Based on my Bonanza sales for November, upon which I will report in greater detail in a future post, I am wondering whether eBay has finally reached a tipping point in which buyers are now going elsewhere. We already know that eBay has been losing sellers at a large rate, but are the buyers now tired of eBay's changes?
My November sales on Bonanza have been brisk throughout the month, and I have sold a substantially larger number of books than usual. I have not been able to determine the exact reason. My sales have been attributed to a variety of sources including direct traffic, which tells me nothing.
I have noticed that Bonanza's page rank is now at 5, which I believe is the page rank that Bonanzle had right before the name change of September 2010. It took around one year for Bonanza to regain Bonanzle's old page rank. This could be part of the reason why my sales have been very good.
I recall that Country Living Magazine had a small spread on Nancy Drew in the October issue. My November sales have been largely driven by sales of Nancy Drew books, so I have to consider that magazine article as a possible factor.
I also have to look at what is happening with eBay. In just the last month, eBay has changed its search algorithm yet again. They simply will not leave it alone, and that is eBay's primary problem. I am noticing that my search results for Nancy Drew on eBay include items such as car repair manuals. The clutter in eBay's search makes it much harder to find quality items.
Another possibility is that we have a very enthusiastic buyer on eBay who has been buying Nancy Drew books like crazy for several months. This person is buying many duplicates and is having a slight effect on the average prices paid for Nancy Drew books on eBay. This person is, to a degree, "hogging all the books." I am confident that most people who bid regularly on Nancy Drew books on eBay have been outbid by this person on at least some books. I have been outbid by this person a number of times.
So that you will be aware of how enthusiastic this buyer is, they have purchased $3,511.37 in Nancy Drew books in just the last 30 days, and for the previous couple of months, their purchase history showed similar amounts. Therefore, this person may have purchased around $10,000 in Nancy Drew books in the last few months. Actually, they might possibly have purchased as much as $13,000 in Nancy Drew books, since one of their first purchases was a $3,000 book.
What I am wondering is whether some people are getting frustrated about being outbid on so many books and whether this person's actions are causing more people to look outside eBay. What has been strangest about my November sales is that I am suddenly selling my Nancy Drew books with dust jackets.
You know... those books that no one has wanted from my Bonanza booth, that have been collecting virtual dust for a year or so, that I have been trying to gradually sell on eBay at high enough prices to keep certain people from buying them and leaving me low DSRs. Those books. People are actually buying them now—a number of different people, in fact.
Some of my more expensive Nancy Drew books with dust jackets have even sold. I have managed to sell two different copies of the "glowing bracelets" Lilac Inn dust jacket in November, and the first one that sold had been listed for over a year. It sold. I listed another, and it also sold within just a few days to somebody else. It's weird.
In November, I sold the most expensive book in my Bonanza booth. I have also sold a few books and a DVD that I believe I listed on Bonanza back in 2009. I like it, although I don't know why it is happening.
No comments:
Post a Comment