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Thanks for the Podcast. I have had similar results in 2019…25% more listings yet slightly down from 2018. It was my first year of non-growth on eBay…going on 10 years. I was surprised at a couple of topics omitted from the discussion. No talk of Promoted Listings, specifically the “change” in PL’s only giving you one slot in search results (vs the previous “organic” listing AND the “promoted” listing). I feel the “pay to play” is quite a big factor in downturned sales whether you use them or not. I opt out because I feel strongly that it is Pandora’s Box. But for those who opt in to PL’s you are all jockeying for a prime slot and being rotated in and out. Sounds like eBay is overselling and under delivering to me.
Second, going back to the October Item Specifics fiasco, I have not heard it discussed much of sellers going back and correcting/updating their listings. Luckily for me I have hundreds, not thousands of listings and most are not clothing. However I had to spend some hours and manually correct them. Specifically, eBay has added a very important “Department” field (ei Mens, Womens, Baby, Kids). For some incomprehensible reason they decided to make Dept “recommended” and not “required”. Ebay has given NO message of importance to it’s sellers that filling out that Dept field is pretty vital.
Following the logical search flow of most buyers, Dept will get selected first…you can’t really properly filter by size unless you first choose Department. So if you are not filling it out your items are quickly being omitted from buyer searches if they are using the item specifics filters. I am wondering if the clothing sellers who are really suffering are not realizing how important that field is, and that it is not info that was backfilled by eBay on existing listings…if it’s in there it’s because you manually entered it. New listings have the Dept auto populated based on Category (duh) so it’s only an issue for the listings that were active before the new field was introduced. I know it affected my 4th quarter boot sales in a big way. I manually corrected the listings and entered Dept field info, and I ended up with my highest month of sales ever in December. Something to consider if you haven’t made the time to correct older listings and your sales are continuing to disappoint.Retro – I have heard of people getting their profit down so low for tax reporting and I am stumped at how that could be possible. With almost 1500 items and the super low overhead of running an eBay business…how it that possible? What secret expenses do you claim? Tell me more. If it’s legal, I’d like to know.
My numbers for the week of 1/26/20:
Total Items in Store: 213
Items Sold: 20
Cost of Items Sold: $42
Total Sales: $575 + shipping
Highest Price Sold: $152 (Kobe Shoes)
Average Price Sold: $28.75
Returns: 0I’ve been loyalty listening to the podcast but rarely reading the forums. I was surprised to hear this podcast with TSatt. Didn’t I read that he recently went back to a full time job? With plans to have his wife continue the eBay store solo. In the re-aired podcast, he spoke extensively about his forecasting for 2019 with a sunny outlook. I’m curious, Where the numbers so far off from the projected that he decided to go back to work or was that decision made for other non-monetary reasons? I have also tracked my sell through rate and am often frustrated that more work put in and more active listings have not resulted in a correspondingly higher sell through rate.
My numbers for the week of 11/3/19:
Total Items in Store: 268
Items Sold: 20
Cost of Items Sold: $50
Total Sales: $494 + shipping
Highest Price Sold: $79 Roseville Pottery Vase
Average Price Sold: $24.70
Returns: 1 – Damaged in transit USPS ClaimIt has been a really long time since I posted anything but I have been faithfully listening to the podcast every Monday morning. Sad to say I am experiencing my first ever “lower than previous year” sales on eBay as well (been selling for almost 10 years). I have more listings than I ever did, am putting more work in, my limited storage space is pretty close to full…and I’m 20% down from the previous year. Disappointing.
I think there quite a few “reasons why”. Biggest ones in my mind: Promoted Listings push inflated priced items to the top of search results. Sales tax has almost overnight added 7-10% to the purchase price for buyers in many states. Shipping price increases on DIM weight have made many larger items I used to sell no longer viable, and have increased quickly even for smaller items (and we all only have 3 options here: calculated or flat and let the buyer pay the increase, free shipping and bump up your price so buyer still pays, or free and seller takes the cut to their profit, or some combination of these. Add in the messed up item specifics and it leads to a really crappy experience for a buyer. So here is my experience as a buyer this past week. Was helping my daughter browse eBay for crew neck sweatshirts. The item specifics debacle is in no way fixed…once we chose her size and a few specifications she was looking for we went from thousands of results to 44. 44! So she browsed the thousands…many which weren’t crew necks but hoodies (which is what she specifically did not want). Many from Hong Kong even though we chose US Only. My daughter had cash in hand to spend. And it ended with “this is hard” and no purchase. Frankly the eBay shopping experience is becoming nothing more than a hassle. So we went to the Brick and Mortar Stores this weekend. And they were PACKED. I’m talking driving around the mall parking lot trying to find a spot packed. I have not seen a mall this crowded around here in years. Shopping centers were the same.
Other reasons “why”: The ‘styles’ that were once hard to find in retail stores are readily available now…and while a percentage of the population want the real thing, many are happy with the close enough. Example: Walmart has Mr Christmas ceramic lighted christmas trees on the shelves this year for $25. Of course they aren’t near as pretty as the old ones, but for enough of the population it’s good enough. I could hardly even ship it and pay for fees from OH to CA for $25.
I know you guys don’t think price matters that much, but I’m really feeling the effects in the type of things I sell. This weekend I just sold a pair of Merrell hiking boots for $45. A year ago I was getting $65 easy for a like pair of Merrells. When you look at the invoice, my customer is paying about the same as my customer would have last year. Except more is going to eBay, USPS, and the state for sales tax and less is trickling down to me. I’m feeling the squeeze.Resellrescue,
The mistake isn’t eBay’s. Promoted listings are awesome for them. They just increased the fees they collect by a huge amount. The mistake is being made by the small business owners (us) who jumped on board. I said it at the beginning and I’ll say it now. It is opening Pandora’s box. We can’t ALL be on top. And if you notice, it took less than a year for the “trending rate” to go from a few percent, to 10%, to 16%. If you guys can’t see that this is bad for all of us…that the person who pays the most gets seen…then you’re just not paying attention.Wiser words were never spoken: We have our time and we hang out together…we eat together, we talk about everything, we get to experience the world together…That’s the whole point!
One of the things I absolutely love about this podcast is the philosophical aspect. So few people seem to live this way.
I started selling on eBay so I could stay home with my kids. Ten years later, they are all school age and I struggle sometimes with the fact that I could make more money if I got an outside job. But the fact is, it would be a major lifestyle change. My kids can do the activities they want and I am there to pick them up, to greet them with a hug when they get home, to make real home-cooked dinners, to not be exhausted when my husband gets home so he gets positive attention from a happy wife…and doesn’t have a laundry list of home chores to complete. It sounds really traditional. But it works out really well for us.
On the podcast you spoke about eBay not showing all the listings in a search. The thing I’ve noticed is, if you check that “show me all the listings” box…the number of listing results does not change. Try it out. I really believe this is not ethical, to charge a listing fee (or subscription fee that includes listings) and then not actually receive that service for it. I sometimes worry that this is where Promoted Listings is headed. That only people who give a bigger cut to eBay are going to be seen at all.My numbers for the week of 10/28/18:
Total Items in Store: 173
Items Sold: 18
Cost of Items Sold: $70
Total Sales: $881 + shipping
Highest Price Sold: $158 (vintage LL Bean Jacket)
Average Price Sold: $48.94
Returns: 0I can really feel the fourth quarter sales picking up. Another great week.
Regarding the very beginning subject of the podcast, with multiple quantity listings having incorrect item quantities, I have a quirk to share. On multiple quantity listings with Variations here is something that gets people into trouble: Cut and pasted from eBay Help Pages:“If you relist your listing, any variations that are at a zero quantity will be relisted with the original quantity. You’ll need to review and update your quantities to match your current inventory. If you plan on relisting regularly, we recommend listing with Good ‘Til Cancelled.
So for example, I had a robe listed in sizes S, M, and L. 5 of each size. I sell out of small. When I relist (RELIST, not sell similar) sizes M & L are the correct quantities, but the sold out size small goes back to a quantity of 5!!! Jay and Ryanne I know this doesn’t apply to you because you do GTC and rarely have multiples, but just wanted to let people know. It got me once but I’ll never make that mistake again.
Yep. $40 purchase turned to $1750! Wish that would happen more often! I got them off of a local Facebook buy/sell group so I had a minute to look them up on eBay to determine value. The artist definitely has “a look” so they were easy to identify. And I was in my car picking those suckers up within 20 minutes of making the deal…I knew he was already getting offers higher than the $40 he was asking for them so I didn’t want to give any extra moments for him to be alerted to their value. I was nervous about these because they are heavy…3 feet tall each, with wood bases, but fragile faces. They would be a bear to pack and ship. Couldn’t have turned out better that the buyer wanted all 5!
My numbers for the week of 10/21/18:
Total Items in Store: 172
Items Sold: 16 + 1 Facebook Sale
Cost of Items Sold: $46 + 40
Total Sales: $501 + shipping + $1750
Highest Price Sold (eBay): $79.99 (Disney Halloween costume)
Average Price Sold: $31.31
Returns: 0I had the best sale I’ve ever had so far! A few weeks ago I wrote in about a find I scored of 5 Hamberger Display Animated Christmas Elves. I cleaned them up, photographed them, contacted a couple of collector groups directly through Facebook, and had them sold within 24 hours! Buyer is a Collector/Business owner in CA and is arranging pickup with UShip for all 5 figures. No eBay fees Yay! Before this, my biggest sale was about a year ago for a Herman Miller Shell Chair for $500. So this sale is HUGE for me.
My numbers for the week of 9/16/18:
Total Items in Store: 177
Items Sold: 17
Cost of Items Sold: $47
Total Sales: $578 + shipping
Highest Price Sold: $82 (ECCO Dress Shoes)
Average Price Sold: $34 + shipping
Returns: 0I have not posted in a while. Kids are back at school and the routine is settling in. September has been a solid month, though this week was slower than the one before. Trying not to let it get to me and just plugging through for the quarter ahead.
I had an awesome “Scavenge of the Week”. I purchased 5 animated store display Christmas elves….they are by (David) Hamberger and sell on eBay in the $350-500 range EACH. Bought them for $40 total off a local Facebook site! They are big (3 ft tall) and heavy so I am going to try and sell these locally. There happens to be an year-round Christmas store/Christmas movie prop museum in my town with an eccentric owner who looks like Santa, so I think my chances of a quick flip are pretty good. I also have a decent stash of vintage Christmas items to get started listing on eBay, just finished up the Halloween stuff.My numbers for the week of 7/1/18:
Total Items in Store: 150
Items Sold: 18
Cost of Items Sold: $97
Total Sales: $740 + shipping
Highest Price Sold: $255 (Bar Light)
Average Price Sold: $41.11
Returns: 0Hi! I have been MIA on the forum because the kids are home on summer vacation and time wise, something had to get cut. But still devotedly listening to the podcast! I just wanted to pop in today to share my numbers…because it was one of my best weeks of sales ever. Even taking out the top sale, still a great week…And I had another $200 worth on Sunday! It’s such a relief to know that choosing to Opt Out of Free Returns has not had the slightest negative impact on my business. Hope everyone is enjoying their Summer!
Although the Tracking Uploaded glitch has been fixed on the main Seller Hub page, it is still not correct in the Performance>Guaranteed Delivery section (for me, at least). I reported it to Ebay for Business but it did not seem as though they were aware of the problem before hand. If others are experiencing the same, I urge you to report it as they often don’t give tech issues much attention until they hear from multiple users having the same problem.
I’ve got some concerns with the Summer Seller Update. Here’s what I sent to eBay for Business. Wondering if anyone here has any sound answers to my questions:
I want to express my disagreement with the new Policy changes in regards to auto acceptance of returns when the Buyer selects INAD.
1. I have had very few return requests, and the ones I have had are often settled to the buyer’s satisfaction WITHOUT the return of the item. However, I still want to be able to decide to offer a refund without return or the opportunity to troubleshoot (many of my items are battery operated toys and most issues buyers have had after a sale are operator error that are quickly resolved…ie: describing where the on/off switch is) on a case by case basis. I am interpreting the new policy to mean I have to choose one or the other: Auto return label provided or business policies set up to refund without return, without the opportunity for communication with the buyer. If I set up RMA# requirements, will this provide me with the opportunity to address the customer’s issues before a return label is sent?
2. Why is “Item received damaged” a choice for generating an Auto return? If an item is damaged in transit, and it is returned to me, I am no longer eligible for a damage claim with the carrier.
3. We are required to upload Tracking info into eBay, the information is already there…Why are buyers allowed to open “item not received” cases when there is already Full Tracking proof of delivery to the buyer’s authorized address provided on the site? These cases should not be allowed to be opened against a buyer, since just re-stating the Tracking info already uploaded should result in the closing of the case in the seller’s favor. It is a waste of time. The dialog is always the same…check with family members, neighbors, your postal carrier, ask for the GPS tracking info from your local post office. Why can’t an automated message be sent to the buyer and then direct them to communicate with eBay (not the individual seller) if they are unsatisfied and want to pursue a courtesy “stolen from porch” credit?
I would appreciate thoughtful consideration of my concerns and responses to the questions I have asked. Thank you.
