Ebay -How to crack it?

[JMugs]

Due to building business else where I have let my ebay sales slip. My challenge for 2015 is to get success on ebay without getting involved in the fight to the cheapest!

2 years ago ebay was reasonably good for me with a few sales every day, no idea how and it wasn't based on price, then it stopped! Now I know lots of people experienced the same thing, whilst others were unaffected and others saw sales rocket. I gather something changed.

December has given me 40 sales on Ebay...not great given it was Xmas.

So we can all benefit here by pooling our collective brain cell.

So I guess the starting point is the listing title.....so all ideas..suggestions where to look, articles etc welcome.

Janners

[viccar]

ebay boought in a new search engine called cassini, thats when everything went tits up,

http://ebay.about.com/od/sellingeffecti ... or-You.htm

but on the grapevine its going to be scrapped in 2015 ? maybe?

apparently putting in the ean numbers helps with searches, not good for sub items

also they had a falling out with google, so that doesnt help

worth reading the ebay boards to keep up with the ever changing rules.

I do very well on one particular line on there, which is my bread and butter money, (not sub)

but with the sublimation side it is slow going,
unless you race to the bottom or are prepared to use copyright stuff, (always amazed at how some big feedback sellers are all copyrighted stuff and get away with it)

my prices are what im happy with and i get a trickle of sales, i gave up on mugs last year. cant compete with low prices or copyrighted stuff.

[GoonerGary]

Did you see my other thread on capped sales? You will never crack eBay is the short answer. Any changes to the 'can't see me' search engine won't be for our benefit. Even the original search engine which people considered good was manipulated by eBay. It's a dead platform for small sellers which favours outlet stores and Chinese sellers. EBay buying Gumtree was a step to remove the junk clearers out.

And the new defect system is a ploy to remove your top rated status, your discounts and demote you in search. 40 sales in December I wouldn't be giving them a penny in listing fees!

Realistically you need to try and break into the first few pages of best match and convince the herd buyers to buy your new item instead. I would be spending my efforts bringing visibility to your listings by off-ebay marketing rather than trying to beat a system rigged against you.

[JMugs]

I have been following the concerns over the last 6 months or so. I do drive off platform sales to another site, hence this is my point to drop Ebay completely or work it for it's own ends.
Ebay has produced a net profit every month....sometimes only a few pounds, sometimes more.

Options abound!

Janners

[ArferMo]

I found a niche market on eBay (again not sub) and can't keep up with sales and repeat orders..... even when I have not got an add running I keep getting a deluge of messages asking if I have more of the item, so in effect I am selling lots through eBay and paying no fees......... yipee

[JMugs]

Arfer ... that is ideal!

I think my first action is going to be to strip my listings back to nice and simple, then rebuild from there.

[GoonerGary]

The problem started when they introduced Best Match which excluded a lot of people. Finding niche products where the buyer doesn't have to scroll through dozens of pages is your only key to success. Anything popular or generic...forget it. You only have to read the ebay seller boards to see sellers who had a decent income only for it to be slashed forcing everyone to go elsewhere. I half considered relaunching an ebay store but I think it is honestly wasted effort these days.

[bigj2552]

Did you see my other thread on capped sales? You will never crack eBay is the short answer. Any changes to the 'can't see me' search engine won't be for our benefit. Even the original search engine which people considered good was manipulated by eBay. It's a dead platform for small sellers which favours outlet stores and Chinese sellers. EBay buying Gumtree was a step to remove the junk clearers out.

And the new defect system is a ploy to remove your top rated status, your discounts and demote you in search. 40 sales in December I wouldn't be giving them a penny in listing fees!

Realistically you need to try and break into the first few pages of best match and convince the herd buyers to buy your new item instead. I would be spending my efforts bringing visibility to your listings by off-ebay marketing rather than trying to beat a system rigged against you.

we had a really decent nov/dec on ebay....still down about 30/35% from last yr tho, as many are on there......
but when the google fallout happened in around march / april and all the hacking stuff around same time....it really killed ebay for the summer for a lot of sellers....only started picking up around oct again.....
google is getting back on track....as a lot of our ebay listings are coming up in google shopping, beside our own PPC ads

getting up there in best match requires volume selling, so if you are priced out the market....forget it !

we have just got TRS back again this month (dec) and are still on for jan evaluation
it NOT a dead platform for small sellers - you just need to know how to work the system....there are things you can do that helps - a lot !....and no, i aint saying what they are....you are sensible ppl on here - think about it and research.

YES the defect system is..well, defective in its self....there are also rumors that will be getting altered 2015, along with few other things.

think of ebay as an advertising program for your products / business.....every sale you get on ebay, fire in some business cards, discounts / offers for your web site....dangle the carrot to your customers.

[GoonerGary]

You see that's it, you just got your Top Rated Seller status back again? I'm one below TRS and I haven't listed anything on ebay for years. Were you a poor seller in between? I doubt it. A few dodgy buyers, fewer sales demoted you and you lost money no doubt. Your item was later than the delivery ESTIMATE, but your buyer thought it was guaranteed and you got punished by ebay. A few of those and your account is dead in the water. The 2015 update won't save you.

I only got big sales from my website when my Marketplace account closed for a holiday. Buyers would then try and google the product they wanted. Buyers will still choose Amazon ebay etc over your website.

[bigj2552]

You see that's it, you just got your Top Rated Seller status back again? I'm one below TRS and I haven't listed anything on ebay for years. Were you a poor seller in between? I doubt it. A few dodgy buyers, fewer sales demoted you and you lost money no doubt. Your item was later than the delivery ESTIMATE, but your buyer thought it was guaranteed and you got punished by ebay. A few of those and your account is dead in the water. The 2015 update won't save you.

I only got big sales from my website when my Marketplace account closed for a holiday. Buyers would then try and google the product they wanted. Buyers will still choose Amazon ebay etc over your website.

each to there own gary boy
if it dont work for you, it dont work....some ppl just cant make ebay work no matter what....
the reason we fell below standard and lost TRS was simply the sales dropped away dramatically,when the hacking and google thing happened...as it did to most sellers...
low sales = you lose your 3month evaluation and are fired onto the 12 month...which is a very, very big difference indeed.

and appox 97% of our defects when they changed to the new system, was for refunding customers back through paypal without going through the proper ebay channels, ebay changed the goal post gary, and wouldn't back down on the defects that created, hell they even back dated most of them, meaning 12 mth and ALL defects count....we nearly lost the account due to defects which were beyond our control...

we worked our backside off, and made some tweaks here n there to get the sales in to get us back onto 3 mth evaluation...hard going, but we done it.
-
Your item was later than the delivery ESTIMATE - there are ways to stop that happening as well....its not rocked science my friend...you just need to open the eyes and think out the box a wee bit more.

but it aint no walk in the park selling on there now.....its def not a pleasure to sell on it as it used to be....more stressful, more arrogant customers demanding, but....thats just the way it is now on there....and the chinese are at the top of most listings as well....but again, use yer head, and there are ways to counter act that as well....