April 2024 Goals and Plans
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...
35 comments
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...
acres163
·2 years agoJanuary and February were descent, a little spike in late March to early April, but May is dead. Where I was clearing at least $100 profit a week (strictly to support my rescue dogs), now I'm lucky to get $10 to $20 and almost zero views. I make offers to all watchers, drop prices when I see the items going for less and even us a 2 to 5% ad promotion on some items. I've never seen it this bad in the 20 years I've been casually selling.
gurlcat
·2 years agoMay has a history of badness on eBay, so don't be too discouraged.
rosachs
OP2 years agoI noticed you seem to primarily used Fixed Price listings. Listings over 90 days since posted with no sales in the past 30 days are not getting the exposure they used to. I make it a point at work to cancel these oldies, do a quick review for required updates, then repost as new. Reposting as a new listing cuts the history of the old listing off, it does not connect to the new listing. Otherwise the new listing would have the same stagnant history as the old.
It seems to work - our sales, while overall less than we'd like, seem to have found a stable point, and are even growing slightly. Some of that growth is coming from old listing that have not yet been 'renewed' in this way -- I guess folks are finding them in our Store after looking at a Searched listing.
-Bob.
rosachs
OP2 years agoDon't get me started on USPS issues... this has been a very tiring and trying month, and I don't see it getting much better at the moment. It's exhausting... customers want their orders, the boss wants more sales, and eBay want to grind our status into the dirt. What a time to be an eBay seller!!
I kind of envy the other guys working the other venues - Amazon has their own trucks and amazing UPS rates -- no losses there. The smaller venues seem to have a better understanding of the buyer/seller/venue dynamic, but I haven't had a lot of time to talk with those guys.
I was looking for a bit more of a challenge... I guess I should have been more specific. 🙂
-Bob.
isaiah53-57
·2 years agoSame thing we did last quarter - Not list ANYTHING here due to fraud/thievery made easy with the "Money Back Guarantee", and the site's quest for 30% to 40% to 50% or more of your items price in fees with their Promoted Listings program.
Keeping MORE money in our pocket and wasting A LOT less time with our current business model - Wont list here again until the company backs off both of these programs - Our opinion is, as time goes on and the usability of the site deteriorates due the the ill effects of both these programs they will need to do an about face - Question is, by then, will it be too late to even want to list here anyway - only time will tell - Hoping for the best as we very much enjoyed using the site 6 yrs to 20 yrs ago...
rosachs
OP2 years agoToday was a heck of a cap on the week! All this week, I've been getting inquiries and INR cases from sales shipped mostly the first 10 days of the month. Checking the tracking, they are 'stalled' - they track up to a point, then stop. 2-3 days after that last legit scan, USPS adds a bogus "in transit scan" -- bogus because most of those I see are well over a week old, while others shipped the same day have already been delivered.
USPS is killing our profits, and soon our business. The company has multiple revenue streams, so we're not going out of business, but we may have to shut down eBay for a while, at least until USPS gets straightened out. No such problems with Amazon - but they give us a great UPS Ground rate, so there is very little going USPS.
I had three INR's filed today alone. They were all scanned as picked up. They were all scanned into our local post office. Two were scanned as leaving the post office... then three days later they were "in transit". Other orders for that day were picked up, in then out of the local post office, in then out of the Memphis Sort facility, and in then out of the Memphis Regional facility. Delivery generally early. That third INR order was picked up, received by our post office, then went "in transit" 3 days later. All os this happened 2 weeks ago....
Mostly the buyers are pretty cool about it. Several have reported having the same issue with other sellers, so I know it's not just "a Memphis thang".
The corollary issue is the 20+ "late delivery" defects that eBay won't remove, even tho they posted on their Community Board that they were aware of USPS & weather related issues and would be protecting seller ranking. Ha! Monday we'll have lost Top Rated and with the lower exposure, it will take the full three months to rotate these issues out of our ranking... provided they stop happening. If they continue, I might just recommend we go "on vacation" for a month. There is plenty I can do besides eBay -- we're moving all the online venue folks, and inventory, into a single space. Still basically a warehouse with a few offices, but we'll be able to work some synergy between the venues... I hope.
I -was- having a decent-to-good month... <sigh>
-Bob.
debbiet22
·2 years agoBob- I have also been having issues with USPS. Gone years without having shipping hiccups. All of a sudden , slow shipping (and I use PM when I can). Shipping to a way out of the way hub, then back after I went to the post office and tried to figure things out. Luckily the customer has been understanding. I agree things are a mess.
rosachs
OP2 years agoInteresting Tuesday. Had typical 4 sales from overnight, pulled and packed, ready for USPS. Get back to my desk and there are two more! Cool... pull, pack, ready for pickup. Back again, ready to do the reset of my job, and there's another order! 7 on a Tuesday before noon is unusual, but I'll take it. Did the rest of the morning 'stuff' - answer questions, track down orders, refunds (if any), and then pulled and packed that last order on my way out to lunch. Good morning - I'll take it!
Got back from lunch and remembered I hadn't done my Send Offers yet. Pulled up the eligible listings... over 100 qualified! I know there are about 35-40 that the boss is not ready to extend offers on, but that still leaves a LOT of Offers going out! It was about 3pm when I marked all the listings to Send Offers to, set up the Offer, and sent them on their way. Then started listing some of the bigger dollar items that were waiting.
5:00 and I need a break ... and there are 4 more orders waiting to ship! That's unusual -- typical would be 1-2 showing up between 5-6pm, so they wait for the next morning to ship. These four were all easily shipped items, so I pulled and shipped in about 20 minutes and left it like that until tomorrow.
11 orders shipped on a Tuesday is high. Those last 4 were ALL from Send Offers I sent at 3pm... which is not a bad sent-to-purchased ratio. And I suspect there may be more overnight - not everyone checked eBay from the office during the day, or from their phone at lunch or on breaks. Those folks will see the Offer later and may purchase overnight.
It was also odd to have that many Listings eligible for Send Offer - typical would be about 20-25 over the one being purposely skipped. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!
-Bob.
sin-n-dex
·2 years agoJanuary was my best month in eBay lifetime history... and then in February I went to Africa for a month and shut down the store. (The Africa trip was filled with drama... first got hit with a category III cyclone where I was, then my cruise ship made international news for a few days, then due to the Lufthansa airline strike my flight home was cancelled and I was stranded in South Africa for a bit before I could secure a flight home).
My eBay store came back online while in Africa and I was busy messaging people to tell them I was stranded and couldn't ship for a few days... but I did make it home safely, shipped all their stuff.
While in Africa, my shipper (Chit Chats Express) somehow lost their full time person at the branch near where I work, and started closing randomly during the week. I started having to make Monday trips to Burlington with my packages to get Friday-Sunday stuff mailed. It's 100 miles round trip. That still hasn't been resolved. The poor guy working reduced hours at my usual branch got so fed up with every customer complaining that he won't come back and they had to find another sub to open the branch on the days they were open. I skipped this Monday's trip to Burlington due to the eclipse and possible nightmare traffic.
Sales are going well and I'm running a junk and cheap coin auction every Sunday, around 75 items a week. The auctions are supposed to continue until around September (when I'll run out of suitable items).
Since I work full time, my free time is at a premium and lots of it is spent packing and shipping... trying to squeeze some hours in the evening for new listings (mainly getting my next week of auctions scheduled). The 27.99 subscription I pay for SixBit is well worth it (except when my listings get all corrupt), makes the listing part go faster. I know it costs money, but time is money... I have money, what I don't have is time to spend doing things any more than I have to (which is why the Monday trips to Burlington annoy me so much).
C.
dhbookds
·2 years agoI've never thought the wk/month/quarter/yr stats were any good.....IF you sell one of a kind (to you) items.... Except of course, we want the total $'s to go up, lol. But if you sell one offs.......one of a kind (to you) items that may not be replaced, how can one compare? In some years, I've sourced/sold higher priced Xmas stuff, other years not. One year we made good money with that Hilary Won magazine..... I've been here for 20 yrs and never once have I not sold more $ wise than the year before (however minor).........except last yr and that was a 1/3 drop......big hit to me. But there are still millions of items sold on Ebay and I can blame all the usual reasons for lack of sales....but considering that some stuff sells within hrs, days of listing (I don't use PL).....I blame my sourcing, and perhaps my pricing. Not "blaming myself"......one can only buy what one can find to buy...... And, not really discouraged.....what business doesn't have a downturn? To me, it's more of a challenge...and because my cost of goods is so low.......profits are still there.......
@gurlcat I can point to my experience in quarters also......Xmas larger, Jan thru May, large, Summer low, lst quarter moderate...... and trends......Xmas gifts, Jan-May house stuff, Summer ?, lst quarter Halloween and early gift buyers. But if I don't have the right items at the right price for sale that hit those themes, I'm not going to sell well during those times.
just my thoughts........
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoIt's longer than a month or a week.
Seriously.
It gives a little perspective, since it is not at all unusual to have days or even a few days with no sales, followed by screaming panic , followed by very busy days.
So a month is useful, three months more so.
It also allows for seasonal changes. The October to December Holiday period is very different from the June to August summer period.
gurlcat
·2 years agoAccording 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?
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoBusiness performance is traditionally measured in fiscal quarters, so it's consistent with that.
gurlcat
·2 years agoI get that, but eBay selling is so far from traditional business. I guess "how far" depends on a seller's categories and scale. A really big eBay store with all new items including seasonal, needed and un-needed items would have sales patterns similar to (say) Walmart. But smaller stores selling only used, un-needed items seems more likely to have either no predictable patterns, or maybe even counter-patterns to new item sellers.
Like if anything, my sales are more likely to suck in November and December because people are spending on travel, social events and gifts (probably a few of my used item sales are for gifts but not a lot), and then January and at least the first half of February also suck because people tighten their belts after Christmas and have to start paying down their credit card debt. But come late February through early May or so, WOOOOO that's when I do well, because of all the people having little windfalls of cash from tax refunds, so they treat themselves to a springtime self-Christmas, lol.
So I might have moderately consistent trends that come in 3-month intervals, but they're differently affected by holidays (maybe also school schedules), completely unaffected by weather and the start of a calendar year. My lousiest period straddles Q4 and Q1, then my jubilee straddles Q1 and Q2. So at best I might be able to see patterns according to months, but not quarters, or at least not the same quarters as traditional business, and I would think that's true for other used item sellers.
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoor maybe even counter-patterns to new item sellers.
Exactly.
Perhaps it would be more useful to make the original question include "and are you selling newly manufactured goods?"
The pattern for sales also varies from store to store.
When I was selling retail, one business sold woodstoves and patio furniture.
If you think stoves sell in winter, you'd be wrong.
Patio season started in January and ran until May.
The associated BBQ season started at Easter and ran until Father's Day.
Woodstoves sold from June to October.
And November /December was the 'hungry gap'.
So there is a pattern.
The quarterly report isn't perfect but it's there and useful for forward planning.
gurlcat
·2 years agoHa you were literally on my mind when I wrote that because hardcore nerd (I mean that in a good way) collectible stuff like stamps and coins are virtually timeless, other than according to when a collector might have less mad money to spend, thus making those sales run counter-to peak sales of new items.
About new items selling months before people actually use them -boy howdy you are not kidding, and it blows my mind sometimes. One day in early October this past year, I went to Costco for some groceries, and while I was there I remembered the awful storm cleanup I needed to do in the back yard (big tree limbs and all), so I tried to find those big catch-all tarp jobbers with the raised sides. Couldn't find them so I asked an employee and he said those were gone long ago, "It's Christmas now". -It would be cliche of me to now go into a tirade about how early Christmas stuff goes out in stores nowadays, so I won't. I just couldn't believe they didn't have ANY fall yard stuff anymore. In Mobile the trees have only just begun dropping leaves in early October!
chapeau-noir
·2 years ago 
gurlcat
·2 years agoThe one-turkey-open-sleigh. I'M DEAD OVER HERE. 🤣 😂😆😅🤣
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoMost 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...
 
anjofak
·2 years agoVoting for the buyer authentication program!
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoFrom 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?
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoThis 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.
kaws_92
·2 years agoFirst 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.
frecklesfinery88
·2 years agoOur 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.
richard1rst
·2 years agoAn 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
OP2 years agoLove 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
·2 years ago@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.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoI 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.
skivviesrepairshop
·2 years agoThat 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.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoIt'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!
rosachs
OP2 years agoMy 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.
strugglinlikeyou
·2 years agoI'm not a goal type of guy. I just plug along. Setting goals is not my thing. I sell my best stuff on eBay and the rest goes to local consignment shops.
Having said that I have a sauce pan that I bought for $4 that I listed today that has already met minimum bid of $195.
So there it is. I work hard at reselling, visiting every sale I can find.
I think the ups and downs of eBay sales is a myth. If you check sell through rates you will find this to be true.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoI experience wild ups and downs - but when I do a three-month look-back (for example), they all even out. It's good to take the longer view.
dhbookds
·2 years agoHaving said that I have a sauce pan that I bought for $4 that I listed today that has already met minimum bid of $195.
Love to hear those kinds of stories........ thanks for posting @strugglinlikeyou
We recently ran into a banana box full of Heroscape stuff, all jumbled up, in one of the death piles. Took a couple of hrs to sort, but sold quickly. Box was marked $10...sold over $350 so far......
debbiet22
·2 years agoSales so far started slow in January, but then February my sales tripled compared to January. March was steady. April is looking like January. I just sent some offers last week to get a few sales, that helped. What I sell is for a specific buyer and you never know what other pieces the buyer is looking for. I am hoping sales pick up with Mother's Day coming up.
I have tons to list and just can't seem to find the time or the motivation. I need to get to listing so I can have money for new paint, carpet and trim for the house without dipping into savings. Picked up some glassware at a couple of local online auctions. Some hard to find stuff. It is frustrating though when you go pick everything up and its all stacked, then you end up finding a nip here and there. Hard to sell that way.
Summer is a slow time for me so may focus on the exterior of the house. We also have a couple of small trips planned.
Let's hope things pick up for all of us.