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 Replies: 9 / Views: 1,977 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1326 Posts |
I guess I'm mixing 2 topics here. I know there has to be metrics for assessing one's success as a buyer. I was thinking about the ratio of item views to sales. I'm asking because I think I'm a successful seller on this metric. The problem is that I just don't get a lot of views. Without views it's hard to get watchers and so on. I'm wondering if ebay is punishing me for usually not using tracked shipping. I usually get single-digit view numbers for 7-day auctions-sometimes less than 5. I will definitely used tracked shipping for higher priced items and have done so. I think ebay should cut some slack for sellers that offer a lot of stuff below $8.00. |
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Valued Member
United States
325 Posts |
Do you generally ship your stuff in a flat envelope and pay $2 or less to ship? If your stuff is bulky enough to ship as a parcel, even if lightweight, then it would make sense to use ebay's or Paypal's discounted USPS shipping and get a tracking number. I've been using that for half dollars, dollars, and silver rounds, figuring that even though they're flat, they might not make it through the flat envelope equipment at the post office. I might be wrong, though, and able to save some money on shipping. I would think that quarters and smaller coins would go through OK in flat envelopes, but I haven't made sure of that. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1326 Posts |
Pauldog, let me give you a hypothetical. Supposing you had a mixed lot of coins that was pretty bulky but low in value...let's say a large British penny and a 50% silver half crown. You would easily be able to use a $.50 stamp with an extra 0.21 stamp, each of which adds an extra ounce and supposedly entitles you to request non-machinable sorting. You just write "non machinable" on the envelope. Use some kind of inner packaging and reinforce the envelope with tape. You can even use an envelope with nonstandard dimensions. I've done some bulkier packages with tightly packed 3-5/8 X 6-1/2 inch envelopes, which is a standard size. Once or twice I've used square envelopes. Just make sure you have enough extra .21 stamps. I've never had a problem and have even had people compliment me on my packaging. I find that with all of the transaction costs, it's the only way I can make money. This brings me back to my original point that I don't think ebay is giving me the exposure I need to get more bidders. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7375 Posts |
I don't understand how ebay wouldn't be giving you exposure and punishing you. Is there something I'm missing? I thought that if someone was searching for what I'm selling, I get the views. Seems my more desirable coins get more views, and the less desirable get few views....that seems reasonable to me. How can ebay keep people from seeing what's listed? |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5675 Posts |
ebay can have some impact on the number of views through their promoted listings service, but that costs extra. There are many other factors that may influence the number of views you get, like how popular the item category is, whether your starting bid or shipping charge is too high, the info in your listing title, the quality of your main photo, and even the time of day your listing starts. For lower cost items, there are so many other similar items out there that it can be hard to get your listing noticed.
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Quote:. Is there something I'm missing? I thought that if someone was searching for what I'm selling, I get the views. Seems my more desirable coins get more views, and the less desirable get few views....that seems reasonable to me. How can ebay keep people from seeing what's listed? It's in their seller terms that they reserve the right to hide listings and/or be selective of who can see them even if they're searching for the exact thing you're selling. Their search system they rolled out a while back gives weight to things and their matrix decides what you can see and what order basically. Then they added promoted listings which get preferential search results. Big sellers already have preferential results and listing placements in results as well. A lot of small sellers saw sales and views decline when they rolled out their search matrix, and then decline even further with the addition of potomted listings. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1326 Posts |
edweather, I guess I was being a bit whiny. Just using language loosely. ebay is not punishing me, but perhaps penalizing me. I spend a lot of time on ebay, looking at coin auctions. I see coins that are like what I'm selling, where there is a lot of bidding and people paying prices that are more than I would normally hope to get, especially when you consider the extra cost incurred by the tracked shipping. Sometimes the pics are lousy and the descriptions not very clear. In contrast, I have clear descriptions, high res scans, and agree to combine shipping. I have great feedback comments and ebay has me ranked "above standard". I think my opening bids are comparatively reasonable. Yet I usually get only one bid after multiple re-listings or low-ball offers. I have to wonder if ebay is giving me a low rank in searches because they prefer tracked shipping. I asked about metrics because I don't think I'm getting as many views as I could reasonably expect, and I'm trying to get a sense of what is normal. Here's one of my items: 233184948113 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7375 Posts |
Quote:
It's in their seller terms that they reserve the right to hide listings and/or be selective of who can see them even if they're searching for the exact thing you're selling. Their search system they rolled out a while back gives weight to things and their matrix decides what you can see and what order basically.
Thanks. I had no idea they could hide or be selective on who could see them. Guess I'm just naive. Now I'm paranoid.....naw, not really. I don't have a store, so am paying max seller fees, so if they want to hide my listings, that's on them, not much I can do about it. @otto, do a search for all your listings, and see if they come up. Maybe use a different computer, and don't log in. There are also lots of popular sellers where bidiots will overpay for almost everything they are selling. I usually get market price for my auctions, but nothing more. That's also why I don't do auctions, and am willing to be patient with BIN listings, so I can make a little profit. I checked your listing, and it looks good, but don't expect too much more for those two coins. One is holed, and the other is a fairly low value. Edited by edweather
04/01/2019 10:35 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1326 Posts |
edweather, thanks for feedback. I did catch a bid on that item, interestingly from another seller who seems to exclusively use BIN listings.
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Quote:
Thanks. I had no idea they could hide or be selective on who could see them. Guess I'm just naive. Now I'm paranoid.....naw, not really. I don't have a store, so am paying max seller fees, so if they want to hide my listings, that's on them, not much I can do about it. Exactly. You kind of get tipped off it's happening when sales start getting bunched into the same geographic locations for a period of time. It may be random, but I've noticed that some weeks are essentially all the North East, then two weeks later it would be all the South West, just seems like to much of a coincidence to be complete random. Like you I won't pay for listings, once the months allotment is gone I'll just wait until the next month. Even the 5c listing fee promotions I will avoid. If they won't guarantee visibility to everyone I won't be paying to have it up. |
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Replies: 9 / Views: 1,977 |
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Posted 03/31/2019 8:46 pm
