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eBay listings TANKED after running out of inventory
 

So I was doing REALLY well on eBay. I listed a few products in a particular niche and they were selling like CRAZY because I was in the #1 and #2 positions for that keyword on ebay.

I was doing so well, I ran out of stock fairly quickly and had to end the listings (well, they were BIN listings and ended automatically after the quantity ran out). I went to re-list, and now my listings are barried on page 2 and 3.

What the heck happened? I had to wait 4 days to get more stock, so I did that, relisted, and now my listings suck and I don't own that #1 positions anymore. Really upsetting. Any ideas why I don't anymore, and any tips to get back there?

Competitors increasing, your wording changing, price changing, your best match changing.

Can be a whole list of things

Here's why I am confused:

1). Competitors didn't increase. Not at all.
2). My wording was identical - I literally just hit the relist button.
3). Price didn't change.

Any ideas?

sell a few at a loss to get your listing back up. Sales affect best match dramatically.

Only eBay knows for sure.

The list of reasons is long one.

But when you sell a few items, your best match will increase, as will your ranking (in theory)

No definite answer to this question however.

After I sell a few at a loss, can I bump the price back up without losing ranking (by revising the BIN listing)?

Also, if I have 3-4 listings of the same item on BIN, with different titles, can that affect it? Am I better off deleting the others and just focusing on 1 listing?

Ebay's ranking system is bizarre. I am convinced I must be on some kind of loop. Right now I sell household items very part time that have nothing to do with one another...pair of shoes here, kitchen item there, health and beauty item thrown in, etc. I can go a week without even an added watcher and then on the same day I'll have five or six sales all from the same exact part of the country, different buyers, different categories, same concentrated geographical area.

I'm in California. Explain how after NO visibility people in say, one corner of north Maine are suddenly incredibly fascinated with my items.

Something is weird with their search/ranking functions. I haven't figured out the algorithm but I do watch it.

eBay use a internal quality scoring algorithm for listings a bit like Google for PPC. Best match is worked on impressions, clicks, number of watchers and most importantly purchases. This is all factored over time statistically to make your "quality score"

The error here is that your BIN listing that was in prime position ended. The stats reset when you list again as its a new listing regardless of whether its the same item etc.

One tip to stop this from happening again is to make sure your BIN is on a 30 day repeater i.e.. good to cancelled and make sure you have a continuous stock in to keep the listing afloat. If you cant then when you get low, change the BIN price to something ridiculous e.g if the BIN price is currently $9.99 change it to $99.99 then change it back when your stock comes back in

And here's what you should have done...

Let's say you had 100 of these items, and you knew your stock would have been sold before the new stock came in.

When you were down to your last 5 to sell, you should have tripled your price. This would have still kept your rankings based on previous sales.

When your new stock arrived, re-edit the listing to the regular price.

Thanks so much for the advice. Definitely will do that next time.

Or change your handling time alot of times ill run out and just change handling time to 3-4 days when I'm sure product is comming in and in the description I write it in red and big that orders will be processed and shipped on whatever date and I offer free shipping been doing this the last 3 months and sales never stop and I'm usually in the 1 or 2 spot just make sure u know u will have and be able to ship on that day.

And of course I never did that for two week handling but have had the listing on Monday and shipped Saturday and sales never slowed up

yes, as long as it keeps selling, the more it sells the higher it climbs, the less it sells the more it drops.

Re: eBay listings TANKED after running out of inventory
 

this is exactly the same thing that happened to me, it sucks to be honest. My products were dumped in the bottom after. The main goal when your in that spot is to make sure you never run out of inventory

Re: eBay listings TANKED after running out of inventory
 

I had a listing and Ebay and was shooing up number 1 or 2, it was terminated it and say that I had violated VERO so I researched what I might had done wrong.
After realizing the problem, I listed my item in various ways and even copied the listing title of the number one seller of the same item however when I search for the exact title, I find him at the top and I am very far below.

What can I do to change the is?

Re: eBay listings TANKED after running out of inventory
 

You cant he's now got history and sales on his side, your listing is brand new. You can only try complete on price and get the sales in till you start climbing that ladder. Of course if you were taken down for the same item, that's not to say he could be too eventually.

I would be very cautious though about the reason why ebay removed your listing for vero. They take that seriously and if you are selling vero but trying to work your way around advertising it, they will eventually catch you again and your account will get suspended for repeating offences.

I honestly would suggest not competing with the other guy and go find your self another product niche where you can capitalise on. Something that isn't going to be Vero or be called into question!

Re: eBay listings TANKED after running out of inventory
 

Thank you for your comments.

Re: eBay listings TANKED after running out of inventory
 

Experimentation is key here but NOT on this account - the account is badly flagged...the more you try, the more you are pushing your luck.

Get new stealths going and research, experiment, do what you can.