WTF is wrong with eBay lately?

walkingupwards · #1 10-04-2018

My listings had the most impressions among all competitors in my category and my sales used to be way much better than everybody else.

My impressions not just plummeted, they are negative now!! Something happened to my sales 1 month ago and no matter what I do it won't be fixed!

I tried listing using the category templates, but that also didn't work.

Any idea what exactly is happening?

**aspkin** · #2 10-04-2018

Sounds like you're being throttled.. are you drop shipping?

walkingupwards · #3 10-04-2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by aspkin

Sounds like you're being throttled.. are you drop shipping?

Not at all. Could eBay be thinking that I am a dropshipper because I connect using a VPN?!

phaz0rz · #4 10-04-2018

It's possible. Even if they don't think you're dropshipping it's possible the VPN usage caused your account to be flagged in one way or another.

There has been tons of talk on this forum lately about eBay making some kind of search algorithm change which identifies and throttles sellers it thinks are dropshipping. I would guess the algorithm updates don't only throttle dropshippers.

walkingupwards · #5 10-04-2018

Well, 99% of my customers leave a feedback that they got their items on time. Could the new algorithm flag an account based on the usage of VPN?!!

Don't most sellers here use VPN? When was the new algorithm put in place?

phaz0rz · #6 10-04-2018

Also I forgot to mention - eBay has been transitioning to their "product catalog" which is probably a huge factor in your impressions drop. When you go to your listings, are you being recommended by eBay as the best deal in the catalog? If not, your potential buyers are being directed by eBay to another seller.

phaz0rz · #7 10-04-2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by walkingupwards

Well, 99% of my customers leave a feedback that they got their items on time. Could the new algorithm flag an account based on the usage of VPN?!!

Don't most sellers here use VPN? When was the new algorithm put in place?

It can and probably does.

A large percentage of sellers here do use them.

Still though, I think the product catalog is a bigger factor here than your use of a VPN.

**SaiJin** · #8 10-04-2018

Yes, a lot of people are using VPN. I agree with Phazor, I think it's got something to do with the catalog more than anything.

Lots of business people also use VPN specially when they travel, so I doubt that they'd nail you for that.

Just wondering, are you also doing any type of outside of eBay marketting?

walkingupwards · #9 10-04-2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaiJin

Yes, a lot of people are using VPN. I agree with Phazor, I think it's got something to do with the catalog more than anything.

Lots of business people also use VPN specially when they travel, so I doubt that they'd nail you for that.

Just wondering, are you also doing any type of outside of eBay marketting?

I only do business on eBay actually. The weird thing is that a bunch of sellers in the category got their sales plummeted. When I browse the category, all items are weirdly sorted out and in some items who don't belong there are showing up. At first I thought it has something to do with the IP I am browsing from, but that turned out not to be the case.

newjerseymax · #10 10-04-2018

ebay was different cause it didn't have catalog style listings. Now we moved most everything to Amazon. If its going to be the same style, then I might as well sell where it makes more money and traffic.

phaz0rz · #11 10-04-2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by walkingupwards

I only do business on eBay actually. The weird thing is that a bunch of sellers in the category got their sales plummeted. When I browse the category, all items are weirdly sorted out and in some items who don't belong there are showing up. At first I thought it has something to do with the IP I am browsing from, but that turned out not to be the case.

All those other sellers you reference saw their sales plummet too most likely because their listings aren't being featured in the catalog either. They take the seller with the lowest price + best shipping and give them eBay's equivalent of the "buy box" so that one seller gets almost all the sales for an item, while other sellers with the same item get almost no sales.

Like I said earlier, go check and see if your items are being recommended in the catalog. If not you'll need to adjust your listings accordingly.

Sunspot144 · #12 10-04-2018

Consider listing under different product conditions in the catalog. I can see some 'New other' entries selling for more than the 'New'. Wether or not they sell is a different story, but customers do crazy things.

AndrewM · #13 10-04-2018

Ok sorry for the stupid question.

What is the ebay catalog?

for me I am finding items I just listed on my new account are buried 10 pages deep. Is it because it is new or because I am not using keywords etc.

Sunspot144 · #14 10-04-2018

If you're listing with the catalog template you'll need to be lowest price.

If you're creating your own unique listings the quick and dirty approach is to just use sponsored listings - if you can afford. Might help you rank higher for the time being.

walkingupwards · #15 10-04-2018

eBay seems on a highway to failure. What they need to do in my opinion is to go back to their origin and be just eBay. Trying to emulate Amazon in every way will only do harm to the platform in my opinion.

Sellers on Amazon must see in eBay a market and an opportunity that does not simply exist on Amazon.

It's funny how they want sellers to choose a catalog and then direct all sales to the seller with the lowest price. What a crazy policy indeed!

CoDebits · #16 10-13-2018

yes , something happening, i got same issue for some products

empirestate · #17 10-13-2018

Something big is going to happen. eBay will drop PP COMPLETELY

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walkingupwards · #18 10-13-2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by empirestate

Something big is going to happen. eBay will drop PP COMPLETELY

I think dropping PP will be in the interest of sellers. If someone could cheat on PayPal and verify their account, why wouldn't they do the same with Adyen?!

phaz0rz · #19 10-14-2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by walkingupwards

I think dropping PP will be in the interest of sellers. If someone could cheat on PayPal and verify their account, why wouldn't they do the same with Adyen?!

Because Adyen is an actual merchant account provider, meaning it would be a felony for us in the USA to give them "stealth info" like we do with Paypal.

It's not going to help sellers at all. Especially not stealth sellers like us.

empirestate · #20 10-14-2018

Is Ayden a bank?

__________________
How to use Paypal correctly
Run multiple portable Firefox, 1 user account
How to add new PP to eBay
How to clean photos
Best image resizer

phaz0rz · #21 10-14-2018

They have an EU banking license which gives them the ability to verify EU users instantly.

Currently in USA they aren't a bank but they are a 3rd party processor of Wells Fargo. They're setup just like TSYS from what I can see.

Don't quote me on it quite yet but I'm 99% sure giving phake info to Adyen in order to accept payments through them would be the same as giving Authorize.net phake info, which is for sure illegal even with Auth.net not being a bank.

rsot · #22 10-14-2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by phaz0rz

They have an EU banking license which gives them the ability to verify EU users instantly.

Currently in USA they aren't a bank but they are a 3rd party processor of Wells Fargo. They're setup just like TSYS from what I can see.

Don't quote me on it quite yet but I'm 99% sure giving phake info to Adyen in order to accept payments through them would be the same as giving Authorize.net phake info, which is for sure illegal even with Auth.net not being a bank.

Nice clarity phaz