How Were Your Christmas Sales?

[jt-libra]

This was a slow month for me .... much like a summer month.

In previous years, there was always a lot of communication about shipping times and questions about whether packages would arrive in time for Christmas.  There was none of that this year.  Just a quiet, uneventful month.  I was hoping for a few more sales but I'm glad I didn't experience any problems.

I guess there are a lot of factors -- economic situation; electronics being the gift of choice in many cases, a lot of pre-Christmas sales both in the stores and on-line.

I was just wondering what your experience has been.

[jt-libra]

rose-dee, I often think when I read your posts, that we share the same philosophy

I've told you before that I think your listings are fabulous ... your pictures and descriptions are first-rate.  I wish I sewed or I was in the theater, any field where I could avail myself of your items.  So, of course, I think you should be selling like a mad woman -- who wouldn't want your things?  Or mine, for that matter.  I think my pictures are nice and my descriptions are detailed and my prices are low.  So go figure, eh?

Many good wishes to you as well for a lovely Christmas season.

[reallynicestamps]

I haven't really been able to work out why, but my best guess is that the "old style" eBay buyer looking for the unusual and unique is coming here only occasionally, as eBay courts the young consumer of everything electronic. 

How is eBay courting ... anyone, really?

I can remember seeing eBay promotions for vintage, reproduction and unique items in Country Life (and similar) magazines. A couple of years later they switched to Etsy promotions instead.

And there were television ads for eBay (and Canada Post with eBay) several years ago on both US and Canadian channels.

I have adblock on my computer so I don't know whether they are doing anything there.

I'm a pretty eclectic buyer, my last few eBay purchases were a Star Trek raygun, a Betsey Johnson necklace, blueprints for Serenity (because... Nathan Fillion), a Longchamps purse, and a first edition of Gypsy Rose Lee's second novel.  I was actually shocked to add up how much I do spend on eBay.

Of course, I am now, as a senior,  at the point in my life where most of my income is disposable, and I am busy wasting my children's inheritance.

[007steveb16]

My sales have been great!

Using this 100,000 free auctions promo has worked out very well doing multi-sets (thanks to Recped) of 3 day auctions and going to end on the 24th with everything listed for a nice long 10-day set to give me some downtime.

[ricarmic]

(Reminder I'm a stamp guy)

I would say that my sales will be consistent with last year in terms of $$ value, a bit higher likely in terms of number of items (I've somehow found a fondness for picturing and listing the $15-$40 items which tend to sell faster, however I make "better" money off the bigger lots that I care less to photograph and list.....)

I would also say that the biggest difference between last year and this year is how much more stuff I'm selling overseas, especially to Russia and Australia!!! My guess would be that the number of sales to the USA is lower than last year, and that the number of sales to Canadians is a bit higher. I don't have a good way to track this so I'm stuck with guesstimates.

[rose-dee]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

rose-dee wrote:

"I haven't really been able to work out why, but my best guess is that the "old style" eBay buyer looking for the unusual and unique is coming here only occasionally, as eBay courts the young consumer of everything electronic." 

How is eBay courting ... anyone, really?

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I wonder if you may be looking at it from the point of view of a different generation.  TV, magazine and other print advertising are probably seen by very few people under the age of 40 nowadays.  My guess is that people in their 20's and 30's are being targeted through the 'media' they do use - mobile gadgets of every description - with pop-up ads here, there and everywhere.  

Now I admit I don't see a lot of active eBay promotion outside of eBay these days, but what I was actually referring to was the substantial shift toward appealing to the consumer of mass-produced (largely electronic) goods once a person logs into eBay itself.  This would be, for example, via the scrolling ads on the main landing page, the "personal feed", promoting eBay Deals all over the place.  

The other side of this appeal campaign is, in my opinion, eBay's changing policies that favour the instant gratification, grab-and-run, pay-now-and-get-fast style of ecommerce (preferably with free shipping like everybody else).  In other words, making the site friendly to shoppers used to buying mass-produced goods online, and easy for megalithic sellers to sell.  

EBay has already introduced several disincentives to direct communication between buyer and seller (or perhaps it would be more accurate to call them "incentives not to engage in communication"), which in my view were a signpost for the type of shopper eBay really wants to court now.  

All a shame as far as I'm concerned, but I can only hope I'll find a way to continue to survive in my little corner.