Is It Just Me?

[ricktmd]

Although never a large seller, I stopped selling much in the way of vintage sports cards on ebay after they removed the category for pre war baseball cards. The 1099 threshold discouraged a lot of sellers as well. Now Ebay has changed the way they count page views . This change revealed a much smaller number of viewers than sellers were led to believe just a few months back. Ebay's explanation to the page view shrinkage is that they stopped counting bots, and web crawlers. One of their customer service reps told me that many people have called and were quite concerned that page views had diminished significantly. As an example I have one baseball postcard on ebay from 1907 that has been up for a few months. Prior to the page view change I would refresh it every week or so and get 20 or 30 views on the first day. Now it has 1 view. Ebay's explanation that the change was made for accuracy seems unlikely. Why would ebay want sellers to see that the actual views are way less than they had been reporting for years. Maybe that explains the lack of better items on ebay . Dealers may be holding back for the National as well. I think the ebay issues may also explain why there are so many pre war items appearing in National Auctions.

[55koufax]

Hey Rick! When did eBay start 1099ing sellers? What is the threshold amount? Or is there even any? I recently listed some items and thought I saw some kind of message on this, however, it may have been 12-24 months ago since I last listed anything on the Bay. If they 1099 me, I am done with eBay. Nutz.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by 55koufax

Hey Rick! When did eBay start 1099ing sellers? What is the threshold amount? Or is there even any? I recently listed some items and thought I saw some kind of message on this, however, it may have been 12-24 months ago since I last listed anything on the Bay. If they 1099 me, I am done with eBay. Nutz.

$600 and you get a 1099.

[Johnny630]

To me it’s the Inflation That has people holding on to their good stuff. I think the inflation has peaked. Does that mean it’s going to go down a lot over the next couple months ? No in my mind it will stop going higher due to gas prices coming down and interest rates rising. That being said the consumer is still spending. I think the end of the year come October the economy will be back on a roll people will be over spending on experiences and trips they will start spending more on cards. Santa Rally

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

To me it’s the Inflation That has people holding on to their good stuff. I think the inflation has peaked. Does that mean it’s going to go down a lot over the next couple months ? No in my mind it will stop going higher due to gas prices coming down and interest rates rising. That being said the consumer is still spending. I think the end of the year come October the economy will be back on a roll people will be over spending on experiences and trips they will start spending more on cards. Santa Rally

I would not bank on inflation having already peaked. The latest Producer Price Index (ending May 31) rose to 138.66. These increased costs have not yet been reflected by retailers. and the current administration is still in the process of canceling domestic oil leases. So it could be a bumpy ride for quite a while longer.

Inflation may finally hit its peak after the next couple rounds of Fed Rate Hikes, but that could take at least 4-6 months. Just my opinion, though I have no idea how all of this impacts card prices or available inventory.

I would suspect that those who need to sell (to cover increased living costs) will do so, and better-funded consignors who don't need to sell might sit out the next few rounds of auctions. It could result in a glut of mediocre/common items and a shortage of available higher-end material. But only time will tell.

[Deertick]

Originally Posted by ricktmd

Now Ebay has changed the way they count page views . This change revealed a much smaller number of viewers than sellers were led to believe just a few months back. Ebay's explanation to the page view shrinkage is that they stopped counting bots, and web crawlers. One of their customer service reps told me that many people have called and were quite concerned that page views had diminished significantly. As an example I have one baseball postcard on ebay from 1907 that has been up for a few months. Prior to the page view change I would refresh it every week or so and get 20 or 30 views on the first day. Now it has 1 view. Ebay's explanation that the change was made for accuracy seems unlikely. Why would ebay want sellers to see that the actual views are way less than they had been reporting for years. Maybe that explains the lack of better items on ebay.

Rick, If you don't accept eBay's explanation, what is your alternative theory as to why they would make the change?

They used to increment page views even when you clicked it to make an edit. It even counted when you listed the item. It seems far more accurate to me now. I also have noticed that I have made quite a few sales on 1st click.