Is eBay International Shipping Causing Drop In Views & Sales?
eBay recently announced the new eBay International Shipping program has been rolled out to all US sellers, but some sellers who have been automatically opted in report massive drops in views and sales they believe are related to bugs in the new program.
There have been ongoing issues with impressions, views, and sales for weeks and it's not clear if the international issues are related or coincidental to these larger issues, but I've seen enough reports to believe the international program could at least be one factor impacting traffic for some sellers.
I am about ready to test it and pullout of EIS . I get way more sales from the new program than I did in GSP BUT my USA sales have completely tanked as have my impressions and page views. I have heard others say this is directly related to being in the new International Shipping Program. I used to average 2-5 sales a day. it is May 10th and I have only sold 12 items so far this month while continuing to list DAILY with over 2600 listings.
There is a Canadian man named Josh Galt who sells from the US side of the border who this happened to. At first he thought he was being penalized by eBay because of the return of a $2000 art item he sold, but has talked extensively with the eBay technical people. They told him there is a big problem with the new EIS - API was messing up both US and international sales. His podcast about it is here. He starts talking about it around 1:40.
Other eBay resellers on YouTube have also noticed plummeting impressions, views and sales since being enrolled in eBay International Shipping and say they have been told directly by eBay support that there are known issues with the program.
Youtuber Flippin Aint Easy says he saw a 50-60% decrease in sales after enrolling in EIS as a test.
Galaxy CDS Rocks and Flips reports since opting in to EIS, many of his listings are showing international locations excluded even though his shipping policies do not exclude them - which of course could negatively impact impressions, views, and sales if eBay is incorrectly saying he doesn't ship to those locations.
It's important to note that many sellers who have enrolled in the new International Shipping program are not experiencing these problems. While these reports are troubling, they are by no means universal, which makes it tricky to pin down what might really be going on and how many sellers are impacted.
Have you noticed a drop in impressions, views, and sales since enrolling in eBay International Shipping? Let us know in the comments below!
