For new newsgroup readers, these are not our forum posts. Any comments to the posters below should be made on the applicable thread, marked in bold below.
FYI apologist 20th_century_art aka post_a_note posts spin and damage control supporting eBay ...
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From eBay Stores Forum
A simple vote - Yes or No to the FAUCET THEORY
http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=2000480173&tstart=0&mod=1197298243108
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kustomkartoons (1192 ) Dec-08-07 19:10 PST
I'm neither a pessimist or a dreamer. I'm not trying to stir up trouble with anyone.
I just cannot believe the odd patterns developing with my sales and the sales of others that I've read on this board.
So my question is simple. If you honestly believe your items are readily available via search - 24 hours a day and in every area you've designated that you sell....your vote is a NO to the faucet theory.
If you believe (as I do) that something is amiss and your visibility is geographically spotty and downright invisible at times.... your vote is YES to the faucet theory!
I would encourage everyone to vote. I'm curious how some of the staples of this board feel.
Thanks in advance - Rob
Kustom Kartoons - The Perfect Personalized Gift!
Turn the faucet back on Meg 
108 replies Date posted Reply #
dorothysew (911 ) Dec-08-07 19:18 PST 1 of 108
No, because I can't see a corresponding variation in traffic reports-and I cross check the ebay ones with Andale.
D
disneygurll (1795 ) Dec-08-07 19:21 PST 2 of 108
Yes! Traffic here is very different from my sales elsewhere.
rustyfarmall (315 ) Dec-08-07 19:25 PST 3 of 108
Yes. I will get one group of sales that all go to the Northeast, the next group might all go to the Northwest, and yet another group might all stay right here in the midwest, and then the cycle repeats itself.
etexbill (1479 ) Dec-08-07 19:29 PST 4 of 108
YES, one day over 100+ lookers, 2 days later 0, then the same again time after time after time.
lindaspostcardsandmore (4553 ) Dec-08-07 19:30 PST 5 of 108
Yes, even in core.
I will get 5 or 6 bids within 30 minutes of each other and then no more for days. Then, 5 or 6 more.
It takes all the motivation out of continuing listing because at times it looks like nothing will sell.
appliancecoverqueen (209 ) Dec-08-07 19:35 PST 6 of 108
Yes
franksfinefurniture (62 ) Dec-08-07 19:38 PST 7 of 108
Yes.
I just posted another thread about this. Faucet on last week, amazing sales, faucet off this week, nuthin'.
pattia3 (605 ) Dec-08-07 19:50 PST 8 of 108
Seems to be "All or Nuthin'" around here too.
fleur.de.lis.rising (583 ) Dec-08-07 19:52 PST 9 of 108
YES. When I have sales, they come in clusters (New York, California, Australia). When I have traffic, my stats show many searches from eBay Australia. Since September I've had VERY LITTLE TRAFFIC, with hits from eBay.uk, .ca, .de, .be, and very few sales (which came from the North Central U.S., and 2 back-to-back from South Carolina).
My recent *first* website sale was from New York. (Haven't checked traffic stats on my site yet.)
Sigmund F. Spot, FHC
"If I clear my cache anymore, my computer's gonna disappear!"
ranamountain (980 ) Dec-08-07 20:09 PST 10 of 108
Nope, don't believe it
omostudios (854 ) Dec-08-07 20:10 PST 11 of 108
Definitely YES! I've experienced much of the same patterns as mentioned by previous posters.
Full-Color Acrylic Animal and Breed Specific Pet Jewelry
Earrings - Key Rings - Necklaces - Tack Pins
trainnut20021 (6023 ) Dec-08-07 20:41 PST 12 of 108
Yes, 4 days ago I got a new bid on a collar....it dissapeared from my ebay. It reappeared in my ebay this morning.
I'd lay money on it that items are not visible for days at a time. Seven day auction may only be visible for three days.
Lee
dacholiday (1080 ) Dec-08-07 20:47 PST 13 of 108
Yep I believe it.
best-brandname-deals (701 ) Dec-08-07 20:51 PST 14 of 108
Yes I believe in the faucet theory.
wheeledtoys (2445 ) Dec-08-07 21:15 PST 15 of 108
Definitely yes!
puddnp (2054 ) Dec-08-07 21:25 PST 16 of 108
Yes, I also believe it!For over 7 years most of items went to Ca, or the Nor-eastern states, I am an old prep and sell classically prep clothing for the most part! Now selling to midwest and mid-south?....in days gone by, had avg 30-50 core, no store and sold 70% 1st listing,with another 15% on relist. Have over 200 items listed and selling 5%, with giveaway pricing.Do not charge excessive handling, ship the way I always did, have some gorgeous items.??? Carol
how_unique (1693 ) Dec-08-07 22:04 PST 17 of 108
Yep, can't deny it.
I didn't buy into 'faucet theory' for a long time, but it's become very obvious.
z*nns_vintage (2381 ) Dec-08-07 22:20 PST 18 of 108
Yes, for lack of any credible alternative explanation.
elsaivymom (1170 ) Dec-08-07 22:42 PST 19 of 108
Yes. In both time periods of visibility and regional visibility. Sometimes I have a clump of sales to one state or region of the USA in a very short time frame, then nothing for awhile until another geographic area can see my stuff and I have another cluster. Sometimes I sell all west coast, sometimes my sales are all to TX or Minnesota, or NYC. Florida comes in clumps too.
Why did I have 4 sales in two hours today, two sales in an hour the other day and many days with no sales at all?
It just doesn't appear to me to be random.
Fruit Helmutt ducking for cover!
sweetsweetsadie (288 ) Dec-08-07 23:28 PST 20 of 108
Definitely YES! I've experienced much of the same patterns as mentioned by previous posters.
almostantiquepaper (1629 ) Dec-09-07 00:17 PST 21 of 108
Put me down for a definite yes. AAP
psychocat1959 (288 ) Dec-09-07 00:23 PST 22 of 108
Yes.
Several times in the last year eBay has come right out and said that they control what the buyers and who the buyers see through the various search options. It may not exactly be a faucet turning on and off, but they are controling who sees your store, how many see it, and how often they see it.
ne1huskers (11 ) Dec-09-07 01:20 PST 23 of 108
Yes.
Especially when the clusters are international sales. I had a week where 80% of my sales were international, and they were new customers.
I sell used paperback books, so I don't do much international sales because of the high cost of shipping, most are from my repeat buyers, so this was really odd.
paladingamesnhobbies (2155 ) Dec-09-07 01:49 PST 24 of 108
It's funny that you use the term "faucet theory" as I have often used the word faucet to describe my sales for the past 3 months.
"Someone turned on the customer faucet today!" or "The faucet has been turned off."
The only thing is... my B&M sales are down too. I'm kinda lead to believe that people are a) not really shopping for my items as gifts, and b) expendable income is down for my customers this time of year.
My traffic is slightly above where it was a month ago, and at least double what it was a year ago. Confusing, eh?
-Raine
sportscollectible (601 ) Dec-09-07 02:51 PST 25 of 108
YES....I believe the stats I see in my sales and traffic....there is NO other explanation. Those stats are too consistent to be ignored.
gardenpartytea (1802 ) Dec-09-07 03:13 PST 26 of 108
Yes
honiesresale (3138 ) Dec-09-07 03:22 PST 27 of 108
No, don't believe it. If you run B&M business there are times you'd swear people all gathered at a meeting place and all ganged up at you at the same time. I ran a grocery store and the patterns were all over the place. Days you thought would be busy wouldn't, hours that normally are busy sometimes aren't. You wake up every day and think you can predict the days events and all of a sudden 100 customers come thru the doors when normally less than 10 did.
My day job (the one that pays the bills) is selling cookies to grocery stores in 2 states and about 12 counties. Pretty wide spread area. Sometimes it's a good week up north, but extremely bad down south. Sometimes it's bad everywhere, or good everytwhere... I've done this for 10 years...still can't figure out customers. There are rules... but then there are exceptions to those rules. Like right now, I could always count on the 1st 2 weeks of december to be the slowest 2 weeks of the holiday cookie sales. Yet I saw good movement on most of my displays last week... This is exact opposite of last year. Last year I took that week off and nobody even noticed, if I'd done that this year i'd gotten in a whole heap of trouble.,, So is there a "faucet" where individual stores suddenly "turned me on"? Nope, that's just business.
Speaking of that... In the grocery business there are some certains... for instance if the NWS predicts a winter storm it's certain your going to have a rush on bread and milk. I remember one strange storm rush in about 1994 that for what ever reason suprassed all the other rushes I'd ever seen. I was dairy manager of a fairly large IGA store and by the time the storm hit I didn't have $200 worth of product in my entire dairy department. It was as if we ran a 99% off sale. Not only was the milk gone, so was all the cheese, all the butter, even all the yogurt...the whole store was that way and it took several semi loads of product to get us back in business. Then we didn't sell much for a few weeks. For a while after that we got jittery when the NWS predicted storms but we never did see another rush like that. Why was that one so drastic? Who knows! For whatever reason the "faucet" was turned on.
I know we all love a good conspiracy theory but sometimes things are as things are and little green men aren't always behind it.
However, that being said, with all the poor decisions that ebay has made and the aggresive links to off ebay retailers any more I'm not amazed by slow sales, I'm amazed by any sales at all....especially from my store.
ocean2tides (965 ) Dec-09-07 03:57 PST 28 of 108
Absolutely YES.
DH and I each have stores. His is very small, with few sales.
But when he does sell, it's nearly always to the same state that I sold things to that same day. And nearly always at the same time or within the same hour.
Just too coincidental.
minnymalse (880 ) Dec-09-07 04:00 PST 29 of 108
I think there is more than one faucet.
.
clact (3980 ) Dec-09-07 04:07 PST 30 of 108
NO
Its not the items being hidden or shown but rotational promotion of the items on the site that leads people to think they are hidden/seen.
Items enter a loop of promotion. Promotion means the hundreds of millions of dollars ebay spends on adwords. rotational home page placements etc. Also in terms of Best Match placements.
You can roughly confirm some of this using the category by category stats on Medved. There are wild swings there even though site-wide sell-through is almost always 40% dead on, there are categories with 25-70% sell through swings.
Regarding the home page promotions, there are times when some type of item/items are on the home page and people come out of nowhere for those type items. I mentioned this a long time ago.
In other words my theory is just like stores have items in circular flyers you get in the newspaper and people go to the stores for those items, the same things is happening on Ebay.
Its become more pronounced as the inventory on the site grew.
As someone that sells across many categories I can tell you that there are times when some items are dead, other times are hot.
I also feel that this is why we see things like Store Vacation settings and Ebay Express settings affecting things. It might push our items back near the top of the promotion loop.
I also feel the more things sell and the more traffic they get the more they will sell and more traffic they will get (and promotion they get).
I was able to get my Yoyos to the 1,2 place on Express just by having everyone here search for them (they dont sell from Express of course but they showed up in Best Match page 1 top slots)
I also feel that item numbers have something to do with the promotional loop of fast selling/slower selling/seller ratings . A while back I posted those stats from that top 500 eBay seller report.
You have Jake telling you he has the 1100 series numbers etc etc.
At one time Bill Cobb slipped up during a town hall and that gave a hint that somehow sellers/sellers items are getting some kind of ranking/rating (not sure if anyone remembers that)
The bottom line is that you can still sell and sell well no matter what numbers you have or no matter how your items show or dont show in promotions. By doing your own content and other things you can balance things out.
An interesting question I always have is what are the ethics of how promotional dollars are spent.
Say for example in 2006 - You own an eBay store. The year is strong and Ebay spends 100 million on marketing items.
Your sales are strong.
In 2007 you spend the same on your store, yet other factors lead ebay to cut spending on marketing your items by 50% to 50 million
Same store, same items , same chance of selling items given the same promotional levels etc.
I mean its really hard to judge "worthy items" if the level of promotion is changing.
Its like buying a car based on gas mileage but one month it gets 30 mpg then next 20 mpg but you cannot control it. What if dead period are periods when Ebay cuts marketing costs (as we saw when it pulled google ads) to make earnings. Is that ethical? From a business point of view isnt that part of the picture you would need to know?
I feel showing people things almost anything can sell.
Another issue is before Stores in Core BIN sell through was pegged 10% higher than post SIC. I wonder if that was reset when SIC dropped Ebays unsold auction revenue and the resulting loss of items wasnt as great as expected and that new level was kept (again you can see this on Medved very clearly).
In any case there is one exception to the NO answer.
That is the default settings on how we are seen on foreign sites. Whether US items are showing on the UK site or not, or some are some not, those types of things do affect visibility
Just my thoughts.
Marty
minibeesknees (645 ) Dec-09-07 05:25 PST 31 of 108
Yes, I've long thought that there could be no other explanation other than some sort of rolling blackout. Although Marty has some good rationale it is less valid if you sell one product to one target market which you sell in only one sub-category and depend very little on ebay's 'traffic' for sales. And you are very familiar with your market not to mention you've been selling on ebay almost ten years.
It isn't so much the slumps in sales that I can't explain, it is the sudden huge spurt of buyers, and sales that double or triple my target in one month that I can't especially if I do absolutely nothing different. I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I did to double predicted sales in some months so that I can do it again. Should be simple to do with a basic store, one product line and a very specific hobby target market. Couldn't do it...just like a tap being turned on and offf, those sales will just come to a complete halt.
tanjastore (Private ) Dec-09-07 05:33 PST 32 of 108
No
oldspartantrader (3426 ) Dec-09-07 05:42 PST 33 of 108
No -- Because a faucet is controlled -- Although I do believe there is some cycling I do not believe it to be purposefully controlled
Marty's promo theory is likely partly true -- It does not however explain geographic distribution that is a statistical anomoly
Carl
turtlegaby (5415 ) Dec-09-07 05:48 PST 34 of 108
Absolutley yes. If somebody tells me how to get a screenshot here on the board, I will proof it.
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, come visit our store
shop and fill your Christmas stockings, find tropical seeds and more...
kustomkartoons (1192 ) Dec-09-07 06:06 PST 35 of 108
turtle,
One of your keys should say prt sc on it. You may have to press a "function key" (perhaps the same color as the prt sc key) at the same time.
That function copies the contents of your screen image to the clipboard. The open a software editing tool (I use irfanview) and paste (ctrl V) it. The image should then be available for cropping and saving. I then upload the image to my web site for hosting and use the normal img src html command to post it here on the boards.
See how simple that is?
Kustom Kartoons - The Perfect Personalized Gift!
Turn the faucet back on Meg
turtlegaby (5415 ) Dec-09-07 06:07 PST 36 of 108
Ok I figured it
Look at last year december 6, 7, 8 and 9.
0 Traffic with an average of 600 items listed in core and store.
While december is always my slowest month, it cannot be that you get no hits for 4 days. The entire december last year was ridiculous anyway. It dropped from usually $2000 sales a month to $120 sales.
This is only one example, I could show more from different months with no or almost no trafffic, while my average in normal months is 400 hits a day.
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, come visit our store
shop and fill your Christmas stockings, find tropical seeds and more...
kustomkartoons (1192 ) Dec-09-07 06:10 PST 37 of 108
BTW,
The tally is 28 YES votes to 5 NO votes. I have thrown out one NO vote based on the posting patterns of said poster
Kustom Kartoons - The Perfect Personalized Gift!
Turn the faucet back on Meg
severelashing (0 ) Dec-09-07 06:12 PST 38 of 108
It's a definite fact that search is not returning consistent results.
The simplest explanation for this is Whitman's failure to invest in infrastructure, qualified technicians, and real programmers.
I do agree about the country promo rotations, and the retail "Banana theory" (people come in bunches) having an effect on our experiences.
turtlegaby (5415 ) Dec-09-07 06:15 PST 39 of 108
This phenomen of non visibility patterns is going on already since several years, like my traffic records clearly show. I do have fluctuations in my webstores too, but not to that extreme.
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, come visit our store
shop and fill your Christmas stockings, find tropical seeds and more...
kathieskorner (3486 ) Dec-09-07 06:15 PST 40 of 108
Not sure I would term it a faucet, but yes something strange has been taking place for the past 18 months.
I still believe it can all be traced back to when the numbering system for listings was changed so that all items in a seller's store started with the same two digits regardless of category. It seems logical that with the expansion of the numbering system also came an increase in the number of servers used. The servers seem to be rotated on a regional basis possibly through a promotional cycling as Marty explained.
My store is too small and the items too diverse to be able to determine a pattern, but I believe there is one.
tresrhnter (2186 ) Dec-09-07 06:16 PST 41 of 108
No.
I don't believe ebay is deliberately turning a faucet on and off. I think marty has it right and/or ebay has so very much messed up their software that they just can't find their way back. and if others are right that ebay wants to become something other than it is now, a portal, then maybe they don't care. maybe they feel they have to give that up to get their site to where they want to be down the road. search results may be the baby thrown out with the bath water.
sandrarn83 (2888 ) Dec-09-07 06:16 PST 42 of 108
Yes but it's related to Ebay's ability to manipulate servers. Based on what criteria besides geographical and the soon to be DSR's who knows. You can watch the traffic manipulation in action via your Omniture account. As it was pointed out to me once by a very wise person- natural traffic doesn't have stair steps. Natural traffic creates a random pattern. Omniture and Ebay's traffic flow to my store does not. You could climb the stair steps in my Omniture graph. It's directly proportional to the amount of server manipulation that Ebay now does. Hopefully some very sharp legal team will see it the same way in the future.
normh915 (3882 ) Dec-09-07 06:16 PST 43 of 108
Yes, when we had a store. Based on our traffic reports during this time, we thought that eBay programming rotated through the stores. Not only based on location, but the product category we sold in. Hence the theory we called the ‘Roller Coaster Theory’.
Norm
kustomkartoons (1192 ) Dec-09-07 06:22 PST 44 of 108
here is my omniture page views for December.... what a drastic difference from last year..... I'm doing nothing different.... running about the same amount of core auctions..... bla bla bla
Kustom Kartoons - The Perfect Personalized Gift!
Turn the faucet back on Meg
mljcarman (2852 ) Dec-09-07 06:34 PST 45 of 108
Yes, I agree. I get a whole bunch of sales from a state that I rarely sell to all at once and then nothing from that state again for months. And I will have a whole bunch of sales one day in one category and nothing else and then the next day a whole bunch of sales in a totally different category and no others. It seems really wierd.
I also work grocery retail and we pull our hair out trying to figure out how to order and what kind of sales we will have. But it is predictable that a snow storm will bring them in and after a major storm every time they say snow you can expect a panic buying attack.
But otherwise it is hard to know how many people will buy a certain item. Some of it depends on competition who may have an item at a lower price than we do.
Ebay is somewhat similar in that a lot of sales depend on how many competitors you have for the same items.
turtlegaby (5415 ) Dec-09-07 06:38 PST 46 of 108
I have similar traffic results druing the last year. some days 600-700 hits, the next day 10 hits (store) and so on.
I always compare with my website, where I do not have equal sales every day, but I do have equal hits every day.
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, come visit our store
shop and fill your Christmas stockings, find tropical seeds and more...
golfingaddict (12042 ) Dec-09-07 06:59 PST 47 of 108
ebay (UK) is going to disadvantage sellers in search if they have poor shipping rating feedback.
So you might ask, what does this have too do with this thread?
I think that they have proven that they can manipulate at whim who is seen and where they are seen and I have no doubt that they have been testing these manipulations. One thing that is for sure, ebay always tests things.
If they have the capability to disadvantage sellers because of feedback star, don't you think that they have also built in other ways to advantage and disadvantage stores, sellers and listings?
turtlegaby (5415 ) Dec-09-07 07:06 PST 48 of 108
Good point golfing!
And I need to say, I have noticed a pattern directly resulting to my posts here on the board.
During my move, when I couldn't post on the board for over 3 weeks, I had the best sales ever. As soon as I started posting and blaming ebay of things, my sales dropped into the basement.
Maybe we should stay away from here all together and find an other froum where we can chat.
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, come visit our store
shop and fill your Christmas stockings, find tropical seeds and more...
normh915 (3882 ) Dec-09-07 07:15 PST 49 of 108
LOL Turtle! We call this the ‘Pimping Technique’ in the Information Systems arena. Basically, don’t tick the people in IS off. We can control everything.
Norm
turtlegaby (5415 ) Dec-09-07 07:31 PST 50 of 108
I guess I am outta here. I'll still read the board, but I won't post any more. Only if I have something positive to say about ebay.
May not be too often.
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, come visit our store
shop and fill your Christmas stockings, find tropical seeds and more...
sandrarn83 (2888 ) Dec-09-07 07:51 PST 51 of 108
I guess I am outta here. I'll still read the board, but I won't post any more. Only if I have something positive to say about ebay. May not be too often.
Turtle ROFLMAO Sorry but I have thought the same thing many a time. There is one catch though. Ebay does NOT make money when they limit a seller's visibility. In my case I reduce purchases as well so it's a double whammy for Ebay's revenue. I pay cash from my Paypal account for anything my business buys on Ebay. No money in Paypal means no Ebay purchases. They can't have it both ways. It's up to Ebay whether or not they want their pockets lined with money.
bribaiki (1275 ) Dec-09-07 07:55 PST 52 of 108
Yes.
I too have seen the same things as many other posters mentioned. For quite a while now.
Strange...yes...coincidental...I don't think so.
DH ran into a similar problem 2 nights ago. He had been looking at a particular item for his truck. There was only a few of these items...similar but not the same and all from different locations and all different prices. Now my DH (bless him) searches the same way all the time as he doesn't quite get doing it any other way...I've given up... LOL...needless to say he couldn't find the item he was looking at 2 days prior and it still had a over couple days left and no buy it now. He had written down the name of the seller and the item the night he first looked at it (yes, he writes this stuff down...don't ask...I did...no point), and contacted him. The seller was confused to say the least as the item was still available. I helped DH do a different search and still nothing. Well last evening he went looking again and there it was...less than a day left on it...had bids...so where was it? Don't know...but it was getting bids all along (we checked the bidding history).
Madame Kazoo Kitty says...
" Have no fear...the Fruity's are here ! "
normh915 (3882 ) Dec-09-07 07:56 PST 53 of 108
Turtle,
Don't be too quick to blame your posts on poor traffic. The likelihood of eBay board watchers forwarding your user id to IS, and them turning your store traffic off is extremely remote, it not totally unlikely. Regardless of the entire bonehead testing or lack of thorough testing that the IS people do, there are still policies and procedures that IS must go through. There are government policies that would control any monkey business on the IS side.
Norm
turtlegaby (5415 ) Dec-09-07 07:58 PST 54 of 108
Ebay owns so many companies, they don't need the auction income to get rich, they are already. This site is only advertising for their other business, hence they don't mind losing a few $$ here. It is not their main income anyway.
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, come visit our store
shop and fill your Christmas stockings, find tropical seeds and more...
normh915 (3882 ) Dec-09-07 08:03 PST 55 of 108
Now, having a program manipulate traffic based on certain criteria’s is highly probable. Anything can be programmed. Programming it correctly is the key. One line of code or one inadvertent perform statement can cause the whole program to malfunction.
Norm
turtlegaby (5415 ) Dec-09-07 08:04 PST 56 of 108
Ebay owns so many companies, they don't need the auction income to get rich, they are already. This site is only advertising for their other business, hence they don't mind losing a few $$ here. It is not their main income anyway.
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, come visit our store
shop and fill your Christmas stockings, find tropical seeds and more...
golfingaddict (12042 ) Dec-09-07 08:04 PST 57 of 108
The listing fees are very important to eBay.
doesn't eBay frequently talk about number listings on the site when talking about their quarterly earnings? They certainly do not pride themselves on sell through rate in those discussions.
turtlegaby (5415 ) Dec-09-07 08:16 PST 58 of 108
Fact is fishy things are going on here and we only can speculate. I just know that I do not get the full 30 day exposure which I am paying for, neither in core nor in store.
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, come visit our store
shop and fill your Christmas stockings, find tropical seeds and more...
sandrarn83 (2888 ) Dec-09-07 08:24 PST 59 of 108
turtle again you are correct. None of us are getting full exposure for 30 days. We haven't for a very long time. Ebay is Elvis on this site and they make the rules. You are completely at Ebay's mercy as long as you sell here and there is no discussion or recourse about any of the decisions. That's why sellers have grown disgusted enough to sell from their own websites. Yes I know you have a website. I control the selling environment on my website and I know I receive full visibility. I don't want to play games as like you it's my revenue not a hobby. That's why I only provide Ebay with a limited capability to mess with my revenue. I count on ZERO sales from Ebay every month. If I sell something then I am ahead of the game. Ebay has proven to be such a poor partner that I don't provide them with the chance to mess with my revenue anymore.
bribaiki (1275 ) Dec-09-07 08:28 PST 60 of 108
Yes Turtle,this isn't the first instance we've had either,also with items on the Watch list, and then later close to the item ending I would get an email as well. I think that is why DH writes the stuff down now. Because he does know how to put stuff in the watch area...lol...he's getting better...lol...but when he couldn't "retrieve" his items he was watching...he started writing them down I guess. He gets so frustrated now here...it's kind of amusing at times...LOL...but it is ridiculous not being able to find anything...especially when you have it on your Watch list.
Madame Kazoo Kitty says...
" Have no fear...the Fruity's are here ! "
seoulsoulsofun (780 ) Dec-09-07 08:31 PST 61 of 108
Yes, now I schedule my work around the faucet system. Like the last 2 weeks were full on, I would put everything else on hold till the faucet is off. Now it is closing slowly, I then take this time to stock up, tweak listings. I don't know about the rest of you but I am a No.1 believer. And I don't ask why anymore... exactly.. kinda make sense cos I cannot imagine eBay servers all turn on, I think the whole system would collapse. I use it to my advantage and it is working well for me and my sanity!
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
"They tried to make me go for rehab and I said "No No No".
normh915 (3882 ) Dec-09-07 08:33 PST 62 of 108
Sandra - exactly one of the reasons we closed our store and are now looking forward to our future going in a new direction. One thing we learned, use the Website first, then utilize the occational eBay auction/bin for added traffic. We'll be spending our advertising dollars on the Website, not eBay.
Norm
kustomkartoons (1192 ) Dec-09-07 08:36 PST 63 of 108
I'd love to see a pink come in here and make a comment... I really would
Kustom Kartoons - The Perfect Personalized Gift!
Turn the faucet back on Meg
normh915 (3882 ) Dec-09-07 08:36 PST 64 of 108
We decided that we wanted to control the faucet.
normh915 (3882 ) Dec-09-07 08:39 PST 65 of 108
eBay could tell us whatever they want. Let them prove us wrong. Send me the program code. Then we could all back off the Faucet Theory.
Of course we all know that would never happen.
Norm
accessoriesandgifts (796 ) Dec-09-07 08:45 PST 66 of 108
No is my vote.
Elaine
http://www.stores.ebay.com/Accessories-Bags-Gifts
Free Shipping within USA on all items
kiwisoutbackk (1804 ) Dec-09-07 09:02 PST 67 of 108
Based on things we've seen, we'd have to give that a "yes." The huge spike in international sales, the clusters of store items sales followed by no store sales for weeks, the drop in traffic overall to store items, and searching for our own items (and not seeing our items even in the store searches) will make us vote "yes."
Kiwi's Outback: Authentic Designer Handbags
pennantpalooza (16753 ) Dec-09-07 10:06 PST 68 of 108
Yes, without a doubt.
I often checked to see what my competitors have bought. I like to know what they are will to pay for curtain items and what there make us is.
I will find where they have bought some great deals on items that I look for. The items where in the categories I shop in. Keywords are the ones I search for but the listings we never shown to me. During the 7 days the auctions ran, I never came across the listing. It is no wonder my competitor got a good deal on the item(s).
Mark
oas3 (14980 ) Dec-09-07 10:27 PST 69 of 108
I vote yes. Alot of folks won't see it running 300 or 400 items,but come on up into the 5000 level and above and the pattern is as plain as the nose on your face and gets real crazy at the 15000 item level...
bribaiki (1275 ) Dec-09-07 10:31 PST 70 of 108
well oas3...I'll have to take your word on that...LOL
Since I will never be listing that much...LOL
I do fall in the 400-500 range, and it is pretty clear in my eyes...I couldn't even imagine what it would be like if I had that many items...
Madame Kazoo Kitty says...
" Have no fear...the Fruity's are here ! "
southcarolinajane (2682 ) Dec-09-07 10:40 PST 71 of 108
Yes---seems Dorothy is only one who votes NO-----
very obvious in traffic, reports, and cash flow!
http://www.squidoo.com/ebaybigshoes/
http://www.southcarolinajane.com
http://www.janemart.com
http://www.kaboodle.com/southcarolinajane
oas3 (14980 ) Dec-09-07 10:44 PST 72 of 108
bribaiki once you cross over the 10,000 item limit ebay can't even keep track of how many items you have for sale it's scary,but pre ebay billy math days money was really flowing at the 15000 item plateau..
southcarolinajane (2682 ) Dec-09-07 10:49 PST 73 of 108
oops---there are more NO's --missed those---still in minority----and it looks like analysis of the word faucet is vital---
just get the marketing, programming, search corrected, ads removed -- and all would be wonderful! Not in best corporate interest and if all goes as noted---my sales will decline for posting---oh well--Merry Christmas anyway--
http://www.squidoo.com/ebaybigshoes/
http://www.southcarolinajane.com
http://www.janemart.com
http://www.kaboodle.com/southcarolinajane
bribaiki (1275 ) Dec-09-07 10:53 PST 74 of 108
Wow! Not that I would expect any differently these days, but cripe, with all those items, I agree a seller should be doing quite the profit...not the opposite. But that's using basic logic here... which doesn't apply 
I'll never know...LOL 
... gosh I couldn't fathom listing that much...and the fees would certainly give me coronary 
Madame Kazoo Kitty says...
" Have no fear...the Fruity's are here ! "
oas3 (14980 ) Dec-09-07 11:01 PST 75 of 108
bribaiki fees are just a part of life if you're in the business of selling there is always someone wanting a slice of your pie. I don't mind paying fees when I'm selling 7 to 12 grand a month but as I watch sales tumble and pay fees to sit and watch paint dry I get a little goofy...
bribaiki (1275 ) Dec-09-07 11:14 PST 76 of 108
I couldn't agree more Oas3. I guess that is what I was getting at. Yes, you have to pay not matter what...not a problem...IF your are being exposed and you are getting sales because of exposure. I wouldn't mind paying the lease on a B&M as long as the window wasn't covered by my landlord...
Madame Kazoo Kitty says...
" Have no fear...the Fruity's are here ! "
thecountryhorse (7481 ) Dec-09-07 11:22 PST 77 of 108
YES Indeedy....
wheeledtoys (2445 ) Dec-09-07 11:40 PST 78 of 108
How else can it be explained that I will sell 2 or 3 items in my own area, then 2 or 3 in the Southeast, then a couple of international, then some in New England, than a whole bunch in the West Coast area?
The majority of my sales are grouped like that.
Can anyone give an alternative explanation for that?
wheeledtoys (2445 ) Dec-09-07 11:40 PST 79 of 108
I'm not saying it's intentional, but it certainly does happen.
bribaiki (1275 ) Dec-09-07 11:46 PST 80 of 108
That's exactly what I and many others have experienced as well...for quite a while...so I don't believe it to be just a figment of people's imagination. As to intent...another burning question...which I suppose starts to lead people into further believing that what is happening is intentional...because none of the powers that be cares to comment on the subject.
Madame Kazoo Kitty says...
" Have no fear...the Fruity's are here ! "
folsomhouse (1358 ) Dec-09-07 12:36 PST 81 of 108
YES
But I believe it's category related, perhaps due certain categories somehow getting extra exposure at certain times (per Marty's earlier post).
Proof: I'm a small seller selling random collectibles, usually listing a lot of similar items at a time, then letting those that don't sell hang in my store until they do. I had listed a lot of Advertising Tins a year or so ago, and haven't sold one in MONTHS. All of sudden four in the last week.
Even weirder, same thing with Salt and Pepper Shakers, after initial listings and sales, no sales in months... only had a few left that had a US State theme, then all of a sudden all my state themed S&P shakers sold within three days, some within minutes of each other, to different buyers all over the country.
I could go on but things like that happen that make me wonder... something is definitely going on, wouldn't surprise me if even eBay couldn't figure it out.
Jeff
blue*skies*ahead* (1152 ) Dec-09-07 12:52 PST 82 of 108
Absolutely Yes!
primsaw (427 ) Dec-09-07 13:00 PST 83 of 108
That would be a big YESSIRREE! eBay has admitted it can manipulate search and plans to manipulate it more in 2008 via the DSR system. If their infrastructure is still suffering, then it could be necessary to rotate our visibility to keep the whole thing from crashing. I can't think of any other reason for rotating visibility geographically except to lighten the load on their system. I too have experienced these patterns of selling only to the west coast one week and then east coast another, and then NOWHERE the following week. I think the zero weeks were supposed to be my international sales weeks. I don't ship internationally hence I get zero those weeks. Hey eBay! Program your visibility rotation thingybob to consider where sellers ship why doncha! I need an extra week of visibility to some USA zones since I don't ship internationally. LOL.
What amazes me is the difference in search results between eBay's regular search and a getitnext search for the same thing. I've been using that search a lot lately.
Kat (primsaw)
etexbill (1479 ) Dec-09-07 13:00 PST 84 of 108
Quote: "I also feel the more things sell and the more traffic they get the more they will sell and more traffic they will get (and promotion they get)."
I am experiencing the opposite personally. I am letting my store items expire prior to closing my store. A couple of weeks ago, I had over 250 items in my store with no sales. Now, I have 70 items in my store (the same kind of items) and the same amount in core, and I am finally getting sales almost every day. Go figure. The less I have in my store the more sales I am getting. It's like buyers are saying "Hey, let's buy it before it's gone??"
cumos55 (1699 ) Dec-09-07 13:03 PST 85 of 108
The vote appears to be ... YES
But how does eBay do it?
Everyone says it happens to them.. BUT
Is it the same for everyone?
There are so many variables that can affect sales....
So what other variables can affect sales?
Buyer components....Population densities.. income of buyers... Is the need broad-based or narrow?
Seller... type of inventory... uniqueness of inventory... sell US only... or worldwide?... plus ....
Are you a one category seller... or multicategory seller
I suspect that traffic is category based... There is a finite number of people searching each category ... Is each category unique...
From personal experience I believe that traffic begets sales... Traffic is very much in relation to the 30 day cycle ..... while there is no relation between sales and the 30 day cycle..
Buyers are tuned into ending soonest and newly listed. from auctions... and that has carried over into stores.
Trends are more easily observed for stores with large number of listings.... how big should it be...
There are perhaps 50 million listings in stores... How many listings, how many per category, would you have to look at, selected on a random basis, in order to identify if there indeed is a faucet effect.
Which month should you look at? ... or should it be month-by-month for a 12 month period?
Potential buyers may visit, find something and then buy after a specific internal of time......
If there is a regional bias how is it done?
International sales.... How does your inventory fit into the international environment
What is the effect of exchange rates in relation to USPS airmail only... versus what else for international sales...
There are more questions than answers... and there is more than just saying Yes or No to the faucet theory....
The faucet theory is too narrow a focus... Too many other variables...
oas3 (14980 ) Dec-09-07 13:12 PST 86 of 108
cumos55 just find a seller with the same 4 digit beginning item number and compare notes as to location of the daily sales. My five sales today so far are all on the east coast nothing central or west coast..
bribaiki (1275 ) Dec-09-07 13:26 PST 87 of 108
Same here...East coast only...past couple of days...mainly Upstate New York
Madame Kazoo Kitty says...
" Have no fear...the Fruity's are here ! "
genv (4215 ) Dec-09-07 13:30 PST 88 of 108
SEARCH availability is DELAYED... up to 12 hours, I've read... The faucet ain't ON cause it wasn't TURNED on.
upndan23 (1170 ) Dec-09-07 13:31 PST 89 of 108
We vote Yes, No question about it. Its a neverending game on this site.
kathieskorner (3486 ) Dec-09-07 14:43 PST 90 of 108
Three sales in the past 24 hours - all east coast (MD VA and SC).
kustomkartoons (1192 ) Dec-09-07 15:49 PST 91 of 108
Well....
I'm a total believer in the fact that something, somewhere, somehow is being massaged. Here it is a great day to shop... just a few weeks before Christmas, and I've not had one sale today!
That is very unusual this time of year. My store stats back this up with the fact that there is almost no traffic to my store today.
I sure wish I was much more smarterer...... I'd love to figure out what is going on and how I can adapt.
(ps ... I'm not watching the Steeler game in the hopes that they upset the Pats.... I believe it helps the Steelers when I don't watch them... what a curse 
)
Kustom Kartoons - The Perfect Personalized Gift!
Turn the faucet back on Meg
oas3 (14980 ) Dec-09-07 15:54 PST 92 of 108
I know on the 1500 series server bank I go into the ebay blackhole around 10 pm CST almost every night and comeback into the light around 6 am CST. I'm sure there is nothing to it afterall like my store rep. said most folks are asleep during those hours and thats the reason for slow or no sales..
thisdoor65 (0 ) Dec-09-07 18:05 PST 93 of 108
Absolutely "YES"!
rbiondi (3500 ) Dec-09-07 18:14 PST 94 of 108
YES
mygift2u (7087 ) Dec-09-07 18:14 PST 95 of 108
YES. It all has to do with eBay indexing. They do it when they want and not often enough.
My sales come mostly at night. Lots of night own shoppers for my items. Always nice to wake up to sales.
PETITION to REMOVE the Star Rating System
pets1213 (152 ) Dec-09-07 18:39 PST 96 of 108
I say YES, but I don't think they are doing it on purpose. I think that whatever server you get shuffled onto depends on many things but mostly space availability. Some days we are on European servers, some days California, some days east coast. Some days on the Antarctica servers. Hardly any hits there.
vetromile (4401 ) Dec-09-07 19:08 PST 97 of 108
Yes.....
fleur.de.lis.rising (583 ) Dec-09-07 19:36 PST 98 of 108
most folks are asleep during those hours and thats the reason for slow or no sales..
oas3, I guess eBay has decided that the entire world should have the same bedtime...LOL!
Sigmund F. Spot, FHC
"If I clear my cache anymore, my computer's gonna disappear!"
kustomkartoons (1192 ) Dec-09-07 19:41 PST 99 of 108
Very disappointing "faucet off" day!!
Thank goodness for the web site
Kustom Kartoons - The Perfect Personalized Gift!
Turn the faucet back on Meg
psychocat1959 (288 ) Dec-09-07 20:00 PST 100 of 108
Interesting to see others snapshots of their Omniture pages mirror my own very closely. Last year at this time was low, but this year is 2/3rds below that! Granted, November and December are always low months for me, but this year has been the worst. I also think the "on - off faucet" syndrome is indicative of deeper problems at eBay having to do with not up-grading and adding to their technology the way they should. SO much feels patched together, not planned.
Add to that manipulating search and it explains a lot of what sellers here are dealing with.
ccmjem (2715 ) Dec-09-07 20:27 PST 101 of 108
Add me to the Yes group. Either that or only people in TX, IL and TN are buying books!
mymimi43 (1104 ) Dec-09-07 20:27 PST 102 of 108
I believe in the faucet theory. My sales are almost all in clusters. They always come within a couple of hours and the usually are from the same geographic area. They usually come from either cali or extreme east like the carolinas. Right now its unusual, I have sales from ind, ill, ky. My omniture pages mirror the ones shown by others. My server? number is 1701. Sure wish it was on every day of the week instead of just 3 days a week.
SheRa Sept 16, 1995 - Nov 17, 2006
Thor Nov 17, 2006 – Nov 26, 2007
I have exactly what you want..........if I can just find it!
catscole (1116 ) Dec-09-07 21:24 PST 103 of 108
100% YES Spurts of sales within a few minutes. I'm talking 5 minutes then lights out.
oas3 (14980 ) Dec-09-07 21:37 PST 104 of 108
I got blackholed early this evening 9 sales today all east coast and last one was at 6 pm CST. Folks must have headed to bed early tonight..
consignment_alaska (7855 ) Dec-10-07 00:41 PST 105 of 108
I have been keeping track of the location of my sales with Google Earth. Here is a screen shot of my 2007 sales. (crossing my fingers this works...)
[img]http://www.flickr.com/photos/10948349@N06/2100493036/[/img]
oldspartantrader (3426 ) Dec-10-07 03:39 PST 106 of 108
Here is a screen shot of my 2007 sales
COOL MAP --
It does however appear that your ship to destinations pretty closely mirror population densities --
Carl
tribblekitty (1775 ) Dec-10-07 05:15 PST 107 of 108
I am definitely a believer in the store "faucet theory".
My sales are almost all in clusters. They always come within a couple of hours and the usually are from the same geographic area.
Exactly the same phenomenon here.
Has anyone figured out a way I can pay my store & selling fees bases on actual exposure?
lovapet (3735 ) Dec-10-07 06:50 PST 108 of 108
Yes!!
trainnut20021 (6036 ) Dec-11-07 10:04 PST 109 of 153
Ok I'm getting 7 day core auction items with 1-2 hits in 7 days. Now what's wrong with that picture?
How many people get 1 hit on a core listing in 7 days?
Lee
kustomkartoons (1198 ) Dec-11-07 10:59 PST 110 of 153
Man....
Almost three days since a sale in my store..... perhaps this is my reward for starting this thread
Kustom Kartoons - The Perfect Personalized Gift!
Turn the faucet back on Meg... Pretty Please
postavent (0 ) Dec-11-07 11:18 PST 111 of 153
For the first time ever (I've had a store since almost the beginning of stores) I went 30 days with NO eBay store sales. I put my store on vacation yesterday as advised on this board. Today I sold $446. Hmmmmmmmmmm
My website was selling steady during the same period.
etexbill (1479 ) Dec-11-07 11:28 PST 112 of 153
Quote: "How many people get 1 hit on a core listing in 7 days?"
That's par for the course for me on most items, lately.
20th_century_art (441 ) Dec-11-07 11:48 PST 113 of 153
Lee writes: Ok I'm getting 7 day core auction items with 1-2 hits in 7 days. Now what's wrong with that picture?
Just a thought... all your item titles start with pretty much the same few words... 'dog supplies' or 'pet supplies.' For instance:
Dog Supplies 3' Nylon Slip Leads Show Loop Lead Red
If I'm a buyer looking for a nice dog leash or lead, I might miss your listing because the word lead (even though you've used it twice) is lost somewhere in the middle and end of the listing. Also, I might not even know the difference between a lead and a leash (according to the dictionary, a lead can be described as a leash), so why not use both words to make sure to hit all the keywords? Also, have you tried moving the keywords to the front and captalizing? Like this...
DOG LEASH Show Lead Fancy Red Nylon Slip Loop 3'
Note I also added the word 'fancy.' I don't know whether you think these are fancy leads or not... but a word like 'fancy' might attract attention. Or 'special.' Or 'durable.' Anything to make YOUR leads, collars or pet supplies seem different from all the others!
Mark
halspaperfair (9228 ) Dec-11-07 14:49 PST 114 of 153
yes, my sales were so bad about a month ago, i was about a day or 2 from closing the store when all of a sudden sales exploded. they're ok now and not as dead as before. obviously, there'll be ups & downs and you won't have the same sales every day but i felt like i dropped out of sight.
trainnut20021 (6036 ) Dec-11-07 15:07 PST 115 of 153
My store hits on omniture look like a roller coaster. Massive hits one day nothing the next. UP/down...I mean drastic numbers like 186 one day 23 the next. Crazy!
Lee
themagicmountain (368 ) Dec-11-07 15:19 PST 116 of 153
I thought it was me.
I'll have a day or two of great sales, then nothing
mljcarman (2865 ) Dec-11-07 19:21 PST 117 of 153
(ps ... I'm not watching the Steeler game in the hopes that they upset the Pats.... I believe it helps the Steelers when I don't watch them... what a curse )
I'm glad I'm not the only one that does this but with the Bears for us. They seem to play better if I don't watch them--though it hasn't helped much this year
something strange is going on. I also tried to find one of my items in search to see how many people had the same item and it didn't even come up in the search with the exact title but there were a lot of the same item from competitors listed. How can we sell anything that way. Fortunately I have several buyers that keep my on their favorites to see what I have and buy regularly but don't know if my items even show up unless it is my time to be "on".
stuff-4-me (29 ) Dec-11-07 22:13 PST 118 of 153
YES. But I don't think eBay can control the faucet. I think between glitches, promotions, international changes, whims of programmers, technology up and down and the "wonderful" serach experience the faucet changes from day to day to day... and even eBay can't figure it out.
But, I do beleive in the faucet theory. That is the only thing that can explain some of the oddities. Some of my product lines sell like gangbusters for a week... then, something changes and the faucet is turned off... and nothing in that line sells for months... then something changes and the faucet is on and I will see that product like crazy for a week.... and so it goes...
quality_consignments (15 ) Dec-11-07 23:12 PST 119 of 153
lee i see your postings here after divorce and mutlible heart attacks im setting up shops and teaching ebay to people on a part time basis and consult with a few store owners no more powerselling even though i dig the powerseller chicks lol
mrbubbe2 (837 ) Dec-12-07 08:07 PST 120 of 153
yes to the faucet
joe
toontowntreasures (2872 ) Dec-12-07 08:17 PST 121 of 153
A very emphatic yes to the faucet theory ,sales of late seem to appear in groups by country , my sales book shows a definite pattern.
Not exactly what we store owners are paying for , who would open a store if they told you it would appear in random searches??
just-thinking (11 ) Dec-12-07 11:47 PST 122 of 153
Yes, but I believe it is a wide variety of factors affecting how this "faucet" gets turned on and off.
20th_century_art (441 ) Dec-12-07 12:18 PST 123 of 153
I've yet to see any convincing evidence of the 'faucet.' The Omniture charts I've seen posted are not at all convincing. First of all, PAGE VIEW charts are worthless, since they are not an indicator of how many unique people find your store in search each day, and they include your own views while working on your store. So for heavy listing days, my page views rise dramatically. Or you may have one very curious visitor who spends hours browsing your store... bumping your page views way up.
The best indicator of traffic levels is UNIQUE DAILY VISITORS. This report counts each unique IP only once each day. So it provides a great snapshot of how well your store is being 'found.' And when I look at my UDV stats, I never see any unexplained peaks and valleys. The visitors may increase 25% on days when I list heavily, or they may decrease 25% if I take a break from listing. Thus the variation from peak to valley might look dramatic, but there's not much deviation from the norm. And the deviations there are are entirely explainable.
Someone who has evidence of the 'faucet' in their Omniture Unique Daily Visitors report please post it...
If your store has suddenly been made 'invisible' in searches, then we might expect to see 200 visitors one day and next to none the next day, while you're 'invisible.' Then 200 visitors the following day when the 'faucet' has been turned back on...
Let's see it!
just-thinking (11 ) Dec-12-07 12:28 PST 124 of 153
I've yet to see any convincing evidence of the 'faucet.'
PAN, how many sellers do you need to hear the same scenerio of a number of items sold in a certain geographical area or international? Or batches of sales and then nothing?
20th_century_art (441 ) Dec-12-07 12:40 PST 125 of 153
J-T,
The problem is people can make up all kinds of theories to explain odd patterns in buying... if you have three sales from the UK in one day you may believe you've suddenly been placed on a UK server. That's a fallacy.
Here's a test... we can all look at our 'Referring Domain' reports in Omniture. We can look at where our traffic comes from by day, by week, by month. As shown here:
Notice that my traffic sources for yesterday compare very well with my overall traffic sources for the month as a whole. I'm getting about 75% of my traffic from ebay.com, and the rest of the sources tend to line up pretty well.
Now, if the faucet theory is correct, if it's true that there are days when our stores are 'invisibible' on eBay, then someone should be able to produce a similar chart showing a day when ebay.com has next to no hits, and is overwhelmed by some other sites. If a 'faucet' proponent can produce such a table... then I'll reconsider the argument.
Make sense?
jake-deals-4u (673 ) Dec-12-07 12:48 PST 126 of 153
Actually JT you make a good point. More people believe they have seen a UFO than approve of Congress!
Oh & im on the #1200 server & a vast majority of my stuff ships to the areas that marty says people are going broke in record numbers.
So im with you, i believe in UFO & servers that have a little green man inside that turns on & off listings while they spin & rotate
20th_century_art (441 ) Dec-12-07 12:52 PST 127 of 153
More people believe they have seen a UFO than approve of Congress!
But little green men are much more fun than Omniture data!
just-thinking (11 ) Dec-12-07 12:58 PST 128 of 153
20th_century_art
It does not need to be anything like being placed on a different server but I would surely not rule anything out. What I have suspected for at least a year is that it has more to do with how eBay does targeted keywords for the paid contextual ads. But also believe there are other things going on like ensuring most sellers get enough sales to cover the store costs etc. But that could also be accomplished though contextual advertising. The international spurts could also be due to that. I know programming so know what is possible for them to do and it would be easy to manipulate who and when sales are made on this site and they can tweak it automatically based on certain criteria.
just-thinking (11 ) Dec-12-07 13:00 PST 129 of 153
Btw 20th_century_art, the new troll jake believes he was given very special item start numbers.
20th_century_art (441 ) Dec-12-07 13:22 PST 130 of 153
J-T,
I presented data... instead of presenting any data of your own, you dismiss my data as possibly 'falsified' by eBay.
So there is simply no arguing the point.
When an argument rest on tin-foil conspiracy theories... well...
So much for the 'faucet.'
20th_century_art (441 ) Dec-12-07 13:24 PST 131 of 153
Btw 20th_century_art, the new troll jake believes he was given very special item start numbers.
If eBay would falsify Omniture reports to hide their manipulation of our store search... certainly they'd have no qualms about giving Jake a special server number! No?
just-thinking (11 ) Dec-12-07 13:29 PST 132 of 153
20th,
If people could prove it, lawsuits could incur. It really is that simple.
jake-deals-4u (673 ) Dec-12-07 14:03 PST 133 of 153
Ahhh i see JT, So like if someone stubs their toe @ home, they could blame eBay, sue & make Millions.
WOW im gonna call my lawyer friend rite away. He works for that famous law firm' Dewey-Cheatem-& Howe!
Whish me luck!!!
tilliesteaparty (638 ) Dec-12-07 14:33 PST 134 of 153
My vot is YES!
Hip, Chic and Unique Decor & Gifts
20th_century_art (441 ) Dec-13-07 10:13 PST 135 of 153
I posted some Omniture charts above showing that the faucet theory is bunk... at least for my store. I'm curious if any of the faucet supporters have been able to produce the charts for their stores proving their claims?
Still waiting...
jake-deals-4u (673 ) Dec-13-07 13:53 PST 136 of 153
I cant answer that on the basis of' eBaycentricism.
trainnut20021 (6036 ) Dec-13-07 13:59 PST 137 of 153
We have nothing to prove nor do we need to. I know what my report says and frankly it's not of your business.
You said it best......"at least for my store". This does not mean your numbers represent anyone else but yourself.
Sorry nothing personal.......
Lee
trainnut20021 (6036 ) Dec-13-07 14:00 PST 138 of 153
not=non
Lee
trainnut20021 (6036 ) Dec-13-07 14:09 PST 139 of 153
Besides you posted the wrong chart anyway. How bout the stores view chart? Not the reffering domain chart.
Lee
katiyana (4119 ) Dec-13-07 15:01 PST 140 of 153
My vote has to be: I don't know.
My traffic reports don't show days with absolutely 0 traffic - if I understand the faucet theory, there should be no traffic to my items because no one is finding them. I'm not seeing that on my traffic reports.
However, I have found that some days I get more sales than others - I haven't tracked sales by buyer location or time zones or anything like that.
Obviously many people do believe in it.
lehman-parker (538 ) Dec-13-07 20:52 PST 141 of 153
No.
Like Marty, I think the cycles have a lot to do with eBay's promotions. Also, with what I have in core, how much I've listed lately, whether I've refreshed my google store connector listings, etc.
Pat
kswallace2 (8328 ) Dec-13-07 21:19 PST 142 of 153
Yes, no other explaination.
jeanibe (2668 ) Dec-13-07 21:30 PST 143 of 153
Yes, first it flows, then it goes.
quality_consignments (15 ) Dec-13-07 21:51 PST 144 of 153
whats up robert aka jake lol hey hows the ps chicks doin?
pure.plug (Private ) Dec-13-07 22:03 PST 145 of 153
minnymalse (882 ) Dec-09-07 04:00 PST 29 of 143
I think there is more than one faucet.
ITA- I think there are more than two faucets, in fact, I think there are as many faucets as there are letters in the alphabet. Which means that whenever A-D logged in customers search, all they get are sellers starting their names with E-H, etc. The pattern has been tested, and it looks like everything's based on the alphabet corelated with the names of customers and sellers.
Because my name starts with T (seller account), all I get are customers starting with U-Z.
You should look at your customers first name letters (id names that is, although sometimes another algorithm replaces this one and switches to coordinate last buyer's and seller's real names.
Mystery solved.
meecabay (1228 ) Dec-13-07 22:13 PST 146 of 153
.......
Yes!
why and/or how ?
.......................
Bye
pure.plug (Private ) Dec-13-07 22:33 PST 147 of 153
I guess the best way to work the system is to change your name every so often to get a whole range of new customers.
If you Meecabay change your name to lets say Peekabay, you'll start getting Qs, Rs, Ss names.
meecabay (1228 ) Dec-13-07 22:42 PST 148 of 153
........
excuse me 'pure'.... but I must correct your typo......
It is meekababy!
or maybe you think and will vote for:
meekababe!........
Bye
meecabay (1228 ) Dec-13-07 22:44 PST 149 of 153
........
just never call me
geekabe........
Bye
20th_century_art (441 ) Dec-13-07 22:46 PST 150 of 153
Lee writes: Besides you posted the wrong chart anyway. How bout the stores view chart? Not the referring domain chart.
I've posted all kinds of charts in the past. I'll be glad to post any chart you'd like to see. But remember, when looking at a chart, it helps to understand what the numbers mean. And most everyone who looks at their Omniture reports on a regular basis understands that Page Views and Storefront Page Views can vary wildly, don't represent the actual number of visitors to your store, and even include your own multiple daily visits, while editing, updating, or re-listing your own items. Which means those charts aren't very good for much of anything. And that's why I stated earlier that the best chart to look at is Unique Visitors... because it counts each IP address only once, including your own. So if you look at 100 of your listings during a day, it doesn't get scewed wildly. Or if a single visitor looks at 50 items in your store, that doesn't impact the chart either... take a look:
You can see the page views and store views show a huge spike yesterday. But my sales yesterday were quite average. And when you look at the Unique Visitors Report at the bottom, you see that my visitors yesterday averaged pretty much right on target with every other day, give or take a few. About the same number of people 'found' my store yesterday as every other day this month. And I'm pretty sure the little peaks and valleys in that chart correlate pretty well with days I did more listing.
If my 'faucet' had truly been turned on yesterday, I should have seen lots of sales... at least double my average. But my sales were quite normal, as would be expected with my normal traffic.
So, we get back to the question of why the page view and storefront view charts are so unreliable... well, I can only speculate. But as I mentioned earlier, the page views count YOUR OWN VISITS to your store. And I know while I'm listing or re-listing I might look at my storefront dozens of times during a given day, if not more. Plus, I know that hot listings with multiple bids often get lots of viewers, or gawkers. I had one listing end yesterday that got almost 30 views in the last hour. No doubt most of those were just curious browsers. The same people coming back multiple times to watch how much the item got bid up.
Bottom line: Page View charts are close to worthless for measuring store traffic. They are entirely worthless as evidence for a 'faucet.'
If you've got some charts to prove the 'faucet' theory... feel free to show them!
pure.plug (Private ) Dec-13-07 22:50 PST 151 of 153
Peekabay, I'll email you tomorrow after I get some sleep kay? Hope everything's ok with you.
Hugs, plug
20th_century_art (441 ) Dec-13-07 22:59 PST 152 of 153
By the way...
Did you know that when someone looks at one of your auction listings with multiple bids that counts as one page view, then if they click on the 'bid' list to see the bidders that counts as another page view?
So as I said, if you've got one interesting listing with five bidders, for instance, and each one comes back several times during the course of the last hour or minutes... then each time they click on the listing and each time they click on the bidder list they are generating more page view counts.
Here's an example from one of my listings that ended yesterday. Note this is not a listing that's being viewed, it's the bidder status...
But all those clicks generated 'page views' for the page view report. Meaningless.
meecabay (1228 ) Dec-14-07 00:14 PST 153 of 153
........
Hello 'pure'....
It is tomorrow!
............
Bye
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How the vote tallied.
List below has the Item Number Prefix (first four digits of a sellers eBay item number), the vote, the seller and their feedback.
A "9999" means no items for sale. A "n/a" means no vote was given.
The number of votes is small. However the total number of aggregate transactions the sellers represent, is not small.
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2901 n/a kathieskorner (3486)
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1102 yes tribblekitty (1775)
1200 yes folsomhouse (1358)
1200 yes z*nns_vintage (2381)
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1301 yes vetromile (4401)
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1401 yes normh915 (3882)
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1501 yes meecabay (1228)
1701 yes mymimi43 (1104)
1701 yes seoulsoulsofun (780)
1800 yes lovapet (3735)
1801 yes kiwisoutbackk (1804)
1801 yes jeanibe (2668)
1801 yes mygift2u (7088)
1801 yes upndan23
2001 yes pets1213 (152)
2001 yes psychocat1959 (288)
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