Where did all the ebay buyers go?

[hauntedcity]

Have any other ebay sellers seen a huge drop-off in ebay activity in the last year? I've been selling my excess stuff on and off for the last several years. Moving stuff out of storage, clearing shelves, and so on. In the last 5 months especially, I've been getting much less activity in my auctions, getting less bids, and lower selling prices than expected, even though I've been selling some pretty nice collectibles. Are buyers moving away from ebay? If so, where are they going?

 

[Maddie2]

I think it's mostly because of the state of the economy. Many people just don't have the extra cash to be buying collectibles and other things that are more "wants" and not "needs". That, and at least this time of year, people are out and not on their computers as much. Hopefully business will pick up for you in the fall.

 

[SaraJayne]

Have any other ebay sellers seen a huge drop-off in ebay activity in the last year? I've been selling my excess stuff on and off for the last several years. Moving stuff out of storage, clearing shelves, and so on. In the last 5 months especially, I've been getting much less activity in my auctions, getting less bids, and lower selling prices than expected, even though I've been selling some pretty nice collectibles. Are buyers moving away from ebay? If so, where are they going?

Many people are moving away from ebay, due to all their ridiculous rules and regulations.

A lot of it has to do with the fact very few people have money left over for ebay buying, too.

 

[HelenePA]

I am on an ebay kick right now because I'm getting things at VERY VERY low prices! Its awesome as a buyer! Probably not so much as a seller!

 

[Magic Mom]

Many people are moving away from ebay, due to all their ridiculous rules and regulations.

A lot of it has to do with the fact very few people have money left over for ebay buying, too.

I agree, ebay has made it too hard for the small sellers to make a profit.

 

[miralys]

I know many people who went away from ebay because they dislike using paypal. That can't be the only reason though. I used to sell on half.com and made some good "mad money" for almost ten years. A year and a half ago I pulled everything off because nothing was moving. I think that ship has sailed, at least for me.

I do still buy on ebay though. Good deals to be had

 

[Yoshi]

My sales have really dropped off a lot. With low sales and the fee increases, I am not happy with EBay. Especially the new fee increase today of them charging final value fees on shipping. On a $10 item, that is going to cost me an extra $0.32 (since FVF are now 13% instead of 15% for the categories I sell in). With EBay and Paypal fees close to 20% already, it's annoying.

 

[furb & dez]

Multiple factors:

• people are poor(er) right now
• having to deal with PayPal (who can be downright nasty if they want to be, with absolutely NO recourse to you)
• Ebay's rules too restrictive
• free options (Craigslist, for example)
• Ebay is overrun with scammers and sham accounts

 

[cglaura]

As a buyer, I've been using craigslist alot more. You can haggle, and no shipping. You can also get to see it in person before you buy (usually).

eBay is a last resort if I can't find anywhere else. It used to be the first place I went. It used to have unique or hard to find items, at a pretty good price, but now there are so many eBay stores, malls, etc, there is just so much junk to wade through. I look for a ring and come up with pages of cheap crap instead of the personal jewelry that you used to find.

 

[mistysue]

I used to use ebay all the time. Now amazon gives me free shipping through their amazon mom program.
A lot of my regular stuff even just comes in the mail. I've been getting bored because I don't need to go to the store.

Plus my credit union had this REALLY odd thing going on for a while where any time ANYBODY from the whole place used paypal just after I used paypal, they would process it through my account. It happened a couple dozen times. I would have to call and explain it to them, then spend an hour or so trying to get the receptionist to understand the issue because they never believed me. (of course they didn't, it sounds insane) but every time I used paypal my bank account would be frozen for a couple days as up to a hundred transactions that weren't mine went through. It wasn't all the time, just if I used paypal once, they took everything from my account until I got somebody at the bank to believe me and look into it each time.

 

[M5ward]

I know many people who went away from ebay because they dislike using paypal. That can't be the only reason though. I used to sell on half.com and made some good "mad money" for almost ten years. A year and a half ago I pulled everything off because nothing was moving. I think that ship has sailed, at least for me.

I do still buy on ebay though. Good deals to be had

This!! PayPal now wants my bank account information so that I can be "verified." I think not!! So..no more Ebay for me unless a seller will accept another form of payment.

 

[Karlzmom]

I'm on an ebay vacation because ebay decided not to participate in marketing programs for a few months. I made a nice sum back [Disney cards!] through a marketing site in conjunction with my ebay purchases, and figure why give ebay the idea that they don't *need* to participate...KWIM? I'll be right back at it when the program is back in swing.

 

[HeatherFeather]

I'm on an ebay vacation because ebay decided not to participate in marketing programs for a few months. I made a nice sum back [Disney cards!] through a marketing site in conjunction with my ebay purchases, and figure why give ebay the idea that they don't *need* to participate...KWIM? I'll be right back at it when the program is back in swing.

I had totally forgotten about them pulling out of all % back sites. I'm sure that has something to do with it.

Also, I buy a lot of individual pins on eBay and I usually just totally filter out the Buy It Now Items as the prices seem very high.

 

[firstcruise]

Not as many sellers on there anymore with all the fees being charged. Everytime you turn around they come up with something different to take your money. It used to be listing fees, now the're gone (for some sellers), but bring in higher FV fees, add in the new FV fees on SHIPPING costs and then add in the costs to post pictures, when you want to start an auction, etc etc. It's really rediculous.

Not as many sellers....not as many buyers. Used to be where small sellers could make a small profit and feed their families and the only winners now is eBay and Paypal. Average cost to sell an item is now above 20% of the final selling price!!!! That is just plane crazy when ebay and paypal do no work except hosting a site.

 

[shaylyn]

I started using Ebay when it first began wayyyy back in the 90's

The reason I don't shop on it anymore? There are a few.

1. Fewer true "auctions", more "buy it now" That makes it just like a store to me
2. Shipping--I hate to pay shipping and the price has gone up a lot
3. Snipers-ugh!

 

[Disneyliscious]

I use to use eBay back when it started and kept using it until a few years ago (buying and selling). eBay decided to weed out the small sellers because they didn't want the fleamarket appeal. They did so by raising fees on sellers which made small sellers not able to make any profit.

PayPal is a LIVING NIGHTMARE which I will never use again - ever. In addition, the fees on every thing is just too much. Plus, as a seller you can only leave positive feedback anymore.

I have moved to Craigslist and done much better. I haven't bought/sold on eBay in about 2 years now and haven't missed it a bit. Craigslist is MUCH easier and better.

 

[ShanPooh]

Timely thread! I just went on eBay a few days ago looking for some things for the kiddos. Certainly isn't the place it was five/ten years ago when I was buying lots of little kid clothes. The prices now are steep (can do better with store sales) and the variety just isn't there. It seems the moms looking to unload their kids' outgrown clothes have up and jumped ship. Lots of overseas sellers hocking hundreds of the same item. No fun!

 

[Yoshi]

I started using Ebay when it first began wayyyy back in the 90's

The reason I don't shop on it anymore? There are a few.

1. Fewer true "auctions", more "buy it now" That makes it just like a store to me
2. Shipping--I hate to pay shipping and the price has gone up a lot
3. Snipers-ugh!

As a seller I miss listing stuff as auctions, it was fun to watch items start at a low opening bid and keep going up in price and the fees are lower. I switched over to fixed price buy it now with immediate payment required because of the amount of non paying bidders I had.

I agree about shipping, I hate seeing an item that has an actual postage cost of around $2 and seeing $6 - $8 shipping. I have no problem with a seller charging a small handling fee (that's what I do) but to charge 3x - 4x of the actual shipping cost is annoying.

 

[hauntedcity]

Wow. It sounds like you folks are having all the same problems I've seen. Thank you for sharing your experiences!

So, where is everyone going these days? I've used CraigsList as a buyer, but it seems a little Wild West to me as a seller. I've had instances as both a buyer and seller where ebay's policies have protected me. Are there any other online auction sites out there? Back in the day, there were a handful of other ones, including Yahoo, but ebay stomped them into oblivion.

 

[seashoreCM]

I agree about shipping, I hate seeing an item that has an actual postage cost of around $2 and seeing $6 - $8 shipping. I have no problem with a seller charging a small handling fee (that's what I do) but to charge 3x - 4x of the actual shipping cost is annoying.

An item may weigh only enough for a $2.00 postage cost but a box to ship it in can add a pound or even two pounds to the overall weight. Also a tracking certificate adds about a dollar.

My shipping and handling fees are not excessive because you can always pick up the item in person and pay no shipping or handling.

EBay is either for things you can't find easily, notably collectibles, or for getting things really cheap. Nowadays shipping is an inherently expensive proposition so it is not worthwhile for sellers to sell by mail (including via eBay) stuff that buyers could just as easily find in local stores.