selling
Is it only me, or has anyone noticed that sales have come to a complete stop on all platforms? Even at yard sales, nobody shows up. If they do, they just look.
31 comments
Is it only me, or has anyone noticed that sales have come to a complete stop on all platforms? Even at yard sales, nobody shows up. If they do, they just look.
chubbycatcollectibles
·11 months agoI can attest to a big whopping slow down. I think for one the President needs to focus everything on the US Economy. It is the biggest concern for Most Americans. Since January sales for me have had a steady dive. Buyers send messages and tell me how cool my store is, but sales have been in a downslide
redlinear
·11 months agoIt's the back to school blues for sales.
See it every year.
Well, lots of other things too, but....before all the other issues, we would slow down for a couple of weeks when school started back.
sreu3058
·11 months agoInteresting comment about using ‘Search’ feature, and then ‘lowest price’ filter.
I have never in my life selected a ‘lowest price’ filter. and not because I am wealthy!
The 1 filter I do use in every single ‘Search’:
USA only (Sellers location)
inhawaii
·11 months agoDon't be ridiculous.
Sales have not stopped on all platforms.
There are millions, if not billions of dollars of sales.
mrmalibu
OP11 months agoI was referring to me, not everyone. I was just wondering if people were experiencing the same thing. I depends on what you sell and what people need.
youn2240
·11 months agoSales on items that sit for a while I have noticed tend to happen right before the listing renews or right after it renews. There is something in that to dwell on too. Not 100% how it goes down but I see it quite a bit.
youn2240
·11 months agoI think it comes down to seller theory. Lots of sellers that aren't getting sales refuse to lower their prices and liquidize the money to put towards other items that will sell. Meanwhile when you aren't listing and getting sales I would imagine the algorithm stomps you down because you aren't providing the inventory or selling the inventory you have while others are. I would imagine the algorithm is more geared towards accounts that generate money and satisfy customers. Another thing about leaving the same inventory on for long periods of time is that other sellers that find the same items and like to sell things will undercut your price so if you're not staying on top of what exists in your market you're probably sitting on listings that aren't towards the top when people search and I would assume lowest price first is the most common search filter for most buyers. I also agree with long tail selling where you have huge inventories and don't mind sitting on stuff for long periods before the sale comes. Idk everything I think about the algorithm is just vibes.
mrmalibu
OP11 months agoThanks for your reply. For the last 7 years, since the Woolsey fire, my life has been insurance companies, contractors, and lawyers. We just settled. So my inventory just sat, but we were still selling about 400 a month. Since January, it has just stopped. I tried lowering prices. That's not helping.
onefootflipper
·11 months agoAugust is often my worst month.
This year I loaded up on backpacks earlier in the year and it didn't help. I sold 9 packpacks in the last 90 days and still have 19 of them, and school starts monday here.
telegraph_mercantile
·11 months agoI have a little dream that when/if prices for new items rise because of tariffs that our used items will seem more attractive and we will hear that Cha-Ching more often.
BTW, I was listening to a session at eBay Open yesterday and the presenter got two Cha-Chings in about 20 minutes. I’m sure it made all of us virtual attendees immediately check our phones. Sigh.
sreu3058
·11 months agoIt is pretty darn slow for me, but I am not a ‘big’ seller.
I am however, playing a game with myself to get all the rest of my inventory listed / drafts in the next 7 days, because
A. when Q4 hits I can then spend all my time just packing and sending, or
B. I unconsciously think I will leave here w/ my daughter next week when she goes to college, live there, and not come back.
Neither are based in reality, but I will have all my inventory listed soon!
m60driver
·11 months agoSlow overall sales from a variety of conditions is affecting many of us. But you have other issues, more specifically your photos. You should more consistently use a white background. I mean there is one listing where you have a black Kershaw knife that looks like it is against a black background and an OD first aid container pouch against a dark blue background. I see a dark blue polo shirt against a wood background. And the knives, what does "sample not sharp" mean? That line confuses me and I sold such cutlery in my store for decades, including Kershaws.
Going back to the photos, I just use two of those 20" X 30" white foam boards placed at 90° angles that I get from Michael's for a few bucks each.
lawnmowerpartsstore2
·11 months agoI agree about pictures. It can make all the difference in the world....
mrmalibu
OP11 months agoI thank you for your advice. I will get the white foam board like you said. We were Kewshaw Dealers at trade shows for 30 years. We found that when you handed a knife to someone, most times they would cut themselves.
So Kershaw made knives that were dull for us and put sample not sharp on them. Those are now collectibles.
We know Ken Onion, so we only sold his spring-assisted knives. Thank you again for your advice.
m60driver
·11 months agoWell that is interesting, neither Kershaw, nor any other major knife manufacturer, gave us that option for dulled knife sales samples in my store and I had many a customer cut themselves when handling cutlery, always had Band-Aids at the ready. Perhaps I just didn't notice them available at the wholesale trade shows.
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
·11 months ago@mrmalibu I'm not seeing that. We have plenty of competition when sourcing at yard sales, thrifts etc. And in my rural/small town area I'm seeing more B&M businesses opening for crafters, vintage sellers, etc. And I see a lot of activity on social media sites.
The business is changing, no question, and a lot depends on what you sell and where you are trying to sell it.
But it is a business in flux, and adapting is more important than ever.
mrmalibu
OP11 months agoThanks. I live in the mountains above Malibu. My yard sale were famous. We would get 200 people on a weekend sale. We were in the Woolsey fire and then COVID, so this is the first sale we've had since then. Maybe 25 people the whole weekend. Thanks for your response. We sell everything. in all categories.
wheredidiputthatremote
·11 months agoI've been at this since 2011, and this is the worst I've ever seen things.
mrmalibu
OP11 months agoI've been on eBay since they started. This is the worst I've ever seen it. Getting my GoDaddy store updated.
chubbycatcollectibles
·11 months agoI have to agree. I know July and August are terrible months, but this has been the worst. I keep waiting for that economic boom we keep hearing and praying for and I sure hope it arrives soon
murphken
·11 months agoRelax. Wait unit it gets cold. You will get those sales if you do it right! Perseverance is key. If you have the determination, you can get your sales.
bonanza125
·11 months agoJuly and August are usually slower months due summer time and people are on vacation. Sales increase in November, December and January. Yard sales buyers are just full of people looking for bargain deals. If you have specific collectibles, video games or Pokemon stuff you would have a line full of people.
mrmalibu
OP11 months agoI posted in my yard sale that I had Pokémon cards and nothing. I've been collecting for 45 years. starting to liquidate our lives.
onefootflipper
·11 months agoSorry, that is my fault. I have made multiple youtube videos about not wasting your money on pokemon cards at garage sales (99 percent of collections are worthless and most pickers don't know enough to be able to tell). I guess it finally clicked.
vickyaa
·11 months agoSales are basically non existent. I called eBay to see if my store is even showing up? Never ever have I seen it this bad..
chapeau-noir
·11 months agoGiven what you sell (kind of indoorish items) and the time of year (August), I think you're doing great.
buyselljack2016
·11 months agoThe "free" pile that I have by the road has been slow, but this evening someone did make off with the Cuisinart programmable coffee maker (reservoir leaks a bit) and some single packs of coffee 🤣
chapeau-noir
·11 months agoI so love those piles.
SOMEONE (maybe the city) stole away our ever-renewing Pile o' Junk by the side of the road on the outskirts of town - these outskirts are where people keep chickens on their apartment balconies and people's moss-covered carports flop every time we have a decent-sized earthquake, so this isn't exactly Billionaire Row. We curb surfers used to go through this rather large junk pile on a regular basis - some pulling up in cars, some walking over, I recall two of us hustling around it with our bikes and trailers, looking for anything clean and good.
So we miss our pile now - locals tried to get another one going, but someone started growing bamboo in the empty lot it fronts and objected.
So now we go around looking at people's piles. I found an under-desk exercise bike and perfectly good dehydrator on a couple of occasions. I could haul the dehydrator in my trailerr but I was out running when I found the under desk exercise bike - I was afraid someone would whisk it away so I hauled it off with me. A mile over hill and dale running with that sucker poking me in the tender bits with the pedals and legs. And it weighed 25 lb.
roccotacodad54
·11 months agoFunny thing. People can pull off the road/highway (50 mph-2 lanes-no street lights/sidewalks) near our place and put boxes of tomatoes, potatoes, zuchinni etc. there with free written on them from time to time. It's like getting them delivered. When they go soft off into one of my fallow raised beds (lasagna composting) they go.
fxpel
·11 months agoI have noticed a big slow down on Ebay. In fact I keep checking to make sure my store is still up and running. Like someone turned off a switch. Only few orders in a few weeks. That is fairly unusual for me.
chapeau-noir
·11 months agoYard sales around here are mostly just junk, or large, dirty children's toys (for large, dirty children, I guess). Everything else goes online.
Online, August can be pretty darned slow.