Very slow in sales

carlylebooksandgifts · Posts: 7

I'm just starting out here after a long hiatus, and I have my own website, with eBay as a secondary marketplace. I had not sold anything on eCrater before. I am hoping that posting more items and keeping up with Google Attributes will at least put my products somewhere. But since the economy has tanked thanks to the pandemic, I have no expectations that my work will sell soon, only to present them and hope that I sell something in 2021.

I am reading about people who joined eCrater and have languished in obscurity for years. Let me tell you that my black hole started in 2001, when I was showing at conventions and shows, only to learn that some of them had canceled soon after 9/11. I was doing good business before then. Afterward, it was like the neighbor's tree fell on my house. I have been working hard to catch up, and now in 2021 I am still working. The economic situation world wide is bad enough without my maintaining the expectation that my work will sell. All I can do is post them and wait.

MoonwishesStore · moderator Posts: 17389

Since I started here in 2008 and then went full time after giving eBay the boot in early 2009, I have had 5700+ sales. This past year has been a great year for sales both here and on Amazon for me.

The following is not directed at any seller in particular, just some advise for anyone looking for some.

Sales can come due to your listing, you title, your photos, your prices, your shipping, etc. Some that complain of none or very low sales are most likely doing something wrong although they may not see it or want to admit it. It also helps to be doing something with your store daily whether tweaking an older listing or adding new ones. This causes the search engines to take another look at your store. If your store goes for months with no changes, the search engines stop scanning the store and thus you fall further and further behind in ranking. Not a good thing.

Many newer sellers that come on with 10 or less items anticipate sales and then wonder what is up within a few days when nothing has sold. They have to remember just how big the internet is and where their 10 items stack up next to Amazon listings, or even eCRATER's MP, We all have to remember that we are a microdot in the ocean of online sales, so we have to work to be seen.

pickychicky · Posts: 1552

And then there are those who DO know what they're doing, but somebody behind the scenes just turns the lights off to your shop despite doing everything as you're supposed to be doing. The plight of small businesses wouldn't be what it is, even during this pandemic, if we didn't have greedy third parties manipulating the economy in their favor.

elpereles · Posts: 3430

Welcome back carlylebooksandgifts.

About Google Attributes. If you are selling hand made jewelry created by you. I'm not sure if good idea waste a lot of time trying to figure them out. I sell trading cards and I do not waste time with Google Attributes. I know it can work for items with UPC because the Google system have something to refer to.

I understand jewelry is a big market. I am not a jewelry fan, but when I buy jewelry online. I prefer quality photos.

I believe you need to maybe work with the description and photo quality. The search bots like content related to the item. Also get in mind in eCrater, you will need to promote your items to get an extra traffic. If you work with the quality of the photos. I recommend create your facebook store page and Pinterest.

elpereles · Posts: 3430

Always remember. The Bots like Google Bot are searching for new stuff in your side. Try continuously add items, avoid the "dump truck" style. If you have 20 new items to add. Divide and post during a period of days.

If you don't have nothing new to sale. Check your store and edit something. So the bots get curiosity to check what was update. Also anybody that find directly your store can see the updated date.

In other topic not related to this. I was checking a store. The seller has a lot of items, have sales, and as far I noted. He/she is always adding items.

MoonwishesStore · moderator Posts: 17389

2tip3py1 · Posts: 222

Like elpereles, I too, believe it is very important to keep growing your store, move things around, keep you store tidy, bunch items, which go together - together. Smile

pickychicky · Posts: 1552

Funny, I did as the two of you are suggesting all last year in preparation for the holiday shopping season. I managed to get a whole 19 sales in 2020 -- only two for the holiday shopping season. I edited every single listing, updated all their attributes, added hundreds of new products, fixed my shipping, pinned gobs of listings. Yeah, those ideas don't work for every shop because, if Google is hiding you, then there's nothing you can do.

elpereles · Posts: 3430

pickychicky, I noted that you updated your store yesterday. But when I wrote my previous message was updated like in November. Rolling Eyes

Your store has items from different categories. Do you take time to check those categories in the eCrater marketplace and fellow sellers? Is they have sales in those categories? Many of the traffic in eCrater is from Google. If the category is "healthy". It means somebody has sales and stuff is moving.

I noted time ago, you have custom categories like "Fashions ala Chick". As I said before Google Bot and the other bots are looking around. I believe they do not care too much in a custom category, unless you have a brand. The items in your store. Do you have them in the correct Marketplace category? I sell trading cards and I saw a lot sellers listing trading cards in wrong categories. And eCrater has the 3 main categories available for trading cards (Trading Card Games, Nonsports Trading Cards, and Sport Memorabilia/Cards). A Jordan card or Magic Gathering card has its place in the site. Wink

I noted many old and new users don't understand how eCrater works. eCrater offer you a place to upload your stuff, does not have a captive buyer base, and have a lack of promotion. If you want to make a difference you must be constant working your stuff.

MoonwishesStore · moderator Posts: 17389

I agree with Elperles. You have your items in categories that the bots probably would have no clue what they are seeing as at times you have a book that until the 3rd or 4th SUB-category, there is no indication of what is being sold.

You never ask for help but do complain that you are doing everything correctly but you are being hidden. I just did a search of a number of your items for sale. Your Precious Moments Cathedral window statue pops up in the images on the first page of organic Google immediately in the first line with other items. However, when I search it further, yours is priced at double or more than the other ones that I found. I was finding the same thing with the books you are selling. Priced way higher even with 'free' shipping than other sellers on Amazon who also have free shipping via Prime and some are way cheaper even with adding in the shipping to the price.

Those are the types of things as a buyer that would stop me in my tracks, is the prices. You have a Stephanie Plum book, I think it was #12, that back in the days that we were still having Friends of the Library book sales, you could pick up multiple books in that series for $2.50 to fill a bag for a $1 on Saturdays. Back when I first started selling books online almost 20 years ago, Large Print books went for good prices, but now, not so much. BCE unless the book itself is super rare in any format, has never sold for very much either.

It all comes down to selling what people want and at prices,s they are willing to buy for. Even if you are selling what they want, it still has to be at a reasonable price that they will pay.

Only writing this to offer some help that you may not be seeing, and not to be reamed out for trying to offer help.

elpereles · Posts: 3430

MoonwishesStore, the price check is a good point.

I never gave any attention during recommendations because I consider it the 1rst thing a seller must work before listing items for sale. But sometimes you need to check the "market" to assign your price.

pickychicky · Posts: 1552

Okay, do you sell what I sell? Do you research what I sell? Do you know what my collectibles sell for? NO! I go to great extent when doing pricing research. The other thing you need to consider (but probably didn't read) is that the collectibles I am selling are NEW old stock...not used. Yes, collectors pay more for new because it's so hard to find something old that has never even been opened (except for photos).

As I know you are aware, when you have an item that is hard to find, it costs more. I also don't compete with bottom feeders, like I know Moonwishes doesn't, either. How would you feel if I came to you and told you your product is overpriced when I know nothing about your business? What do I know about a pattern going out of print and costing more?

As for my categories, there's just ONE extra category so that I can display ALL of my items together. If we already had the option to display all of our products on a proper storefront, then I wouldn't need an extra category now would I? There's no reason someone (or a bot) can't figure out what's for sale because all of the necessary keywords are there. Just because they are among other words doesn't mean they are unidentifiable. I didn't set it up that way until around mid-2020, so that's not the cause of the problem that has existed ever since I began selling here 10+ years ago.

I only ask for help when I need it. I DO KNOW WHAT I'M DOING despite what you might think about a business you know nothing about its products because it's not what you sell. I HAVE checked (as previously mentioned) what other eCrater sellers are selling items for and what I have found is that they are often priced above what I am, but are making sales.

After finding out that eCrater seems to think that they can't provide the G code for our eCrater domains, meaning we have absolutely NO control over our own visibility, I'm pretty well done trying to make this shop work. I felt that way back in November after spending the entire year working on my shop (yet still invisible while things I post elsewhere pop up within days) and is why you didn't see any updates until yesterday when messing with the bullets. I have absolutely NO difficulty getting my items seen (and sold) elsewhere, but have ALWAYS been invisible on this site.

So, I'm done. I'm sick and tired of being insulted as if I don't know what I'm doing just so you can look through your rose colored glasses, ignoring the very REAL issues, here, that are experienced by many sellers, even if you are unaffected. I absolutely will NOT sell on a site where I can't control my own visibility because one obviously cannot sell what is not being seen. I don't work at the mercy of others and my time here has been a complete waste and I'm no longer willing to waste my precious time out of sheer loyalty. And I'm far from the first or last long-time seller to give up on a site that just sits stagnant instead of taking advantage of the opportunities they are given to be even slightly better.

If a seller cannot control their own visibility, then your site is worthless to them...period. Google doesn't determine who's legit, the law does, and there's no reason my items shouldn't be seen, especially when you consider the fact that I strictly follow Google's SEO rules. So, what excuse do they have for hiding my shop? And there is NO excuse for eCrater to tell me that I'm simply at Google's mercy and can't do anything about it. Utter nonsense! Google is clearly violating laws and there is definitely something that can be done about it and one would think the site owner would be willing to fight back. But I guess the site's stagnant status is a clear indicator of his stance on that; yet, how is a seller supposed to fight back for themselves when they can't even see the information they need as evidence? The information that pertains (AND belongs) to their OWN business?

I'll keep my shop open, logging in daily to check for sales I don't expect to see, especially since I will no longer pay for the "privilege" of waiting for Google to throw me a bone, but I'm moving on, folks. I'm obviously just beating a dead horse, here. What a shame.

PaperbackPunk · Posts: 97

@pickychicky

I did a google shopping search to see if I could find any of your items:
Normally I will do a more specific search in quotation marks, but I went generic to get a broad scope ... I entered handcrafted bead bracelet hemp Etsy items show up first, but one of your items is the 6th item shown, and then one other item of yours shows way down on the bottom of the first page.

I notice that you have 5 such bracelets, all with the same title and the same price. I would think you will get more mileage from those titles if you change up the title slightly for each bracelet, they are not identical, so why not write an original ad title for each one? Multiplies your store view potential.

I was under the impression that google bots will ignore identical listings within a store if the descriptions and price are the same. (is this where our "Google Quality" issues come in to play?)

In your store, I see some cd's that are basically a piano by candlelight series, but the titles are all cookie cutter, even though the cd's are slightly different. If they are the same, and the price is the same, you should only create 1 listing and use the quantity fields. I often run into this issue when listing series of books by 1 author, but strive to distinguish each individual listing and maximize my usage of that 100 field title.

lastade-designs · moderator Posts: 2904

It is so hard to be an ecommerce seller now. The people on here are not being insulting, they are trying offer their advice by giving suggestions based on their experience of selling. Most of us have been here for years and we all know what works for us, so we try to pass that along. Nothing insulting about that.

This past year has given us many challenges. Many have been ill or had family members and friends being ill. The post office delivery system has failed. People have lost jobs. The result has caused so many changes to ecommerce. We have had to work from home either due to the loss of jobs or being quarantined. People don't go out to shop like they used to, they order online. I feel this is going to be the norm and that only means it will be a good thing for online sellers.

What little visibility Ecrater and our individual listings had on search engines is probably decreased because we are just a drop in the bucket in the ocean of newbie sellers and also due to new platforms such as Facebook Marketplace, Mercari and Poshmark. It is hard to be competitive when you have 1000's of people trying to make a few bucks to make ends meet.
What can we do to gain more visibility besides listing items and tweaking old items to keep our store updated? Here are some things we can do:

1. Join the Facebook groups that members have set up to promote our listings on. You are allowed to list one or two listing per day and this will lead buyers to your store. To find our groups just put Ecrater in the search box.

2. Support our official facebook.com/Ecrater page by sharing it on your Facebook page. This helps your friends and family members discover Ecrater's marketplace.

4. If you target a niche, look for other blogs, wikis, forums, websites that allow you to participate in discussion and leave links back to your store. For example, I am registered on some sewing, knitting and crochet wikis. I can post information about a vintage pattern and leave my link as a vendor. I write articles about different patterns and my experiences using them to create things.

5. Don't forget the other social media sites, Pinterest, twitter, instagram. Maybe there are some others that people use. Post, post, post links to your items in your stores.

I can't tell you what might work for anyone else but these things work for me. I am trying to help, not insult. It is a never ending chore to promote and work on every aspect selling online. So many changes and it could go bad in an instant. Who would have thought that we would be enduring what is happening now in our world? We just have to keep trying! It will get better!

MoonwishesStore · moderator Posts: 17389