What's Happening to EBay's Top Sellers?
Top Sellers Hit the Ceiling on EBay. Where Do They Go from Here?
According to a recently published list of the top 10,000 sellers on eBay (as of September 2006) published by Sellathon.com - a site that tracks eBay sellers by their feedback - some interesting trends are developing:
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- 25% (8) of the top 32 US sellers (129,714 feedback or greater) are either NARU (Not A Registered User) or are inactive (No longer sell on the site)
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- 8% of the top 500 sellers worldwide are either NARU (Not A Registered User) or are inactive (No longer sell on the site)
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- My former user ID GlacierBayDVD is still #8 on this list even though I haven't been doing business on ebay since mid February of 2006.
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- 18 of the top 50 sellers list primarily on eBay's International site (Germany has 16, UK has 1 and Canada has 1)
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- 37 of the top 50 sellers have seen a decline in positive feedback Year over Year for the month of Sept.
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- The top 4 sellers/user id's on eBay are all the same company (Eforcity, EverydaySource, Itrimming, and AccStation)
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- The top 10,000 eBay sellers range from 8333 total feedback at position #10,000 to 410,805 at position #1
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- 9594 sellers on eBay out of the top 10,000 have less than 50,000 feedback.
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- 7 of the top 42 active sellers have Feedback ratings of less than 98%
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With 37 of the top 50 sellers experiencing a drop in Feedback Y/Y it is evident that the majority of top sellers have hit the Revenue ceiling as far as eBay is concerned. Add the fee increases of August 22nd to the reduction in sales Year over Year and you have a recipe for disaster. I believe that come 1st Quarter of 2007 eBay will have a major seller problem on their hands.
If eBay continues to lose the large seller, what will be the incentive for small and medium sized sellers to grow. Small and medium sized sellers should read this data as a sign to diversify they're selling channels.
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Published by Randy Smythe
I write about ecommerce, ideas, Single Parenthood, and Squidoo View profile
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- 37 of the top 50 sellers have seen a decline in postive feedback Year over Year for the month of Sep
- 25% (8) of the top 32 US sellers (129,714 feedback or greater) are either NARU (Not A Registered Use
- My former user ID GlacierBayDVD is still #8 on this list even though I haven't been doing business o
7 Comments
Post a CommentWell, I don't know how much value I give the Sellathon list. You won't find my selling ID of media-medley on there, despite:
1. Our feedback of 16339 is double their minimum requirement.
2. We've been selling under "media-medley" since 2002.
3. I've emailed Sellathon twice over the past 2 years asking them to put our ID on their list.
4. My ebay selling id is still not on their list.
Whether or not my ID gets on the list is not the real issue. The issue is that Sellathon's data is suspect and therefore can't be taken as factual.
How can the resultant conclusions based on inaccurate facts be accurate?
I know someone who was selling a lot on ebay but has found local markets to be a better alternative. Attending flea markets and wholesale to small stores had more profit and less work.
As a top 100 UK seller and being in the top .03%(point nought three) worldwide (Sounds really impressive until you realise that it means nothing.....especially to eBay) We can really relate to this thread. The sooner that the general public discover what eBay is all about the better for everyone.
We are today leaving eBay it took us 7 long years to realise that it's little more than a global MLM taking huge money off new members for listing with upgrades under the false promise of global coverage of your items and higher sales and prices (witness the shop item visability scandal to understand how hollow that promise is). They do not want or need committed long term sellers .....why.....well if you stay long enough you begin to see what's really happening and then there is the danger for them of someone busting the eBay myth.
Meg Whitman eBays CEO said recently in response to criticism over the eBay shop fees that "sellers would have to adjust or leave". well whilst the sharehol
too true... when I mentioned that Ebay was having problems in a recent article I got slammed,by commenters... showing the statistics was an excellent idea. I make the same money I made on Ebay using AC... with alot less hassle.
Whether we like it or not Ebay is really a modern Amway. It attracts everyday people who want to get rich quickly. It has also attracted the flee market people and antique dealer type person. These people have made some nice quick bucks. It is now becoming harder to make those bucks. Like the writer of this article has said. Ebay is makeing major decisions that effect us all on ebay. The biggest mistake that ebay made was not buying Yahoo when it had the chance. I believe that all of their decisions revolve around trying to become like Yahoo. This is not helping me as an individual ebay seller. I then have to ask myself, What alternatives do I have. No one is coming along to offer anything better.
Bill Cobb seems to think there's an infinite supply of people and businesses willing to sell on eBay, despite the fact that eBay's platform is outdated and doesn't work most of the time, it's got an international reputation as a haven for scammers, frauds, and shonky dealers of all kinds, and they charge fees so high that for some people, it's more cost effective to run a small brick & mortar operation. I think eBay must be counting on not only an infinite supply, but an infinite supply of very stupid people who don't check out their options or read any news or media, and who are happy to throw money down the gurgler.
You ever hear of the 'dead mall' phenomenon of recent years? Basically like what you describe- once an anchor store or two go under, overall traffic slows and the smaller businesses begin to suffer. Hard to stop this process once it starts. Very sad what's happening to so many people.