Very important issue about importing feedback

[littledelving]

I have been on the bay for over 18 years and so would like to import my hard won feedback to eBid.
Now we know it is possible to do so because is says SELLER+ can import feedback
But I do not want to fork out £50 or so on an experiment. It may be that my items wont sell - even after importing feedback - so I would very much like to be able to import feedback without becoming a SELLER+

I was trying to figure out why people list literally 1000s of items when only 2 or 3 (at most) sell on a weekly basis. Perhaps its people who have forked out for SELLER+ and now feel obliged to get their money's worth - sales or no sales? Perhaps some people are just addicted to listing items?

Until I am able to import my feedback from the bay, list 50-100 items and see how it goes, I am not going to upgrade to SELLER+ on the offchance.

I am quite certain other people have come up against this brick wall as well - just another reason why there is more life on the Mars.

[bluebedouin]

Why not go for one of the lower upgrades:7 Day £1.99 | 30 Day £6.99 | 90 Day £16.99 ? You should then be able to import your feedback.

[theElench]

When I began listing here I felt much the same as you, that sales were held back because I had very few FBs. Having at most a few hundred items to sell I also saw (and still see) little or no advantage in buying Seller+ and setting up shops etc. I suggested several times that perhaps non-Seller+ sellers could be allowed to pay a one-off fee to import their FB, generating income for the site and hopefully enhancing the chances of selling some of my stuff.

The suggestion fell on deaf ears and has never been taken up. I wonder if bluebedouins answer is allowed, as I don't recall anyone making that suggestion in reply to my comments although it is effectively what I was requesting.


Time has moved on, sales have come (slowly but surely). My FB score has increased but even including those for purchases still only represents about 50% of my sales. I conclude that my still pitifully low FB has little effect on my sales, at least what there is of it is all positive, which is probably more important than quantity. What is most important IMO is that week by week I list one or two more items as auctions.


This enables me to break into the top of the search results, through the dead listings that dominate the top spots. It shows buyers that I am active and that there is activity and new listings lower down the results, below the first page which has stagnated. That is where my sales come from. I have NEVER sold anything on page 1 of the search results or ANY of my auction listings. EVERY single sale has come from RUS listings on page two or three.

This site is smaller and is less well known than others, you have to expect it to have less sales. That is why those who have thousands of items (and Seller+) list as many as possible. The real brick wall is that this has led to the top of search results becoming log-jammed with unsold listings. Seller+ listings endlessly re-listed but never selling. Followed by less saleable RUS listings, they move up the results as more saleable items sell. The first page of the glass category I list in is an off-putting dead zone. The top half largely made up of non-selling eternal re-lists, the bottom made up of mostly my own listings that haven't yet sold.


Quite what the answer is I don't know. Perhaps adding new RUS listings to the top of the RUS section, instead of the bottom. So unsolds sink down instead moving upwards. Perhaps a limit to the number of relists then a period when they can't be re-listed. I'm sure the unchanging appearance of the top of searches makes it look like nothing ever sells here -- the most commonly used stick to beat the site with. It isn't true and needs to be refuted before ebid can develop its potential. A sales counter on listings has been suggested, something I now think would help sales more than importing FB.

One thing I am sure of, there are sales to be had here. There could be many more if ebid is willing to keep the best of what it is but also take a good look at what is holding it back.

[kodakfish]

If I remember correctly [ it was a few years ago I did what Blue suggested above and imported my feedback [ after all they only say you have to be a seller+ not a lifetime seller + ]. Also if you decide to upgrade to lifetime seller+ within a certain time frame [sorry can't remember how long], these charges are deducted from the full cost.
I am one of those sellers with a few thousand auctions, unfortunately that's because a lot of what I have listed is a bit niche and not affordable to list else where. Sales are slow 5-10 a month which just about beats what I made on the other site. I list stuff as I get round to it - and it sells I just have to wait to sell at a reasonable price - but I am not a professional seller and just trying to clear out a bit. The more sellers we have though the more footfall we get and things will improve

[theElench]

That's the way to do it then, it seems perfect for the OP. The £1.99 for seven days is less than "the small fee" I suggested in the past.

Please don't take offence at my comments about sellers with several thousand listings. Although it's a little galling to see the same items re-listed for five years and more I think it is one of those "unforeseen circumstances" that was never envisioned when the site was set up. Who would have thought that items would sell so slowly (or not sell at all). Who would have thought that a category would have so few sellers. I'm sure it was a reasonable hope back then that with more sellers and greater numbers of listings, some of which would sell on a regular basis, there would have been an ever changing first page of results.

And yes I agree that as many sellers as possible should list in as many categories as possible, it increases the variety on the site. What I think is a problem is that in my most frequently used category the top of the search results are dominated by sellers with thriving sales in other categories but who constantly re-list a few odds and ends at the top of this category.

Over time my own RUS listings which haven't sold have drifted upwards to the bottom half of page one, simply because they have been listed longest. Consequently page one always looks the same (apart from my one or two new listings each week). It gives a false impression that nothing ever sells.

[littledelving]

A big thankyou to those who have replied to the thread. I will try your suggestions and see if it works.
Otherwise I might be stuck on zero feedbacks for all eternity.
I tried to buy several cheap stamps from a seller, but eBid insisted on immediate payment so I could not contact the seller (as stated in their listings) to ask for a combined postage invoice. In the end, I think the seller tried to do this anyway but the next thing was my purchases were on zero again. Not sure what happened but so much for trying to build feedback that way.

[tony41]

A big thankyou to those who have replied to the thread. I will try your suggestions and see if it works.
Otherwise I might be stuck on zero feedbacks for all eternity.
I tried to buy several cheap stamps from a seller, but eBid insisted on immediate payment so I could not contact the seller (as stated in their listings) to ask for a combined postage invoice. In the end, I think the seller tried to do this anyway but the next thing was my purchases were on zero again. Not sure what happened but so much for trying to build feedback that way.

It is the seller who insists on immediate payment, not eBid. I think you were unlucky in the seller you chose to buy from. Most stamp sellers, myself included, do not insist on immediate payment and also have Multi-Item Checkout enabled to automatically combine postage on multiple items.

[kodakfish]

yes eBid have an option to 'demand' instant payment for people with 0 or low feedback, this is beneficial in weeding out the scam buyers but can also loose customers .
I must admit all my auctions are 3 days from first bid or buy it nows. I must admit though a lot of my sales are earlier listings

[littledelving]

OK so I have completed the steps to import feedback from the Bay. How long does it take until the feedback is showing on my profile?

[Anniemcc2]

OK so I have completed the steps to import feedback from the Bay. How long does it take until the feedback is showing on my profile?

Just be aware that imported Feedback looks like this: