posted on March 24, 2001 08:17:24 AM new
DID THE BIDDING DROP, OR IS IT JUST ME?
I USALLY SELL BETWEEN 20, AND 30 ITEMS A WEEK.LAST WEEK I ONLY SOLD 2. IS IT JUST ME ,OR IS IT THE STOCK MARKET?
YES...!!! Way down like 60%...Less visits to my auctions by 60% and less sales using BiN..
I blame the BiN drop in sales on the fact that a buyer has to register a CC or Pay $5
bucks to the "Mighty" eBay to buy an item with BiN...That was a really STUPID move on the part of eBay...but I won't get into that as a subject...
I sell personalized Ribbons and Napkins for weddings, etc and I can't believe 60% less
weddings are taking place now than 2 weeks ago... DUH..???xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Perspective...
The 10 Commandments: 179 words.
The Declaration of Independence: 1,300 words.
US Government regs on the sale of cabbage: 26,911 words.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
posted on March 24, 2001 09:27:50 AM new
My sales are way down too this past week. Bidding increments are super small and I'm not getting any last minute snipes either!!!!!
posted on March 24, 2001 09:38:24 AM new
Compared to previous years, my sales for collectibles in general are way down. This is supposed to be my best time of year to sell collectibles. I did have a few rare collectibles have the bidding go through the roof, and several others that consistantly sell week to week though.
The biggest change I've seen from last year is that the items I couldn't sell at all are now the one's I'm easily selling.
I have started to alter my inventory and that has kept my profits and sales up. I wouldn't say ebay in general is slowing, but people have changed their buying habits and the buyers are switching from one category to another.
posted on March 24, 2001 09:47:41 AM new
My sales are actually up from the last couple of weeks. A much greater percentage is selling through the first time and I'm getting a lot of Buy It Now sales. I'm also getting a bunch of special order requests--people see my items & want one in a different size or color. Most of my customers are buying multiple items, too.
I can't figure it out. The economy is crappy & I have more competitors than I used to. ???
posted on March 24, 2001 09:55:44 AM new
You will have to find some other cause for your BIN sales to be down...the requirement that a buyer have a credit card on file in order to bid on a BIN auction has been there from the start of BIN. So that can't be what is causing the drop.
posted on March 24, 2001 10:17:30 AM new
Actually Amy... that was the original plan (I think) but they didn't roll out that requirement officially until just a couple of weeks ago.
eBay announced just a week or two ago that they were implenting some requirements for SELLERS offering BIN and for BIDDERS buying with BIN.
The reason behind the recently announced new Bidder requirements for using Buy It Now is that eBay hopes to cut down on the number of BOGUS BINs where a bidder comes along and ENDS an auction by using the BUY IT NOW feature and then bails on the deal... leaving the seller with NPB hassles.
The reason for the recently announced new Seller requirements for using Buy It Now is that eBay hopes to cut down on the number of Fraudulent Listings... where someone can come in, register and list a bunch of items (either they do not actually have OR items that are possibly infringing) causing Fraudulent sales to occur in rapid succession due to the faster turn-around on BIN listings.
posted on March 24, 2001 10:27:44 AM new
Sales for me are at or near the same as last year at this time.
last year sales seemed to incress agin end of march through mid april just after easter and then dropped off till august and september.
best thing to doing after april is keep listings lower then normal and do your inventory hunting and buying over the summer for the fall and winter sales pick up. http://dman.Dman-N-Company.com
posted on March 24, 2001 10:36:59 AM new
My sales plummeted when the new BIN requirement went into effect.
I had a page of 32 auctions where only 2 closed with sales!
I supported the BIN change because I was hit with a very high NPB ration (20%) in BIN sales, mostly from users from one particular ISP with zero feedback who bid on pages and pages of BIN auctions (multiple sellers) with no intent to pay.
BUT, before I get flamed, please know I support a snail-mail option of verification as opposed to a fee-based ID verify.
I read many threads on many boards on how to best deal with this new BIN situation.
I now use a multi-pronged approach:
a) A larger gap between minimum bid and BIN on more of my auctions -- instead of $.01, $1.00 or more (but I don't go overboard). This encourages more minimum bids which makes my auctions look "popular" and satisfies those who don't want to verify. BIN users who are verified started snapping these products up so "LowBallers" couldn't place a minimum bid. Win/win.
b) A mailing list at TAG's suggestion. Great for encouraging repeat business.
c) $.99 "Loss leader" no reserve auctions to get the attention of "LowBallers" and "Snipers". This generates quite a bit of interest in my auctions. Consequently, more bidders join my mailing list members, and I get more repeat business.
It does not matter to me if I take a small ding (loss) on these auctions, as the real goal is advertising ! VERY IMPORTANT: If you decide to use low-starting bid auctions, be sure to use the BIN option. This heightens the sense of urgency in bidders and may result in unexpected profits. I have had the best results with 10-day auctions; longest advertising exposure IMHO .
Well, it seems to be working. Sell through is very good right now, and my BIN user NPB ratio has dropped to nearly 0% (I think I've had all of 1!)
Hope this little bit of advice helps someone get out of a slump!
Hang in there, keep listing, don't get discouraged, have fun!
posted on March 24, 2001 10:46:08 AM new
Sales are painfully down.
I don't blame it on BIN though. The auction "fad" buying is over. It was great while it lasted though.
Now we are facing the reality of savy buyers and we just have to Punt and accept the more realistic prices we are getting for our stuff.
What hurts more than the prices we are getting are the Outrageous FEES that every Tom, Dick, and Harry are charging us. What little profit we make, they take.
The Postal Increase sure didn't help us any either.
posted on March 24, 2001 11:23:18 AM new
Sales are down this week because ebay has been incrediblly slow loading for cable modem users.
About 300 posts are on the tech board about this currently.
You figure of those 300 people posting there must be thousands more that are not posting.
And possibly even more than that spend maybe an hour a day on ebay that don't even notice the slowdown.
And these are our bidders!!!
My sales are slower than they have ever been and I think this is the problem
By the way, We are trying to nail down the problem. When I say "WE" I mean other computer nerds like myself that are not connected with ebay. It is suspected that the problem is a router nearby ebay that is the problem.
posted on March 24, 2001 02:17:21 PM new
I've been selling on E-bay the last 3 years, it always slows down around this time, then pickups up again in April- June, July and August seem to be the slowest time.
It's not the end of the world....
James S.
