eBay

jt-libra · ‎12-22-2013

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.

pierrelebel · ‎12-22-2013

Same as always: nothing!

I end all my eBay listings in late November and never offer anything for sale prior to Christmas. Considering the delays in postal services in December, I have always felt it is not worth the trouble.

bb_cool_stuff · ‎12-22-2013

Month has been pretty well right on average.

My demographic seem to be payday buyers & I usually sell more towards the end of the month.

Don't fret JT, the month is not over yet.

cumos55 · ‎12-22-2013

Many times sellers come here and say...

Sales are down... very few sales... no sales.

and then you look at what they have on eBay

(1) Listings in a highly competitive category

(2) No new listings.

(3) No new categories.

(4) same old inventory

One gets the impression that buyers come ... they buy and then ... they want no more.... New buyers then become few and far between.

Sellers also have to learn how to meet the needs of the new search protocol... Cassini.

Too many sellers list and then say BUY, .... they buy... but then sales disappear.

Over the past 6 month I have made several adjustments

(1) In relation to Cassini

(2) in relation to the age of the listing on eBay

(2) Added inventory to my major category

(3) Have added new categories of inventory, complementary to the topic of everything that is Canada and Canadian.

Gradually the sales picked up ........ the new categories were found...

and at about the middle of October sales took off... more so price wise compared to number of sales...

Multiple purchases were made....

I have a lot more new inventory to list.....

Sales occur, and a duplicate copy of the sold item is soon listed.

There is one book where about 5 copies have been sold over the past year.... and I keep finding more copies....

There are other books that sell very quickly...List two books on Thursday, first sells on Saturday, and the second the following Tuesday... $195 each.... That is an interesting story as to why sales occurred so quickly .

and then there is older inventory that people are finding... maybe because I have adjusted in relation to what Cassini sees in my listings...

pjcdn2005 · ‎12-22-2013

Actually, this has been a really good month for me. October was super slow but so far December sales are almost the same as the combined sales from both October and November.

I rarely get invited to use the free listing offers but I don't usually use up all the available free listings on .ca and .com that I get with my store. This month I ran a lot of 5, 7 and 10 day FP listings as it seems that many sales happen a day or two before a listing ends.Perhaps that helped.

pjcdn2005 · ‎12-22-2013

I also listed quite a bit new items and much of that has sold.

anguscoinshop · ‎12-22-2013

at this time last year there was 45,000 listing in my category, now at the time of this post, there's over 95,000.

my sales on this site are down 60% even with all the adjustments made in this quarter compare to last year but the sales in my home store have increased by 500%

combination of down sales and to many listings in a super competitive category don't exactly motivate me to create any listings

i'd like to read from e store owner that have a lot of inventory year round, % sales up or down

tobyshitzu · ‎12-22-2013

Good sales all month, still getting some day. Everyone in GTA > east staying home and shopping online this weekend (if they have power)

jt-libra · ‎12-22-2013

Everyone in GTA > east staying home and shopping online this weekend (if they have power)

I've been reading about the terrible weather. I feel bad for all the Easterners who have had their Christmas plans disrupted. It may be cold in Winnipeg but we're still able to get around .... as long as our cars start!!

cumos seems to have a good handle on how to keep sales moving. I try to adjust. All month, I've been listing primarily for 3 or 5 days instead of longer periods for items I know are popular -- both auction and FP. My prices are always among the lowest for similar items.

One area, though, in which I haven't been very diligent is in the re-lists. Because this is such a busy month preparing for Christmas, I have been simply re-listing a lot of items instead of Selling Similar and changing some of the titles or pictures. Or starting them from scratch. Also, my new items have been listed quickly and I know I could have done a better job with pictures and descriptions.

I'm not depressed about any of this. I was a little surprised that sales slowed this month because I did have a good September and October on both my selling accounts. Then November and December slowed down. Someone's always having a good selling period while others aren't -- then vice-versa. Most of the time there seems to be no rhyme nor reason for these shifts but we carry on.

Good luck to all of you in the New Year!

anguscoinshop · ‎12-22-2013

i just compared my ebay sales so far for December, i am actually Down 70% from December 2012

there's is a definite correlation between low sales and to many listings in my category

bb_cool_stuff · ‎12-22-2013

There is definite correlation between low sales and too many listings in my category.

Yes, yes ,in many categories.

I could see the trend shifting in my category during the last quarter of 2012.

Many picked up on it, but many did not & are now suffering with excess inventory.

My buying practises had to change from 50% mainstream items to 10%.

My shift to 90% unique items has done well this year, however will that trend continue in 2014.

Fingers crossed, but I always have many Plan B's.

jt-libra · ‎12-22-2013

@angus_coin_shop wrote:
i just compared my ebay sales so far for December, i am actually Down 70% from December 2012

Ouch!! That's a big drop, alright.

I'm down 25% for the year over 2012 and 2011.

I don't sell on a large scale like you do, about 800 - 900 items a year, but a 25% drop is certainly noticeable.

bb_cool_stuff · ‎12-22-2013

Did you margins offset your 25% loss in sales over the year in comparison to 2012 ?

anguscoinshop · ‎12-22-2013

have you been able to attribute your drop over last year ?

do you use other venues and witch way did your sales go ?

zee-chan-jpn-books · ‎12-22-2013

Had zero sales this month (a bunch of items on some people's watch list) while I had quite a few last year in December. Though I admit I haven't updated my inventory since summer so that could be why...

No matter, real life work + school + video gaming had been keeping me busy =P I still have to go do some x'mas shopping in the mall later...

jt-libra · ‎12-22-2013

Oh, I meant to add that it was 25% down in both number of items sold and total dollars.

rose-dee · ‎12-22-2013

Aside from one excellent custom order, it's been a rather dismal month for me, worse than previous years, when sales tended to drop just prior to Christmas as people got busy ahead of the holidays I suppose. Not many people are thinking about sewing or buying vintage clothing just before Christmas.

However, this seems to be the culmination of a trend I've noticed through 2013. Things started normally early in the year, but as eBay made more and more changes to the site, my previously reliable turnover developed into a completely different sort of pattern. Now there seem to be long, big valleys and occasional high peaks instead of a fairly regular and predictable level of sales.

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.

I am looking at new lines for 2014 that will hopefully help to diversify my offerings and keep me afloat, but I fear the train that's coming down the eBay policy track for the coming year. What else are they planning to change?

In the meantime, happy holidays for the time being to everybody here, and we'll carry on in the New Year!

P.S. The freezing rain has arrived here in N.S. - oh joy, I hope we still have power for Xmas dinner.

jt-libra · ‎12-22-2013

@angus_coin_shop wrote:
have you been able to attribute your drop over last year ?

do you use other venues and witch way did your sales go ?

No, I don't use other venues, other than the odd home show where I get together with local sellers of jewellery and crafts, that type of thing. I don't do well at those.

I came to learn a long, long time ago that the majority of women don't like to spend a lot of money on cosmetics or perfumes, even if they can afford to. I worked in a major department store selling designer cosmetics and women really felt like they were splurging when they bought a $30 mascara from Lancôme, for instance. They would much rather buy the $10 Revlon one from Shoppers Drug Mart and there's nothing wrong with that. But because I so liked the high-end cosmetics and skin care, and because I had a lot of expertise in this area (sell what you know), this is what I chose to sell. If I could make more money selling spatulas, I wouldn't because where's the fun in that.

Having said that, though, women who do like to buy these items will not think twice about paying the $30 for the mascara at the department store or the Lancome website, but yet will shy away from paying $21.95 for the identical item which I sell. I can understand that they may think the product is not fresh or is a knock-off but if they took the time to read my feedback, they would soon see that they are safe buying from me and that they're getting a bargain.

I really can't attribute the drop to anything in particular. I've listed more items because of the promotions, my prices have not gone up (I've taken a lower profit) and I'm still charging last year's postal rates and subsidizing those. This isn't my main source of income, thank goodness, so I've been able to take the hit. But I do continue because even a little bit of extra income each month makes my life easier and affords me some extras that I couldn't buy otherwise.

rose-dee · ‎12-22-2013

@jt-libra wrote:
I really can't attribute the drop to anything in particular. I've listed more items because of the promotions, my prices have not gone up (I've taken a lower profit) and I'm still charging last year's postal rates and subsidizing those. This isn't my main source of income, thank goodness, so I've been able to take the hit. But I do continue because even a little bit of extra income each month makes my life easier and affords me some extras that I couldn't buy otherwise.

'jt' -- I would say this paragraph pretty much sums up my situation as well. We should get together to commiserate!!

Above all, I think it's important to try to maintain that optimism that keeps us going, and not to take the downturn personally, but rather to look at ways to work strategically within the "new" framework of eBay. Things have changed fast around here this year, and it takes time to re-evaluate.

At least all of the above is what I keep telling myself...

Have a very merry holiday all!