Ok, we're back from the beach. The baby loved to play in our condo but hated the beach, the sand and the pool. So...yeah. It was fun, though. Well, the bits when baby got sand in her eyes and cried for the entire duration of a dolphin tour were not too fun, but we survived. Then the baby got sick. The doctor says it's just teething, but the last time he said that, it was pneumonia (I know, right???). She's better now, though and I've been listing my heart out.
I've read lots of stuff about people bellyaching about the new "best match" and I agree with a lot of it. On Auction Bytes lots of people are like "oh, I'm going to leave eBay" yadda yadda yadda. Well, I'm all out of whack on Best Match, too, but I won't be leaving eBay. I've just got to be smarter about what I list.
So I'm thinking about things and very slowly, a hypothesis forms in my head. I go to my sold page to check if I'm right and I am! I've not sold very much this week but guess what 90% of my listings had in the title and item specifics? "New". NWT clothes from the GW and TJ Maxx, clearance toys from Target, etc.
It could be a coincidence. I'm going to keep an eye on this, but I know that eBay wants their website to be more "upscale mall" than "flea market", so it makes sense that Best Match would favor new items over used ones. I did a couple of test searches and the BINs that showed up first for clothes and toys were all new. I know that I usually only click through the first couple of pages of listings when looking for stuff...I wonder how many people will wade through the newer, higher-priced things to find the used ones?
What if this is true, though? What if this is how it works now? What does that mean for yard-salers and flea market pickers? Unless you specialize in collectibles or older toys, it means we're screwed, friends.
Have you noticed any sort of pattern? Let me know, I could use a tip!
I always sort by lowest + shipping first. I think a lot of buyers do when they are looking at items that have a lot of listings. I never use best match. I think things are slow because it's July and July is slow. As for people leaving EBay that's always the case with every change. Some will leave, some will stay gone and others will return. It's a great place to make money from home for me and nothing will ever be perfect anywhere any time so I'll stay.
ReplyDeleteAs much as people complain where else can you buy a toy or pants or anything else for $1 and convert it to a $20 or $30 or way more profit. I will just keep listing and hoping for the best. But this isn't my primary income so that might be why I have a different mentality. It's interesting what you found with the new items. Very little of my stuff is new
ReplyDelete