# The great decline of eBay **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 5, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572 "2015-10-05T01:04:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/1 "2015-10-05T01:04:03Z")
Why has eBay lost so many sales over the past few years? I know part of it is because they don’t treat sellers well. When I do look on eBay to buy something, I can tell that most of the sellers are either selling counterfeits from overseas, or are dropshipping and didn’t even bother to write their own listing. I have also noticed a lot more keyword spamming than I used to. Something like a simple micro USB car charger will have a very long list of car and phone brands in the title. You can’t just say all Androids and all cars? What happened to eBay? Where have all the individuals wanting to sell used goods gone? And why were they replaced with counterfeiters and idiots wanting more than MSRP for the exact same goods you can get at the mall? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/2 "2015-10-05T01:12:27Z")
Huh? Individuals with something to sell still use ebay. They just aren’t selling the same crap the the wholesalers are. I agree that bay’s search engine was been seriously crippled over the past few years, but the decline (if any) probably has more to to with everyone who had some childhood game they wanted to buy or sell having done it in the last 17 years… ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/3 "2015-10-05T01:18:59Z")
I sold stuff I no longer wanted on Ebay since early 2000’s, and buyers don’t seem to want anything anymore except at a deep discount snipe. It’s easier to give stuff to Goodwill or sell them for $1 each in a garage sale. At least I don’t have to take photos, describe any wear, type out the listing, mail the goods, etc. just to get a few dollars. I used to sell things on Amazon too, but my Amazon listings hardly ever sell now. I think people used to be amazed that they could get collectibles online, but the novelty wore off somewhere along the line. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/4 "2015-10-05T01:45:41Z")
Counterfeits are a problem on amazon also. I have no idea what the solution is, because it is annoying as hell. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/5 "2015-10-05T02:04:58Z")
I’ve occasionally thought of selling stuff on Ebay – old camera gear, for example. But once you start looking into the fees, it starts to seem ridiculous. I forget the actual fraction that they take, but I recall that they dinged you for the listing, then again for the (mandatory) use of Paypal. Factor in the large number of scammers and the hassle of shipping things and it just doesn’t seem worth it. I imagine a lot of other people did the same kind of math. Craigslist has its issues, but at least it’s free. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/6 "2015-10-05T03:07:12Z")
I decided to look up Ebay’s revenues [and found this article.](http://www.wsj.com/articles/ebay-revenue-rises-as-earnings-top-expectations-1437048364) To cut to the chase, Ebay’s client base continues to increase steadily–but the overall revenues are off a few percent. Unlike Amazon, people just want a few items (preferrably at used prices) off Ebay. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/7 "2015-10-05T03:20:34Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > the decline (if any) probably has more to to with everyone who had some childhood game they wanted to buy or sell having done it in the last 17 years… I think this is a key factor. eBay was able to grow by tapping into a huge backlog of items that some people wanted to sell and other people wanted to buy. But every item that went from seller to buyer shrank that backlog a little. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/8 "2015-10-05T05:51:51Z")
Actually Ebay’s revenue has continued to grow annually since inception. Even in 2009 it grew at over 2%. While it’s growth has slowed over the past few years, it still has positive growth. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/9 "2015-10-05T06:13:26Z")
My ebay id goes back to 1999. They no longer want the seller with an occasional item - they want (deeply discount fees) mass sellers. For the average seller, the fees are approaching 30%. Last time I tried to list payment options including personal checks with 5 day hold, I learned ebay no longer allows the word ‘Check’ in an ad, This was when ebay owned paypal outright. Just bought a used pool pump from a guy in KY - $30.24 to ship to CA - not a ‘power seller’ with deep discounts on UPS/DHL/USPS which apply to the ads listing ‘Free Shipping’ (which ebay really pushes when creating an ad. The Sony Alpha (‘A’ mount) is the old Minolta Maxxum mount - they will/did accept the lenses Minolta made in 1985-86 when they tried to crack the Pro market. A couple of these lenses are very, very good, and there was an early interest in them when the Sony Alpha came out. I have three of one of these sitting here. I’l give them to GoodWill before trying to list then on either ebay or Craigslist. Have not looked at Amazon, ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/10 "2015-10-05T07:14:25Z")
I only look for things on ebay that are old, discontinued, or hard to find. So do most people I know. Kind of like an online thrift store. From the few people I know who sold things on here, it was rarely worth the trouble for a casual seller. Unless the item was particularly valuable, they profit was pretty small. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/11 "2015-10-05T09:16:32Z")
Yeah, it really seems to depend on what you’re selling. I’ve not been having a lot of issues with those old NES era games I’ve been putting up. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/12 "2015-10-05T10:43:48Z")
I’m going to go with their poor customer service policy and their pathetic refund procedure. At leas that’s why I don’t like E-Bay. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/13 "2015-10-05T11:49:07Z")
As a buyer, I no longer think to look on eBay. If I’m buying new, it’s Amazon, where I’m a Prime member. If I’m looking for something used I search Craigslist, even though it might be a slow process. I wanted to buy a specific brand of pelleted food for our African Grey. Using Amazon I received it two days later. When I wanted more cages for him, I began looking on Craigslist. I made offers on dozens over a several month time span. I purchased three, all incredible deals. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/14 "2015-10-05T12:33:50Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > I’m going to go with their poor customer service policy and their pathetic refund procedure. At leas that’s why I don’t like E-Bay. Same here. I was a heavy eBay user from about 1999-2006, selling and buying scores of items, including at least ten that cost over $1000. Since then, I’ve used them not once, and it’s all down to poor customer service and dispute resolution on their part. For what I buy and sell (mostly musical equipment), I’d rather go through local classifieds where there’s a face to face transaction, or online forums where reputation and sense of community give all people involved in the sale an incentive to be honest and professional. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/15 "2015-10-05T12:50:56Z")
I used to buy quite a bit of stuff on E-bay. Awhile back they sent me an e-mail saying that I was close to reaching the limit for using paypal without registering a bank account or using a paypal credit card. I think that limit was $10k in purchases. The only way to pay anymore is with paypal so I stopped buying stuff on E-bay. I now use Amazon Prime and craigslist. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/16 "2015-10-05T13:08:58Z")
\*"EBay Inc. reported Thursday that revenue grew 7% in the June quarter, its last that includes results from its PayPal division before the two businesses split. Shares rose 2% in premarket trading as adjusted earnings beat Wall Street expectations and the company also added $1 billion to its stock-buyback authorization…EBay…gave yearly forecasts for the two business after the split. EBay expects revenue to grow 3% to 5% adjusted for currency impacts, with adjusted earnings per share falling in the range of $1.72 to $1.77."\* > **[EBay revenues rises as earnings top estimates](https://www.marketwatch.com/story/ebay-revenues-rises-as-earnings-top-estimates-2015-07-16)** > > EBay Inc. reported Thursday that revenue grew 7% in the June quarter, its last that includes results from its PayPal division before the two businesses... Doesn’t exactly sound like a “great decline”. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/17 "2015-10-05T16:28:42Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > \*"EBay Inc. reported Thursday that revenue grew 7% in the June quarter, its last that includes results from its PayPal division before the two businesses split. > > Shares rose 2% in premarket trading as adjusted earnings beat Wall Street expectations and the company also added $1 billion to its stock-buyback authorization…EBay…gave yearly forecasts for the two business after the split. EBay expects revenue to grow 3% to 5% adjusted for currency impacts, with adjusted earnings per share falling in the range of $1.72 to $1.77."\* > > [EBay revenues rises as earnings top estimates - MarketWatch](http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ebay-revenues-rises-as-earnings-top-estimates-2015-07-16) > > Doesn’t exactly sound like a “great decline”. Personal bias…people assume if they quit using it, so did everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/18 "2015-10-05T16:54:01Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > doesn’t sound like a “great decline” > > people assume if they quit using it, so did everyone else. It may not be contradictory. The quote above talks about ebay’s success-- as measured by increasing revenue and stock prices. But it doesn’t say how many customers are actually using ebay. I could be that the profits are up,(maybe by manipulating fees?), while user traffic is actually declining, because fewer private individuals are using ebay. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/19 "2015-10-05T17:29:10Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Personal bias…people assume if they quit using it, so did everyone else. I absolutely did. Or, if I had put more thought to it, I would have assumed that since eBay has declined for the purposes for which I used to use it (and for which it has been replaced by sites like Craigslist and Reverb), it must have declined entirely. Sounds as though I would have been wrong on both counts. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2015, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572/20 "2015-10-06T00:54:03Z")
I sell with/through a friend now and then and we do pretty good overall. They are much more seller-unfriendly and you almost have to expect to get scammed now and then but its still the best general marketplace out there IMHO. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-decline-of-ebay/733572.md?page=2)