Forum Replies Created
-
AuthorPosts
-
“What is the point of vacation mode if you can’t hide your items and you have to change the handling time. Why not just change the handling time?”
ebay has been asked this question many times, and has never really provided a satisfactory answer. An additional question: why do only store subscribers get a “vacation mode”, but others don’t? I’ve been hoping for years that ebay would change this, and I think they might—at some point—but it is just not a priority with ebay.
02/24/2020 at 9:41 pm in reply to: ebay Spring Seller Update is this Wed Feb 26, Town Hall Feb 25 #74363Thanks Temudgin….I hope they address it at some point. But I admit, I’m not expecting them to provide a lot of detail if they do….unless it ties into changes coming on Wednesday. That would be nice….
02/24/2020 at 8:23 pm in reply to: ebay Spring Seller Update is this Wed Feb 26, Town Hall Feb 25 #7435802/24/2020 at 5:18 pm in reply to: ebay Spring Seller Update is this Wed Feb 26, Town Hall Feb 25 #74355I doubt there will be a transcript, but it’s possible (They do provide one for the weekly podcasts). I’m going to try to watch it live if we get home in time.
02/24/2020 at 4:20 pm in reply to: ebay Spring Seller Update is this Wed Feb 26, Town Hall Feb 25 #74353And to be clear, they will answer SOME of those questions, with preference for those with the most votes. So I’m guessing a lot won’t be answered. Last time they did something like this, I think they answered maybe the top 10 or 11.
Also, if you can’t be present for the live Town Hall, it will be available as a replay later on.
02/24/2020 at 4:18 pm in reply to: ebay Spring Seller Update is this Wed Feb 26, Town Hall Feb 25 #74352I’m not sure if they are doing that or had simply said they will be doing it. But an ebay exec has also indicated he isn’t happy about it, so that may go away. I sure hope so.
02/24/2020 at 3:46 pm in reply to: ebay Spring Seller Update is this Wed Feb 26, Town Hall Feb 25 #74346Jay, Not really. Maybe they’ll throw out some hints at tomorrow’s town hall, but ebay is in such a state of flux these days, I really have no idea. I’m just hoping whatever it is, it is either positive or at least neutral for our business.
02/24/2020 at 9:25 am in reply to: Scavenger Life Episode 451: How Longtail Are You Willing To Go? #74318simplicio,
I agree about storage and long tail…Amazon found this out pretty quickly when they first opened FBA to sellers—-many sellers rushed to send in long tail stuff since they assumed it could just sit in Amazon’s warehouse until it sold. Amazon quickly changed its fees to try to reduce the amount of long tail in their warehouses. And it’s also one reason drop shipping is so attractive to some sellers…
And as you also and J&R also note, the added issue is, much of this stuff is not really price sensitive, so discounting—the most common retail lever to clear out old stock— is often not very useful.
And thus for many, the long standing conundrum: How does one increase sales velocity for long tail merchandise, which, almost by definition, is slow moving?
ebay has had a lot of success with long tail merchandise precisely because ebay does not own it, and does not have to store it. But ebay sellers do have to buy and store it, and that adds up.
Try upgrading your phone to Android 5.0.1 or higher. I don’t think it’s the phone itself that’s the problem, it’s the version of Android you are using. (Unfortunately, your phone might not be able to upgrade to 5…..I don’t know. I have a pretty old phone, and I could upgrade to 5 but no higher (I think at this point the latest version of Android is around 12….) But if you get to 5, I think the ebay app will work OK.
You might be able to update the Android version if that’s the problem. And then install the new ebay app.
What version of Android do you run?
I think ebay has indicated that buyer engagement is a factor in search placement , and I would think that adding new stuff triggers overall buyer engagement (more stuff, so more views, more impressions, more watchers) But I look at it this way. eBay isn’t going to give us the algorithm details, and I don’t need them. What I do know is: If it isn’t listed, it can’t be sold. So list, regardless of what the algo may be.
I think, in addition to Thred Up, there are a number of other factors:
1. The price of new clothes is low (unless we’re talking about high end fashion). I’ve seen some items on sale at WalMart for less than some Thrift Stores charge.
2. Not only are there a lot more people selling used clothing, on ebay and on other sites, and even in antique malls, but it’s a safe bet that many of those people are buying their own clothing where they shop for resale. Why should they buy from me, a middleman ebay seller, when they can buy directly from a thrift store, yard sale, or whatever?
3. Casual dress is more and more acceptable in workplaces and at social functions.
I’m a good example. Other than underwear and socks (and since my local Goodwill has started carrying new socks, not even socks really)….I can’t remember the last time I bought a shirt or coat or pants at a regular retail store.
At this point, I think to sell clothing on ebay you either need to aim for very high volume and high sales velocity, to make up for lower prices, or you have to be much more discriminating in what you offer for sale. Local sourcing for me is harder and harder because I live in an area where few people have ever bought higher end brands, and the competition to source clothing has grown enormously.
Yes, it happened to me. I refunded all but the original shipping. Got the same message. In my case, ebay told me the buyer had so many days to request the balance, and then it would be between ebay and the buyer. Basically, I was done. As far as I know, my buyer never “confirmed”, the time limit expired, end of story. At least in my situation, it sounded like even if the buyer wanted the original shipping, ebay would decide whether or not the buyer would get it, and if so, it would come out of ebay’s pocket.
But no, you don’t get your refund back. This is only about whether they want to argue about the balance or not. It’s poorly worded. What it really means is: If you return the entire amount (including original shipping), there’s no waiting period. If you return less than that, the buyer has so many days in which to request the balance. If he doesn’t, that’s the end of it.
Not really. Unless you assume ebay was going to increase the buyback anyway, and so instead of cutting into money they can apply to the marketplace, they are using this.
But basically, this is “creating (short term) shareholder value” while doing nothing to improve the business itself.
Unfortunately, buybacks like this have become very common. Remember Trump’s much ballyhooed tax reduction? Which gave corporations big tax breaks so they would reinvest the money in increased domestic production? Most of them did share buybacks instead.
-
AuthorPosts