Minimum Sales & COVID Store Adjustment?

[tryubik-useonlyasdirected]

Due to COVID we shut down all our stores - it was cheaper to shut them than keep them open for 4 months unused.

Currently we are considering a partial reopening to sell to Canadian customers only. The catch is we rarely sell to Canadians, maybe 30-40 items per year - therefore it is unlikely that we could meet the minimum selling requirements of 100 items for 12 mo's.

Are there other options available in lue of meeting 100 sales? I'm certain the sum of those 30 or so items exceeds the average sum of 100 items. And the 5% increase in selling fees if the 100 items isn't met is rather pricey considering.

And are any measures being taken to adjust Stores to meet any sales shifts encountered in the COVID sales environment? As in an increased number of listings? Variable options for postage? As well as minimum sales?

Typically we list 750 items, given the low Canadian sales it is unlikely that a mid-sized store would be affordable yet 250 items at a basic store may be a complete waste of time. And 50 free listings 😕

[recped]

Closing down probably wasn't a good idea, most sellers have experienced much greater sales since March.

Personally the last 5 months have been the best sales period for me in many many years. Selling lots to Canadian and US buyers where shipping delays are not a major issue. My Overseas sales have declined considerably because those buyers seem to realize that deliveries are extremely slow, sometimes never showing up.

I have no idea what you mean by "meet the minimum selling requirements of 100 items for 12 mo's", that is a requirement for TRS status but not for anything else. TRS status is pretty meaningless.

There have been lots of bonus listings available for the past 4 months, those are coming to an end on the 31st and while the US has announced new Store plans with extra listings that announcement has not yet been made for Canadian sellers.

It's expected that eBay will report the biggest increase in total sales during Q2 (April/May/June) than they have had in more than 10 years, an increase of 20 - 25% compared to mostly stagnant growth over the past 5+ years.

You may have missed the Covid boat!

[reallynicestamps]

Lots of complaints about slow deliveries, but those have been offset by high sales levels.

That seems to have ended with the 're-opening' of B&M shops, and with home bound workers being able to leave the house a bid more. Perhaps even summer has something to do with it.

I'd advise you to list on both dotCOM and dotCA (depending as always on your need for Calculated shipping) and open your sales to the USA.

It's still the biggest economy in the world and after Biden wins the presidency (fingers and toes crossed) the real economy should turn around.

If your products are bulky or valuable enough for tracking, and if you increase your Handling time to five, seven or even 30 days you should have no real problems with shipping, outside of some cranky messages from impatient buyers. Tracking numbers are helpful there.

[ypdc_dennis]

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@tryubik-useonlyasdirected wrote:
... Currently we are considering a partial reopening to sell to Canadian customers only. The catch is we rarely sell to Canadians, maybe 30-40 items per year - therefore it is unlikely that we could meet the minimum selling requirements of 100 items for 12 mo's.

... And the 5% increase in selling fees if the 100 items isn't met is rather pricey considering.

...  are any measures being taken to adjust Stores to meet any sales shifts encountered in the COVID sales environment? As in an increased number of listings? Variable options for postage? As well as minimum sales?

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What's this 5% increase in selling fees you talk about?

A Top Rated Seller gets a discount on FVF -- which worth about 1% of the sale price.

There is also the FVF difference between store and non-store to consider.

The current covid-19 boost of an extra 50000 free store listings expires July 31.

ebay.com has announced for August a big jump in free listings for stores in Managed Payments (plus an increase for non-store sellers).

No changes announced (so far) for ebay.CA

-..-

[kawartha-ephemera]

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@recped wrote:

I have no idea what you mean by "meet the minimum selling requirements of 100 items for 12 mo's", that is a requirement for TRS status but not for anything else. TRS status is pretty meaningless.

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I'm going to go out on a limb and surmise the OP is referencing his or her's loss of TRS status. Being as he or she is considering selling again without a store subscription the loss of TRS is not meaningless. Non-store TRS sellers are quite happy to note the 10% discount applied to their FVFs every month ... end result is 9% FVFs which really helps especially if free or negligible shipping is involved. 

I'm guessing here again but the OP may sell items that typically cost about the same to ship as they sell for ... thus the 5% discount comment.

[38e_avenue]

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@kawartha-ephemera wrote:

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@recped wrote:

I have no idea what you mean by "meet the minimum selling requirements of 100 items for 12 mo's", that is a requirement for TRS status but not for anything else. TRS status is pretty meaningless.

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(...) TRS is not meaningless. Non-store TRS sellers are quite happy to note the 10% discount applied to their FVFs every month ... end result is 9% FVFs which really helps especially if free or negligible shipping is involved.

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10% of 10% means 1% of the sale.  Would survive that loss .... 😉 

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

I only stopped selling for about 3 weeks during April, and after I relisted my items I got a surge of sales, though it has slowed down the past few weeks. I pretty much only sell to Canada and USA now. My listings still say I ship international, but I changed it so that buyers need to contact me for a shipping quote. So far no international buyers contacted me for shipping quote and I'm content with that.

[travis7s]

I would just reopen and see how it goes, I've had no issues shipping to Canada or USA lately. Covid was really only bad for sales for about 2-3 weeks in March/April when people had no idea what going to happen. I took the opportunity (ebay giving 50,000 free listings) to double my normal listings from 250 to 500 and my last 90 days had 160 sales which is a pretty good for a small operation like me.

If you're fretting over paying $60/month for 750 listings then your margins/items may just not be viable for online sales...

[tryubik-useonlyasdirected]

Thanks folks. Life took another 2020 turn away from selling again. I'd love to be up and running but everyone's circumstances are different. The comments have been helpful, glad to see folk have been having a good sales year!