Current eBay Trends

In the last few days, I have used eBay searches for completed items to try to determine how to price some of my books in my Bonanzle booth. While I know what certain books are worth, I do not always know what the current prices are. I was unable to get a good feel for what the current selling prices are for many of the books.

For instance, I searched the completed listings for Connie Blair books. I was unable to find a listing for The Silver Secret that was not part of a bulk lot, so I could not price it. I had similar results when attempting to price a number of Judy Bolton, Cherry Ames, Tom Swift, Jr., and Landmark Books. Fewer good books are listed on eBay these days than was the case previously, and more books are listed in bulk.

In a recent post, I pondered where the good books have gone. I feel that the selection has further deteriorated in the last month. Jenn Fisher also made note of this disturbing trend in her blog. I have also noticed an increasing number of messages in eBay's forums that note the decrease in good items. Here are a couple:

Less choices...... bare trees!

Where have all my sellers gone???

This trend spans all categories in eBay. For the most part, I feel that eBay has caused the decline by its own strict anti-seller rules. The "PayPal only" policy may also have driven off some buyers, thus further causing the decline. When sellers have trouble selling their items due to fewer buyers, the sellers cut back or leave.

In last week's meetings, John Donohoe mentioned that the auction platform is the best one for sellers to get noticed; the trouble is that auctions are the most expensive. I have been thinking about this since yesterday, and the expense of auctions is probably a big reason why the listings are declining, especially with the economy the way it is. All we hear everyday is how bad everyone has it and how everyone is saving money, whether they really are or not. Many people may be saving money by not listing on eBay.

In fact, I am saving money by not listing individual books on eBay. My case has nothing to do with the economy. I am still disgusted about how I paid eBay around $100 in fees and only sold around $300 in books at the end of December—or something like that. Factor in the cost of the books—after all, I didn't get them for free—and the result was not good. I still wince when I think about it, and I have vowed not to allow that to happen again. So even I have held back on listings due to the expense of them. I have a feeling that many people are not listing in order to save.

In a light bulb moment, I realized that this is not necessarily a bad thing. As a buyer, it is bad all around, but as a seller it means less competition. There is definitely less to find on eBay, and for the sellers who remain, they may see higher prices. I have seen a few books spike in price, and I'm going to cover some of that in another post. As some books go up in price, some sellers may decide to list again.

If sellers can figure what to list on eBay and how to do it, the site is still viable. I am determined not to allow eBay to get large amounts of money from me for nothing. I have listed exactly four lots on eBay in the last two weeks with a 100% sell-through rate. I was worried at first that I had thrown more money at eBay for nothing, but it worked out okay. All four of my lots were bulk lots, so for me, this is the only way I can use eBay as a seller at this point in time. What I am doing is clearing out books that I do not wish to list individually on Bonanzle due to condition problems.