Anyone struggling out there?
Summary: The discussion revolves around the challenges of reselling in today’s economy. quadcitypickers mentions how the landscape has changed since 2008, with auctions moving online and thrift stores heavily scrutinizing items. Many participants agree that sourcing has become more difficult due to increased competition and technology like Google Lens. Some highlight personal anecdotes regarding the diminishing value of collectibles, while others note the impact of economic pressures such as credit card delinquencies. Suggestions include finding new sourcing methods and adapting business strategies to maintain profitability.
The economy was bad in 2008. I remember going to auctions and people fighting over profits to the point they would get razor thin.
Credit Card and Auto Loan delinquencies are at an all time high.
Seems like how much is "trendy" on apps like TikTok, estate sales have 2-3x as many shoppers than ever before.
A lot of sources have dried up. Auction houses - many closed and the rest went online. Trying to complete against the entire country when they ship is next to impossible.
Thrift stores - at least around here, go over so much with a fine tooth comb. The Goodwills in my area put over 5,000 items a month in their online auctions.
Garage Sales, everyone has a phone with marketplace access and Google Lens, so much gets sold on there before the sales.
Last but not least, despite the cost of everything going up in the last few years, a lot of stuff is worth exactly the same as it was 4-5 years ago.
I'm still doing ok, for now...but I also put 3 times as much work into this as I used to.
onefootflipper
·1 week agoMost sellers guess their prices and never try to get any better. Those who do actual price research, use a markdown schedule and don't try to sell $5 items from Harbor Freight for $11 plus shipping are still doing just fine. Most ebay sellers upon having problems double down on everything they were already doing wrong, to do otherwise would require one to admit to oneself that one was doing things wrong. A lot of people can't handle that.
The harbor freight item was not the original poster. The original poster does show up once a week to let us all know how bad everything is but still manages to sell 150 items a month on 200 listings. I WISH I had his secret to selling 75 percent of my listings every month. The harbor freight item was something someone else complaining in the thread had in their store.
Ask yourself, how much of your own stores and storage space is taken up with mistakes like that. Longtime sellers can end up with thousands of listings of almost nothing but their mistakes because they never reduce prices, never remove anything and they eventually end up with years of mistakes stacked up.
Never should have bought it, still in the store 5 years later. Bought during the Covid sales boom but didn't sell, still up at the covid price 5-6 years later when the current price is less than half. Trend died out in 2023, still in the store at the 2023 price.
Yes, estate sales and retail thrift is flooded with amateurs. But that is why a lot of pros don't even go to them. I haven't gone into a retail thrift store for about 2 years now, and never found it worth my time. Last time I went into an estate sale was late 2023. Unless you pick the RIGHT ONE and are there when they open then you just threw away your best opportunities of the day on something that only had a low chance of being good.
afreind4lf
·2 weeks agoThis is getting out of hand. One sale a month. Something is wrong. Everyone is blaming economy, but I dont believe that. I dont want to blame anyone or anything because people have stupid things to say about it. Insted of talking stupid we should start trying to find out whats going on and ebay should be helping if they want to stay in buiseness.
lawnmowerpartsstore2
·1 week agoDo you have any suggestions on how to fix this problem so we can start from there ?
luckythewinner
·1 week agoIn Q2 2026, eBay's Gross Merchandise Volume was up 14% over the same period last year.
eBay is not "going out of business", in fact they are growing.
The fact that some sellers are struggling does not mean all sellers are struggling. My sales are quite strong across my six selling accounts.
mozartbach1971
·1 week agoWould you mind saying what types of items you are selling?
sin-n-dex
·1 week agoI was struggling for several weeks... I sourced 7 boxes of new inventory. It's going to go the same (good stuff being picked over), but I'm expecting fairly steady sales until December (on account of new inventory), and the reason it will go on until December is because it will take that long to list it all, even if I work really hard at it. I have 7 boxes of stuff, I'm working on my second box. It took me three weeks to process the first box, and now I'm just getting into listing it.
lakefor94
·1 week agoBasically the same here. Started on listing items today from the eBay boxes. Sales will increase with the new inventory to back up the existing items.
I also have to go thru all ~1330 listings to make sure all existing items are priced to have a chance to sell. Some will have the price lowered and I will find many to raise the price on. It has been 10 months since I went thru this exercise. I usually do it about every 4 months.
Will more than likely be doing some "end and sell similar" activities as well on items that do not have traction with Google search.
Shipping costs have come to be a concern so I will probably add a couple of more business shipping policies to add flexibility for flat rate shipping, that used to be my Free Shipping. Pretty much, almost no more free shipping.
sin-n-dex
·1 week agoI'm so busy listing new stuff, that I tend to not go through all the inventory (almost 9000 listings for me here, plus 2000 in the other store).
Usually if I purge, it's by grabbing a box of stuff that isn't moving and going through that, I can send back anything I can't sell to the shop and let them deal with it. I also dump my own inventory on them when I can't move it (they don't even notice, it just shows up in a box full of stuff I'm returning). I'm working on a new such box right now as I go through the new boxes of treasure and keep finding things I'm unable to list.
jerzee908
·2 weeks agoStruggling? No. Getting harder to source? A little......
When it comes to Tik Tok making estate sales having more shoppers, in my experience, I could see that most don't know what they are doing. While they have their phone out taking pictures of something to see what it is worth, I'm grabbing stuff with my phone sitting in my car. I was at an estate sale not long ago and a man was looking up something sitting on a dresser while there was a huge bag of 1960's Johnny Lightning cars $$$ sitting right next to the thing he was looking up (some sort of bank, worth maybe $10). Another sale a guy was looking up a tape measure on a work bench in a garage while I grabbed every Snap-on tool that was right in his area. The Tik Tok sellers won't last long, but they are good business for anyone running an estate sale.
Develop relationships with various estate sale companies and get to them early. I've been going to estate sales for over 30 years and I've slept in my car to get my name on the top of the list or to get a number. I've always said the hardest part about selling on ebay or any other reselling platform or antique shop/booth is sourcing your items.
meme6253
·2 weeks agoThe whole world is struggling!, You need to be more specific I guess.
the-swap-shop
·2 weeks ago1. The Crowd at the Estate Sale
An estate sale opened at eight,
With crowds lined up straight at the gate.
The TikTok crowd flared,
As resellers stared,
And lamented their competitive fate.
2. The Google Lens Effect
A yard sale had treasures to view,
But sellers knew just what to do.
With Google Lens out,
They knew what it's about,
And jacked up the prices for you.
3. Online Auction Blues
The auction houses moved to the web,
And traditional picking did ebb.
The whole nation bids,
From seniors to kids,
Entangling the pros in their web.
4. The Thrift Store Overhaul
The thrift store went through every bin,
To check what the value was in.
The best of the lot,
Was scanned on the spot,
And sent to the web for a win.
5. Stagnant Values
Though inflation has hit every store,
The vintage stuff brings in no more.
The prices stay flat,
For this and for that,
Making profits a terrible chore.
6. Triple the Effort
To make what he made in the past,
The picker must work double-fast.
Three times the sweat,
To see what he'll get,
And hope that his savings will last.
7. Delinquent Debts
The credit card bills are too high,
And car loans are starting to fry.
With wallets stretched tight,
In the economic night,
There are fewer cash buyers to buy.
8. The Missing Youth Market
The younger folks look at the glass,
And completely let history pass.
They don’t want the plates,
Or old-fashioned crates,
Leaving older collectibles en masse.
9. The Memories of 2008
The crash back in two-thousand-eight,
Brought margins to a terrible state.
Folks fought at the block,
For pennies of stock,
A memory sellers still hate.
10. The Resilient Picker
He says, "I am doing okay,
Though I struggle to make it each day."
With grit and with drive,
He manages to thrive,
And keeps all the debt collectors at bay.
calgal19572014
·1 week agoThat about sums it up!!!!! Perfect.
aspme
·1 week agoThank you Capt.Limerick!
mozartbach1971
·2 weeks agoI've found it much harder to find good items to sell and when I do sell them they overall don't seem to be getting the prices I've gotten a year or two ago. Something else I've noticed is that I just do auctions and it seems there are less and less auction items being listed in the categories that I sell in then around a couple years ago.
onefootflipper
·1 week agoAuction format listings have been going down year over year for a very long time. Few sellers, even few buyers. Most of the people who list them are clueless part timers who just keep listing the same ones over and over again at opening bids higher than the same items are listed buy it now from other sellers.
calgal19572014
·2 weeks agoBetween estate sales being too crowded (more competition) and high prices at thrift stores I agree it's getting harder to source. Since Google Lens anyone can look up prices now. The problem is GL doesn't necessarily show what things SOLD for. I will probably wind things down next year, I've been at this for 11 years and my husband retired so I need to be spending more time doing other things.
mozartbach1971
·2 weeks agoThere are many thrift stores in my location, the last time I went to them I saw nothing worth buying so I stopped going.
luckythewinner
·2 weeks agoIt sounds like you need to find new sources for inventory, rather than relying on others to present them to you. Auction houses and thrift stores are essentially retailers who gather inventory and advertise it to you. You need to be a couple steps further up the food chain.
aspme
·1 week agoAmen!
spendingcents26150
·2 weeks agoIt really has been a pitiful few months. So many things changing. I don't share this stuff on the board much because it's start a discussion that doesn't apply.
My Ebay store has had some issues (not me, it), an I had to move some of stuff to another site so I could continue selling. It is difficult to do sales, and all sorts of dynamics, that are out of the normal flow of selling.
Sourcing has been bad. Garage sales, or local sources (I live in a depressed area) all think they should get Ebay prices for their items. I am not talking 1/2., I mean ALL. Which good for them..not for me. That puts me sourcing on the road,which I do a lot anyway, but it's been hard to make a deal on things I am looking for AND then the vehicle I source on the road with, hard a terminal illness.
Enter sickness at the end of June. In one day, my whole life changed. It took me 3 weeks just to try to iron out a schedule where I could get a little sanity with doctor appts. everywhere. Then tests revealed I needed even more attention (still not through with tests either). Then I got emergent sick. UGH. Of course sickness like that requires money. Like that old commercial, I am stuck in an endless cycle of .. I gotta work harder, to make more money, to pay more doctor bills. Except the making more money is not that existent right now.
Either way, I guess we have to keep digging.. right?
In a nutshell the cliche applies ... The Struggle is Real.
industrial_sales_nw_ohio
·2 weeks agoI been selling since 2003. Shipping cost are currently killing sales. I sell industrial tooling everything is made from steel. I quoted a shipping price yesterday was $235.00.
I have always sourced from live industrial auctions. Covid brought a end to live auctions everything is online now. I had to adjust to online auctions.
Sales always suck June, July and August
apex_motorsport_collectables
·2 weeks agoYes I have definately noticed a slow down (for me anyway). Things had been going very well since I opened my account back in Feb. Then the 1st week of July things came to a screeching hault and have been dead since. Is this a typical summer thing for sellers or have I just hit a slump?
christworks
·2 weeks agoIf people stopped moaning every other day, maybe they'd make some money. It's impossible when you invest so much time and energy and brain power into worry and complaining.
lawnmowerpartsstore2
·2 weeks agoMay The Force Be With You young wise one :)
jundedh2012
·2 weeks agoIt was picking up a little again for me but now it's back to being slow and very little sales. I'm not sure what to do
chuckboyce
·2 weeks agoyes, my sales are down 30 percent.
inhawaii
·2 weeks agoStruggling?
Almost died of sepsis.
Been bedridden - today makes one year exactly.
Lost my job of 23 years.
Lost my health insurance that comes with it.
Ebay sales are slow.
But glad to be alive! 😀
adamcartwright
·2 weeks agoI'm so glad you beat sepsis and hope you're on your feet soon.
spendingcents26150
·2 weeks agoIt's definitely those things that make us notice what is really important. Thankful for each moment right now. As Kelly Bundy once said. .. "Sometimes life's a girl, huh?"
tsme35
·2 weeks agoAin't that the truth, less sellers at flea markets, most are dealers, larger subdivision sales are empty, use to have 50-100 yard sales, now like 10-20 and mostly baby stuff. Same problem as others, my suppliers are stopping or dying off, working harder and finding less.
Plus my vintage reels and lures aren't selling for what they use too, not a lot of collectors left. As good as ebay is, its also bad, it's grown so much in 20 yrs, there's more sellers and value drops. Lures I use to sell for $50 now go 3 for $10, so many out there.
What hurts my heart is finding an older person who thinks he's lure collection is worth thousands and hoping it help in retirement but it's not worth hundreds.
mam98031
·2 weeks agoI've lost my main supplier recently and am trying to set up other sources. It is very time consuming be necessary. And yes, costs on many things are going UP.
shado-x
·2 weeks agoYou're just not looking hard enough. Where there is a will, there's a way.
gurlcat
·2 weeks agoDid you not read the OP's last sentence? They're not saying success is now impossible. Just that "hard enough" is a lot harder now than it has been for a very long time. And they are absolutely right.
keziak
·2 weeks agoYour description of the situation out there is exactly what has happened here. YOu don't mention library sales if you are not in books but they are swarmed by anyone who can get into the room with a scanner.
I had so many sources that have disappeared. I did well on MP during Covid but now people want max prices for their stuff. More power to them, they are not trying to help dealers. I do wonder if they get those prices in a localized market versus Ebay's international reach. I think many people want to keep their stuff versus discounting. Or they try to sell online too, dunno.
I gave up on scouting and my life is much better for it. But that is because I am retiring.
bonanza125
·2 weeks ago · EditedNow that we have new generations of people who want to sell online businesses are moving stuff towards online sales to generate more money. That leaves a bunch of resellers out. Many resellers are bargain hunters and want to buy stuff for really cheap and make 100% more more in profit. That's becoming harder to do. Also factor in more competition back 15 to 25 years ago you had less people interested in items and things were more reasonable to make a profit. Now you have an increase of people which means more people want to sell stuff online. Way it is. The only deals that can be had really are the folks who just want to get rid of stuff in general, for free or have no idea what the true value of items really are.
quadcitypickers
OP2 weeks agoThere is also a lot of stuff that has completely lost value. The people who collected it are no longer alive. Their children and grandchildren want nothing to do with it.
I had a set of Noritake dishes 10ish years ago that were worth like $700 in a mid 90's Antique catalog.
It took me 3 months to sell the entire set...for $50.
gurlcat
·2 weeks ago · EditedAlthough there is no hard-fast rule about collectibles, the general trend I've noticed is the smaller, the better.
So many Americans are downsizing their housing, either moving into small houses or apartments, or moving in with relatives. A huge chunk of Millennials and Gen Z never has and never will own a home, and a very large portion live with parents well into their 30's and beyond. And the less space one has, the less they can devote to collectibles, so they're getting into smaller ones. It's almost like how Japan has always been into 'miniature' things (even trees, ha), except with them it's because they're on a few tiny islands, whereas in the U.S. homes are being bought up by oligarchs including foreign corporations, all raising the prices exponentially, or turning them into Air B&B's.
Do you ever watch those (US, not UK) 'Vintage ____' (city) of old Antiques Roadshow episodes, where they show the value given by the appraiser back when the show aired, then they show the current value, with the 'cheerful' or 'sad' little sound effects, depending on if it's gone up or down (LOL do you have any idea what I"m talking about?). I like to take the brief moment between the 2 prices to make my prediction, and by that I mean making the little sounds out loud. 🤣
ANYWAY, if you were placing bets on whether values have gone up or down, averaging your correct's vs. incorrects of a full episode, and the only rule you used is whether the item could fit inside a cigar box, you could just about count on beating the house every time. -Of course there ARE exceptions, like paintings for example, but even that tracks with the 'downsizing' thing, because paintings go on walls and therefore don't take square footage.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 weeks agoI have about 5k items listed on Ebay. My wife describes them as little pieces of paper. They fit in a tiny fraction of the space that the 20k items I had listed on Amazon at the time of the Covid lockdowns take up.
My experience with art differs from your experience. There is a great deal of art which used to be of value, which has not held value or is not saleable at any price. This includes some well recognized artists who are included in art history courses.
I have been tracking some of these artists whose work I own on Invaluable and LiveAuctioneers for several years. and it is depressing.
There are also episodes I have of lack of self control. I have been buying some artists work which I have always wanted for prices which are criminally low. No competition for them at auction.
It is unlikely that prices will ever recover, but if the do, it is likely that I will have passed on before that day comes.
I think your general thesis is correct. Smaller is better. Not only for the reasons you suggest but because they can be stashed away and not be a visible part of one's life.
gurlcat
·2 weeks agoRight, I didn't mean that art is always more valuable than it used to be; just that it can (seems to depend on the artist -that world is absurdly trendy). And so in that sense it doesn't fit the 'cigar box' test at all.
sin-n-dex
·2 weeks agoMy mother collects crystal and china, and I have no idea what I'm going to do with all that when she passes. She's been paying $30 for a bread plate. I already have a china set, I don't need another one with all sorts of fancy dishes. I don't have space in my house for all of this (it's only 950 square feet plus 450 in the basement). I don't imagine anyone will want to buy that stuff...
reallynicestamps
·2 weeks agoGive it to an unsuspecting young friend who is settingup their first apartment as a single.
Mwah ha ha ha ha!
sin-n-dex
·2 weeks agoI considered just using them as the every day dishes (and not worrying about them getting broken). But I already have my parents wedding china (which is not so exciting, but you can't find it anymore), plus we have glass dishes for every day use. We've been using the same set for 13 years and managed to only break one in that time (and that was done by a house guest, we are more careful). I don't think you should be putting Spode Dimity China in the dishwasher though...
keziak
·2 weeks agoHeirs often have it rough. Older people passing away now largely still have houses and even storage units. The best gift to children is to get rid of a lot of stuff before you die. Speaking as someone who really needs to do that.
sin-n-dex
·2 weeks agoThankfully she's not a hoarder, the dishes and crystal are the biggest things that concern me. She's also big on furniture that's white, but won't let anyone sit on it because it gets dirty. I SMH at some of this logic... I intentional wear dark clothes and buy dark linens to hide dirt. Likely I'll pay some agency to come and clear out the house when the time comes, assuming I'm tasked with that. For all I know I'm not even an heir, we haven't spoken since 2013 when she tried to steal my inheritance from a grandparent.
keziak
·2 weeks agoWow, that is some track record, I am sorry.
sin-n-dex
·2 weeks agoI tell everyone who asks me about her the best thing she ever did for me in my whole life is go away. Luckily my dad and I are very close and talk on the phone 2-3 times a week. Dad says we get better at doing things when we get older, and my mother is getting better at being a nutcase.
toomuchstuffagain35
·1 week ago · EditedThat's what I'm trying to do but it's easier said than done I've found.
I really hate the nested posts that don't show who you're actually responding to anymore.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 weeks agoOne of my daughters still buys China for pitifully low prices. She breaks them to pieces and uses them for raw materials for mosaics.
The people she buys from are always pleased to see them go.
rschissler
·2 weeks ago"The people she buys from are always pleased to see them go."
I'm betting they don't know that they will be smashed to pieces.
sin-n-dex
·2 weeks agoI don't think I could sell something to someone knowing it's going to be destroyed (if I knew about it that is, if I don't know, I prefer to not find out). I do occasionally get people buying my stamps for art projects, I'm not bothered by that. But smashing china kind of bugs me.
kensgiftshop
·2 weeks agoOnce they buy it, I don't care what they do with it, it's not mine anymore.
telegraph_mercantile
·2 weeks ago · EditedSome restaurants want vintage china. My husband and I were in Glens Falls, NY several weeks ago and came across a place that serves on (and hand washes) vintage dishes in keeping with their shabby chic theme.
calgal19572014
·1 week agoI said the same thing about my in-law's stuff but I actually did extremely well with their collectibles. (a lot of Native American pottery, etc.) Many of the siblings did not want a lot of it and since I was the only one reselling we ended up with probably 500 pieces. It also depends where you live...here in Southern California most of the Millenials are not interested in china and crystal. (my daughter is 38) But back East and in the South young women are all over it. I watch home tours so I see how completely different it is.
lovefindingtreasures2
·2 weeks ago