I’m looking to diversify and am currently testing eBay, particularly for certain collectible items that I’ve noticed are more prevalent there than on Vinted.
I’ve already tried listing items by filling out the ad to the maximum (title, details, photos, etc.) but I feel like it’s completely drowning in the crowd. Zero responses, little visibility, even though it took me a lot of time to set it up properly.
So, I wanted to know if there are any experienced eBay sellers among you who could share some feedback or tips for selling better / being seen better on eBay.
Thanks in advance for your advice!
PS: I remember the great era of eBay when I used to sell at auction between 2007 and 2010. It worked very well back then… and now I feel invisible.
Hello - I’ve been posting ads on eBay for quite some time, and I believe they are largely losing momentum in France, at least, because in the US they are a huge success.
I make a sale from time to time (mainly books), about 1 sale per week for a stock of 500 - it’s meager. Books aren’t popular anymore, I know, but on other platforms there are better results. eBay keeps trying to push their advertising campaigns on us. I tested it and I don’t see any difference. What is most worrying in my opinion is the low traffic rate. Some listings remain online for a month without even a visit. Listing is time-consuming.
In my opinion, after Ebay, it has become a hyper-niche platform.
I mean, it’s not like before where you went to Ebay for all types of items… for some time now, we’ve seen that Ebay is really for a few niches, mainly collectibles (of all types), antiques…
Now, whether it’s everyday items, clothing, or even books, people go to Amazon, Discount, Shein, and so on for new items…
And for second-hand items in France, the numbers speak for themselves: it’s Vinted, Facebook Marketplace, leboncoin…
For a few months now, eBay has been saving me with additional turnover, which is hard to be picky about.
I think we need to think in terms of long-term work. According to my forecasts, I should have a turnover in 2025 between 3 and 4 times that of 2024. Unfortunately, it’s plateauing because Mondial Relay has significantly increased its international shipping rates, and I used to make €500 in monthly sales just with Italians, for example.
There are also things that the eBay algorithm appreciates, like offering free shipping or regularly publishing new listings.
Listening to the comments of other speakers here, I also put listings on eBay, choosing rare, old books, and therefore at price levels above 50 euros.
No results. Only one person showed interest in a title, but was too greedy. The book later went via leboncoin.
I didn’t insist with eBay. It’s possible that sales are decent for some, but I didn’t grasp how to go about it, and listing is so time-consuming that I don’t see myself investing time in it. Another drawback, listings disappear on their own instead of staying online permanently, not at all a « fire and forget » system.
Oh yes, on eBay, one interest: when I buy a book (because I read them too), I noticed that Momox puts a lower price on eBay than on their own website or on Rakuten and other platforms. So for that, I use eBay. They also allow payment via Paypal, unlike Vinted, which sometimes suits me.
You have to learn how to use it, once you do and understand a few tricks, it’s much faster than on Vinted, especially when the items are in the same category.
Like when I have several figurines from the same series, I just need to click on « sell a similar item », upload the photos, and modify the title if necessary, it’s very fast. There’s also the creation of multiple listings in the seller hub which, depending on the case, can save time. You can also create pre-filled templates. Same for shipping costs, annoying at first but once you understand that you need to create your own pre-filled templates, it’s ultra fast.
I don’t know if it can be configured, but they don’t disappear, they are automatically relisted every 30 days (I think you can also set it to 14 days)
The listings are automatically relisted 4 or 5 times (I don’t remember which), and then they are no longer relisted.
Regarding the upload process, if you try to list a book, you’ll see that there are a huge number of specific fields to fill in. For example, you have to indicate the language of the text, and it’s not possible to pre-configure « French, » and eBay doesn’t recognize the language from the book’s title. Then, you have to indicate the sub-sub-category (an art book, but which period/style, please?), the type of binding, etc.
But I will look into this « sell similar item » option. I admit I missed it.
Have you tried entering the ISBN code?
I know that by entering the EAN code, if the items are registered, many fields are filled in automatically.
Otherwise, the simplest way is to type the book title into the search engine, go to an ad, and click on « sell yours » below the photos. You will benefit from those who have already filled in the mandatory fields.
There must be something to configure, and at worst, you just need to go to unsold items in the seller hub, check the ads to republish, and click on relist. You can relist 100 ads in a few clicks like that.
Very convenient for republishing when there are promotions on listing fees.
Thank you for your feedback. I notice that you are one of the few who indicate that it works well for you on eBay, I see it in several threads. My question here was mainly about concrete advice for gaining visibility, and I find that your message does not really address this specific point. If you also have practical tips to share, that would be super useful.
So it works well, everything is relative. It’s largely insufficient to live on, but it’s more of a turnover bonus that feels good and that in some months feels good when things are complicated on Vinted. But I would like it to be much more in absolute terms.
For tips, I’ve put them at the end of the message on what the algorithm appreciates. After eBay is a site that works by charging for options, so you can sponsor your ads etc… personally I don’t do it having ads that rarely give enormous results in the search engine. I could have added international shipping which boosted well but since the increase in Mondial Relay prices on August 1st, it’s complicated.
But it’s like anything else, there are no miracles, it depends on what you sell, not everything works on eBay, the clientele is not necessarily the same. For me, it’s often complementary to Vinted where some items that don’t sell on Vinted will sell on eBay.
Hello - indeed, to gain visibility you have to pay and even then you don’t always get the expected visibility. When I pay to appear and after several days I have zero visitors, I delete.
ok, no barcode? (EAN)
otherwise, as I was telling you, there’s the trick of using an existing listing (very fast)
Before, we sold a lot of books on Rakuten (my wife’s), it worked very well but we stopped due to the explosion of commissions. And she has moved on to short circuits (consignment, recycling center, garage sale …)
Afterwards, I don’t know if their view counter is very reliable. Sometimes I have more interested members than views or sales made, even with 0 views. And in the seller hub, you can access statistics on account performance where there might be thousands of views in a month, while on the listing page, many listings have 0 or 1 view.
Yes, let’s talk about Vinted’s counters. An boosted item got 413 views, 51 favorites, and still not sold. When we boost, I wonder if the numbers aren’t artificially inflated. Conspiracy theory. Lol
I notice that you are one of the few who indicate that it works well for you on eBay, I see it in several threads. My question here was mainly about concrete advice for gaining visibility, and I find that your message does not really address this specific point. If you also have practical tips to share, that would be super useful.