EBAY ITEMS NOT SELLING? - use this advice direct from ebay

How to find and refresh STAGNANT EBAY LISTINGS - Advice direct from ebay. Get more views on your items and more sales
Our ebay shop:
www.ebay.co.uk/str/thehillsar...
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/ _andreahills_
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/ nic_hills_reseller
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/ thriftmap
You can buy us a 'coffee' here: ko-fi.com/nicandandreahills
Or Take a look at our t-shirts and other merch which should display under our videos...
Andrea's KZbin Channel: / @andreahills74
Below are links to products we use in our business: (Affiliate Links - we get a small comission if you buy through these links as we are part of the Amazon associates programme)
Postal scales - amzn.to/3N8Onpm
Heavy Duty weighing scales (up to 50kg) - amzn.to/3WPJpAZ
Large Letter Size Boxes - amzn.to/3Nagvs1
Photography Lights - amzn.to/3oHRV8F
Photography Lights Stands - amzn.to/3IQ6JJi
Brown paper void fill - amzn.to/45HSy2C
Large letter size guide - amzn.to/2MdjVNA
Trolley we use at boot sales - amzn.to/3qtg9no
Zebra Thermal 6x4 Label Printer - amzn.to/45XOWtF
HP Laser Printer - amzn.to/3oPSdtZ
Poly Mailing bags 100 x Mixed Sizes (ideal for clothes/soft toys) - amzn.to/2mHKCIe
Poly Mailing bags (Various sizes available) - amzn.to/3CfjKbi
Poly Mailing bags (larger size) - amzn.to/2HqMSQb
Jiffy Bubble Mailer D1 Envelopes (DVD size - large letter) - amzn.to/2mBEOAM
Larger F3 Jiffy Bubble Mailer Envelopes (fit 2 x DVD side by side as a large letter) - amzn.to/2m4fPbJ
Brown Packing Paper (that I use for wrapping board games) - amzn.to/2l8Ofef Quality Tape Gun - amzn.to/3zu9UzU
Packing Tape (Brown 36 rolls) - amzn.to/2mHLM6B
Packing Tape (Clear 36 rolls) - amzn.to/2lloVwv
Black Clingfilm Packing Wrap - amzn.to/3WNGWXI
Bubble Wrap small bubbles - amzn.to/2mHDETM
Bubble wrap large bubbles - amzn.to/3o5HtRZ
Sticky-off Sticker/Labels Remover Liquid (Amazing stuff!) - amzn.to/2l8ICg1
Quality Salter Scales for weighing packages (up to 5kg) - amzn.to/2mBIbYw
Heavy duty weighing scales (up to 200kg) amzn.to/2XYOae2
Ziplock bags for boardgame parts etc - amzn.to/2Hs2rqG
LED Photography lights we use - amzn.to/2VojhMf
The compact light stands we use - amzn.to/2WJdoe9
Softbox lighting set up (bulky option) - amzn.to/2WEMiow
PS1 & PS2 Controller Tester - amzn.to/2JLwpsu
Screwdrivers to open Nintendo carts & systems - amzn.to/2HrxlQ1
Gold and silver testing kit - amzn.to/3vDAW4U
Items Andrea uses when reselling clothing:
Mannequin for Clothing Photography - amzn.to/2VswWSJ
White Rollerblind for photography backdrop - amzn.to/2CM0Nfm
Handheld clothes steamer: amzn.to/43KfRXX
Floor standing clothes Steamer - amzn.to/2JEEQG1
Clothes Folder (these are amazing!) - amzn.to/2HnJ6al
Shoe Shapers (For taking quality pictures of shoes) - amzn.to/2JG64w0
De-Bobbler 'Fuzz-Off' lint remover - amzn.to/2EbYplD
Products we use when selling at Amazon FBA:
FBA product barcode labels - amzn.to/2llhoho
Suffocation warning labels - amzn.to/2m9YXAA
Quality double wall FBA shipping boxes 20"x20"x20" - amzn.to/2HoOTMY
Large Clear Bags for bagging FBA products 20"x30" - amzn.to/2EavpdV
Medium Clear FBA Product Bags - amzn.to/2EazTl3
Small Clear FBA Product Bags - amzn.to/2JGk6xN
Ziplock Bags For Game Carts & Other Small Items - amzn.to/2Hs2rqG
Heavy Duty weighing scales (For FBA shipping up to 50kg) - amzn.to/3WPJpAZ
Clear Round Seals for Sealing Board Games etc - amzn.to/2EavUVl
Items we use to make our KZbin videos:
GoPro Hero Session compact camera - amzn.to/3oBE1VG
Yeti Microphone for live streams - amzn.to/3ORRa7s

[@spacelord1913]

If ebay know this, why don't they just stop shadow banning listings instead of putting this ridiculous burden on people? Frankly, they ought to be taken to court for hiding listings that people are paying them to host.

[@deecry8087]

I wholeheartedly agree, there should be a lawsuit! This is SO frustrating!!! All they have to do is let the dagum items sell, collect their portion from fees, and let everyone be happy! So SICK of the games!!!

[@UnicornsandRainbows123]

Thanks Nic, really useful advice here, much more helpful than anyone I've ever spoken to at Ebay. In the process of trying to clear my stock so that I can close my shop after 14 years on Ebay, am gutted but no longer viable and after 14 years as a business seller, 16,000 sold items, over 5,000 positive feedback (100% positive) they have now decided my most recent listing was counterfeit goods (I sell beauty and fragrance) Have sent photos, invoices from retailer where purchased and jumped through every hoop, still wont let me list. As if I would risk 14 years worth of building a reputable business to risk things now all of a sudden, am so utterly disillusioned with their constant automated response and inability to look at facts. Sorry for the rant, appreciate the great advice in this video

[@NicHills]

So sorry to hear this...

[@lisarogers6084]

A massive thank you for this advice, I started it yesterday and today after watching your video and my sales have rocketed 😃👍 can’t thank you enough

[@user-xv4hh2ck9v]

Ebay have their own rules around visibility of your items.. Chinese and bigger accounts get more server space.. The Algo is very clever.

[@mrcoolsun3142]

Thanks Nic, very clearly explained, good to know I'm doing it right, looking forward to the rest of this series

[@NicHills]

Thank you :)

[@Cindy7777777]

Nic, thanks for the advice! This makes so much sense! I love your video's!!! So much information and tips!

[@barbaraconroy2141]

Thank you that was so helpful, taken lots of notes and will definitely use that method for sell similar items in future

[@anjkovo2138]

Also i take all my old items that do not sell and put them together as a JOB LOT random bundle at a bargain price. They do well

[@mikehalliwell9469]

Thanks Nic, really useful and appreciate you sharing. I try to get all my listings sold within 90 days in any case. I reduce the price every 30 days by between 10 and 25 per cent depending on the original margin i was trying to make. After 90 days im happy to just get my money back in order to reinvest in something that might be more successful.

[@GinaDodd]

this 100% works. When I finally figured out that this was important - some of my things that were over a year old and I just kept relisting instead of sell similar actually sold. Great advice!

[@NicHills]

Yup - it works :)

[@MampsUK]

Thanks very much for the useful information i will remember that especially i ve relisted items before so might start using your approach

[@sunibuni373]

Great information. I knew there was a reason I keep watching you. Thanks

[@NicHills]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@GemCossCreative]

This is SO helpful! Thank you! 🙏🏻 😊

[@ameliawoods581]

Thanks so much for sharing this invaluable information!!!

[@scootertart]

Brilliant advice Nic- many thanks

[@techlist8575]

Thanks Nick, that was a huge help 👍

[@NICKYG2X3.]

will go through mine tomorrow be nice to clear out old stock cheers

[@rpfl5586]

Ebay lies though. I sold a auto grille used with a crack and said has a crack showed multi pics of the crack. Buyer filed a not as described because it has a crack. Talked to ebay and they said list it as for parts or repair not working and that will protect you. Well did that with a vintage Ferrari radio and guess what they filed a not as described and returned it still with parts missing and taken apart. Was listed as is for parts or repair. So They got there 225.00 back and ebay does nothing about this. This has happened a few times now. Ebay is complicit with helping people steal. Market place has been better lately. Ebay needs big changes. They are prime for competition. Ebay use to be so much better.

[@ryanrazza17izGod]

Be a private seller and don’t offer refunds. Make sure you take pictures of the item and detail it well with the imperfections. They can still ask for a refund but just decline it saying yes it is

[@rpfl5586]

@@ryanrazza17izGod I have done all that and ebay just does it then on their own.

[@theresakralik1820]

I've had this happen on high end vintage fisher reels. I nolonger ship to China and Japan for this reason.

[@brummiestorm9212]

Did this with a small amount of my items yesterday morning and checked stats this morning and saw an almost 100% increase in both impressions and page views as well a couple of offers going out on those items yesterday. Well worth a few minutes of your time to refresh that stale stuff.

[@NicHills]

Fantastic results :)

[@jenniferhenderson6154]

Thanks nic I’ve just done sell similar with a good few Items fingers crossed I get the stick moving

[@homermunoz5069]

Thank you Nic!

[@woofbarkyap]

I actually started doing this about 4 months ago. I was stunned to realise that some things I thought I'd listed a few months ago were actually 7 or 8 yrs old! tacked about 400 listings over a week and all have now sold. Very effective system!

[@NicHills]

Yes it really works - eyes on your listings instantly increase and sales follow!

[@greenerpastures1000]

This was a very helpful video. You did a thorough job explaining it. New subscriber here.

[@carlagraca6022]

Nice to hear confirmation from Ebay with the sell similar. I do however do sell similar before the 90 days, especially if a niche is oversaturated, like postcards.

[@Panzer-xi5uj]

Cheers Nic 😊👍

[@marnosmarket695]

That jumper really is very nice, lol it looks so cozy, great find

[@NicHills]

It really is :)

[@g.m.5412]

Brilliant tips! Thanks 👍

[@erenee-ce6yi]

Such good info, thank you! 👍

[@dhandley22]

Thank you for sharing the knowledge once again 😊

[@NicHills]

My pleasure...

[@aerial558]

Excellent value with your advice and thought why something doesn't sell in the first 90 days 👍

[@gailadams8553]

Thank you so much for your wise words...

[@emwild3727]

great work through - never knew that 'start date' table head existed - thanks loads!!!

[@NicHills]

Fantastic :)

[@thejerseytreasurehunter]

Thanks Nic, that will save me a lot of time. Cheers

[@NicHills]

My pleasure - glad it helped :)

[@flippingmaggie6397]

After all this time I never knew that start date option was there, it's a game changer, thanks Nic

[@NicHills]

Glad it helped :)

[@commentscorner617]

great information. what a valuable channel

[@sycamoreemporium]

Cheers Nic for the information.... Very clear and precise as always! I will definitely put this into practice over the upcoming days. Its been clearance after clearance the past couple of weeks. No time for videos or listing as we`ve got a house full of other peoples furniture?! Best wishes to you and Andrea - Steven & Clair

[@NicHills]

Glad it was useful :)

[@presstodelete1165]

I have been doing this, perhaps a little half hartedly, for years and seen it work to some extent. But knowing I need to work on it after the 90 day threashold makes a big difference and turns this into a real strategy rather than a hope for the best activity.

[@NicHills]

Many don't wait 90 days, some refresh monthly

[@UserNameTaken007]

Thanks, very useful info.

[@dorsetbookbuyer8701]

Great video Nic

[@NicHills]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@prettypenny2353]

Excellent video. Such a great video

[@NicHills]

Thank you very much!

[@jdrecords]

Hi Nick all the sellers I know do this as normal, nice video for beginners. Keep up the good work.

[@NicHills]

As you say - helpful if you didn't know

[@Lizzyoldfashionedmemories]

Thank you for sharing useful information right from ebay.

[@NicHills]

My pleasure :)

[@anjkovo2138]

I find refreshing my listings (SELL SIMILAR) helps

[@GeoffreyUrch]

Thanks Nik Great Info

[@NicHills]

Thanks:)

[@Helen-rd1fm]

Fantastic information thank

[@NicHills]

My pleasure :)

[@harwichlifethroughthelens4255]

Good advice young man thank you

[@NicHills]

Thanks :)

[@keithdouggosse2181]

For my money often a simple rewording of the listing will often enhance the viability of the listing. Gets past the stagnancy and other parameters. I am not a 'Pro' seller on Ebay. However I have NOW a decent low end rep from buyer response. Have not been active on EBay in a while. I am sure you Nic and Andrea look for similar items as well already as stated in this video. One thing many do not think often is if there are 'many' listings of similar items maybe hold of on listing those items 'UNTIL' less items of that type are available. If that 'type' of item continue to be available at less than attractive return give up on it and move on. (Unless you are some absolute sales wizard and can perform miracles) Above all wording is the key to beating the AI in charge of deciding if a post is desirable or not

[@patb7703]

Ive been on ebay selling for 15 years but when they brought in promote my sales have struggled. Mine and a lot of business sellers all agree. . .they want you to pay to get views.

[@georgeton4991]

Promote means big £ for ebay...

[@OriginalNethead]

Pay to play is what made me leave eBay, one of the cherries on the poop sundae. It's blackmail in fancy dress. NOPE. No sale.

[@onlyluvisreal6691]

Good information ❤❤

[@NicHills]

Thanks

[@Birdknowsbest]

Good to hear, except if you have over 1000 listings, it will take forever to sell similar and update the title or photos from them. That time could better be served listing new product. It is good to hear sell similar is preferred by ebay.

[@johnnyfortycoats2219]

Hmm… there must be more to it than that. My oldest non-replenishable listing is from April 2020. It is the second result in best match out of 15 available. Not all old listings are suppressed. Maybe other activity keeps it active, like adjusting the price. Is there a way to find only the stagnant listings?

[@drizzo4669]

So this is what happened. I had / have about 200 or so video games posted. They've been stagnant for about 4 years. I sold maybe 3 in the last 2 years. After watching this video, I ended and sell similar all of them. Didn't change anything about them, just reposted. I did this last night and sold 10 while I was sleeping. Im still getting notifications of games selling right now. I think its a shame that an item people obviously wanted at an agreeable price, was not being shown just because the listing was old. Now they're selling.

[@dwaynedibbley6124]

Well i never, cheers Nic

[@dawn.cheripaul3168]

Many thank for the great tips xxx vheri

[@NicHills]

My pleasure :)

[@hayneska]

This was very useful. Thank you. Do you know, does ebay charge fees based on how long a listing has been live? For example, are their fees the same for a listing that's been up for 60 days versus 30 days?

[@ericadelarocha2731]

Multiple item question Nic. At what point do you class a listing of multiple items as stale? I have several multi item listings that haven't had a sale in 90 days. Is it worth ending and selling similar, or let them tick along?

[@rjo9296]

Hi, can you use sell similar on multi items or do you need to do them one at a time?

[@trishjennings5243]

Hey Nic, some good advice. Question - i have a new business account and have to pay to list. These 'stagnent' items are costing me money either way, if I sell similar or stay put. As they will charge again to re list. Any advjce on lowering the costs on business accounts? Many thanks

[@tetasuk5352]

I had this last Thursday at Ebay Business Roadshow .. had a very interesting 1 to 1 chat with a Ebay Pro Trainer..he taught me more in the 20 mins than ive learnt in 20 years using eBay :)

[@jamesmoore8624]

Do you have any tips you can share ??

[@junglejim99]

😅

[@junglejim99]

​@@jamesmoore8624no 😂

[@cathyeller5722]

Once you sell similar all your dates of oldest listings will change, now it's a "new" listing. You will end up with old listings in your store that look as though they are new. Ebay also doesn't leave the listings in order that they were listed. So, if you can't find something it can be in any box, you no longer have a date to go back to and see what else you listed that day. i have tried selling similar and it doesn't work as good as just spending a couple of minutes and pulling up the older items and moving photo's and keywords filling out more item specifics. Selling similar is dangerous also, besides having duplicate listings, you can also loose listings if you aren't careful. It's not worth the risk.

[@johnnyfortycoats2219]

I agree. It seems like everyone who talks about listings dropping off uses this trick of end listing & sell similar. I think when you bulk edit, there can be errors that eBay does not alert you to. For example, a listing might have been valid when created, but would be invalid as a new listing (returns policy, item specifics etc.). The old listing will tick along, but selling similar will not work unless you manually change the required setting.

[@NicHills]

Fair enough - it works for us and many others - do what's right for you.

[@ianbullock5621]

Worth mentioning that list similar will also wipe out all watchers. If you intend to drop price might be worth at last shot by sending out offers at the new price before ending and using sell similar.

[@NicHills]

Good point - maybe tweak the price first then refresh if the watcher's don't bite

[@johnmerrick4406]

Terrific info Nick, I have always done the re-list option, thanks.

[@NicHills]

Glad it was helpful :)

[@brencosales9591]

People saying when you end the listing you lose all the watchers , if for example you have 10 watchers and the item is being ended as its over 90 day's old then its highly unlikely any of those watchers are going to buy the item. Just end the item anyway , had many items with plenty of watchers not sold then sell within 48 hour's of relisting.

[@NicHills]

I never worry about the watchers - they will have been sent offers anyway and not bought so can't want it that badly...

[@Waxleyuk]

I just mark down anything older than 90days stoppped ending and selling similar a while back plus im gonna be getting rid of my sku system and going by date same way technsports does his much quicker so end and sell similar wouldn’t work unless i moved the items down the queue

[@NicHills]

We all do what works best for us :)

[@OOK11]

Always check your keywords

[@localreviewking134]

The first 4 words in the title are the most important.

[@regd.2263]

It annoyed me when towards the end of last year I decided to start selling my unwanted stuff for the first time, I listed a few things but nothing sold. I also had on standby other items, but as it got close Christmas I decided to hold back till after. Imagine my shock when I decided to start my selling at the beginning of this year, and i found eBay had deleted all my items that I had ready to list. I had at least six items all gone I'm not sure if I want to prepare everything again for selling, it was a waste of time and also the way eBay treat their sellers I'm not sure whether to try again.

[@Callam001]

just went to do this and mine all say 6 days ago when i relisted them all. i just end all then relist all, does this mean my items have been assigned new item numbers then?

[@davethompson247]

Thank you Nic, very good knowledge - relative newbies here - we've also noticed some of our items will not attract any views at all for weeks then maybe 10 - 25 in a day, is this normal anybody?

[@NicHills]

Maybe somebody shared the listing?

[@oddlizard9729]

How do you find all of your jumble sales and charity warehouse sales nic ?

[@NicHills]

Google, facebook, word of mouth, local papers

[@robertovers1863]

hi Nic not sure if you read or answer comments ? i have had an ebay account for many years and sold all kinds of stuff, i saw what i thought was a good seller, buying and selling adult magazines, there are still hundreds for sale now, but when i listed mine ebay immediately took them down stating i had broken a rule ! any idea how to get around this ? im left with hundreds of magazines i cant list

[@NicHills]

I can't speculate on the reasons... you would have to contact ebay to find out why they have chosen to end your listings

[@cgc2300]

hello could I send you a PM to be sure that I have understood correctly and not make any mistakes when using the software

[@Zico73]

Retro reselling did this video years ago

[@dalesmith1911]

Others have done it long before Retro Reselling. To be quite honest its one of the most obvious things to do, im not sure how anyone can drag this out for 10 minutes....

[@NicHills]

As I said - it's nothing new and you may already know this (as we did) the comments from all the people the video has helped was the point...

[@katrinalucy2922]

What is the thoughts on items that have watchers, as presumably they will be lost. Are they just window shoppers with no intention to buy?

[@NicHills]

Chances are they will have had offers already as we send them out daily, so if they were actually interested they would have bought it - I never worry about the watchers

[@barbarathealien-ClaireB]

Once you have "sold similar" on an item, remember to "delete" the sold similar item from your ended /unsold listings to avoid any duplication of listings 😁

[@jamesmoore8624]

Top point - otherwise you have to unpick the OLD sell simlairs from the new ones later on down the line.

[@CactusThorn]

Absolutely. However, if you accidentally try to list something twice, ebay will prevent this. However, you should remove the listings because if a listing sells, you can accidentally list an item that you no longer have.

[@ilj1259]

eBay just wants resellers to keep making new listings. The only problem with doing a sell similar sale is you have to take pictures again if you didn't save them on your phone, camera or hard drive.

[@NicHills]

No it keeps the pictures when you sell similar (as long as it is from your own listing)

[@ilj1259]

@@NicHills okay... I will try this but as a basic store I have limited listings available.

[@markstone7520]

No mention about Promoted listings Nic? This is a fundamental part of selling these days.

[@junglejim99]

For eBay it is 😂

[@deemaccadee528]

When ending a listing it gives me some options of why, ie No longer available, item lost or broken etc. Theres probably about 5 options. Question: which is the best one to choose, to not upset the ebay gods.

[@VintageLaLaLa]

Select ‘item no longer available for sale’ as there are no repercussions from this option. I list on multiple platforms and always use this option when ending items on eBay. Ive done it hundreds of times and it doesn’t affect me negatively.

[@garryirons7203]

If I have 20 of the same item eBay makes me list them individually, I'm just a normal seller is there any way to list these as a quantity

[@NicHills]

I just add quantity 20... does a private seller account not allow for multiples??

[@stefaniyamarkova2434]

That is similar to a reel in instagram that goes in hybernation

[@angelo8424]

They don't care unless you pay to promote it.

[@stevie007]

👌👌

[@JasonJohnson-yu8zf]

I tried this the day after you posted this video, now I've got no views or watchers on pretty much everything 🤷‍♂️. Seems like no-one else wants my old tat either 😂

[@JonSheppardsells]

I had a bad week 2 weeks ago i just moaned to ebay, moaned on my channel and i think they watched as 47 sales this week haha

[@xavier3930]

Sometimes I list a item and it gets tones of views I then sell it and re list it and it gets barely any views

[@JonSheppardsells]

@xavier3930 it's all just luck I think, best person wins

[@binniesbags]

All those things I do as a seller since 2001 but it doesn't make any difference. My sales are just dire. I think it's people who do paid promotions who get featured more. I do some at 2-5 %, but why should we have to do this when we already pay fees. If I have to go higher with the ads then the pirce has to go on the item making it look expensive

[@NicHills]

End and sell similar works for us and from the comments here it's has instant results for others too

[@binniesbags]

@@NicHills it does get an instant boost but people hardly buy

[@SuperEZFunParts]

eBay has shut that "trick down" I can't say for certain what is happening with your business, but I can tell you that ebay has said that simply ending a listing and relisting it (whether as a relist or sell similar) does not provide any great boost

[@NicHills]

This was direct from an ebay advisor and also we and others have seen instant results - so, yes it does work and is true.

[@markstone7520]

Its all about money grabbing from ebay, the more you pay in fees, the higher your listing ranks. This is why more and more sellers are moving away from the platform. As if 13% wasn't enough for ebay! The funny thing is, selling items wasn't an issue before Ebay messed around with their algorithms only to blame everything on covid and the economy.

[@Andygb78]

If an item is stagnant, end the listing, then give up. There's no use being a damn fool about it.

[@junglejim99]

Agreed if it don't sell bin it.