The weather is turning cooler. In the northern part of the country temps are falling and there has already been snow on the northeast section. It is all signaling the holidays are at hand. This is the part of the year when stores get out of the red and earn their profits....well, usually. This year there is a decided misery over the country. I am retired and with my social security and small pension I am somewhat isolated from what is going on in the U.S. today. Here, in California we have almost 12 percent unemployment and there are worse states such as Michigan.
Now would be a perfect time for families looking to earn a few extra bucks to put some of their gently used items on Ebay and an equally perfect time for buyers who are strapped for money to purchase the things they need. Normally, this would be a great outlet and would help families pay a few bills each month. Sadly, such is no longer the case. More and More small sellers are reporting a lack of traffic and a lack of views to their items. More and more they are reporting they can't even find their items in search! To add to that misery Ebay came out with the TRS program (top rated sellers). They are rightfully considering a seller's performance record - BUT - they've still set the bar high enough that a lot of more casual small sellers, also with excellent reputations, slip thru the cracks! Ebay, has and always will be a place that coddles sellers who sell the most and ignores sellers who are just as good but sell less.
With all that in mind most small sellers need to simply take a deep breath and move on! Now is the time to list on a lot of other sites - most of which take a small fee or no listing fee at all. Many offer free shops! Etsy.com - 20 cents to list any item for 4 months. Bonanzle.com - free shop, free listing. eCrater.com - free shop, free to list. 1000markets.com - free shop, free to list. SpecialAuctions.com - free shop, free to list! I can go on and on. There is also Auctionbyte's EveryplaceISell.com - a directory of sellers and the sites they can be found on. Its a free service so take advantage of it!
The one thing sellers neglect to do when they move to other sites is they neglect to let their past buyers know where they are! This amounts to moving and not leaving a forwarding address. They'll move to a new site, list, sit back and when they don't get sales they will crawl back to Ebay. Always remember small sellers built Ebay in the first place. Ebay is losing buyers because of lack of these same small sellers. Ebay buyers do not want the brand new items they can find in Walmart - they want the rare, the vintage, the unique items they can only find on Ebay! Let these buyers know where you are! Comb thru your records of past purchases and contact these people. Let them know where you can be found and offer them incentives like free shipping or a percent off their purchases. Remember YOU built ebay and you can rebuild! Now is the time. The holiday season is breathing down our necks. It is my personal opinion that Ebay has set itself up for failure in the fourth quarter - don't go down with the ship!
Okay, ole Grannygoodpaint is getting down from her soapbox. I've posted some Halloween "treats" up above for those of you listening to the things that go "bump" in the night...
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