Is any one good at deciphering stats of the ebay summary?

[musicyouneed]

 I look at this on my summary and I haven't got a clue what it means?  I'm not sure if it is good or not?  Can you tell me what it all means?  Does it mean that my sales are 16.4% more than the market in CD's.  And for last year, does that mean I am up 61.2%.  That doesn't seem right.  

[thestuffofchris]

Your sales are up 16.4% in the past 31 day period (Sept. 11 to Oct.11) compared to the 31 day period prior (Aug. 11 to Sep. 11). The overall market sales are down about 10% in the past 31 day period compared to the 31 day period prior.

Your sales are up 61.2% in the past 31 day period (Sept. 11 to Oct.11) compared to the same 31 day period last year (Sep. 11 to Oct. 11, 2016). The overall market is up about 2% compared to the same 31 day period last year.

So, overall, you're doing much better than the market has been.

(The date ranges are estimates. I didn't do the exact math to figure them out.)

[femmefan1946]

Keping in mind that last year we were recovering from the changeover from two currency to loonies only listing as well as a summer of tenterhooks about Canada Post locking out the workers, not bad at all.

[musicyouneed]

Thanks Chris, that is sorta what I figured from the stats.  However, my CD's are not the lowest price by any means, probably in the middle somewhere, I would think that those cheap CD's with free shipping would outsell me and  my sales would be a lower percentage compared to the other sellers/sales. 

I don't think my sales are that much up over last month or last year.  Are those stats for real or do I take them with a grain of salt?

[ricarmic]

I think the stats are ok.

They are prone to stuff being missed out of them (which would have the opposite affect here, it would make your stats better).

I will give a personal example of the opposite problem.

A buyer put a best offer in of $4,000 on an item that was priced at only $1,000. This was automagically accepted because I had best offer turned on. The buyer thought they were bidding in their own currency when they bid. Of course the transaction was cancelled, however:

My sales stats were and will forever be inflated by the $4,000 error

The overall ebay stats in that category were and will forever be inflated by the $4,000 error

So I would suggest that they are worthwhile to look at and are a guide as to how you are doing compared to previous periods both for yourself and against the market, but they aren't perfect (what is anymore?)

Your results compared to others are based a lot more than on simply the price. In my own case generally I am not the cheapest. However I have an awesome repeat customer base (around 66% of sales are to repeat customers). If you also have a solid repeat customer base, it will mean that your sales volume will persist better than others who are cheaper but do not have repeat customers (ie it is a good example of why it is important to provide good customer service). There are many other things that might distinguish your sales against the overall market....the good news is things are looking good right now!

PS a quick addendum before my editing time runs out. I see audio books is also in the category you're compared against. It could have performed badly since last year as compared to CDs...

[thestuffofchris]

Like ricarmic said, I wouldn't focus to hard on the exact statistics and use it as a rough guide as to how things are going. We've seen reports in recent months of different statistics being off, including number of listings and sales statistics, so I wouldn't put too much weight on the exact numbers. Generally, you are doing better than the market, and that's what I would focus on.

Plus, as ricarmic also said, you don't have to be the cheapest to be successful. If you leave buyers with a positive experience, they will remember that and, if they ever are in the market for more music, they might be seeking you out, or even recommending you to others. If I'm looking for something specific, I have a habit of going back into my purchase history and browsing those sellers I bought from before to see if they have what I'm looking for. They may not be the cheapest, but I know what I'm getting in terms of quality and service and, to me, that's worth the extra cost.

[ricarmic]

stuffofchris has a very good point.

I've been buying stuff off a seller in GB for years now and to be honest I've never even searched to see if there are better deals out there because I know I go to them, order the stuff and get it with no hassles at a price I'm ok with so why shop around!