eBay

shopladyin · ‎04-10-2014

My last sale happened in mid-March, since then a sudden drop to zero sale and very low views. Does anyone know why? How are you doing in these two months? Please share.

bb_cool_stuff · ‎04-10-2014

My March was brutal.

Down about 25%.

Still up for the year, but April has always been my worst month for the last eight years.

Whether the promos have anything to do with it, I'm not sure.

Of course I will never blame promos, but since I've finished my first quarter, some price adjustments are probably in order.

femmefan1946 · ‎04-10-2014

How does March 2014 compare with March 2013? 2012? 2010?

There are highs and lows in every business and keeping careful records will help you understand where those dips regularly occur. For example, November and December have been consistently my slowest months since 2001, while January through April are quite good.

bb_cool_stuff · ‎04-11-2014

Down about 25% from March last year & 34% down from March 2012.

Not blaming anyone as I was pretty complacent over the years & really only starting working the business last October.

Just by working the business the last three months in 2013, yearly sales increased just over 30% from 2012.

Now if I would have worked it for twelve months, who knows what could have happened.

No one to blame but myself.

Still up on sales, 15%, & items sold from this time last year.

bb_cool_stuff · ‎04-11-2014

No one to blame but myself.

I'll take that back, Its PJ's & Inuk's fault.

rose-dee · ‎04-11-2014

I don't actually pay attention anymore to my historical sales. There used to a fairly steady pattern of monthly sales, with 2 or 3 times of the year being predictably slow.

Over the past year or so I've learned to get used to inexplicable booms on the one hand and dead zones on the other. The "dead zones" or "black holes" used to be rather scary -- it seemed as if they weren't going to end. Now they're just disconcerting but I'm confident that they will always end. Still, this March was rather dismal, bordering on the depressing.

Something happened qualitatively to eBay in 2013 that changed the way sales go on this site. I've stopped trying to puzzle out what that is. You might as well call it the wizard behind the curtain as far as I'm concerned now. I just try to do my utmost to offer the best items, prices, and customer service that I can manage and ride out the rough spots.

However, I must admit that the most recent Canada Post "squeeze" hasn't helped to make it any easier to offer great value to buyers, remain competitive, and still make a decent return.