eBay

canadabeltbuckles · ‎08-18-2009

Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but this summer, (June July & August so far), has been terrible for sales!

I am wondering if this is normal, I would assume as much, as people are away on vacation, etc...

Is the drop is sales that I am experiencing typical for summer shoppers?

Anyone else feeling the pinch?

Does anyone know, historically, if it will pick up in September? God I hope so...

Any comments would be welcome from you long time powersellers out there... 🙂

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."

ds2286 · ‎08-18-2009

I have found this summer to be worse than normal. The last few summers for me haven't been this slow.

Hopefully it does pick up in September!!

surplusdealdude · ‎08-18-2009

Summer's been a little slow but it's picked up recently.

My stuff seems to sell better when people are indoors anyway.

And don't forget that our major market, the US, is still feeling the pain of the recession - some people really got nailed down there.

Hopefully, things ill get better soon, but i would expect a gradual improvement rather than a boom waiting to happen. -------------------------------------------------------------------

It is our similarities that make us all human - it is our differences that make us all interesting

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. Carl Sagan

cartoonsinabox · ‎08-21-2009

Like Surplusdealdude indicated. The recession to our neighbor down south does not help. I don't expect record sales for this christmas season but I think it will get better gradually. Next year hoping for better sales.

Frederic

surplusdealdude · ‎08-21-2009

I've actually had a banner week now!

Don't know why, I haven't done anything different, but I've had an excellent week.

Whether it continues, who knows? -------------------------------------------------------------------

It is our similarities that make us all human - it is our differences that make us all interesting

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. Carl Sagan

pierrelebel · ‎08-23-2009

"Is the drop is sales that I am experiencing typical for summer shoppers? "

Much depends on the products you sell and your sales/marketing efforts.

I sell postage stamps to collectors; have been doing it for twenty-two years. Typically, June, July and August are always "slow" months every year as many collectors put their stamp collection away in May to travel, garden, play golf, or persue other outdoor activities: too nice to stay inside playing with stamps, ... and return to their collection after Labour Day.

This year, we also have a recession affecting many buyer's purchasing power.

Yet, my eBay sales are way up from same time last year.
June 2009 was up 44% from last year
July 2009 was up 35% from last year
So far August 2009 sales (to the 22nd) exceed the whole month last year!

Why?

Not sure. I expect two factors work in my favour this year:

- I spent and will continue to spend a few dollars with AdCommerce - resulting in over four millions impressions every month on eBay.com, eBay.uk, eBay.au and eBay.ca leading to over 800 to 900 additional clicks every month to my eBay store.

- Many stamp dealers (including some very large ones) have given up selling on eBay this year for a variety of reasons (mostly policy changes, lack of support, lower fees elsewhere, etc...). On the short term, the reduction in competition may lead to higher sales. On the long trem it will be negative of course as strong competition is needed to attract more buyers.

So far.... so good. 🙂

dipmicro · ‎08-23-2009

Pierre, I'd attribute some of your increased success and other's misery to the Best Match.

pierrelebel · ‎08-23-2009

Good point! 🙂

I forgot about that.

bb_cool_stuff · ‎08-23-2009

Sales are up for this year. August started slow, but has now picked up. Generally a pretty good year thus far.

Non - paying buyers on auction listings a major problem again this month.

dipmicro · ‎08-23-2009

coppergiftsandjewelry, how many listings do you have in the core ? Stores are less visible this year.

Spread your core listings in time. I noticed you have few auctions at approx same time giving you short window of visibility and long period of no visibility. If you are using fixed price listings, also spread them throughout the 30 day.

canadabeltbuckles · ‎08-25-2009

The majority of my items are on the 30 day recycle mode... Not much in my eBay Store, as store items, so to speak.

One thing I will review is when my items are relisting each month. I probably have too many relisting at the same day each month. Thereby only getting optimized exposure during one or two times a month when my BIN items come up for renewal. I have noticed that the listings show on 1st page only when they are about to relist... (good till cancelled stuff)...

Thanks for the 'heads up'... 🙂

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."

pierrelebel · ‎08-25-2009

"my items are relisting each month"

If you have multiple quantity, I most strongly recommend you do not list for 30 days but use GTC (good till cancelled) duration. Over time, they give you higher position with Best Match on eBay.com and you do not need to worry about relisting them every month.

cartoonsinabox · ‎08-25-2009

Pierre,

Thanks for the tip.

Frederic

canadabeltbuckles · ‎08-25-2009

Yes, I meant to say that they are all 'good till cancelled', but don't they relist and charge the $0.35 per listing each month, or did I miss something? I think most of my listings are pretty close together and relist at the same time, or within a day or two of each other.

What I should do is ensure that every week, I have different listings renewing, so they get a week apart...

(ie) I have over 600 listings, all renewing after 30 days with the 'good till cancelled' option, and every 30 days they renew... Or am I missing something important here?

The BIN listings I have all renew within a few days of each other.

I should have, hypothetically, 100 items renewing every 5 days so my listings are always within a 24 to 48 hour termination every week.

Not sure if the above makes any sense, but I think you know what I mean...

If all of my 600 listings end on the same day, then only once a month am I getting good exposure.

If I set the listing end dates for let's say 100 every 5 days then my listings would get better exposure every 5 days... I use the good till cancelled option on all of my listings, but I think I may have put up the listings withing a couple of days of each other, so let's say on the 25th of each month, all of my listings are ending and renewing back to the 30 day deal, then I am not getting a more even exposure every week of the month, but rather, peaks and valleys as I have been experiencing....

Insight anyone?

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."

pierrelebel · ‎08-26-2009

"every week, I have different listings renewing, so they get a week apart... "

WHY?

Over time, it makes absolutely no difference on the exposure, none whatsoever.

canadabeltbuckles · ‎08-26-2009

Pierre,

You wrote:

WHY? Over time, it makes absolutely no difference on the exposure, none whatsoever.

Scenario...

I have the following categories in my eBay Store, well actually, I don't have any items as store items, just BIN - GTC...

BOLO TIES
BUSINESS CARD HOLDER
CHARM BRACELETS
COPPER & SILVER CUFF BRACELETS
COPPER CHAIN BRACELETS
COPPER CUFF BRACELETS
COPPER RINGS
EARRING & NECKLACE SETS
EARRINGS
GEMSTONE BRACELETS
KEEPSAKE BOXES
LETTER OPENER / BOOK MARK
LOCKETS
MAGNETIC JEWELRY
MONEY CLIPS
NECKLACES
PILL BOXES
SILVER & COPPER BRACELETS
SILVER & COPPER RINGS
SILVER CHAIN BRACELETS
SILVER TRINKET KEEPSAKE BOXES
STRETCH BRACELETS
STUD EARRINGS
WATCHES
OTHER

Ok, let's go on the premise that all of my Bolo Ties are ending on day 12. All of my Business Card Holders on day 13. All of my Charm Bracelets on day 17, all of my Copper Cuff Bracelets are ending on day 21, all of my Trio Charm Bracelets are ending on day 23, all of my earrings are ending on day 28 of each month. Renewing on that day of the month because they renew every 30 days....

Would it not be smarter to have 1/3 of my Bolo Ties ending on day 12, the other 1/3rd ending on day 20 and the rest ending on day 30? Same thing for all of my categories? That way not all of the bolo ties will get max esposure at the same time, they would be spread out during the month.

We all know that BIN items are interspersed with the Auction Item listings, but we also know that if the BIN items are within 1 day of renewing, they show up on the first page of a best match search. Depending on the category of the item being searched for of course. If the item being searched for is quite popular and a lot of sellers are listing similar items, then your listing might not show up on page one until 12 hours or less before scheduled renewal date/time using the GTC format.

I think I would like to have several of my 650 listings on eBay coming up for renewal within days of each other, but several from each category, spread over the 30 day period. This would allow for max exposure for all of my eBay BIN GTC listings.

(ie) 4 elements bolo tie renewing on day 2, black bear bolo tie renewing on day 5, angel gold reflection earrings renewing on day 2 as well, but my dragonfly gold reflection earrings would be renewing on day 5... You get the idea, at least that way I would have several of my products renewing and getting top exposure each day of th month. Hopefully, that would draw traffic to my eBay Store, and although they might not want the dragonfly gold reflection earrings, they might want the Hummingbird gold reflection earrings, which they would find at my eBay Store...

I think this is a sound approach...

Comments anyone?

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."

pierrelebel · ‎08-26-2009

"Would it not be smarter to have 1/3 of my Bolo Ties ending on day 12...."

Not really.

You are making an assumption your items are only visible and only generate sales on the last day (30th) of sale (before automatic renewal).

WRONG.

Invest one hour of your time.

Take a good look at all your sales of the last 30- days. Check the date and time of each transaction in relation to the ending date. You will reach the conclusion it would be a waste of effort to schedule your fixed priced GTC listings to end on different dates.

surplusdealdude · ‎08-27-2009

I have to disagree, pierre.

If the bolo ties are all listed at the same time in a busy category, they'll be clumped within a couple of pages of each other, regardless of the beginning and ending times.

Spread them out and you could get one or two on each page, which might increase the chances of recognition.

OTOH, there's nothing like having a block of listings together for visual impact if they're all similar in style.

It's a personal choice, copper, and there are good arguments on all sides - why don't you try the different ways for a few months each and see what works best for you? -------------------------------------------------------------------

It is our similarities that make us all human - it is our differences that make us all interesting

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. Carl Sagan

moltencore · ‎08-27-2009

Glad some of you actually have sales. August is usually sluggish for me but August 2009 is beyond comprehension.

Last week was a tepid so-so (meaning about average bad sales during this current recession) but this week I've had only TWO sales the so far. (as of Thursday afternoon)

In August (based on all my previous years of selling on eBay) I would average 30-40 sales per week. So.... 2 is pretty darn appalling ... even more appalling is that they are both low priced items.

:O

dipmicro · ‎08-27-2009

Over time, it makes absolutely no difference on the exposure, none whatsoever.

I beg to differ. My observation shows the older the FP listing withing the 30 day period, the better positioning it gets within Best Match.