Postal Outlet Comments About eBay

[jt-libra]

This is not a complaint ... simply a few notes about a conversation I had with the Postal Outlet manager this morning.

I dropped off a couple of packages and, because it was quiet in the store, I asked him if he had received any comments from the regular eBay sellers who use that outlet.  He said that, in the last few months, the number of parcels brought in has dropped dramatically.  He said it wasn't unusual, after a weekend, to have as many as 100 to 150 parcels (from eBay sellers) in the Monday pick-up.  He says that now, on most Mondays, there might 25 to 30.  And sellers who used to bring in 10 to 20 a day... he says they only come in the store about twice a week now with a few packages.  And the refrain is the same -- no sales.

I asked him if he and his friends ever shop on eBay (he's about 25 or so).  He said that he had a few times in the past but, the last couple of years, he never even thinks about that site.  Depending what he's shopping for, he uses Amazon, Staples, Best Buy, Costco or manufacturer's websites because they all offer free, fast and tracked shipping.  He went on to say that he's amazed that eBay is even "a thing" anymore, which made me laugh.

Anyway, his comments didn't surprise me ... it just confirmed what I had been thinking.  I was little surprised, however, by the overall decrease in number of packages.

So, a few thoughts from a millennial (him, not me)

[73rhc]

It is his impression!!! How does a postal clerk now what package are from eBay sales. When I go to the post office, they have no idea what I'm sending! If I sell a sports card that goes letter mail. They have no idea that it's a eBay transaction!!! If I send a box, same thing! There is no eBay id. And when I use PayPal for my labels. They never look at the details, they scan it and move on.

[gifts_of_elegance]

How many sales MrElmwood?

[007steveb16]

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It is his impression!!! How does a postal clerk now what package are from eBay sales. When I go to the post office, they have no idea what I'm sending! If I sell a sports card that goes letter mail. They have no idea that it's a eBay transaction!!! If I send a box, same thing! There is no eBay id. And when I use PayPal for my labels. They never look at the details, they scan it and move on.

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The postal clerks, in my town of 12,000, are very attentive to their jobs and know exactly who the eBay sellers are.

[gifts_of_elegance]

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157 million active buyers

25 million active sellers

800 million listings

But how many sales? That is the bottom line.

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$20,195,000,000 in Sales

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lets simplify these figures:

 If 157 million active buyers purchased $20,195,000,000, then each purchaser spent $128.63 on average in three months.

If there were 25 million active sellers that sold $20,195,000.00, then it comes to $807.80 sales per seller in three months.

If there was 800 million listings and $20,195,000,000 sold, then we can say that the selling price was around $25.24 per listing

if 100% of the listings sold.

If only 50% sold, then it would bring the average sale price per listing to $50.48.  

[ricarmic]

Same here in my wee village. The postmaster is even relatively updated on the eBay changes inasmuch as they affect the POs revenue stream.

It is worth noting that localized sales volume impacts will be much different than the general volume changes, so one can't translate the overall ebay sales volume direction impact to the localized situation.

As I understand it in my local area the bulk of the eBayers are selling antiques, so if the antiques market slows down my wee post office will notice a decline, even though perhaps in the overall eBay world there is more stuff being sold. And of course if the stamp market slows down my PO will notice a big decline, which wouldn't of course happen in a normal PO because there are only so many of us "stamp guys" out there....

[jt-libra]

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@73rhc wrote:

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I love other people's opinions -- and I often seek them out.  In this case, however, there was no call for an opinion.  The post was anecdotal in nature and it may have led others to comment on their own sales.

As steveb and ricarmic have noted, the staff at their postal outlets, as well as mine, know who the eBay sellers are.  When I go there later today, I'll have to tell him that there are a couple of posters who think someone his age and in his position has not the intelligence or experience to arrive at that conclusion. 

I enjoy reading these posts; but I s-t-i-I-l  have to try a little bit harder to ignore the posts of those indivduals whose underlying intent seems to be combativeness and having the last word.  I realize some people take pleasure in living their life that way; fortunately, I don't have to deal with them in person.  It's a beautiful summer day; not a cloud in the sky and ..... I'm out of here!

[73rhc]

I find it interesting, if not unbelievable, that a postal clerk knows who ALL the ebayers are and every package's provenance that goes through their outlet. They certainly need a pay raise. And some relief from being at the counter every single hour that the outlet is open.

Congratulate that young man for me. For is undying devotion and diligence.

[mr.elmwood]

I am the only eBay seller in my town and area and they did not know until I told them.

My town is the essence of "plain brown wrapper". One PO for 8200 people, and, no, they don't know everything. Not even close.

[sylviebee]

Even I can spot an on-line seller at the PO and the population where I live is almost 450,000.

The employees get to know us when they see us day and day out.  Who else ships on a regular basis like we do? 

I'm not sure that eBay is a "thing" for Canadians like it is for Americans.  

That clerk isn't different from most Canadians, but that's nothing new.

[berubegirl]

Online seller and ebay seller may lead to confusion for a CP employee sometimes.

We are also located in small town Canada and deal with a single postal outlet and yes we are also known as ebay sellers at the post office.

However we sell on multiple online platform along with ebay and all the packages end up looking the same with Paypal printed labels which leads the CP clerk to believe all those sales are ebay sales. I actually asked the clerk if she believed all of our shipping sales were ebay sales and she said yes. I then told her that we were selling on other competing platform and she was surprised.

Yes the information you received from your postal clerk were accurate but only as far as his knowledge goes. Lots of variants at stakes. But we do agree that ebay sales seem to diminish quite a bit during summer months.

[kashka]

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@mr.elmwood wrote:
I am the only eBay seller in my town and area and they did not know until I told them.

My town is the essence of "plain brown wrapper". One PO for 8200 people, and, no, they don't know everything. Not even close.

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I thought you were moving to Dphn?..If you did I know of at least a dozen people there who sell on Ebay regularly...If you didn't,ignore this post..lol

[gifts_of_elegance]

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@jt-libra wrote:

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@73rhc wrote:

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I love other people's opinions -- and I often seek them out.  In this case, however, there was no call for an opinion.  The post was anecdotal in nature and it may have led others to comment on their own sales.

As steveb and ricarmic have noted, the staff at their postal outlets, as well as mine, know who the eBay sellers are.  When I go there later today, I'll have to tell him that there are a couple of posters who think someone his age and in his position has not the intelligence or experience to arrive at that conclusion. 

I enjoy reading these posts; but I s-t-i-I-l  have to try a little bit harder to ignore the posts of those indivduals whose underlying intent seems to be combativeness and having the last word.  I realize some people take pleasure in living their life that way; fortunately, I don't have to deal with them in person.  It's a beautiful summer day; not a cloud in the sky and ..... I'm out of here!

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Your postal clerk knows what he is talking about.  I used to have 110-150 packages every month and now I am down to 25-30.   I did 11,895 transactions in the past 10 1/2 years and 80% of that was the first six years despite the fact that I have tripled my inventory in the past 5 years.

Yes, the numbers on eBay speak.  I have analyzed it.  Its a joke!

[gifts_of_elegance]

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@gifts_of_elegance wrote:

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157 million active buyers

25 million active sellers

800 million listings

But how many sales? That is the bottom line.

---

$20,195,000,000 in Sales

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Lets simplify these figures:

 If 157 million active buyers purchased $20,195,000,000, then each purchaser spent $128.63 on average in three months.

If there were 25 million active sellers that sold $20,195,000.00, then it comes to $807.80 sales per seller in three months.

If there was 800 million listings and $20,195,000,000 sold, then we can say that the selling price was around $25.24 per listing

if 100% of the listings sold.

If only 50% sold, then it would bring the average sale price per listing to $50.48.  

$807.80 sales per seller in a quarter averages to $269.27 per month.  Could not be too many packages going to the post office.

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[tobyshitzu]

Its more then just millenials who have decided ebay isnt the preferred place to shop.  Investors might as well have held fixed income over the past decade.  Without paypal ebay would have been a substantial loser.  So we get constant changes trying to change this

[gifts_of_elegance]

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@73rhc wrote:

It is his impression!!! How does a postal clerk now what package are from eBay sales. When I go to the post office, they have no idea what I'm sending! If I sell a sports card that goes letter mail. They have no idea that it's a eBay transaction!!! If I send a box, same thing! There is no eBay id. And when I use PayPal for my labels. They never look at the details, they scan it and move on.

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I ship world wide and attach a Customs Declaration to every package.  It itemizes the content, the value and also the fact that its a "sale" or "commercial sample".  Not hard to  figure out that its not a gift for friends/relatives all over the world.  

[femmefan1946]

Without paypal ebay would have been a substantial loser.  

For a given value of 'loser'.

EBay has been profitable, as in it makes more money than it spends, for most of this century.

Amazon takes in a lot of money, but do not make a profit.

http://www.ibtimes.com/amazon-nearly-20-years-business-it-still-doesnt-make-money-investors-dont-see...

That's a 2013 article but I believe the same situation prevails today.

Neither eBay nor Amazon have 'investors'.

The stockholders are gamblers, buying low and selling high is their system.

(And don't forget that some of the biggest stockholders are also company executives. Cui bono?)

And the price of the stock should mean nothing to the business, since those are all secondary market transactions. None of the money goes to the company as such.

Full disclosure: I made a tidy sum buying eBay stock early and selling it off when the stockprice rose again, usually around the time that quarterly reports were due.

But I've done a lot better in banks and utilities that actually do make a profit and pay comfortable dividends to their investors.

[treasure.hunter.d]

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@007steveb16 wrote:

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It is his impression!!! How does a postal clerk now what package are from eBay sales. When I go to the post office, they have no idea what I'm sending! If I sell a sports card that goes letter mail. They have no idea that it's a eBay transaction!!! If I send a box, same thing! There is no eBay id. And when I use PayPal for my labels. They never look at the details, they scan it and move on.

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The postal clerks, in my town of 12,000, are very attentive to their jobs and know exactly who the eBay sellers are.

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Even living in Toronto, as I do, the employees at the local PO, which happens to be a small outlet inside a Shopper's Drug Mart, are veyr familiar with the people they see on a regular basis and what they drop off for what reason. I converse with the main outlet employee,  quite often and one of the things I ask him is how all of the Ebay sellers are doing ie how many packages are they dropping off. He seems to have a really good handle on that. he must be a freaking prodigy cuz I'd swear he's only 23 or 24 years old!

Cheers,

thD

[topcornertoys]

I don't know about final sales but I know that the amount of pages views that my items have been receiving are down significantly.

I had two items this week that went 5 days with 0 zero views...yes 0 .

I have never had this happen before

During the NHL playoffs I listed 2 rare and very expensive rookie cards of the 2 captains of the NHl final. I did sell one of them but both cards had less than 100 page views each. 

the post office manager where i live is also telling me that she is noticing less of her regular ebay sellers. although many people do not list during the summer.

I can tell you when the order comes in at our local depot I have noticed a huge increase in amazon packages that I see on the shelf and the home shopping network (UGH lol)

[rose-dee]

I appreciate observations like the ones you made, as it can be a good thing to hear what other sellers are noticing and reporting.  

My little local P.O. (an actual CP post office, not a drugstore outlet) serves a population of probably no more than a couple of thousand.  The clerk certainly knows who's who, and she's well over 25 years old.  She too has been telling me that outgoing parcels by local eBay sellers (there are a few sellers in our area and she knows precisely who they are) have dropped off considerably.  I know mine have. 

There are two other factors to consider: 

1) People dropping off their outgoing eBay packages in small Post Offices like mine are not likely to be big eBay retailers.  Lower volumes at the P.O. may not be solely due to lower sales, but to a combination of lower sales and the fact that a lot of smaller sellers may have just given up selling altogether. 

2) The eBay figures that are so often quoted on these boards are pretty meaningless in this kind of discussion without knowing the details behind such figures.  The fact that a majority of sellers are still in the U.S. and that eBay overall sales have risen in 2014 doesn't tell us what percentage of annual sales is being taken up by the largest eBay retailers, and what percentage is represented by product or item type.  

This breakdown (in a pie chart) would be far more useful for the small, independent seller to get a picture of where the money is going on eBay and how much of a chance some of us may have to continue to be successful here.  I'd be very surprised to hear that a significant portion of eBay sales are still represented by non-retail "boutique" sellers, or that a majority of buyer money is going to the sort of items such sellers tend to list.  However, I doubt eBay is ever going to give us those data.   

It seems obvious to me that the lower the proportional sales by the traditional core of "Mom and Pop" sellers on eBay, and the more eBay promotes itself as if it were a commercial retailer, the harder it's going to be for such sellers to make a go of it here.  The eBay ads on the main landing page are pretty clear about what they're promoting and by whom.

(In case anyone wants to quibble over where the line is drawn between "small" and "large" sellers, I'd say eBay has already defined that with its 3-month defect rollover for the bigger volume sellers.  Big-name, commercial retail sellers are in another category entirely. 

If anyone has access to such figures (from a legitimate source), I'd be glad to see them.  It would certainly help me make some important decisions.  Still, I'd be flabbergasted to learn that eBay would allow such breakdowns to be made public.  After all, that data might actually reveal some truth. 

[dipmicro]

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@jt-libra wrote:

I asked him if he and his friends ever shop on eBay (he's about 25 or so).  He said that he had a few times in the past but, the last couple of years, he never even thinks about that site.  Depending what he's shopping for, he uses Amazon, Staples, Best Buy, Costco or manufacturer's websites because they all offer free, fast and tracked shipping.  He went on to say that he's amazed that eBay is even "a thing" anymore, which made me laugh.

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I am amazed CanadaPost is even a "thing" anymore 🙂

While Americans shop online in America, Canadians shop in China. Very few shop online from Canada and if, it's from large senders like BestBuy or Amazon. CanadaPost has killed the golden goose, the small online seller.