[UKBluetooth]

I have been selling on eBay for around 5 years and have about 5000 positive feedbacks. I used to make about £2,000 a month selling mainly electronic equipment.

Over the years the market has declined drastically. The fees have increased (both ebay and paypal), the feedback system has changed and the new search engine just does not work well for me. In the last year (I have just completed detailed accounts for the taxman) I barely broke even despite putting in an average of 3 to 4 hours a day listing, posting, buying, marketing etc.

Since November sales have almost zeroed. Perhaps I am in the wrong products for today, however I now feel that I should just get rid of my existing stock and forget about ebay altogether.

Has anyone had similar or different experiences? Any advice would be welcome.

[Karsten]

sorry to hear about your problems
I just read that their earnings basically collapsed and for me thats not a big surprise. Like you said instead of focusing what could be done to make selling easier for both the buyers and sellers they decided to make it more difficult and killed the spirit of those early days.
I just remembered these days when you had to plan your day around ending auctions LOL
In the same article I read that the new ceo will focuse more on fixed price auctions (which are no auctions at all) they will become more and more a kind of big superstore. Look at amazon I find they did a lot to make it easier to shop there. e.g. the look into the book feature, used books market place, communities etc etc

[Funnymanlol]

Well, thats the interesting part of the marketplace. It is ever changing! I think you can clearly see that our generation has take a drastic change over the past two years. Our economy is horrible, we elected a "vote for change" president rather than our usual conservative, and did I mention the economy is bad? I would say my advice would be to find out what you do best, and stick to it. You mentioned you sold electronic equipment. If it were me I would be researching non stop to find the hottest equipment selling online right now, and list it. I do not know if your dropselling or what, but the thing is to always stay ahead of the curve. Learn demographics and what brings them in. That is what I would do!

[aheismann]

I have just been looking at getting into Ebay to sell some of my old books that I have stockpiled. If Ebay is declining, what is filling that void? Craigslist? I noticed about two months back when I was looking for a used car that used car prices have actually increased slightly, while new cars have declined. It was hard to find a low end car because so many people were downgrading and buying used instead of new. I would think this would apply to Ebay as well. It may be the things you were trying to sell, but I'd be interested if anyone else has had this problem.

[aryaman2008]

I have also heard about the decline at ebay at various forums.This is very sickening.Money is becoming more difficult to earn,however the market of essentials can never get down.How about working out some strategies towards getting into the market of things which are a necessity rather than involving luxury.Hopefully with better economy things will improve.

[xombicide]

I have never used e-bay to sell anything but I buy a lot on there. I've also noticed that as the economy dwindles, so does the market on e-bay. It comes down to this; people can buy as much because they are broke! I know it sucks but maybe the market will bounce back soon. Keep your chin up!

[bdlee73]

We returned to selling items on ebay after a few years pause and noticed the market stinks. Between the fees and the economy, it has become harder to make revenue using ebay. Books, CDs, DVDs, and collectible items did not do well at all- I think this market is saturated. The only bright spot I have noticed are more practical items where people will shop on ebay as an alternative to buying new.

[themay]

Well bdlee I feel your pain. It seems like one of the only ways to get ahead on ebay these days is with some sort of gimmicky story about your item, or like "the worlds biggest cheeto" people are becoming less and less interested in using ebay as a true marketplace.

[aakay4u]

It's really sad with most of the ebay users that the earnings have come down drastically over the years.Most of the people who were at ebay have left it,but it's better to assess the current trends and then beging with a renewed vigor at ebay with some pruducts which are in demand now.