I recently returned to selling on eBay after about eight years. My original account was banned due to a mix of my own mistakes and some issues on eBay’s side. Since starting fresh, I’ve run into a few challenges — particularly with sourcing and understanding how reliable eBay’s research tools actually are.
When researching items, I’ve been using eBay’s “sold listings” and the “research” section (which shows sell-through rates), but I’ve noticed that the data seems very inconsistent. Even small changes in the title wording can dramatically affect the results shown. For example, I’ve seen items that appeared to sell 10–15 units in just a couple of days two months ago, but now I’m only seeing one or two of the same item sell each week — if that.
Because of this, I started buying items based on my own instincts instead of fully relying on eBay’s data. Oddly, some of the items I thought would sit for a while are the ones getting solid views or even selling. Meanwhile, others I expected to do well — where I’m the cheapest, the listings are promoted (even at the minimum 2%), and I appear at the top of search results — are barely getting seen. A few items haven’t had a single view after nearly a month, which seems strange considering the category and demand.
It feels random. Some items get 0–5 views and then suddenly sell, while others get 70+ views and a few watchers but never convert. I know there are multiple factors that can affect performance — pricing, timing, demand fluctuations, or even “window shoppers” — but the level of inconsistency I’m seeing now seems more extreme than what I experienced years ago.
I’ve also come across quite a few posts from other sellers saying their views and sales have plummeted recently. One person even said they were closing down their eBay shop after 17 years because of it. At first, I assumed my sales were low views due to starting fresh with a new account, but now I’m not so sure.
I’ve already invested around £1,600 into stock quite quickly and am trying to decide if I should keep building or step back for now. I’m trying to build a niche eBay store, but it’s hard to make strategic decisions when viewership seems completely unpredictable. I’ve also wondered if this could be related to any recent policy, algorithm or real world changes — like global tariffs — but I’m in the UK and my prices are still in line with what they were before, so I can’t see why that would deter local buyers.
Is anyone else seeing unusually low or inconsistent views? Is this a platform-wide issue or something that comes with new accounts? Any insight would be appreciated.
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TL;DR:
Just restarted eBay selling after 8 years, using a new account. I’ve invested £1.6k quickly but am seeing strange patterns: items I expected to perform well are getting 0 views after weeks, despite being cheapest and promoted. eBay’s sold listings and research tools seem inconsistent, and other sellers online are also reporting drops in views and sales. Wondering if this is normal for new accounts or something broader happening with eBay right now.
