April 2024 Goals and Plans

[rosachs]

First Quarter of 2024 is complete - how did you do?  What worked and what would you do differently?

April has just begun - what are your goals for the month and/or Q2?

Let the conversation begin...

[rosachs]

My first quarter was disappointing, even given the low expectations I had given all the other activities going on.  Sales have slipped month after month.  I've had some success with Send Offers, but adding Best Offer to my listings produced zip zilch nada nothing.

I started carving out time to add new inventory over the month of March, and that specific inventory did better than the rest, but still not what I was expecting.  I'm going to continue adding new as time permits - there's just a lot going on elsewhere that limits my free time.  Some of you may have noticed that I've not been on the boards as much as usual.  With any luck, parts of that should clear up/be completed by year's end.  That's the goal anyway.

Our sales are off at work as well - the daily numbers are all over the place and the rolling 30 day figures keep fluctuating.  We add new inventory daily, have been doing so since I started nearly 11 yrs ago.  A lot of our new listing in March were Fixed Price with Best Offer.  We tried doing auctions for all new stock, but the numbers didn't hold up.  When we switched to the FP/BO format, things improved for about a week, then dropped back to where they were.

-Bob.

[chapeau-noir]

I was in Hawaii and then England for the end of 2023 and into the beginning of 2024, and had just shut down my store for quite a while. When I finally arrived back I started selling-similar my stuff and listed 10-15 items a day - boy, did my sales boom! Then I ran out of listings. Then I started clearing out our libraries and listed a ton of books - my sales went up again...but then anything people really wanted sold out and I have this other stuff left.

The struggle to find inventory is the biggest problem I have. If I can find it in sufficient quantities, my sales are great and the old stuff sells along with the new stuff (which is my goal to get rid of everything), but I can't even find enough to keep me going any longer. I'll probably just shut down again for a month or so while we have the first floor of our house torn out for asbestos abatement and new tiling, and in the meantime hunt for enough inventory for another blast. DH is NOT happy about that as he depends upon me to keep selling.

[richard1rst]

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@rosachs wrote:

First Quarter of 2024 is complete - how did you do?  What worked and what would you do differently?

April has just begun - what are your goals for the month and/or Q2?

Let the conversation begin...

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An old and valid adage This too shall pass.

First quarter was actually pretty good. The previous 6 months however were depressing.

Something about the things we can control, the things we can not and the wisdom to know the difference.

So instead of spending time on these boards looking for nebulous solutions to an unanswerable question I prefer to put that time to more productive use. It is much more satisfying than shouting into an echo chamber.

For example, during the summer and fall downturn, I banged this out having been overcome with an atavistic urge to return to my lifelong career as a custom woodworker.

Which raises the question. If you have become too focused on a single problem what passions are you ignoring?

[rosachs]

Love the doorwork!  I almost didn't see the narrow ledge attached to the bottom of the door for your knight to stand on!  New lights and door handle - you definitely have a talent.  Bravo!

And I agree with most of your comments as well, and continue to work to arrive at some kind of functioning compromise with all the 'passions' in my life at this time.  For me, that's the hardest part, but I do my best.

-Bob.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@richard1rst  Love the door! 

Q1 was slow, had a bunch of non ebay stuff to deal with, so didn't list like I should have. I do send offers, but even with what I consider good discounts, I rarely get sales. I think in part its the nature of what I sell...a lot of my watchers are probably other sellers just trying to figure out  price for their items....they have no desire to buy even with a substantial discount. But it is free and quick to send offers, so any sale at all is still a decent ROI.

Also, agree that finding a balance is important. 

[skivviesrepairshop]

That is what I am running into...a shortage of inventory. I just can't find the scores that I used too. Second hand stores now post all of their name brand and vintage threads on ebay. It is pointless to go to there, anymore.  I can't find anything the majority of the time. Recently, I received a health diagnosis that required me too leave my job. I have been a single mom for 20 years now. I have a 21 year old and a 19 year old that are fulltime college students who live at home, and a 17 year old in high school, at home. If ebay doesnt pick up for me, I dont know what we will do. Very dissapointed that the sales and store finds aren't there like they once were. 

[frecklesfinery88]

Our sales have been down this quarter. I am as well at a loss with the Thrift stores, sales, auctions. Things have picked up a little just this last two weeks for us on eBay. We try to be hopeful, but the economy is taking a toll for sure.

I got on Goodwill auctions just to see if anything was good. WOW the change blew my mind. They are charging handling fees and saying everything weighs 36 or so pounds when it may actually be 5 lbs.  You can be charge $20 or $30 shipping for something $9.99!  It is unreal how times have changed.

eBay buyers have nothing to complain about if they looked at that example.

Hang in there everyone.

Best wishes.

[chapeau-noir]

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@skivviesrepairshop wrote:

That is what I am running into...a shortage of inventory. I just can't find the scores that I used too. Second hand stores now post all of their name brand and vintage threads on ebay. It is pointless to go to there, anymore.  I can't find anything the majority of the time. Recently, I received a health diagnosis that required me too leave my job. I have been a single mom for 20 years now. I have a 21 year old and a 19 year old that are fulltime college students who live at home, and a 17 year old in high school, at home. If ebay doesnt pick up for me, I dont know what we will do. Very dissapointed that the sales and store finds aren't there like they once were. 

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It's inevitable, though, that they'd move online. I never thought this was meant to last and am amazed it has lasted so long. I still make more with online sales than I would banging out copy for crowdsourcing, and writers like myself will be replaced by AI for hack writing tasks, anyway (oh gawd - everything will sound like Martha Stewart after a while - that is NOT "a good thing").

Hopefully you'll be able to get back into the workforce, soon!

[kaws_92]

First quarter was overall good but I had to list on 4 sites to do it. This month April is the worst month I have ever had by far going back 4 yrs. Nothing is working and I try everything. Not even averaging a sale a day on 4 sites. Just crashed April 1.  There are still way to many resellers that came in during the pandemic and since and the Youtubers are a big reason for this although none of them want to take responsibility for it. 

[reallynicestamps]

This is usually my best quarter, and it has exceeded my expectations.

Apparently the stamp market is very strong.

I have been able to list much more these past six months or so, since I got DH into the swing of giving me stuff to list and by just telling him all the reference books he has been hoarding are going up so he'd better give me a price on them.

But all in all an excellent quarter.

I expect sales to be down April through June, hold steady there until August, and be way down Sept-December , because that is the way the market has gone for over 40 years in the philatelic trade.

[reallynicestamps]

From the early reports the answer seems to be "If you list it, they will buy." no matter what the product line is.

@skivviesrepairshop  What do your kids think their cohort wants to buy?

[anjofak]

Voting for the buyer authentication program!

[chapeau-noir]

Most of my eBay store (at least) is on hold while we tear out half the downstairs floor linoleum. We're tiling. My partner gave me suggested options - uhhhhhh...

 

[gurlcat]

According to my sales report I've made 38.7% more than the same dates in 2023.  

What I always wondered is, what is the point of looking at your performance in terms of "quarters"?  That sounded snotty, all I mean is, what is it about 3-month time periods that make them useful measurements for eBay sellers?