Currently, eBay is one of the biggest online selling platforms, but with over 160 million eBay sellers on the platform worldwide, how can you compete and stay profitable? Or, what do you do if you notice your sales start to slow down?
Many eBay sellers report slower sales at different times of the year, regardless of their experience.
Luckily, the ZIK Analytics team of experts put together a guide to help you figure out why you have eBay slow sales and how to fix it. With our analytics tools built for eBay sellers, you can diagnose the problem and get back to making money on eBay in no time.
Why Are Your eBay Sales Down? Common Causes
Of course, when your sales on eBay are slow, there can be numerous reasons, some of which are totally preventable, while others can be due to unforeseen circumstances or market shifts.
In this section, I am going to give you the most common reasons why eBay sellers see sales going down.
Bad eBay Seller Ratings
Your seller rating is the lifeblood of your eBay business. Good seller ratings mean more visibility in search results and more buyers trusting you with their money. Bad ratings mean your listings get buried and sales disappear.
So what kills your seller rating? eBay tracks these key metrics:
- Defect rate – Orders with problems like wrong items, missing packages, or too many returns
- Late shipping rate – Shipping orders after the handling time you promised to buyers
- Unresolved cases – Customer disputes that you didn’t fix or resolve properly
- Negative feedback – Bad reviews from unhappy buyers who had poor experiences
When any of these numbers climb too high, eBay penalizes you. Your listings drop in search results. Buyers see your poor rating and click on someone else instead.
Market Saturation Issues
Market saturation happens fast on eBay. Popular categories attract thousands of sellers, which means the same products get listed again and again. Don’t believe it? Search for phone cases or HDMI cables and you’ll see page after page of nearly identical items.
Imagine trying to sell in that environment. Do you really think buyers will scroll through dozens of near-duplicates to find yours? They won’t. And those promotions and deep discounts won’t help much either.
The only way to fight saturation is to change what you’re offering. Try moving into less crowded niches, bundle items together, or offer something different enough that buyers notice you.
Seasonal Fluctuations
Your sales might be down simply because of the time of year. People shop differently depending on the season.
Summer months are typically slower. People spend less time browsing eBay and more time outside enjoying the weather. Holiday seasons bring more shoppers but also flood the marketplace with competing sellers trying to grab the same buyers.
Some products feel seasonal changes harder than others. Halloween costumes sit unsold in July. Pool supplies collect dust in December. Even everyday items see drops during major holiday weeks when buyers focus their spending on gifts.
Economic timing matters too. Tax season, back-to-school periods, and post-holiday months affect how much extra cash people have to spend. Less disposable income means buyers become pickier about prices and skip non-essential purchases.
Algorithm Changes
eBay’s search algorithm decides which listings buyers see when they search for products. The platform uses a system called Cassini to rank your items.
The problem is, recent updates favor established sellers over newer ones. Even if you have better prices or quality products, eBay pushes listings from sellers with longer sales histories to the top.
Price changes hurt you now too. Adjust your prices frequently to stay competitive and eBay flags your listings as unstable. Your visibility drops as punishment.
Another issue to watch out for is the AI showing irrelevant search results. For example, it might show modern denim jackets when buyers search for vintage leather ones. This frustrates buyers and kills your sales even when you have exactly what they’re looking for.
Listing Quality Problems
The quality of your eBay listings can also be a factor in driving down sales. Poor listings hurt your eBay SEO, making it harder for buyers to find you in search results.
Check for:
- Low-quality photos – Blurry images, busy backgrounds, or poor lighting make buyers move on to the next listing
- Weak titles and descriptions – Missing keywords or vague descriptions mean buyers can’t find your items when they search
- Wrong categories – List items in incorrect categories and eBay won’t show them to the right buyers
- Missing item specifics – Incomplete details like size, brand, or condition reduce your search visibility
Economic Conditions
Your eBay sales might be slow because people have less money right now. Economic factors like job losses, inflation, and rising everyday costs affect how much buyers spend on eBay.
For example, when the government raises interest rates to fight inflation, mortgage and car payments go up. That makes people cut back on non-essential purchases.
Certain products suffer more during economic downturns. Luxury items and expensive collectibles see bigger drops than practical everyday products.
Watch economic news to understand when eBay slow sales might be temporary. Sometimes you need to wait it out until people feel comfortable spending again.
Platform Competition
eBay has millions of sellers, which means your items compete with hundreds of others for the same buyers.
When other sellers drop their prices to move inventory faster, your sales go down while they capture higher revenue.
Even niche categories like vintage watches or rare collectibles have high competition which makes it harder to get noticed.
That’s why you need an eBay competitor analysis to understand what successful sellers are doing differently. Check their pricing, shipping costs, and how they structure their listings to find gaps you can fill.
Download this eBook now and learn how to sell on eBay like a pro.15 Proven Strategies to Recover Declining eBay Sales
When your sales drop, these 15 strategies help you get buyers clicking and purchasing again.
Strategy 1: Optimize Your eBay Listings
eBay listing optimization becomes all the more important when sales decline. Start with your title because that’s how buyers find you in search results.
Use ZIK’s eBay title builder tool to find keywords that drive sales in your category. The tool shows you search volume and competition data so you can use all 80 characters strategically. Front-load important keywords at the beginning, skip filler words like “wow” or “look,” and include specific details like brand, model, size, and condition.
Write descriptions that answer common buyer questions about your product. Include measurements, materials, condition details, and what comes with the purchase.
Test different eBay titles and check your listing analytics to see which ones generate more views and sales.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1ihBsnxJLU&t=272s
Strategy 2: Improve Product Photography
Your photos are the first thing buyers see when they’re scrolling through search results. That’s why it’s important to make sure your images are clear, well-lit, and show exactly what you’re selling.
For example, see how these low-lit, blurry photos make you want to keep scrolling.
When photos look like this, buyers assume the worst about the product.
You don’t need expensive equipment to take good product photos. Your smartphone works fine if it’s from the last few years.
Take your photos near a window during the day so natural light shows true colors without harsh shadows. Photograph your item from every angle (front, back, sides, top, bottom) and include close-ups of brand tags, textures, and any damage or wear.
You’ll also want to use all 24 photo slots that eBay gives you. More photos help buyers see the product clearly and build confidence in what they’re purchasing.
Strategy 3: Competitive Pricing Analysis
A lot of sellers set prices based on guesswork or copy what they see in active listings. But to price competitively and protect your margins, you need to find that sweet spot between what buyers will pay and what keeps you profitable.
Go to eBay’s advanced search and filter by “sold items” to see what products actually sold for. Look at items in the same condition as yours and note these details:
- Condition matching – Compare only to listings in the same condition (new, used, etc.)
- Shipping costs – Check if competitors offered free shipping or charged separately
- Seller ratings – Top-rated sellers can command slightly higher prices
- Sale timing – Note if prices fluctuate seasonally or around holidays
Once you know the market rate, calculate your total costs before setting your price. Include eBay’s final value fees (around 12-13%), payment processing fees, and shipping supplies.
You can also use ZIK Analytics’s eBay Competitor Research Tool to analyze competitor pricing:
- Find a seller in your niche by using the spy icon or entering their seller ID
- Look at their “Average Price” metric to see typical selling prices
- Filter for products with at least 2 sales in the past 7 days to focus on their best-sellers
- Price your items slightly lower (even 30 cents less) to attract buyers
- Save top sellers to your watchlist and rescan every 2 weeks to track pricing changes
Strategy 4: Improve Your Customer Service
Customer service is at the heart of building a sustainable eBay business. When you treat buyers well, they leave positive feedback and eBay shows your listings to more people.
Good customer service starts with fast shipping and clear communication. Ship within 24 hours of receiving payment and upload tracking numbers right away so buyers can see the status of their order.
Other ways to improve your eBay customer service:
- Answer questions quickly – Respond to buyer messages within 12 hours, even if you’re still looking into their question
- Set clear expectations – Use eBay business policies to outline your return window and what condition items need to be in for returns
- Handle problems professionally – When buyers have issues, accept returns without arguing and process refunds promptly
And don’t forget to ask for reviews when you help your customers, even when it’s refund. It’s important to use every opportunity you can to collect positive reviews, especially at the begining of your eBay selling journey!
Strategy 5: Leverage eBay Promoted Listings
eBay promoted listings move your products higher in search results. This matters most if you’re in categories like clothing or electronics where you’re competing with thousands of other sellers.
Go to Seller Hub, click Marketing, then Promoted Listings. You’ll see three options. Choose “promote individual listings.” Skip the off-site option because you pay whether the item sells or not.
eBay defaults to “dynamic ad rate” and suggests 15-18%. Switch that to “fixed ad rate” and set it at 2.5-3%. You only pay when something actually sells.
Promote items that already have decent photos and competitive prices. Check your dashboard weekly to see what’s working. If a promoted listing isn’t getting sales, turn it off and put that budget toward something that’s moving.
Strategy 6: Diversify Your Product Range
Selling just one type of product puts your business at risk. When demand drops or competition increases in that category, your sales take a hit, and there’s nothing to fall back on.
The way to fix this is to test other product categories without going all in right away. Look at what’s selling well in areas close to what you already know. If you sell sneakers, check out sold listings for athletic apparel or sports equipment.
In fact, over 90% of eBay sellers are having more than 1 type of product in their store to avoid ebay sales going down.
Add 5-10 new items to your catalog to test. Track which ones get sales and which ones just sit there. Keep expanding the categories that work and drop the ones that don’t. This spreads out your risk so you’re not dependent on one product type.
You can also add variations on eBay so buyers have more options to choose from. Watch this guide from ZIK on how to set up variations:
Strategy 7: Optimize for Mobile Users
One of the most underrated eBay selling tips is to optmize your store for mobile. Since more than half of all eBay purchases happen on smartphones and tablets, making sure your listings work on the small screen makes good business sense.
Keep your text easy to read on phones. Stick with black text on a white background and use a font size of at least 12. Break things up into short paragraphs so mobile users aren’t staring at a wall of text.
Another tip is to fill out eBay’s item specifics section. This is where you add details like size, color, brand, material, and condition. eBay formats this section perfectly for mobile, so take advantage of it.
You’ll also want to make sure your photos load quickly. Avoid adding heavy graphics or unnecessary HTML elements to your listings. While eBay optimizes most images automatically, do your part by uploading photos that aren’t massive in size.
Strategy 8: Utilize eBay Store Features
If you have an eBay Store subscription, you’re paying for features that can help you get more sales. Many sellers don’t use these tools even though they’re already included in their monthly fee.
Here are the key features to start using:
- Store categories – Organize your products into custom categories so buyers can browse your inventory easily instead of searching through random listings
- Promotional tools – Create markdown sales, volume discounts, and order discounts directly from your Seller Hub to move inventory faster
- Custom store design – Brand your storefront with a header, logo, and color scheme so buyers remember your shop
- Email marketing – Send promotional emails to buyers who’ve purchased from you or added your store to their favorites
- Time away – Pause your store when you can’t ship orders instead of getting dinged for late shipments
Strategy 9: Implement Cross-Selling Techniques
When someone’s looking at one of your listings, they’re already interested in buying from your store. Use that moment to show them related items they might want.
For example, if you sell phone cases, promote screen protectors or charging cables on that listing. Use promotional tools in your Seller Hub to create “buy one, get one” deals or offer discounts when buyers purchase multiple items.
eBay will automatically show a “related items from this seller” section at the bottom of your listings. You can also set up combined shipping discounts so buyers save money when they add more items to their cart.
Strategy 10: Monitor and Analyze Performance
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You can’t improve what you don’t measure. eBay gives you free analytics tools through Seller Hub that show exactly what’s working and what’s not in your store.
Start by checking your Seller Hub metrics weekly. Look at your traffic reports to see which listings get the most views and which ones buyers ignore. Check your conversion rate to understand how many viewers turn into buyers. Our detailed guide to eBay Seller Hub walks you through every metric and what to do with the data.
eBay analytics also show you where your traffic comes from. Are buyers finding you through eBay search, Google, or promoted listings? This tells you which marketing efforts are paying off. Track your average selling price and compare it to your costs to see which products generate the best profit margins.
You can also monitor your performance tracking metrics like shipping times, return rates, and customer service responses. eBay’s algorithm penalizes sellers with late shipments or high defect rates by showing their listings to fewer buyers.
Download this eBook now and learn how to sell on eBay like a pro.Strategy 11: Seasonal Inventory Planning
Check your eBay analytics to see which products had the highest sales in specific months. This tells you what to stock up on and what to skip. If something didn’t move last season, don’t waste money buying more of it this year.
Here are key seasonal selling periods to plan for:
- January-February – Fitness equipment, organization products, tax software
- March-May – Gardening supplies, outdoor furniture, spring cleaning items
- June-August – Beach gear, camping equipment, back-to-school supplies
- September-October – Halloween costumes, fall decor, cold weather clothing
- November-December – Holiday gifts, electronics, toys, winter accessories
Clear out seasonal inventory with markdowns before the season ends. Don’t hold onto summer items hoping to sell them next year. The storage cost and tied-up cash hurt your business more than taking a small loss now.
Strategy 12: Build Customer Loyalty
Did you know that 86% of customers stop buying from a brand after loyalty is broken? On eBay, repeat customers are more valuable than one-time buyers because they trust your store and skip comparing you to competitors.
Provide excellent service from start to finish. Ship within 24 hours, respond to messages quickly, and package items securely. When buyers have a smooth experience, they remember your store and come back for future purchases.
Use eBay’s email marketing tools to send promotions to past buyers. Offer combined shipping discounts so customers save money when they purchase multiple items. Set up a branded storefront with custom categories so your shop looks professional and easy to navigate.
Strategy 13: Market Research and Trend Analysis
You need to know what buyers are searching for before you list products. eBay market research shows you which categories have real demand and which ones are already oversaturated with sellers.
Check what’s selling in your target niche before you buy inventory. Demand analysis helps you see actual sale prices from completed listings and how quickly items move. This is especially important for eBay dropshipping, where choosing the wrong products means wasted listing time.
ZIK’s Market Insights tool gives you daily updates on:
- Trending products by country – See which search terms generate the most revenue in your market
- Top-performing items – Track what’s selling with price data, units sold, and supplier links
- Successful dropshippers – Analyze what top sellers list and which niches they dominate
- Seasonal trends – Plan inventory around upcoming holidays and shopping events
Strategy 14: International Expansion
Are you truly maximizing your eBay sales if you’re only selling to buyers in one country? eBay operates in dozens of markets worldwide, and expanding internationally opens your store to millions of additional buyers.
Start by enabling the eBay Global Shipping Program. This handles international shipping, customs forms, and import charges for you. You ship items to eBay’s domestic shipping center, and they handle the rest.
Check which of your products have demand in international markets. Some items sell better in the UK, Germany, or Australia than they do in the US. Use eBay’s site visibility settings to show your listings on multiple eBay sites without creating duplicate listings.
Test international expansion with a few listings first. Enable Global Shipping on your best-performing products and track which countries generate sales. If you see consistent orders from specific regions, consider tailoring more of your inventory to those markets.
Strategy 15: Social Media Promotion
eBay has millions of active buyers, sure, but you still need to drive external traffic to your listings if you want to compete with top sellers. Social media lets you showcase products to audiences who might not be actively searching eBay yet.
Consider these platforms to promote your eBay store:
- TikTok – Short videos showing products in use or unboxing items perform well. Tag videos with relevant eBay keywords and link to your store in your bio
- Instagram – Post product photos, behind-the-scenes content, and use Stories to highlight new listings. Use shopping tags when possible to direct followers to your store
- Facebook Marketplace and Groups – Share listings in niche buy/sell groups where your target buyers already hang out. Join collector groups if you sell vintage or specialty items
- Pinterest – Create boards for your product categories. Pinterest users actively search for products to buy, making it ideal for driving purchase-intent traffic
- YouTube – Product reviews, haul videos, and how-to content build trust. Include eBay store links in video descriptions
Common Mistakes When Diagnosing Slow eBay Sales:
Even when you think you’ve covered all the basics, it’s easy to overlook things that quietly hurt your sales. For example, you might be:
- Neglecting Seller Performance Metrics: Ignoring critical metrics like defect rate, late shipment rate, and cases closed without resolution can harm your eBay seller rating and lead to slow sales.
- Ineffective Product Titles and Images: Using poorly optimized product titles and low-quality images can result in lower visibility and reduced click-through rates, negatively impacting sales.
- Overpricing and Shipping Issues: Overpricing products and providing slow or inaccurate shipping options can deter potential buyers and contribute to eBay’s slow sales.
- Ignoring Mobile Optimization: Failing to check how listings display on smartphones means losing over half of potential buyers who browse eBay primarily on mobile devices.
- Skipping Item Specifics: Leaving item specifics blank makes it harder for buyers to find your listings through eBay’s filters and compare your products to others in search results.
- Not Analyzing Competitor Listings: Selling without researching what similar items actually sell for or how competitors present their products leaves you guessing instead of using proven strategies.
Ignoring these problems long enough can hurt your sales and potentially get your eBay account suspended.
Recover & Prevent eBay Sales Down with ZIK Analytics
Your eBay sales don’t have to stay down forever. With ZIK Analytics, you get tools that show you which products to list, how to price them, and what successful competitors are doing right now.
Use ZIK’s eBay product research tool to find products with proven demand and list items buyers are searching for. It shows real sales data, competition levels, and profitable price points so you can start recovering sales immediately.
Or use ZIK’s eBay dropshipping software to see what top sellers list and how they run their stores. Find winning products, copy strategies that work, and discover opportunities your competitors are missing.
If you’re ready to recover your sales and prevent future drops, start your journey with ZIK today and get access to every tool you need.
Frequently Asked Questions about eBay Slow Sales
In this section, I’ll answer the frequently asked questions about eBay sales being down.
Are eBay sales slow right now
eBay sales appear slow for many sellers right now, though it isn’t the same for everyone. Reports suggest lower activity in 2024 and 2025, partly due to algorithm updates and weaker demand. If your sales have dipped, review your listings and consider small changes to pricing or presentation to improve visibility.
Is eBay’s algorithm broken?
The eBay algorithm isn’t truly broken, but many sellers feel it isn’t working as it should. Recent updates to Cassini, mobile-first design, and AI changes have led to less relevant results and reduced visibility for U.S. sellers. If you’re affected, focus on keyword optimization, detailed listings, and staying updated on eBay’s announcements.
How long does a sales slump last on eBay?
Your sales slump can last anywhere from a few days to several months, depending on your niche, seasonality, and whether you’re fixing the root causes. Summer slowdowns typically end around back-to-school season, while algorithm changes or competition issues require you to take action rather than just waiting it out.
Do promoted listings really boost sales?
Promoted listings increase your visibility in search results, which can lead to more sales, especially in competitive categories. However, they work best when your pricing, photos, and titles are already optimized. Promoting poorly optimized listings just wastes your money on clicks that don’t convert into purchases.
What is a good eBay sell-through rate?
A good eBay sell-through rate (STR) is typically 50% or higher, with many sellers aiming for 70–80% or more. The ideal rate depends on your category and product type. Categories like electronics usually see higher rates, whereas furniture or industrial parts may see lower. A high STR implies that a product has strong demand, competitive pricing, and efficient inventory control.
Why is eBay restricting my sales?
eBay might be restricting your sales for a few reasons:
- You may owe fees or refunds that need to be cleared.
- You may have broken a policy, like listing in the wrong category or missing tracking.
- Your account may look insecure if eBay sees suspicious activity.
- You may have hit selling limits as a new seller or in a certain category.
- Your account details may be outdated, and eBay can’t verify them.
To fix it, check the message eBay sent you. It explains exactly why your account is restricted and the steps to take next.
Does eBay limit sales?
Yes, eBay limits sales for both new and experienced sellers. New accounts usually start with a limit of 10 items or $500 in sales per month. After you establish a positive sales record, you can request a higher selling limit. Note that eBay reviews accounts monthly and may automatically raise limits if your performance meets its standards.