Sales or no sales that is the question

[dav6.millar]

I understand that there is very little cost and very little effort to list an item but does anyone ever sell anything ?

When I search items I never see any activity, bids in place.

Does anyone else have the same problem ?

[mark4740]

I have sold about 45 magazines over the last few weeks ranging from £4 to £12 and the odd comic but its hit and miss i can sell 4 or 5 magazines in 2 days then nothing for 3 or 4 weeks, I have stopped listing on ebay for now while all the crap is going on but even there over the last 3 months i sold 3 or 4 items a month from what usually were several items every 10 days, Times are hard for most at the minute so not many are spending on their hobbies like stamps,comics,postcards Although that may be just for me, post as many links to your shop or items as possible on X,bluesky,facebook,pinterest and wherever else you can,I only list on buy it now with best offer so can't comment on bids

[johnwash1]

I've found auctions mostly a waste of time these days even on ebay. Years ago you could list something for 99p and sit back to watch something reminiscent of a tag team wrestling match. These days I wouldn't be surprised to end up with just 99p.

Partly because people are short of spare cash, but I think also because people are much more into instant gratification, they don't want to wait several days for an auction to end.

I've not tried auctions on ebid. Did make a sale here last weekend though.

@dav6.millar I see your listings are of stamps. I believe that's a popular category here, so you should do well.

Edit to add: just looked at your feedback. Looks like you're already selling well for months. So I don't understand the question?

[theElench]

I'm a great fan of RUS listings and most of my stuff is listed in that way but I list in a category with less than 300 items in total.

Searching for "australian stamps" I get 50 pages of results. I'm not sure where your's are, possibly near the bottom going by your join date? I think it would help your visibility if you used some auctions that would move up and onto page 1 of the results. Have a look at what your competitors are doing.

The standard wisdom (I think) is 7 day auctions with 10 auto re-lists, just to be seen. Although I'd still use RUS for any of your items that qualify for up-loading to Google Shopping (see the Help Page FAQs for criteria).

If you want to get a feel for what is selling and how often, have a look at the Home Page "Recently Sold" strip. Stamps do sell well on Ebid, even when listed as RUS.

Personally I've only sold 4 items here this year. Last year by now I'd sold 24, but with frozen tax allowances and every necessity having prices hiked, time are hard for many people.

[billsstamps]

I am bound to say stamps sell well on Ebid, just counted up around 1000 sales since the beginning of the year. It is still a relatively low cost hobby in these times. I have nothing on run until sold, everything is 10 days, 10 auto relist. Overseas sales are much down, mostly because the cost of airmail is so high compared to the cost of the items.

[DougsVinyl]

I understand that there is very little cost and very little effort to list an item but does anyone ever sell anything ?

When I search items I never see any activity, bids in place.

Does anyone else have the same problem ?

I've been on here for 5 weeks and haven't sold anything yet. I have two Stores which get a lot of views mainly for my low price vinyl records. For example a 9 record set of singles has had 40 views but not even an offer yet. As others say, times are hard and people have more essential things to spend money on. I tried Facebook Marketplace which is a waste of time, and Discogs which is as bad as eBay has become. Vinted is ok but not suitable for my items. I was a 100% top rated seller on Ebay for 8 years until I left in disgust a few months back. It's gone down the toilet for Private Sellers.
It's easy to set up on here with very low charges, but with a smaller outreach it's a question of waiting, as users have told me. You've almost got to look for your customers or bring them with you from other platforms.

[johnwash1]

Doug, I think many of your views here are due to visits by search engine spiders, not potential buyers. Still, if that translates into being seen by potential buyers, it can help.

I checked recently, searching for some of the old photographic mags I've listed and was pleasantly surprised to see hits for my listings here. Though why anyone would want a magazine from 20 years ago, that's still talking mainly about film rather than digital, defeats me! People buy for strange reasons, e.g. last year I sold a bundle of old magazines to someone doing mental health charity work, their group would be cutting out pictures and making collages! Who knows, your vinyl records may go to someone moulding them into flower pots!

[Stnenopmoc]

I've been on here for 5 weeks and haven't sold anything yet. I have two Stores which get a lot of views mainly for my low price vinyl records. For example a 9 record set of singles has had 40 views but not even an offer yet. As others say, times are hard and people have more essential things to spend money on. I tried Facebook Marketplace which is a waste of time, and Discogs which is as bad as eBay has become. Vinted is ok but not suitable for my items. I was a 100% top rated seller on Ebay for 8 years until I left in disgust a few months back. It's gone down the toilet for Private Sellers.
It's easy to set up on here with very low charges, but with a smaller outreach it's a question of waiting, as users have told me. You've almost got to look for your customers or bring them with you from other platforms.

If you sell at record fairs or boot sales promote the site with a sign on your stall showing eBid and a web address to your shops, people will photograph it and come back later

[theElench]

Hi Doug

The search here is Key-Word based so I searched for "ned miller vinyl record" = 7 results - one of yours. I notice that all the other discs for sale give his name, track title with label and year after them. I also wonder how many buyers will search for "another great bundle of 7 inch vinyl london label"? To me the only words that a buyer might use are "7 inch vinyl" and "london label". It's important to put words buyers will write in the search box in your titles. The more you get right the more matches you will score.

There's no 'default' or 'best match' search results here, it's very literal.

All the best for your sales.

[dav6.millar]

I understand that there is very little cost and very little effort to list an item but does anyone ever sell anything ?

When I search items I never see any activity, bids in place.

Does anyone else have the same problem ?

Hi
Thanks for all your input, I have a total of about 4,200 items at any one time from £1.00 --- £300 but sales are slower than a few months ago. I think the big PP hit is the biggest problem, then the new fees.
I do think money talks and some sellers are in with the management like DelCampe to get top place promotion.
Ebay is bouncing back but EBid, Delcampe very slow.
I have started bundling together small lots to make the PP cost hit a bit less for the customer.