Sales and Covid-19

[rosscd57]

I was having my best four months ever (I only sell 5 months a year)  and it just quit.

Then the US woke up re: Covid-19 - not one sale in the last 2 weeks.

eBay thinks people staying at home will increase sales.

My wife thinks people just don't want to spend their money right now. (I think she's right)

Anyone else want to pitch in?

I transferred a large amount of money to my Bank Account from PayPal last week - wish I had waited. Then I thought - the dollar is low and lots of Canadians are going to suffer so.................. no grousing.

[rcrawford34]

I'm not really active online  right now but on my other ID here have been listing and have been selling. Not a lot but  it is happening.  Was not expecting much  with people focused on other things

I also sell on Kijiji and find it has slowed completely.  Lots of ads going on but are they getting any attention?

Offline I do shows.   Last weekend one of the Largest Nostalgia Shows I usually do was cancelled and they have just announced another one they do in another location has been cancelled for April 5th. Have another one booked for the end of April but wont be surprised if that is put on hold too.

In our city I have not been downtown lately but a number of smaller shops are closed  or will be in the next few days.  The larger Malls have limited their hours, The Local  news is showing the downtown area  and traffic is sparse

weavers 

[musicyouneed]

Sales have pretty much dried up since March 1/20.  A few Canadian sales and one US.  I would have thought that since people were stuck at home I might see a few sales but I also think that they are holding onto their money.  I remember in 2008 I stopped selling for a couple of years as it got bad.  I guess that as long as I can count on mail delivery I will continue.   We will have to see, lots of time but lack of motivation without any sales. 

[ricarmic]

My world (stamps) is one that is well suited for trying to find stuff to do when one is confined at home.

So far sales have been maybe lower in $$ value, but volume is normal, except it is more smaller stuff selling. This makes sense, people want something to do but don't/can't put a lot out there for it with all the unknowns at the moment.

I was winding down as I was supposed to be taking my "spring vacation" ebay holiday this coming week. At the moment I'm not sure what I will do now, our home situation is evolving by the minute as well (children's jobs affected of course), I may stay open for part of it or not, time will tell.

I am also trying to decide when to move some US$ to $C, it's earned about 5% in the last couple weeks, much the opposite of the stock market!

[retroman_studios]

I'm keeping my listings open, but I will message all buyers prior to shipping to ensure they haven't been living under a rock so they know what to expect.

As hard as it may seem I know some who actually don't stay up with the news. They say it's because they don't have cable....but they have internet....so....um.....hmmm. Moving on.

😉

[kawartha-ephemera]

I've had just 3 small sales in March but then I've been running only 90 listings, all relists.

Yesterday, I made a last minute decision to take advantage of a 500 listings promo, all relisted items. Made a small U.S. Sale overnight.

My expectation is that the collectibles market is likely in for some headwinds.

[raanana]

Sales are down.Some countries started to suspend mail delivery.Registered  letter to Denmark ,as for now ,no additional information on CP site

• Mar 18, 2020
• 2:23pm

• Service suspended to country. Item being returned to sender
• MISSISSAUGA, ON

• Mar 16, 2020
• 9:58pm

• Item processed
• MISSISSAUGA, ON

[ricarmic]

It is interesting that Denmark is not yet on the delivery interruptions list...

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpc/en/our-company/news-and-media/service-alerts.page

[mrdutch1001]

Although currently not listing anymore items on eBay, I am keeping busy posting listings on another selling venue...

[darak10]

music film and memorabilia retail in Canada - sales slight uptick (yes I know) since last week.  Normal still so far this week  (knock on wood) ....essentially I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.  Canadian buyers have dropped by 50%.  US customer increase.  People buying entertainment items to help ride out the time at home. Had some intl buys but I'm pausing shipping outside of the US & Canada as of yesterday until I can figure out whether anything I've sent abroad in the last week gets where its going.   Had a conversation with a customer in Naples the other day, he said postal service delivery there is running fine, had a French customer south of Paris buy an item then hasn't paid since Europe locked down so I'm thinking its probably not wise to ship to Europe at this time.  

[darak10]

thanks for this!

[elle-tuxedo-cat]

This somewhat touches on the thread you mentioned. What is it with Paypal and their huge profit on converting US dollars to Cdn? It is $1.44 CdnD to $1 USD - yet when I transferred money this morning, I got $1.38 - that's a difference of 6% - and Paypal claims it's only 3 point something %. Even el cheapo band RBC offers $1.42 if you exchange cash at the counter today.

What's up with that?

Otherwise sales are a little slow but still going...

[ricarmic]

I stand corrected, earlier this week was slower but I'm over 15 items now in the last 24 hours, that is double my normal rate and way higher than normal for a Thursday. Hopefully this doesn't jinx me!

It's really getting me thinking about how to handle my upcoming vacation and whether I take one at all or not.

@elle-tuxedo-cat check this thread out, if one is able this method can save 2 - 2.3% on conversion fees. 

https://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/How-to-avoid-PayPal-US-to-CAD-convertion-fees/td-p/43257... 

[reallynicestamps]

The Victoria Times-Colonist and Whalewatcher, just cancelled their annual Book Sale, which runs for three days and fills a curling rink.

The plan is to reschedule for mid-August.

Good thing I have about 300 books that somehow dropped off my listings over the past few years.

[femmefan1946]

@raanana 

Registered letter to Denmark ,as for now ,no additional information on CP site

You might have been lucky with that.

Registered mail is only trackable within Canada. And registered mail coming into Canada is not tracked by Canada Post.

If you want tracking (or more precisely Proof of Delivery) you will have to use one of the barcoded services, like Expedited International or Priority Post or Tracked Packet International.

Not all of those is necessarily tracked to every country, but Europe would be no problem.

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/far/business/findARate?execution=e1s1

You might notice that Registered is not even on that list.

Us crusties have a touching faith in Registered Mail, which has been around since before there were postage stamps, but the service is not what it was when we were young and juicy.

[ypdc_dennis]

---

@ricarmic wrote:

It is interesting that Denmark is not yet on the delivery interruptions list...

https://www.canadapost.ca/cpc/en/our-company/news-and-media/service-alerts.page

---

Denmark and long list of other countries were added to the service alerts late on the afternoon of March 19 -- I suspect all tied to border closings and air travel suspensions (making any transportation movement difficult), plus postal service has been shut down completely in some areas (the RoyalMail website has a long list of Italian postal codes with no mail service).

-..-

[raanana]

Contacted a person in Denmark,postal service is on,so you are might be correct,a problem should be with transportation between countries.Most of European postal services are slower now,but still provide all the services.

[raanana]

Following this one ,as per CP it should be back to me tomorrow.Then will have to figure out when to mail it again and if there is a refund for shipping .Anyway ,buyer very interested in an item and agree to wait,which is good,as not everyone have patience here )).

[needsmorerobots]

Lots of people who sill have their jobs and those who now don't are going to cut back on their spending regardless. Uncertainty is not something that will help my sales. In fact it'll do the opposite. I was prepared and have accepted this.

For now I go through the motions and pay my monthly Ebay bill until I believe it's no longer financially viable. When that happens I'll shut down temporarily. Hopefully I can make just enough in sales per month to break even.

Keep in mind people who still purchase from us may be going through some tough times right now. Touching base with them (especially to people who are sick or isolated) and giving them the best **bleep** customer service possible, might brighten their day.

[kawartha-ephemera]

I read a cbc news piece on the airlines debacle. Seems a side effect of all the cancelled overseas flights has been a sudden shortage of air cargo services. Apparently passenger airliners have been routinely carrying a lot of freight as well as passengers baggage. Maybe freight is more lucrative than baggage??