Power Sellers Unite

CC13 · Joined: 07 May 2009 Posts: 372

Hi Everyone,

I do not care what anyone says I have had a bunch of listings finish on ebay with no bids at .99 cents with reasonable shipping for 3 Dr. Phils books who I know it popular. Guess how many page views I had? 3 for the entire 7 day listing. Now had I sold these on Amazon they would have been snapped up instantly given all 3 for even setting the price at $5 or $10 would have been a great deal. Ebay used to get all kinds of traffic when I started in 2000 ten years ago. Obviously it's not going to be the same with all the competitors out there but I would expect at least 3 per day with a popular author like this Dr. Phil (even though I hate him). Not just this listing but others too. To the point where if people would just see it they would buy it. But that is ebay's problem now is they don't seem to get traffic anymore. Why is this? I don't get it. Thanks for any and all insights.

Stockmiser · Joined: 03 Jun 2006 Posts: 1146

Did you look at the BIN competition for those books?

I saw 3-4 page of Dr. Phil books all buy-it-now and all for under $5 (with shipping).

IMHO...If a popular item isn't being "viewed", it's either not a popular as you think, or you are being priced out of the market.

tossedandfound! · Joined: 13 Mar 2007 Posts: 32

"Now had I sold these on Amazon they would have been snapped up instantly given all 3 for even setting the price at $5 or $10 would have been a great deal."

Why not list them at Amazon in that case? They are overpublished commodity books that one can find at every other garage sale and thrift store in the country along with "The Purpose Driven Life."

Get real. Everything isn't eBay's fault.

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 16923 Location: Texas

Must agree with the above post. Why is this ebay's problem because you the seller aren't selling your items you've listed over there?

I sold on ebay for a few years and did OK. After restocking my merchandise, paying all of the fees and reassessing where my best sales were, I stopped depending on ebay. That might change some day when they offer sellers better deals on fees.
Way back then, there were several months where I sold more on overstock than I did on ebay. :shock:

Have you tried local sales or checking your competition?

RatherRuss · Joined: 05 Mar 2008 Posts: 113

Yeah, you're right. It's not all ebay's fault, just enough of it to make them obselete, at least for me...maybe Prince is right. The visits and the sales are down, just use Alexa and other internet trackers. Their prices are up, up up and their rules and regulations changes (rather constant methinks) have put that last straw on this camel's back. So I am gone this week, as I have begun taking 15,000 items off.

Problem is no one else is very good. Amazon is even more control freak, the other fun sites, Bonanzle, Atomic Mall etc. just don't have the traffic. So time to get out of the biz of the internet for the most part, and finally retire. I wish all of you luck, it's been interesting watching a great idea become another corporate mess. Long live sellers and may eBay die a thousand deaths on its way to wherever the hell it's going.

CC13 · Joined: 07 May 2009 Posts: 372

I'm not blaming ebay for the lack of sales and I'm not blaming ebay for not selling certain products. This is ACROSS the board in all my items not just one as also mentioned. It is a matter of TRAFFIC. If there is no traffic there is no possibility of sales. I'm not asking for sales. I'm merely asking for what I pay for and that is a fair shot at making some sales. IE: TRAFFIC. Is that not what we all pay for on ebay supposedly? Exposure? Traffic? This is correct no? Even for a bad item that I am selling 3 brand new books of the same author there is someone out there that wants there it just isn't being found. It's not so much that the items we are selling aren't desired but more to the point it is that they aren't being seen. For that there is no excuse especially if your as big as ebay and supposedly have such a powerful brand and search exposure engine. Which looks to me like it's all hype now.

thegolfingdolphin · Joined: 13 Jan 2009 Posts: 617

The truth of the matter is there are many book sellers that do quite well at eBay. If you are not getting sales, you should look into the keywords you are using. Also are you filling in all the attribute sections, as this is a big part of getting traffic to your listings, and especially in the media goods area. Are you writing reviews for your items. This is a critical step in getting traffic with media goods on eBay.

If you are not doing these things, perhaps it is you that is not doing what is necessary to get traffic. Albeit the items are only .99 cents, it is a good practice to consider these things.

CC13 · Joined: 07 May 2009 Posts: 372

Thanks but I do not think it is these things as I am doing everything but reviews. Regardless 3 hits on the page where 2 where probably me anyway is no acceptable. The traffic at ebay SUCKS. No where near what it once was and when I say that I would venture to say it is 10% of what it was 10 years ago. Wonder what it will be in another 5-10 years.

elliemay · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 1255

No doubt that traffic is way down. However, I think golfingdolphin is right about the keywords. I've listed the exact same thing in 2 different auctions using different wording to test it. Sometimes one of them would get a couple of hits and the other dozens. Wording is everything.

Also, it depends on the item itself. I've got one auction up that's had almost 200 hits where in contrast I have another that's only had 3.

As to your books. I think that Dr Phil is not as popular as he once was. That could be most of your problem right there. A saturated market with a not so hot doc.

CC13 · Joined: 07 May 2009 Posts: 372

Yes I do hear you there. I really do. But this is across the board on all items. Popular ones as well. So it is the traffic that is way down. It's at the point where it really is almost not even worth it anymore.

thegolfingdolphin · Joined: 13 Jan 2009 Posts: 617

Another thing to keep in mind is that this is the middle of Summer, and things are always slow this time of the year. If you sell on Amazon, you should try these items there, IMO buyers think Amazon when it comes to media items more so than they do Ebay.

At any rate, at least you did not have to pay a listing fee at .99 cents unless you have an eBay store, at which the 100 FREE auction listing do not apply to.

Digmen1 · Joined: 12 Feb 2010 Posts: 985

I was saying that views on ebay were bad a year ago and got shot down.

But no people are realizing I was right.

I get more views on the Trademe site in New Zealand with only 4 million people and ebid than I do on ebay.

I think there are just too many listings on ebay for buyers to go through.

CC13 · Joined: 07 May 2009 Posts: 372

Digmen1, you are so right. I am trying to tell everyone it is not just this one listing of Dr Fool books but many listings across a broad range of categories. The traffic is ridiculously low. It's traffic I would expect from eBid or sites like that NOT Ebay. I think the problem lies in Ebay's search function not that they have so many listings for buyers to go through. I think their search function sucks and their RSS feeds do not work well either it seems. The lack of visitors across a wide range of widely desired items ending with no bids at .99 cents and reasonable shipping fees is a dead give-a-way that Ebay has serious issues getting traffic to their listings. It's a joke really. I sell more than just books and media and EVERYTHING is experiencing this lack of traffic not just the books. Paying more and getting less once again is the national anthem to Ebay.

CC13 · Joined: 07 May 2009 Posts: 372

Digmen1, you mentioned eBid which I didn't see the first time I read your post. So your getting more traffic with eBid than Ebay? LOL. That speaks volumes in and of itself.

elgato · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 16923 Location: Texas

Digman1 is right, posters HERE along with overal results and ebay boards have been griping about the downturn in traffic at the site. This has been an ongoing grip for MONTHS:

http://www.powersellersunite.com/viewtopic.php?t=32422&highlight=ebay+traffic

Traffic at ebay, 6 year low:
http://www.powersellersunite.com/viewtopic.php?t=32404&highlight=ebay+traffic

ebay stops sending traffic to stores:
http://www.powersellersunite.com/viewtopic.php?t=32736&highlight=ebay+traffic

ebay to push traffic to TRS:
http://www.powersellersunite.com/viewtopic.php?t=33969&highlight=ebay+traffic

To the OP, merely use the "search forum" at the top of the page like I did and perhaps you can find an answer.