Where Are the Buyers Going?

[Marianne Dow msdowantiques.com]

I just read a post by Henrietta, of the RED INK DIARY blog.

She writes about "Selection Buyers Expect on eBay” being the latest eBay catch phrase, then she asks: "...Are buyers failing to find the selection they expect and demand on eBay today?..."

Henrietta goes on to say "Each seller who decreases their listing volume on eBay, for whatever reason, diminishes the selection available to buyers. ... As the selection decreases, buyers get into the habit of searching elsewhere. If finding the item becomes too difficult they loose interest. "

She gives a good example of a collectible item that used to be plentiful on eBay, and now with only 2 listings, goes un-bid.

These are good points - and now I ask: Where Are the Buyers Going?

I, too, have often been disappointed in my ebay searches lately - when I see that the item I am considering listing goes begging with only a couple listed, it is obvious there is less demand for the item ON EBAY.

Her point that the shoppers are elsewhere is well-made. I think they they will follow the sellers, but with selling now so fractured -- how many sites are there? countless! How can the buyers keep up?

Perhaps they will give up (a little) on the internet hunt, and focus on the few venues on which they feel comfortable. Maybe they will also increase their real world buying -- which will help antique shows and shops.

It's as if eBay was Pandora's box - they opened it up and let all the sellers fly loose, and so go the buyers - although that wasn't their plan - but you know what they say about plans.

Now, if only there was a way to know exactly which venues on which to list which items...

--Marianne Dow msdowantiques.com
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[Julie Law, Orallo]

Marianne, your post got me thinking ... "where have the buyers gone?" Hmm. As a result of considering the question, I decided to do some investigating in Google with the keyword tool to determine if this is a wider spread phenomenon than solely an eBay affliction. Although there is nothing scientific about my methods, I thought some of this information was worth sharing.

Searches for "antiques" and related "antique" phrases show (in some cases, incredible) declines in keyword searches. For instance, the keyword "antiques" yielded 1,500,000 searches in April versus 9,140,000 searches in the global monthly search volume (or the monthly average for the previous 12-month period).

(Note that even "Royal Tuscan", the example used in Henrietta's blog showed a decline - 1,000 searches in April versus 1,900 in the global monthly search volume.)

Most other words and phrases reflected some decline indicating to me that there are generally fewer shoppers Web-wide.

"Her point that shoppers are elsewhere..."

Could the reality be that shoppers are actually NO WHERE? I would suggest that there are many contributing factors and that isolating this as an eBay phenomenon is folly. Most notably, shoppers have been significantly impacted by the recession and as the weather has improved, fewer people are online (this is a long-accepted reality in online market research).

When you consider all of this it becomes apparent that, for us, the Internet is in flux. It's now time for innovation for AVC sellers to survive / thrive.

[Marianne Dow msdowantiques.com]

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Henrietta can be a bit of a rabble-rouser, but she keeps a watchful eye on eBay.

One must take most statistics with a grain (or a shaker-full) of salt. And everyone has their agenda and spin.

We did get some good dialog from it, though -- and your wonderful test of the google key word search tool -- love the screen shot.

I played with it too, and noticed that searchers use "antique" singular far more than plural - and have been trying to change my usage accordingly, in my writing, and my tags. (Not going to change my name though - at least not yet.) So see -- we gained and it's all good!

--Marianne Dow msdowantiques.com

[Sandra Hunt]

Hi Vince,
I particularly do not mean to bash ebay, is not about bashing is about facts. Ebay used to be a great place to sell and buy, I can no longer say that. Sure ebay still makes the most profit, no doubt about that in my own experience. My dilemma with them is that they made it so difficult for the sellers because ebay is only concerned about ebay after all.
I do understand that there were bad sellers and something had to be done but should the honest sellers pay the price? Why couldn't ebay punish the bad/crooked sellers only? Their changes not only caused sellers to go elsewhere but it has given the crooked buyers an open ticket with no recourse.
I am sure I'm the biggest ebay complainer on ebay and they have been responding positively. I recently complained about this huge message I was getting from them saying one of my ratings was low (not true). I complained about it and they took it off right away.
I have also complained about some buyers that are total crooks and they seem to want to help. I told them because of their changes these buyers get away with it all.
I know you are in Canada and maybe you need to understand the political side of ebay. Ebay is a die-hard supporter of the so called "pro-small business" folks.
I say, they are full of it!
Ebay has to come back to its roots or it will soon be history. All the new changes ebay has made these past couple years are a sign they are hurting.
P.S.
The barn swallows are nesting
Sandra

[sandysfancy]

thought you may like my pictures Sandra from another Sandra.
http://www.sandysfancypants.blogspot.com