Black Friday Reaches Record Spend of Nearly $10 Billion in US
https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/black-friday-reaches-record-spend-of-nearly-10-billion-in-us/
Apparently, not every American got the message that the economy is in ruins and no one is spending for the Holidays.
I'll state the obvious: perhaps more of that spending would be taking place on ebay if ebay were running a Holiday Marketing Campaign to compete with its competitors.
27 comments
wifetrained
·2 years agoIt's being reported that a large chunk of that supposed 9.8 billion on-line sales were buy now and pay later. Quite a few economists were pretty concerned about that. Not very optimistic on how that may play out. Haven't seen any reported instore traffic or sales numbers yet.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoAw, man, that's going to harsh the doom-mongers and their "nobody has money everything is horrible I spent $50 on frozen fish sticks we're doomed bidenomics blah blah." ðŸ˜
ed8108
·2 years agoFVF's are not ebay's only source of revenue as you well know. According to sources, ebay having several revenue streams has remained profitable.
Perhaps ebay is currently focused more on cutting financial expenditures.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoEven economists who were predicting economic weakness were predicting good Black Friday sales volume.
Based on the inventory levels of public companies who reported earnings for the last corner, expectation is for low holiday sales, so a good Black Friday may mean poor sales for the rest of the holiday season and fewer markdowns.
The data is not in for more than Black Friday. Everyone can claim the numbers mean whatever they want them to mean, like they usually do.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoYes, it’s not done yet. See what happens.
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoBefore Black Friday, I was seeing and hearing (TV & radio) reports that consumer polling showed that people planned to cut back on holiday spending.
And as an old hand in retail, I thougt, "Not bloody likely."
People are employed , jobs are going begging, wages are rising, and although prices are high, it's amazing how quickly we accept the "new normal".
Looks like Ebay lost some of the share by not doing much holiday ads. Bad move ebay.
...
So much for the supposition nobody buys pre-owned things for gifts as well as the argument by some that the economy is in ruins and no one has any discretionary money. Interesting.
The ads I saw on FaceBook which appeals to the same older demographic as eBay,were in fact for refurbished items as gifts.
4pawsup*
·2 years agoSo far i would say it has been a good start to the holiday sales here on Ebay. For me being a small time seller i am having lots of fun. Hope it spreads to all the sellers on Ebay. Sell Sell Sell
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoAll I have to say is KEEP IT COMING FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.
linus.hux72fe
·2 years agoInteresting article!
"Pre-owned gift buying is also expected to be on the rise."
So much for the supposition nobody buys pre-owned things for gifts as well as the argument by some that the economy is in ruins and no one has any discretionary money. Interesting.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoYeah refurbished products do well on here. Saves a lot of money.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoWonder what’s driving the cheapo mentality with the ads? Ad spend fear.
bryo_3145
·2 years agoThat's a good deal for retailers.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoMaybe ebay will come out ahead on the ACTUAL profits with less ad spend. Remember those companies are spending millions. That actually would be a good move ebay.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoThat’s eye opening. Especially the part about the companies spending on ads. Looks like Ebay lost some of the share by not doing much holiday ads. Bad move ebay.
theteamsetguy
·2 years ago@vintagecraze50 ,
You must not be watching, listening, and visiting the same web sites I do. I see ads on TV quite often especially during sporting events. I saw one during the Cowboys and Redskins game yesterday. I hear them on the radio multiple times a day. I see ads on Facebook and many other websites I visit. I see many ads on ESPN, or Fox Sports. I hear the same ads on ESPN and Fox Sports Radio.
Most of the ads are for collectibles, auto parts, jewelry, watches, refurbished goods, sneakers, along with others. They sponsor major sports collectibles and comic conventions around the country.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoOK GOOD DEAL.
retro_entertainment_collectibles
·2 years agoAnd even at that I had four sales of ancient PC Software, go figure. Retail associations believe this to be the biggest shopping season ever, doesn't mean it equates to largest profits however.
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
OP2 years ago@theteamsetguy Yes, ebay is advertising. But they've been doing that type of advertising all year. Everything you mention is a "Focus Category." Now we are in Q4, and there is NO Holiday Marketing Campaign to drive buyers to the site...there's just the same old Focus Category efforts to drive "enthusiast" buyers to the Focus Categories.
What is lacking is any effort to tell buyers "Hey, ebay is a great place to shop for all sorts of things this Holiday Season." Something with broad appeal. A Holiday Ad Campaign for the entire site.
ebay used to do that sort of thing, but not since the new CEO came on.
ebay argues that enthusiast buyers buy stuff in focus and non focus categories , so we all benefit from the sort of limited marketing they ro. There is no doubt some truth to that.
But there's also truth in the fact that ebay's ever growing competitors are marketing their SITES, not just slivers of their sites. And they are growing and ebay is , at best, standing still, making most of its profit---as ebay readily admits---by increasing its take rate from sellers rather than by sales growth.
ebay will likely do OK this quarter, especially if enough sellers use promoted listings. But my guess is, many of ebay's competitors will make further inroads into what used to be ebay's nearly exclusive domain.
It's unclear whether ebay cares very much about this, because at the end of the day it might well be ebay's goal to actually trim down the site, not by dropping categories altogether, but by doing nothing to preserve them either...benign neglect can kill off the non focus categories without ebay having to actually say: "We no longer want your stuff---get out!"
We'll know much better in a couple years...I think Jamie's plan was basically a five year plan, so supposedly the rest of the Focus Categories should be rolling out within the next two years, and we'll see what's left once they've done that. Of course, if Jamie's Five year Plan follows the usual ebay timetable, it will be another ten years before it is complete. LOL
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoThat may happen as the competition keeps gaining more ground. Once a buyer leaves and finds what they want somewhere else it tend to become a habit of sorts.
tools*
·2 years agoWhen you respond to a post, you really should use the quote feature. Otherwise, it's difficult to know what you're talking about.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoI have been wanting to do that all the time using the quote feature to get others previous posts on here then mine. How do you do that?
evry1nositswindy
·2 years agoHit reply to that particular post and then click on " at the top of that reply box. @vintagecraze50
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoThere would be no reason for Jamie to KILL OFF sellers on here just because he focuses on higher value goods etc etc. The more sales the better along WITH the focused categories. He has created a more unique marketplace that stands out from the rest in some ways to bring in more buyers who will spend more money on the site. That is good for each and every ebay seller.
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
OP2 years ago@vintagecraze50 Well, you described ebay's stated position in a nutshell.
My position is: yes, it MIGHT work out that way. And, no, I'm not saying I expect ebay to simply eliminate categories the way the once popular Fab site did some years ago. I am saying its a matter of where ebay applies its resources, and the possible consequences from that allocation. .
kensgiftshop
·2 years agoI saw some videos of the Black Friday shoppers at some local malls, there were a lot of people, but didn't look like many were buying anything.
lawnmowerpartsstore2
·2 years agoI saw some videos of the Black Friday shoppers at some local malls, there were a lot of people, but didn't look like many were buying anything.
The wife talked me into going to the mall for Black Friday (What was i thinking). Well it was a total Mad House. So why the wife was checking out he sales i was people watching. I seen a massive amount of people but less then 25% of them were carrying a bag. Speaking of that, when we left the mall we walked out with nothing because those killer sale prices were on nothing we were interested in 😞
kensgiftshop
·2 years agoI don't see what they get out of the Black Friday shopping.
I went one time about 20+ years ago, our Walmart had a couple things I was going to get the kids.
When them doors opened, them people hit them doors like vultures on a dead corpse.
I've never seen so much pushing and shoving from grown adults.
They don't tell you they only have 4 or 5 of the items at that price, so by the time you finally reach them they are gone.
I also walked out with nothing that day.