After a sharp decline in the days leading up to Christmas, eBay listings shot up on December 26 due to a 1-day Free Listing promotion.
eBay sellers were busy during the first half of December, with daily total listings averaging over 9 million. December 16 saw the beginning of a steady decline in daily listings, bottoming out at about 5.5 million listings on December 25, Christmas Day, according to MedVed Quote Tracker. eBay listings shot up to a record 11.5 million listings after Christmas due to eBay's day-after-Christmas promotion.
eBay sellers had mixed feelings about the Free Listing Day promotion. "I listed 3,300 items yesterday, so I saved a thousand dollars in listing fees," said Bob Miller, an eBay PowerSeller. "But, so many other folks listed so many other items that the site has too many, and the sell-through rate will, as always, drop."
Other sellers were upset that there was no advance notice, causing some to frantically prepare auctions the day after Christmas, while some sellers who were travelling or spending time with family missed the promotion announcement altogether. eBay sent an email notice to PowerSellers and posted a message on its online announcement board on Christmas Day at 8:34 in the evening. The notice informed sellers that they could post items to the site for free the following day. The Free Listing Day promotion, which has been held in December for the past 4 years, allows sellers to receive a credit for listing fees, though they must still pay Final Value Fees for items that sell.
eBay reported some technical problems on the site during the evening hours of the Free Listing Day, including the ability to list items. Several vendors that provide auction-management tools to sellers reported that the day went smoothly for their customers, unlike last year when many vendors reported problems. About 85% of AuctionHelper's regular customers participated in last week's promotion, according to the company, with 98% problem-free listings. ChannelAdvisor reported that over 60% of its customers participated in the Free Listing Day. Although the software had 100% uptime, there were some connectivity glitches where data was not getting to eBay.
ChannelAdvisor also said that eBay's holiday promotion, "Do It eBay," which included television commercials, brought in lots of new buyers. "Practicals did really well," according to Wingo. "eBay holiday sales exceeded our expectations." And looking ahead, Wingo said eBay sales are typically good in the first 3 months of the year, especially after a good holiday sales season.
