What a lot of people are not understanding either is that eBay has made itself entirely irrelevant. Over the last several years eBay invested heavily in making themselves a competitor to the likes of Walmart and more importantly, Amazon, which they aren't and can't be like. The deals eBay made with Chinese manufactures had one sole intention that was sales. While it has kept the shareholders happy, it's changed the practicality of this platform for smaller sellers. I'm a hobby seller, like many and my hobby is very high end luxury menswear. It's the to the point now were items might have maybe 5 or 6 views after two weeks. That would previously been accomplished in two hours.
The mentality of the consumer has changed profoundly in the last few years. Buyers no longer go to eBay (and even I'm guilty too) for scoring a deal. eBay has positioned itself to be another Amazon or another Walmart and so on. Buyers no longer feel they are going to get that unique item or deal anymore. Not only that, but consumerism is somewhat dying at the moment. I hear it all over the place. People are digital detoxing. I hear it all over NYC where I am that people are exhausted from information overload. The election took a massive toll on our psyche. Doesn't matter who's court you're in, everyone involved was corrupt, including the media. Point is, people are maxed out in every aspect of their lives. Even sales at Duane Reade, etc are down. I know this because I know people who work for a couple of the corporations that fill those stores with product: J&J, and so...Sales are slow for them too. So from luxury clothing to hygiene products, the entire buying market has softened.
So I'm pulling my items on Friday and bringing them to a consignment shop. I haven't done that probably since 2007. It seems the Internet has had it's run for now. It's going to morph into something else for sure, but it's weird that I have greater exposure at the local level, on the street than the Internet. So much for that "broad audience". I'll have to give up more of the sale (much more), but at least there's a market. Some people are still in denial about what's happening on eBay and other places. It's not coming back folks. And I'm not saying that in jest, I'm telling you straight up seriously, get rid of what you have the excess while you can. It might actually already be too late. If you're a reseller with large inventories of random "items" it's probably not good. Sadly.
We could go into my theories of devaluing the dollar and such, but I think in the very immediate future the most pressing and serious thing people need to be worried about are illiquid assets (non home related). We are the verge of seeing a massive devaluation of material assets. Expensive clothing, collectibles, middle class cars and boats (i'm talking the Infinities and Lexus types), small 20 footers, etc. Basically any asset or item that someone who makes between $40k and $140k a year can afford is going to soon plummet in value. I've read enough to virtually guarantee this is on the immediate horizon. Ferrari's and yhacts and stuff of that nature will have lower transaction volume, but that money will still exist and those prices will remain somewhat stable. You're soon going to have the opportunity to purchase a 2015 Q50 Infinitie with 25K miles on it for $14k-$15k. There was a very thorough report presented last week stating exactly the same. Furniture is going to take a beating. So all I can say is, brace for what's coming. Sorry to be one of the bearers of bad news. Not like most can't see this already.
