@vintagequeennyc wrote:
Amen! I’m SO tired of people always saying, “it’s the slow season!” I think this is just a stupid theory people keep parroting. People always says “the holidays are the slowest for clothing sellers!” yet my best sales months of the year are almost always Nov/Dec/Jan. Beginning of Spring/Summer is almost always a close second for clothing, as people start buying new stuff for their wardrobe.
I do agree that July/August can be slow because of vacations, etc but somehow these 2 slow-ish months have turned into everyone saying YEAR ROUND, “but it’s the slow season!” It shouldn’t be ‘slow’ all year long. Unless other internal issues are to blame...
For many any of us, it should NOT be this slow right now. I’ve lost count of how many established ebay sellers I talk to other places that are floundering right now. I can literally only think of one or two people who are having good sales currently and both of them are doing free shipping, free returns, Promoted Listings AND have very low prices averaging around $15-$20 max, which is including the shipping.
I fully expect ebay’s Q2 results to be pretty dismal when they’re released later this year. There’s no way with this many sellers not selling anything that the numbers will be good.
Have to say - I was one of those giving excuses the past few years. I truly enjoy selling here - but it's just not getting any better for sellers as Ebay refuses to uphold their own rules for buyers and sellers. The amt of items in wrong categories, duplicate listings where a 1 or 2 is added to make it look different, fake items ect… it not only lowers the good sellers in search - but then buyers turn around and claim even legitimate sellers are selling fakes.
This new seller protection is a farce as they should have been proactive all along when sellers call in to complain about an abusive buyer - especially when the proof is front and center in the feedback. I get that some buyers only leave negatives and they look at the buyers over all feedback vs the amt of purchases here - but on the flip side - how many sellers have suffered loss of sales due to that negative that may have been unjustly left. I have 2 negs now because buyers did not look at the measurements in the listings and I make note in the used description box to check measurements if it seems the item runs small or is vintage. Yet the negs stay because it's the buyers opinion. I have no other problems on any other venue with this type of buyer - maybe I'm lucky or maybe buyers on those venues know that they have to prove an SNAD and that the seller is at fault - so they actually read the listing and look at the measurements.
There are times of the year that every seller will experience a slow down - if you deal in cold weather - clothing, sporting equipment, blankets - you're going to be slow in the summer - if dealing in swimsuits, seeds and gardening tools - you'll be slow in the winter - but Ebay is world wide and it's cold somewhere in the world while hot in others. The world wide buyers are always brought up - but it's not like the old days. With international postage so high - I sell no where near the volume overseas that I did 3-4 yrs ago. Meanwhile US only venues are hopping without the need for overseas sales.
I've jumped through all the hoops but am switching back because it did not increase sales. What does increase sales is being one of a small group of sellers in a niche or dropping prices between $10-$20. The few sales I have gotten are items I dropped to that price range.
Regards,
