How are sales for you guys?
Summary: rdemaree shared concerns about declining sales and views on eBay, suspecting that economic factors and compliance issues are affecting visibility. lotzofuniquegoodies and others discussed challenges like international shipping complications and high costs, which deter buyers. easoss and rainday6 expressed frustration with tariffs and paperwork, affecting motivation and visibility respectively. While some like flipistics and visual-sound reported stable or even improved sales, many participants agreed that the current economic and regulatory landscape hinders growth, leading some to limit sales to their home countries or seek additional employment.
I haven't sold anything since July 1st and I have a feeling CUSMA and CPSC in combination with the bad economy has caused ebay to push certain listings down. Just a suspicion due to the timing.
Both sales and views are way down.
On track to be one of my worst months in 10 years selling on ebay if things continue this direction.
Please share your thoughts!
thanks
downsizing2018
·1 week agoI'm with you - for the most part I have quit shipping to the USA, and they were a big customer........the shipping through couriers has doubled, and the added costs to the buyer are significant.............it just isn't fun anymore, and I am not sure how to fix it, or if I want to.....very discouraging.
tarnvik
·2 weeks agoIn my experience the summer months have been the slowest period for sales.
Difficult to compare as this year I limited sales to Canada only.
I had 4 sales in the last 8 weeks. I don't really anticipate movement until the fall.
The news probably inhibits sales this year as cost of living issues and conflict in parts of the globe are creating uncertainty. I can't blame people for hedging their bets when it comes to their cash flow.
Despite these issues I still have little interest in once again selling to the USA.
Enjoy summer!
visual-sound
·2 weeks agoMy sales are very good. Best since 2020! Also, only selling to Canada now.
flipistics
·3 weeks agoMy sales are fine so far (compared to other years). I'm ahead of where I was in 2024 before the postal strikes and all this other nonsense started. I'm already closing in on my total sales from last year and I think I should pass them in August. Would I like them to be higher? Of course. How do I plan to get them higher? List more!
reallynicestamps
·3 weeks agoHow were your sales in July 2025? 2024? 2023?
Is this normal for July or is July usually a busy time for you?
I know that Q1 is my busiest time of the year. This has been consistent since 1998. It was also the busiest time in our B&M store.
In 2025, Q2 was almost as strong as Q1, but this year Q1 was fine but Q2 was off.
rdemaree
OP3 weeks agoThis is incredibly slow of a July for me. I havent sold anything in nearly 3 weeks. Not a single thing. In my decade or so of selling on here that has only happened a few times.
My slowest month ever was June 2025. Made like $180 for the entire month. So far this month is only higher than that because I had 1 big sale at the start of the month but only 1 sale and thats it so far.
Overall im pretty sure ill be seeing a sustained 25-50% drop in sales vs a normal year like 2024 based on statistics. I calculated I lost $5000 in income last year thanks to trump.
I dont read too much into 2020-2021 because of pandemic surge but 2022-2024 I consider the old normal, and the bit of 2019 I was selling seriously.
Right now my strategy is to consolidate my business as best I can and just coast on it and dont grow it anymore. The environment is way too hostile towards international ecommerce right now.
ricarmic
·3 weeks agoDespite being "semi-retired" I still have 4 distinct sales venues: online(ebay etc), combo online/auction, old school (paper mailing lists/approvals) and antique malls.
ALL venues are slow, very slow, or "dead" at this time.
For me at least as a stamp guy, stamp buying is from discretionary income, if people don't have money or are afraid they won't have money, they cut discretionary spending. I've seen this across all platforms except "old school" but that has shrunk to a handful of customers I've had for decades.
As others have mentioned, over the last decade selling online has become much less fun, it is becoming a paperwork nightmare (including at times costs of same).
I figured from the point the Iran war started that I'd be going though a grin and bear it phase. Not sure how much longer it is going to last, I very very much sympathize with those trying to make a full time living online these days!
rdemaree
OP3 weeks agosummer and winter is usually slower than fall and spring for sure but the degree of difference the past few years has been higher unfortunately.
Really frustrating time to be in business! Im sure my sales would be higher if I lived in the USA but then also considering I have AS and need healthcare id probably be in medical debt/ unmedicated and id have to deal with Chinese tariffs on my raw materials and EU tariffs on my vintage supplies I flip so all things considered- Canada is much better for me!
Plus since ive been living here for 13 years out of my 34 on this earth I have no desire to go back to live in the USA unless they swing massively blue and fix the huge issues.
sapphyres-designer-jewellery
·2 weeks agoI sometimes think being in the US would be good for my business, but I have to think of the tens of thousands of dollars spent on my medical care, I wouldn't be able to afford that in the US, and health insurance is very expensive.
rdemaree
OP2 weeks agoRealistically if I moved to the USA my business would do better. Maybe id sell 2-5K more AT MOST annually than I do here which would be a nice boost...BUT...
I source most of my raw materials from China and currently the effective tariff rate on China from the USA is 50-70% and that would destroy all of my profits or chase away my customers if I jacked prices up.
OR I could source more expensive ingredients from the USA which would have the same effect! and many North American businesses dont want to ship bulk raw materials to micro business residential addresses in my experience whereas China will!
Also I source many vintage/ antique art supplies from the UK which also currently has USA tariffs. This is a smaller issue but would still hurt my selling strategy.
Also I have AS and need a biologic which alone for the generic version would cost $12000 CAD per year let alone diagnostics etc.
So yeah- the usa is amazing if youre upper middle class or upper class but if you are middle class or lower class or in poverty the usa is dystopic.
I am perfectly fine losing some American sales if it means ill have access to the healthcare I need and dont have gargantuan tariffs on the foreign products I need for my business.
A healthy society shouldnt be built in favor of the Elon Musks and Walmarts of the society it should be built for the population at large and thats why I love living here in Canada and consider myself lucky to be here.
rainday6
·3 weeks agoI have lost countless sales due to the increased cost of Canada Post shipping domestically and the tariff deminimus changes. And when your store does not produce sales, the listings do not get any views like before. When platform algorithms are in total control of the buyers' eyeballs, we should never rely on eBay sales to pay our basic living expenses.
rdemaree
OP3 weeks agoLong story short- I have ran my shop as a business rather than a pastime and was doing great until last year thanks to the orange criminal. Due to health issues this has sort of been my saving grace since I had to leave my last day job in 2019 because I didnt have a diagnosis or meds. Ill spare all the details and just sum it up as- its complicated and im in a rough spot right now all things considered. Ill align the puzzle pieces somewhere but it really sucks. - This is the short version of it all.
musicyouneed
·3 weeks agoSales are down for me too, about 40% in 24 years of selling. I tried to sell without promotions and it was down 80%, then started promoting and it has been much better only down to 40%. I feel that are constant roadblocks, tariffs, high shipping, the removal of de minimus. Not many online shipping companies will survive. i won't buy anything from the US as the shipping is outrageous.
rdemaree
OP3 weeks agoI dont use EIS so thankfully my shipping isnt too much higher than what Americans pay domestic companies for thankfully.
I am definitely slowly but surely capping my growth for my business and finding a way to draw a line in the sand at how far I can take it. I have invested way too much time and money to abandon it so right now I am just trying to keep it as a safe and lucrative as possible semi-passive income and unfortunately seek out a part time job to compliment it instead of try and grow it more. For the foreseeable future I am going to stunt any growth for my business and play it very safe. As long as I have all of my shipping, supplying, pricing, CUSMA and CPSC compliance stuff in order my business can work as a good semi-passive income as I manufacture batches of paint and then sit on them and sell them as the year goes. Since 2024 I started investing big and planning for bigger growth and did acheive some but ever since the criminal got reelected alot of the wind in my sails has been evaporated and with the EU seeming to follow suit it is appearing tariffs and strict compliance paperwork will be an evergrowing part of international ecommerce I am just going to cap my business where its at and play it safe. Maybe ill come out looking for growth again sometime in the future but the writing on the wall with global tariffs from both USA and EU, rising shipping costs and stricter compliance and some growing isolationism and fake populism its just not a good time to grow an international ecommerce business. Luckily I was able to grow enough between 2020-2024 to build a solid business model and base that I can just stagnate on to make it worth continuing but any active growth is off the table. Ill just settle into what ive built and look for a part time job. Im tired of trying to keep up with all of the new changes being dumped on us. I run every aspect of my business and it is exhausting so ill get to my safe place to hover and then seek a part time job and just coast and then maybe someday a friendlier environment for small businesses might arise but im not betting on that. It seems the world is going to make it hard before it makes it easier for small international e commerce.
easoss
·3 weeks agoMy problem is because of all the changes with tariffs, more paperwork etc I’ve really lost the motivation to sell. It really isn’t that much fun anymore.
transtraders
·3 weeks agoPretty slow. I've actually turned to buying things instead of selling, which is really rare for me.
lotzofuniquegoodies
·3 weeks ago@transtraders
When I am researching items I constantly am shocked by what that their item shows it would cost to ship to me. I can definitely understand why buyers are not buying. If everything is being filtered as eIS (couriers in most cases) one can easily see why shipping is now more expensive vs the mail. (Intl and distance involved).
transtraders
·3 weeks agoYeah I was shocked at some of the shipping prices I was seeing. I had to basically filter down to just Canada only listings and even then some of the shipping prices were still hard to swallow.
verovintagetreasures
·3 weeks agoSame!
lotzofuniquegoodies
·3 weeks ago · Edited@rdemaree
When sellers really have no idea which items "still" qualify for intl. shipping and buyers hit roadblocks when they try to purchase sadly it is going to affect traffic and sales. In many cases the buyer will think it something specifically the seller has done when in truth that is just not what is happening under the hood.