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@@ohiograssman1564EBay doesn’t have a monopoly though that is why they are a dying dinosaur. I have moved on to other platforms and am making way more money than I am on eBay
I got a single negative after 20 years of perfect feedback on an item I sold for parts that I even offered returns on. It literally cost me thousands in lost sales over the course of the year & now I live in constant fear of another negative. It is a horrible feeling knowing eBay will watch you crash and burn from a buyer who was leaving negative feedback on over 20% of his purchases. They just don't care.
This is why I keep eBay as a side platform but it will never be my main platform. I am not interested in their wacky algorithm there are a lot of other options now and other platforms are getting sellers fees from me… not eBay!
I’m curious, when you contacted them would they not back you up and remove the bad feedback off your account? Wow a perfect feedback and then that. I am going through the same with a buyer from hell.
1 negative doesn't plummet your sales. That's just not true. I had many negs and my sales always stayed the same. It may seem that way cause eBay sales dropped 80% in the past 2 years.
eBay has gone from being the only guy on the block to being the Walmart of reselling. I am phasing out of reselling as a hobby and doing other things. It just isn't fun anymore.
The sellers need eBay more than the buyers do. That's the long and short of why eBay treats the sellers worse than the buyers. The sellers are relatively stuck with eBay, at least until recently. Whenever an organization gets to be so large as to be a giant on the scene you'll find that the powers-that-be get involved towards making the whole enterprise into a behaviour placement/slave training/know-your-place exercise which in this case is meant to train the vast amount of sellers (society's movers and shakers you might equate them to) that they must simply accept things as they are dictated and not ask questions nor expect their concerns to be listened to. Just like with the bizarre, illogical and self-contradictory rules imposed during the lockdowns of the last few years, people were not permitted to ask for or be given answers as to the 'why' of things, they were just told that that was the way things were and no dissenting voices were given any heed.
As a professional marketer, the "promoted listings" on ebay are a scam. Paid search results are only effective if you show up promoted in the first 3 results. After that, buyers aren't significantly more likely to view your listing if you're 4th or 10th or 20th as they scroll down past the 3rd choice. With eBay's promoted listings, you still have no idea where you'll be placed in the search results. There's no transparency about what you're actually getting for your money spent on the SEO.
What’s there to talk about? It’s become such a horrible greedy platform that I find no reason to sell on it anymore. I have ceased listing on eBay as I am transitioning to other platforms and just selling off what ever I have left. I’m just so fed up. Time to move on. It’s not gonna get better.
Ebay went from being a very seller friendly platform and backing the seller (unless we were dead wrong) and then they sold Paypal and that lost their ability to really deal with getting your the money or refunding it. But, then they turned to being demanding. 30 day return policies and their strict if you make a mistake it counts against you regardless of your feedback. Then if you get a strike for to many returns (gee can't help it if folks say something does not fit it's not me) so it got to be a problem. So I do agree with the professor, just take it for what it is and don't deal with the nonsense. If you can get away from them and start your own site then awesome.
When my store fees end at the end of this year, I will not be renewing with Ebay. I will revert back to selling a few choice items on their platform without giving them more money for a store with less than 200 items listed.
This is my plan too. Their store subscription is really not worth it to me anymore. I will just put clearance items on ebay and the good stuff is going on other platforms.
Same I used to pay for a store just to get better search placement cause it was advertised to do that. Now with promoted listings I feel scammed with my store. Half my items don't even show up. I want my money back for my store this year.
Thanks, Don! Great advice. You make a great point about not worrying about Ebay but work on "your" business. It made me think that I need to distance myself from the negative chatter on TH-cam & Facebook about all the problems with Ebay and just work on my business.
I agree with everything you said except this is 4th quarter on eBay. I’ve heard it’s 4th quarter on other sites but I’m 6 years full time into reselling and had a great week and 1 sale this weekend. I don’t think they’re trying to screw me but I think they’re spreading the sales across all sellers to keep them instead of the best quality listings and prices anymore.
As a niche buyer, whenever I do I very specific ebay search, I get all sorts of unrelated search results. Years ago, this was not an issue. But these days, I get more unrelated results, than related.
You have no idea how much I needed to hear your message. You're absolutely right in that we just need to concentrate on our own business and not worry about why eBay does what they do. Sometimes it seems there's no rhyme or reason for some of their decisions since we always try to follow their rules, but eBay will continue to do what they do. Thanks again.
I sold on eBay for over 20 years. Did very well. Over the last year it's gotten so bad that I've pulled all of my listings. I can't imagine how people who rely on platforms like this make a living
True story. Friend who infrequently lists on eBay visted me and showed me a listing she had up for months that didn't sell. I showed her how to end the sale and sell similar. We also filled out item specifics and rewrote her title and description. The nearly $100 item sold within 24 hours. I think items get stuck in old servers and don't get seen.
Of course Ebay notices all the sellers complaining. Hopefully, leadership will take note and find some middle ground to keep sellers motivated to list on their site. It’s baffling that they’d sit back as their sellers jump ship and they lose money to different platforms.
I cross post all my listings from Ebay to Poshmark and Mercari. I just recently looked at my views. Same listing and Ebay had 0 views and Mercari had several for the same time it was listed. Ebay is going down hill.When my store subscription ends I will be closing my store and focusing on what pays the bills.
eBay refusing to tell you why they ended your listing or refusing to show you the banned item list is is just a furtherance of the recent phenomenon of not letting anyone know what the problem is; whether it's a problem with logging into an account, problem registering with a website, problem with online banking, etc you're never allowed to be informed as to what the issue is. They're afraid that you'll find a work around.
Thank you,Don, for sharing your insight and wisdom. I have learned so much from you. I agree that Sellers should just continue to do the best they can at this time. It seems like EBay is doing a lot of experimenting right now with algorithms, promoting and fees, use of A1, and so on. We either live through it or get off the platform. I am hoping it will eventually stabilize.
I have two rooms of stuff in my apartment to sell. Ebay is the biggest and best platform for the types of vintage items I sell. I have tried Mercari and did have a few sales. I may try them again. Etsy is possible, too. I need to sell the items crammed into my home! I do this for extra cash-- I have a regular 40 hr a week job, too. I need sales volume and ebay provides that, but sporadically. Cathy in Massachusetts
But the thing is do you wait to the storm hits to prepare or do you prepare ahead of the storm ive been diversified since 98' went full time on ebay Amazon and yahoo auctions have you thought about how much money you have lost over 20 plus years by not diversifying 20 years ago if you hace your items on 10 plus platforms that gives your items 10x more chsnce for your itens selling then just having it on ebay and thsts it
I appreciate the positive talk about this because everyone else is simply complaining with all negativity. You mentioned that you sell on other platforms. Can we hear more about these other platforms and what you sell there or what sells best for you on other sites? I would like to venture outside of eBay and just don’t know enough about the other options and I’m afraid to put my time and energy into something that is pointless. Thanks in advance!
The problem at the moment is that if you sell old/vintage items then no other website has even close to the traction/sales that eBay will give you. Amazon is the biggest seller but they don't sell the kinds of items I specialise in (and maybe you).
I think the biggest sinkhole is their commitment to 'item specifics' The more boxes you have to check when making a listing, the more chances for a mistake.... when you use 'sell similar' any errors are reproduced ad infinitum... they're toooo subjective and you reach the point of diminishing returns almost immediately.... Terapeak research digs into item specifics and it ruins the metrics. I subscribed to Terapeak over 15yrs ago... since they took it over ebay's pretty much ruined it.
The biggest problem I have with eBay is that when I'm looking at items in a certain category and I decide to change the search tems, the site most often goes to a different category or reverts to all categories. They think that they are more clever than I am (I'm sure some clever marketer has told them that this will increase sales by bringing forth more items into view) but I can assure them that I am far more astute than they are and I would be changing that category menu myself if I desired it to be changed. I'm sure their 'clever' marketers tell them to not worry about people such as myself because we're only 1% of the market.
Your opening point in not paying attention to what ebay is doing is totally on point! I've stopped listening to their podcasts because it's so far from the reality of what's happening on ebay it's kinda rediculous, and also stopped paying attention to their updates. Platforms in general are pretty poor these days so there's really no perfect place to sell but the best strategy is to be platform-agnostic and do what works for your business. Even though I disagree with ebays ethics I still use it but am absolutely using it as a funnel to drive buyers to my own website.
Hey professor, I have a ? for ya. It's probably obvious but... I've been getting a lot of sales lately from folks who request no invoice. Do you know the reason behind that? Are they playing the "middle-man" or something like that? Just curious.✨
Don, will you please point me to your most RECENT 2023 video explaining what you CURRENTLY USE for making multiple site listings? i.e. Shopify still? Inkfrog, TOO? I actually JUST started leasing a commercial bldg for reselling & need advice on this. Thank-you.
Please, Don. I know you're very busy. I just want to start my full time business right. I want to be able to cross post the best way with the best site.
This was the 1st week of October for me getting ready for q4 listed a lot of new items Do a lot of sales... Vero report... Sales drop... Shake it off list all week Spike in sales... Vero report Sales flatline and i fought the Vero reports and got them removed. But at any moment they can throttle your sales by falsely claiming your items are fake
eBay isn't after anyone in particular, but they've totally forgotten how they got where they are. I agree they're never going to listen to sellers or make themselves more trustworthy, unless for some reason it helps their bottom line. I don't know any larger online sellers who are 100% eBay any more; they can't trust them. I don't sell at all on eBay anymore because they did one dishonorable thing too many. They're done.
I went to list today and my listing templates are gone and when I try to create a new listing the list form is making me create business policies for shipping and returns and price. I have never used business policies because I sell many different types of items. Is this something new? Or is this a glitch? Very frustrating...
I have a question????? Since you seemed to be most informed. I was doing quarterly taxes. eBay has always collected tax on item plus freight. This quarter they are collecting tax on item only!??? Did they change it up? Have they done it wrong for years? Your reply and intelligence would be appreciated.
My most recent listing for a Koi fish, vegan leather wallet was flagged for counterfeit item. After contacting eBay support, I found out they consider it counterfeit because I referred to it as vegan leather. Even though the box says it’s vegan leather. It is an unbranded, handmade item, and the post was taken down because of their counterfeit item policy. No mention of vegan leather again I guess.
I am trying to find a video I remember watching that talked about sewing patterns. I tried searching but did not find it. Could you please point me to it?
I am an artist who sells small pieces of art on Ebay as a hobby to buy art supplies basically. I still enjoy all of the videos about reselling and I do get helpful hints to my specific needs. I am confessing I have gone all fangirl on the channel, first after seeing your art, but carved in stone by the mention of Xanadu on your song book video. What a sparking of repressed memories! Anyway, thanks for all your helpful, and entertaining to my ADHD brain, content.
At the end of the day, they are just another large company that has cut corners in staffing to boost profits. They have outsourced people who can make decisions on these things with the best knowledge of domestic business. They have cut corners in site and app development, and it shows. And any human you do reach is simply trained to just give you the quickest answer that gets you off of the phone or chat. Consistency doesn't matter.
I haven’t sold anything on eBay since they switched to managed payments but I still buy items from US sellers to help support the little guy in this country that seems to hate its own citizens….it has gotten extremely difficult to search for items….almost always the search results will bring up everything but the item specific I typed in….like a part for my vehicle…it’ll show me parts and says they’ll fit my vehicle but I’ll go into the item and then it’ll tell me it doesn’t fit my vehicle….it’s so frustrating and time consuming
I think it's bull crap that we don't have more options than a checking account to get our money. I'm having issues with my bank ripping me off so I currently cannot use my bank account so I have no way to get my money off the site, it's my money , we can't even get a paper check mailed to us anymore, there ought to be more options!
My problem is that most of my items are collectibles, one of a kind. I feel I have to auction as I never know what some of these things can be worth to the right person. I don't know of any other platform that I can offer auction format pragmatically, but I really really really really do NOT want to start up on ebay. Mostly ephemera, tons of Disney vintage paper. I wish there was an obvious alternative other than firing up my own auctioning software and advertising on FBM or something else. If anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears. Depressing.
I have had a problem when I revise my listings- apparently they disappearing to me in my ebay active listings and to customers. What is happening they are going into a 3 day review process where they are reviewing to see if the category is correct like it is a new listings. I have called ebay to no avail. But every time I make an update - I loose a lasting for three days - has anyone else seen this - loosing efficiency and $$$
What?? COMMON SENSE REALITY? Thank you! We agree, eBay is going to do what eBay is going to do... and there is next to nothing that 'we' (as resellers, of any level) can do to 'force' a change, but there are things we can do to help SUGGEST positive improvements, and 'run things up the proverbial flag pole' to get the development team to TAKE NOTE, and add some new feature, tweak, improvement to their list of future enhancements. They do - sometimes, listen... if you are persistent, consistent, polite, and communicate the reason and benefit TO THEM (buyers and/or sellers) well.
Getting a callback on the phone just gets you to a script kiddie who tells you whatever it takes to get you off of the phone. THEY LIE LIKE RUGS. It's pointless. Even anchor stores are starting to run into it.
ebay has change very much and is not like what it used to be. every year is just getting worse and worse. this year especially 4th quarter is down big time. sucks
I have old hardware to sell, some precious, heavy, and fragile stuff like crt monitors. I start learning about selling on Ebay a few weeks ago. You can just picture the grandpa simpsons walking in and out meme. I knew how hard it is to pack and ship CRTs but I've learned that's not even the worse part. f that noise. I'd rather sell my stuff locally for way cheaper.
Ebay chargeed my business debit instead due to immediate payment.Did I agree to that? Mind you I'm sitting at the computer waiting for the seller to accept my offer all day all to save 2.50 so I can pay manually. Duh Ebay, why do you think I pay for some things one way and not another. Also EBAY hit me with immediate payment if I win an auction. Thank my lucky stars it's for business. How am I to know how much I have in Paypal? I don't know how much I will buy in a week or how much I'll win an auction for. Trying to guess what each seller or EBAY is doing while getting outbid by 12 cents is not good.
12 Ebay executives hate this video. Honestly, I have to give ebay props for protecting me from a scammer from Korea saying he didn't get the items I sent him. I'm just a very small store, but I've had a very good 4th quarter so far. But yeah, I work three platforms, including ebay, and one for just 78rpms. Talking about "banned" items: the original Faces of death movie was taken down immediately, like within 5 minutes. I have an original VHS rental store copy which I totally restored - the case, I mean - but I have no avenue to sell it.
It goes back to the beauacrasy is not the problem, it's baked in. If your not selling well look within. The people whom are selling similar products are considering Ebay algorithm things too and if they are beating the problem is you. Thanks coach. 🤣🤣
Ebay is much harder now. You have to actually list quality items that people want instead of mass listing tens of thousands of garbage hoping someone bites. You could get away with that in the past but not anymore.
I 100% agree with this video,i don't worry about what goes on ebay like what prices other sellers have cause i set my own prices and it sells regardless, i 100% focus and mindset on my ebay store making money and ever since i did that since day one, my store has done very good and is still going strong,,the problem is that alot ebay resellers are too focus on the negative and not 100% focus on thier stores
I’ve been hedging with other sites. What’s frustrating about eBay is that due to their issues, if you concentrate on eBay alone, you won’t see a return (or a very small one) due to their throttling our views, and thus our sales. Thank god there are options. Would be nice if eBay got their act together. AP was right when saying the eBay problems are due to management ineptness. Good video.
The a.i. description writer is soooo awful. It reads like a bad used car sales man. I prefer to keep things as bullet points. Cyberdyne isn’t taking over just yet. They really want to push the assistance
I have a trick because when I started I was almost broke after my dad passed and my foster kid moved in the hight of covid they wouldn't give me any help because they treat foster parents as subcontractors so I went right into life and death made for the last 10 months only sleeping twice a week and working so much I can barely walk so... everything I list I want to sell fast fast fast So I've made 90% of my money off of auctiand basically I've explored every single category so much and the only way I could get anything to ever sell without promoting it is by listing it in 2 separate categories for example if you're trying to sell a record listed in the category of record player as the second category it will sell because it gets a lot more views I'm sure you already thought of this but that's what I do and it works like a charm I only promote a few of my options every now and then
For example if you are selling A glass bottle of root beer extract put it under the correct category secondary category poison bottle because of the search results for poison bottle far surpass
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If eBay treated their customers (us), the way they require us to treat our buyers it would be the best-selling platform hands down.
Amen!
It's baffling when a company that has the power to do better chooses not to do better. Don't the best companies insist on improving?
Not when they have monopolies.
@@ohiograssman1564EBay doesn’t have a monopoly though that is why they are a dying dinosaur. I have moved on to other platforms and am making way more money than I am on eBay
What 2ld said.
I got a single negative after 20 years of perfect feedback on an item I sold for parts that I even offered returns on. It literally cost me thousands in lost sales over the course of the year & now I live in constant fear of another negative. It is a horrible feeling knowing eBay will watch you crash and burn from a buyer who was leaving negative feedback on over 20% of his purchases. They just don't care.
I understand why the Auction Professor advises people not to focus on the negatives of eBay-but in examples like yours that advice sounds off-target.
This is why I keep eBay as a side platform but it will never be my main platform. I am not interested in their wacky algorithm there are a lot of other options now and other platforms are getting sellers fees from me… not eBay!
😢😢
I’m curious, when you contacted them would they not back you up and remove the bad feedback off your account? Wow a perfect feedback and then that. I am going through the same with a buyer from hell.
1 negative doesn't plummet your sales. That's just not true. I had many negs and my sales always stayed the same.
It may seem that way cause eBay sales dropped 80% in the past 2 years.
eBay has gone from being the only guy on the block to being the Walmart of reselling. I am phasing out of reselling as a hobby and doing other things. It just isn't fun anymore.
I'm thinking of doing the same 😔
Me too!
me too... but I really also just wan to give it more time. I am only selling on ebay. I do not know how to crosslist...
The sellers need eBay more than the buyers do. That's the long and short of why eBay treats the sellers worse than the buyers. The sellers are relatively stuck with eBay, at least until recently. Whenever an organization gets to be so large as to be a giant on the scene you'll find that the powers-that-be get involved towards making the whole enterprise into a behaviour placement/slave training/know-your-place exercise which in this case is meant to train the vast amount of sellers (society's movers and shakers you might equate them to) that they must simply accept things as they are dictated and not ask questions nor expect their concerns to be listened to. Just like with the bizarre, illogical and self-contradictory rules imposed during the lockdowns of the last few years, people were not permitted to ask for or be given answers as to the 'why' of things, they were just told that that was the way things were and no dissenting voices were given any heed.
As a professional marketer, the "promoted listings" on ebay are a scam. Paid search results are only effective if you show up promoted in the first 3 results. After that, buyers aren't significantly more likely to view your listing if you're 4th or 10th or 20th as they scroll down past the 3rd choice. With eBay's promoted listings, you still have no idea where you'll be placed in the search results. There's no transparency about what you're actually getting for your money spent on the SEO.
Thanks
What’s there to talk about?
It’s become such a horrible greedy platform that I find no reason to sell on it anymore.
I have ceased listing on eBay as I am transitioning to other platforms and just selling off what ever I have left.
I’m just so fed up. Time to move on.
It’s not gonna get better.
Ebay went from being a very seller friendly platform and backing the seller (unless we were dead wrong) and then they sold Paypal and that lost their ability to really deal with getting your the money or refunding it. But, then they turned to being demanding. 30 day return policies and their strict if you make a mistake it counts against you regardless of your feedback. Then if you get a strike for to many returns (gee can't help it if folks say something does not fit it's not me) so it got to be a problem. So I do agree with the professor, just take it for what it is and don't deal with the nonsense. If you can get away from them and start your own site then awesome.
Same. It's like they could care less. We pay so much money for nothing....
When my store fees end at the end of this year, I will not be renewing with Ebay. I will revert back to selling a few choice items on their platform without giving them more money for a store with less than 200 items listed.
This is my plan too. Their store subscription is really not worth it to me anymore. I will just put clearance items on ebay and the good stuff is going on other platforms.
Same I used to pay for a store just to get better search placement cause it was advertised to do that.
Now with promoted listings I feel scammed with my store.
Half my items don't even show up. I want my money back for my store this year.
Thanks, Don! Great advice. You make a great point about not worrying about Ebay but work on "your" business. It made me think that I need to distance myself from the negative chatter on TH-cam & Facebook about all the problems with Ebay and just work on my business.
I agree with everything you said except this is 4th quarter on eBay. I’ve heard it’s 4th quarter on other sites but I’m 6 years full time into reselling and had a great week and 1 sale this weekend. I don’t think they’re trying to screw me but I think they’re spreading the sales across all sellers to keep them instead of the best quality listings and prices anymore.
I don't worry about any eBay issues EXCEPT the DAMN HIGH FEES . MY GROSS vs NET is crazy . It's like 60/40 .
Ebay is going to find out they're going to have to do better because money isn't falling out of the sky anymore
As a niche buyer, whenever I do I very specific ebay search, I get all sorts of unrelated search results. Years ago, this was not an issue. But these days, I get more unrelated results, than related.
You have no idea how much I needed to hear your message. You're absolutely right in that we just need to concentrate on our own business and not worry about why eBay does what they do. Sometimes it seems there's no rhyme or reason for some of their decisions since we always try to follow their rules, but eBay will continue to do what they do. Thanks again.
I sold on eBay for over 20 years. Did very well. Over the last year it's gotten so bad that I've pulled all of my listings. I can't imagine how people who rely on platforms like this make a living
There sre groups on FB that specialize in patterns and sewing stuff. The patterns seem to sell for $3-5. Each.
It used to be anyone could sell anything on eBay….now it’s nothing like it used to be
Don, I really miss the good old days when you were showing us railroad pencils and Weebles. 🙂💛
Would you be willing to tell us what platforms you like besides eBay? I’m basically starting. Thank you
Poshmark, Mercari.
Facebook marketplace and some luck on OfferUp
@@dana44ismThank you! I would try the sites sometimes.😊
True story. Friend who infrequently lists on eBay visted me and showed me a listing she had up for months that didn't sell. I showed her how to end the sale and sell similar. We also filled out item specifics and rewrote her title and description. The nearly $100 item sold within 24 hours.
I think items get stuck in old servers and don't get seen.
Of course Ebay notices all the sellers complaining. Hopefully, leadership will take note and find some middle ground to keep sellers motivated to list on their site. It’s baffling that they’d sit back as their sellers jump ship and they lose money to different platforms.
haha...they need a real "leader" in charge to have leadership....
I cross post all my listings from Ebay to Poshmark and Mercari. I just recently looked at my views. Same listing and Ebay had 0 views and Mercari had several for the same time it was listed. Ebay is going down hill.When my store subscription ends I will be closing my store and focusing on what pays the bills.
eBay refusing to tell you why they ended your listing or refusing to show you the banned item list is is just a furtherance of the recent phenomenon of not letting anyone know what the problem is; whether it's a problem with logging into an account, problem registering with a website, problem with online banking, etc you're never allowed to be informed as to what the issue is. They're afraid that you'll find a work around.
So true. I've just focused on listing daily, ebd/sell similar/and in general just running my eBay like a real business. My sales are better than ever.
Thank you,Don, for sharing your insight and wisdom. I have learned so much from you. I agree that Sellers should just continue to do the best they can at this time. It seems like EBay is doing a lot of experimenting right now with algorithms, promoting and fees, use of A1, and so on. We either live through it or get off the platform. I am hoping it will eventually stabilize.
I have two rooms of stuff in my apartment to sell. Ebay is the biggest and best platform for the types of vintage items I sell. I have tried Mercari and did have a few sales. I may try them again. Etsy is possible, too. I need to sell the items crammed into my home! I do this for extra cash-- I have a regular 40 hr a week job, too. I need sales volume and ebay provides that, but sporadically. Cathy in Massachusetts
Thank you for the Positive Talk!!!
Sold on ebay for several years a decade ago. It became way to hard for sellers. Plus the platform is slowly circling the drain.
But the thing is do you wait to the storm hits to prepare or do you prepare ahead of the storm ive been diversified since 98' went full time on ebay Amazon and yahoo auctions have you thought about how much money you have lost over 20 plus years by not diversifying 20 years ago if you hace your items on 10 plus platforms that gives your items 10x more chsnce for your itens selling then just having it on ebay and thsts it
I appreciate the positive talk about this because everyone else is simply complaining with all negativity. You mentioned that you sell on other platforms. Can we hear more about these other platforms and what you sell there or what sells best for you on other sites? I would like to venture outside of eBay and just don’t know enough about the other options and I’m afraid to put my time and energy into something that is pointless. Thanks in advance!
It depends on what you are selling
The problem at the moment is that if you sell old/vintage items then no other website has even close to the traction/sales that eBay will give you. Amazon is the biggest seller but they don't sell the kinds of items I specialise in (and maybe you).
I think the biggest sinkhole is their commitment to 'item specifics' The more boxes you have to check when making a listing, the more chances for a mistake.... when you use 'sell similar' any errors are reproduced ad infinitum... they're toooo subjective and you reach the point of diminishing returns almost immediately.... Terapeak research digs into item specifics and it ruins the metrics. I subscribed to Terapeak over 15yrs ago... since they took it over ebay's pretty much ruined it.
The biggest problem I have with eBay is that when I'm looking at items in a certain category and I decide to change the search tems, the site most often goes to a different category or reverts to all categories. They think that they are more clever than I am (I'm sure some clever marketer has told them that this will increase sales by bringing forth more items into view) but I can assure them that I am far more astute than they are and I would be changing that category menu myself if I desired it to be changed. I'm sure their 'clever' marketers tell them to not worry about people such as myself because we're only 1% of the market.
Your opening point in not paying attention to what ebay is doing is totally on point! I've stopped listening to their podcasts because it's so far from the reality of what's happening on ebay it's kinda rediculous, and also stopped paying attention to their updates. Platforms in general are pretty poor these days so there's really no perfect place to sell but the best strategy is to be platform-agnostic and do what works for your business. Even though I disagree with ebays ethics I still use it but am absolutely using it as a funnel to drive buyers to my own website.
1. Why hasnt someone started up a similar, online auction company, like Ebay used to be years ago?
It's called Bonanza. Thing is, hardly anyone knows about it
Hey professor, I have a ? for ya. It's probably obvious but... I've been getting a lot of sales lately from folks who request no invoice. Do you know the reason behind that? Are they playing the "middle-man" or something like that?
Just curious.✨
Don, will you please point me to your most RECENT 2023 video explaining what you CURRENTLY USE for making multiple site listings? i.e. Shopify still? Inkfrog, TOO? I actually JUST started leasing a commercial bldg for reselling & need advice on this. Thank-you.
I would like to see a link for this as well
Please, Don. I know you're very busy. I just want to start my full time business right. I want to be able to cross post the best way with the best site.
This was the 1st week of October for me getting ready for q4 listed a lot of new items
Do a lot of sales...
Vero report...
Sales drop...
Shake it off list all week
Spike in sales...
Vero report
Sales flatline and i fought the Vero reports and got them removed. But at any moment they can throttle your sales by falsely claiming your items are fake
eBay isn't after anyone in particular, but they've totally forgotten how they got where they are. I agree they're never going to listen to sellers or make themselves more trustworthy, unless for some reason it helps their bottom line. I don't know any larger online sellers who are 100% eBay any more; they can't trust them. I don't sell at all on eBay anymore because they did one dishonorable thing too many. They're done.
I went to list today and my listing templates are gone and when I try to create a new listing the list form is making me create business policies for shipping and returns and price. I have never used business policies because I sell many different types of items. Is this something new? Or is this a glitch? Very frustrating...
100 % agreed! The only way to make money is to work hard.
I have a question????? Since you seemed to be most informed. I was doing quarterly taxes. eBay has always collected tax on item plus freight. This quarter they are collecting tax on item only!??? Did they change it up? Have they done it wrong for years? Your reply and intelligence would be appreciated.
My most recent listing for a Koi fish, vegan leather wallet was flagged for counterfeit item. After contacting eBay support, I found out they consider it counterfeit because I referred to it as vegan leather. Even though the box says it’s vegan leather. It is an unbranded, handmade item, and the post was taken down because of their counterfeit item policy. No mention of vegan leather again I guess.
I am trying to find a video I remember watching that talked about sewing patterns. I tried searching but did not find it. Could you please point me to it?
I am an artist who sells small pieces of art on Ebay as a hobby to buy art supplies basically. I still enjoy all of the videos about reselling and I do get helpful hints to my specific needs.
I am confessing I have gone all fangirl on the channel, first after seeing your art, but carved in stone by the mention of Xanadu on your song book video. What a sparking of repressed memories!
Anyway, thanks for all your helpful, and entertaining to my ADHD brain, content.
I'm cross-posting to Mercari. I like the buyers that gravitate to that platform.
Great videos as always:) Love the honesty! Question: Where is the best place to sell high-end handmade jewelry?
This was the move that got that WalMart guy fired...
At the end of the day, they are just another large company that has cut corners in staffing to boost profits. They have outsourced people who can make decisions on these things with the best knowledge of domestic business. They have cut corners in site and app development, and it shows. And any human you do reach is simply trained to just give you the quickest answer that gets you off of the phone or chat. Consistency doesn't matter.
Thanks Don for keeping us updated on what’s going on it’s always great to watch these videos!
Love all your wisdom, Don. Thanks so much for sharing it with us.
to many scammers and free loader buyers on ebay i rather open my own thrift store and keep all the money
E-bay is like walking into a empty shopping mall.
Thanks Don. I always feel like you give us the real deal.
I haven’t sold anything on eBay since they switched to managed payments but I still buy items from US sellers to help support the little guy in this country that seems to hate its own citizens….it has gotten extremely difficult to search for items….almost always the search results will bring up everything but the item specific I typed in….like a part for my vehicle…it’ll show me parts and says they’ll fit my vehicle but I’ll go into the item and then it’ll tell me it doesn’t fit my vehicle….it’s so frustrating and time consuming
Well spoken !
Can you tell which sites you are using to sell adult books and also coins ?
Been watching old videos of yours all day 😂 and a new one tonight 🎉🎉
Where have you been Professor, we miss you!
So what other platforms do you sell on?
where do you list adult materials?
I think it's bull crap that we don't have more options than a checking account to get our money. I'm having issues with my bank ripping me off so I currently cannot use my bank account so I have no way to get my money off the site, it's my money , we can't even get a paper check mailed to us anymore, there ought to be more options!
My problem is that most of my items are collectibles, one of a kind. I feel I have to auction as I never know what some of these things can be worth to the right person. I don't know of any other platform that I can offer auction format pragmatically, but I really really really really do NOT want to start up on ebay. Mostly ephemera, tons of Disney vintage paper. I wish there was an obvious alternative other than firing up my own auctioning software and advertising on FBM or something else. If anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears. Depressing.
Echo in that room, hard to listen, but thanks from Pittsburgh for your thoughts .
eBay makes me mad
My online sales are only done through eBay, I feel lucky to have them, even with all their faults. I do fleamarkets for the rest of my sales.
I have had a problem when I revise my listings- apparently they disappearing to me in my ebay active listings and to customers. What is happening they are going into a 3 day review process where they are reviewing to see if the category is correct like it is a new listings. I have called ebay to no avail. But every time I make an update - I loose a lasting for three days - has anyone else seen this - loosing efficiency and $$$
What sites are good to sell collectibles, video games and so on?
What?? COMMON SENSE REALITY? Thank you! We agree, eBay is going to do what eBay is going to do... and there is next to nothing that 'we' (as resellers, of any level) can do to 'force' a change, but there are things we can do to help SUGGEST positive improvements, and 'run things up the proverbial flag pole' to get the development team to TAKE NOTE, and add some new feature, tweak, improvement to their list of future enhancements. They do - sometimes, listen... if you are persistent, consistent, polite, and communicate the reason and benefit TO THEM (buyers and/or sellers) well.
Calling Ebay is definitely a waist of time !!!
Getting a callback on the phone just gets you to a script kiddie who tells you whatever it takes to get you off of the phone. THEY LIE LIKE RUGS. It's pointless. Even anchor stores are starting to run into it.
Appreciate your insight.
ebay 2023 is trash
ebay has change very much and is not like what it used to be. every year is just getting worse and worse. this year especially 4th quarter is down big time. sucks
I have old hardware to sell, some precious, heavy, and fragile stuff like crt monitors. I start learning about selling on Ebay a few weeks ago. You can just picture the grandpa simpsons walking in and out meme. I knew how hard it is to pack and ship CRTs but I've learned that's not even the worse part. f that noise. I'd rather sell my stuff locally for way cheaper.
Ebay chargeed my business debit instead due to immediate payment.Did I agree to that? Mind you I'm sitting at the computer waiting for the seller to accept my offer all day all to save 2.50 so I can pay manually. Duh Ebay, why do you think I pay for some things one way and not another. Also EBAY hit me with immediate payment if I win an auction. Thank my lucky stars it's for business. How am I to know how much I have in Paypal? I don't know how much I will buy in a week or how much I'll win an auction for. Trying to guess what each seller or EBAY is doing while getting outbid by 12 cents is not good.
Where are you selling adult items?
What do you mean you can’t sell your coins or comics those are two of the biggest sellers on eBay
12 Ebay executives hate this video.
Honestly, I have to give ebay props for protecting me from a scammer from Korea saying he didn't get the items I sent him.
I'm just a very small store, but I've had a very good 4th quarter so far. But yeah, I work three platforms, including ebay, and one for just 78rpms.
Talking about "banned" items: the original Faces of death movie was taken down immediately, like within 5 minutes. I have an original VHS rental store copy which I totally restored - the case, I mean - but I have no avenue to sell it.
Whatnot is the place to be is what I hear nowadays
It goes back to the beauacrasy is not the problem, it's baked in. If your not selling well look within. The people whom are selling similar products are considering Ebay algorithm things too and if they are beating the problem is you. Thanks coach. 🤣🤣
This is why I started selling on another platform. Now that platform is outperforming eBay.
What site is it? Please tell, thank you!🙏
Great video
As always
I miss your frequent uploads like from last year.
Those Thursday Lives were the place to be
@@foyoGamesI really miss Auction Professors Thursday lives.
Thanks, Don.
Thank you Don
Thank you!
Ebay is much harder now. You have to actually list quality items that people want instead of mass listing tens of thousands of garbage hoping someone bites. You could get away with that in the past but not anymore.
I 100% agree with this video,i don't worry about what goes on ebay like what prices other sellers have cause i set my own prices and it sells regardless, i 100% focus and mindset on my ebay store making money and ever since i did that since day one, my store has done very good and is still going strong,,the problem is that alot ebay resellers are too focus on the negative and not 100% focus on thier stores
True key to success right there. It's a hard thing to change our mindsets.
I’ve been hedging with other sites. What’s frustrating about eBay is that due to their issues, if you concentrate on eBay alone, you won’t see a return (or a very small one) due to their throttling our views, and thus our sales. Thank god there are options. Would be nice if eBay got their act together. AP was right when saying the eBay problems are due to management ineptness.
Good video.
I want the massive peanut M&M 😊❤️
It's better than Mercari full of low ball cheap buyers.
😊 Nailing it. As usual.
Spot On!!!!
anyone know whats up with Don...no videos for weeks???
Past 10 days PUTRID Sales.
I make sure they put it on record if a rep tells me its ok to list then it gets pulled later.
Anyone selling on Facebook? Heard so many bad things but wondering if it’s worth it ..
Don't bother try. You heard and believe stuff on Facebook?
Bravo, dead on.
The a.i. description writer is soooo awful. It reads like a bad used car sales man. I prefer to keep things as bullet points. Cyberdyne isn’t taking over just yet. They really want to push the assistance
👍
I have a trick because when I started I was almost broke after my dad passed and my foster kid moved in the hight of covid they wouldn't give me any help because they treat foster parents as subcontractors so I went right into life and death made for the last 10 months only sleeping twice a week and working so much I can barely walk so... everything I list I want to sell fast fast fast So I've made 90% of my money off of auctiand basically I've explored every single category so much and the only way I could get anything to ever sell without promoting it is by listing it in 2 separate categories for example if you're trying to sell a record listed in the category of record player as the second category it will sell because it gets a lot more views I'm sure you already thought of this but that's what I do and it works like a charm I only promote a few of my options every now and then
Can you clarify, do you do all auction with two categories or do you do a mix of BIN and Auction with two categories?
all my trains auctions yes 100%
Well not Locomotive's
For example if you are selling A glass bottle of root beer extract put it under the correct category secondary category poison bottle because of the search results for poison bottle far surpass
Another example is if you're selling a hammer secondary Category would be anvil
Adult Media: My eBay listings also came down with the shift to eBay Managed Payments. Where do you run yours now?