right out and saying Ebay is pushing down stale listings in search. She mentioned waiting a couple of weeks before using sell similar, which I haven’t heard before. Finally, she recommends the dribbling in daily listing approach I mentioned above – confirming without citing any authority hypothesis 2; that listing gaps reduce sales. Maybe she’s got inside intel if she’s willing to say all of this to major publication. Then again, Ebay isn’t likely to come out and contradict her.Also on my mind is another article I read about Ebay telling sellers they like new items, vs. unique. http://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/comments/2017/1/1483060360.html/3/40
It has me wondering if smaller Amazon sellers will move to Ebay and Ebay vintage sellers will move to Etsy. Ebay is so easy, but I’d like to see Etsy take off.-
I feel like having a store has become a Pyramid Scheme. Once you list the number of items allotted, your sales plummet. Then we have to do gyrations to get them to move.
I make myself list ONE item a day. Doesn’t seem to help me. Last February I was constantly selling. This February CRICKETS. And now on top of everything else, I need to promote my listings on social media?
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If you’re saying that having a store subscription has slowed your sales, the cancel your subscription. Then by your thinking, sales should rise.
The market is also constantly changing.
–Maybe fewer people don’t want your particular items this year versus last year.
–Maybe there are more sellers competing against you now.
–Maybe your prices aren’t as competitive.These seem more likely than eBay purposefully stopping you from selling, which doesnt make sense since they make money when you make money.
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Jay are you impressed with the income coming in from your second store? If you were living on that income, wouldn’t you be in trouble?
Last February I didn’t have a store. I got the free 50 a month of Buy it Now listings. My mind set was you list what you think is going to sell fairly quickly. I got a store in March. So now my store has long tail items. Clothing, craft kits, books, etc. When I was doing 50 freebies, it was mostly unique vintage/antique items. So I’m trying to find my way back to making at least what I was last year at this time. Not zero. I thought getting a store would increase my sales. I do think I am still listing unique antique/vintage items. Yet maybe not as much as I think I am.
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As I just made a sale because I put my store on yet another 10 percent off, something came to mind.
Since eBay has been pushing that Send Offer button, I have noticed that over time, regular eBay buyers know this is there and are holding out. Or as you said in your podcast, they are just emailing their offers.
The sellers that have LOW prices. Postage going up. EBay pushing sellers to offer free shipping. Our bottom lines are shrinking. If we don’t adjust to the lower prices, our sales get stagnant. Yet many items, I literally have the only one listed of that item.
I’m just trying my best to figure it out.
In December I had a number of 30%, 40% and 50% sales. I was able to move a lot of dead wood which was great.
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Karen, I can feel your frustration. We would all like to sell more, make more money, and want eBay sales to be more consistent. But your logic doesn’t make a lot of sense.
–If we only had our second store, we would not expect it to generate full-time income. We’ve barely listed in that store for over eight months now. It’s on auto-pilot. That fact that we make $1000/month without doing anything is pretty amazing.
–If you feel that having a store subscription is hurting your sales, then do an experiment. Close your store and go back to just listing 50 items at a time when eBay gives out free listings. This will give you prove or disprove your hypothesis.
–Having only 200-300 items in a store usually wont generate much income unless you sell very sought after and high dollar items. Like Steve with his expensive vintage electronics.
–Being angry at eBay will never help anything. eBay is just a big mindless corporation. We find that focusing on solutions makes for a better business and more piece of mind.
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I think the consensus here is it takes a minimum of 500 items before you will have a pretty good pipeline (and, of course, even then sales will be uneven).
There is no magic to a store. eBay doesn’t suddenly push you to the head of all search results etc. But there are advantages, and they aren’t limited to the fee structure.
But the main thing is to have stuff people want, at a price they want it at. And, with long tail stuff, patience is a big help, because most long tail stuff has very limited demand.
As to pricing, beware: The race to the bottom is a losing game.
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I think for myself, I’ve only been used to listing home runs. Long tail is new to me. I’m not sure I really want to go up to the next store level. If I had enough of the right items, I would. To me, good long tail items are still vintage/antique unique or harder to find. Yard sale season starts in a few months. I will decide when I start buying again. I just have to survive this slow period.
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