posted on October 16, 2006 10:02:54 AM new
I was just checking the feedback of one of my customers who has been buying on eBay since 2000, and was amazed at the number of high-feedback sellers (from whom she's bought) who are "no longer a registered user". These are sellers with 3 to 5 digit feedback numbers!
That little tid-bit of discovery really brought home -- to me -- how many sellers are leaving eBay.
And checking on my store competition the other day, I discovered the #1 seller in my primary category is letting their inventory phase out. They have held first position for years. Now they are in the third place position. Others of my competitive stores have completely disappeared.
Sorry to see them go, but maybe this is why my sales are up again....??? Less competition on a collectible that has been slow for the past year. (I'm no longer stocking this item, but have a vast inventory so will continue selling these for quite a while.)
posted on October 16, 2006 10:38:07 AM new
You know, if you clean your keyboard occasionally your question mark key wouldn't stick like that.
I have a high-4-digit selling ID that is NARU because I merged it with my current 5-digit selling ID. eBay closes the original account when that happens.
Methinks you are jumping to at least one erroneous conclusion.
posted on October 16, 2006 10:51:29 AM newhwahwa and fluff
These are sellers with primarily positive feedback ratings. I doubt they were naru'd for breaking eBay rules, etc.
Thanks, Fluff, for the suggestion. My keyboard is not sticky. I added the ?????? for a purpose...
If I'm jumping to conclusions, it is more likely that these sellers are leaving due to the slowing sales in our category + the increases in store costs. These are NOT high-end collectibles, so slow sales does not cover costs for sellers who do not carry other items as back-up.
posted on October 16, 2006 11:51:14 AM new"good point,Ebay fee is not cheap"
And...these items just DO NOT SELL well without gallery. Hence, my eBay store.
Gallery store fees are far less, and in the store folks can browse the items by collectible category, rather the hodge-podge that is the auctions-selling search method.
Fortunately, with 100% feedback and repeat customers, I do manage to meet my expenses, get rid of inventory and still make a profit. (At least enough to pay for the remodeling of our home.)
posted on October 16, 2006 11:58:38 AM new
If I quit selling and owed nothing to ebay, and decided to "unregister" - would I be NARU or just not have any listings? Is there a formal way to pull one's registration? I am not interested in doing this BTW, just curious about how it works.
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I closed one of my stores several months ago, but kept my ID. Although I have no use for it right now, I did NOT withdraw it from the eBay database.
If you have a store and close it, you will not be NARU'd. Just keep the ID. Who knows when you might want to use it later -- and for what...
(That's assuming, of course, that eBay gets wise and realizes they have made a mistake in raising fees and trying to eliminate us low-end sellers....and you know what assume stands for, right?)
posted on October 16, 2006 12:16:35 PM new
Off to work in the storage unit and sort out deadbeat items for next year's garage/flea market sales. Absolutely have to get this done before the snow flies, and seals off the units with 3' of that lovely white stuff!
posted on October 16, 2006 12:53:23 PM newI closed one of my stores several months ago, but kept my ID. Although I have no use for it right now, I did NOT withdraw it from the eBay database.
Hope that doesn't come back to bite you.
Pat, I don't know where you were during the many times this has been discussed, but given the prevalence of account hijacking, a business that owns a 4 or 5 digit feedback number is FAR better off having it deactivated. After all, a NARU can be reversed, but nobody can use a NARU'd account to post auctions from Romania.
Scammers just love fallow high-feedback accounts. FYI.
posted on October 16, 2006 02:11:13 PM new
fLufF wrote: Pat, I don't know where you were during the many times this has been discussed, but given the prevalence of account hijacking, a business that owns a 4 or 5 digit feedback number is FAR better off having it deactivated.
An easier solution is to change the password to a very secure one (e.g. 2nd794sd%Do@...) and never reply to any spoof email or links contained therein. I have several ancient eBay accounts thus protected; the passwords are handwritten and in a fireproof safe so no hacker can find it should they penetrate my Mac.
posted on October 16, 2006 02:20:49 PM new
Thanks for the answers - so a seller who does not appear to be a scammer and suddenly shows up as "NARU" means mostly that ebay fees have not been paid?
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posted on October 16, 2006 04:38:09 PM new
A seller with high feedback could be naru'd for shill bidding,Ebay now has better ways to spot shill bidding.
Or if this seller lists a lot of low priced items ,yes,she could have maxed out on her credit card.
posted on October 17, 2006 12:28:56 PM newIf I'm jumping to conclusions, it is more likely that these sellers are leaving due to the slowing sales in our category + the increases in store costs.
It's very doubtful that those sellers left on their own accord. Most of the time you don't become NARU because you asked eBay to become NARU. Usually you have violated some rule or rules to the point of suspension. If a seller wishes to quit selling on eBay, then they can simply quit. It costs nothing to not list items. At least for now.
posted on October 18, 2006 05:51:22 AM new
I think stones right-why would you simply NARU your own account because you stopped selling.Things change,and at a later date you might want to start selling again.If you NARU your own account,you lose all the feedback you got.As fluf says,you can combine accounts,but if Im not mistaken,you can only do that once.
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If you dont want to hear the truth....dont ask the question.
posted on October 18, 2006 06:33:41 AM new
If you are talking stores,not auctions,well,many sellers use the store as a parking lot for items which dont sell in auction,some have more than 10,000 items in their stores.
So with the store fee increase,they just cant afford to keep the store open.
They get naru'd for not paying their rent.
[ edited by hwahwa on Oct 18, 2006 07:59 AM ]
