A different perspective.

[clown_car_driver]

I have been studiously studying these forums for the last four months, which is when I got back to eBay.

I have been involved in internet sales for a looooong time.  Back when VPOTUS Al Gore first invented the net.  I had a website (GentlyUsedBooks.com) that was actually, at it's birth, bigger than Amazon.  We did SO many 'manual input' credit card charges that my banker called me to ask if we were selling porn.  Amazon used to buy books from US.  I say this, not as brag, but to give an idea of my 'expertise'.  I was there when The Amazon was The Amazon Creek.

My OG resume impresses the kids, but they are irrelevant these days (the skills, not the kids).

I came back to eBay after a long sabbatical.   I came back to a completely different environment from what I left.  I came back to a lot of unhappy sellers; and I've been listening.  And I can understand: if I had been selling $11k a month (like some of you here) and things changed to cut my sales in half - I would sure be looking for a reason.

Many theories have been presented here; and I think that while there is no ONE reason, the hybrid-combo of  many of them are probable.  I believe that the economy is number one - and eBay's problems in general is number two.

So, I got started in December ... really on line with some inventory in January.  Between the two accounts we have about 1k units in inventory.  As you can imagine, my sales have been UP since we opened - that's not hard to do when you start at zero.  Hell, one sale this week, and two next week is a 100% increase. 

I also have a different goal with this endeavor.  I don't need to support a family and a crew and a mistress, and a gram of coke for Friday night ... I only need to make an extra $2k a month net - because I'm old and my doc's Rx is way more expensive that the aforementioned gram and retirement doesn't pay enough.  I think I will be able to do this.

But, my point is ... if I had been here for 10 years, had a great business going, making five figures a month ... systems all set up (with a fixed cost of four figures a month) and a mistress and house payment and wife and kids and taxes are due ... I'd be frantic too.  Because when income is reduced by half, and fixed costs are ... fixed.  You can get pinched in the shrinking spread.

For me, I'm ok.  I'll get the cash flow where I want it and stop before it becomes a tax problem.

For you guys that have become accustomed to that five figure per month income ... that's going to change.  I truly believe that we are in for bad economic times.  Prepare for it now because it's already started. 

You're going to have to work harder, for less.  

For quite a while.

I wish us all good luck.

The economy we have, is the economy we want. 

 Right?

[stainlessenginecovers]

Prior to Covid 19; there were X amount of sellers 'selling' on the internet. 

Post Covid, it has tripled. 

The amount of places to sell online has tripled.

Just like the freeways in LA Cali; there is only 'so much' room for people doing the same thing before it is obvious that there is now...not enough room. 

(Not to mention tha

a.) the 19-49 has changed; they don't want 'stuff'; they want 'adventure'

b.) the 'homeless population has 100x the past 10 years)

Bottom line; there is just too many of us doing the same thing. Only 40 days/40 nights will EVER fix this. 

[mtgraves7984]

I agree with a lot you posted, but Al Gore did not invent the Internet. Granted, he promoted it...

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

I think I might have bought a book or two from you back in the day....

I agree that there are multiple factors involved in any seller's sales decline. 

I don't think the present economy is a really huge problem for most online sellers. (Of course, there is plenty of uncertainty in the world today, and so that could change quickly.)

The increase in competition (both for selling and sourcing), increased shipping costs, the increase in buyer expectations, ever-changing product demand....I think these are major factors. And you can add to that decisions selling platforms have made, some of which have added to the challenges we face as sellers.

But ultimately, each seller will have to figure out how best to continue (if indeed he chooses to continue). There is still a tremendous amount of opportunity out there, but figuring out how best to take advantage of it is the real trick.

[slippinjimmy]

I've actively operated about a dozen different businesses over the last 50 years, pretty much every one of them started small, grew to levels I never expected and then slowly fizzled until I put them out of their misery.

This is just the way things are for most startups, only about a third are still standing after 10 years.

Some good data (perhaps not 100% accurate) at this link:

https://www.lendingtree.com/business/small/failure-rate/

Many eBay sellers especially those that have not operated an independent business prior to eBay seem to think that if you do well at the beginning it will just continue on forever. Those that started in 2018/19 got the Covid bump and are now shocked that it hasn't continued.

[slippinjimmy]

---

@mtgraves7984 wrote:

I agree with a lot you posted, but Al Gore did not invent the Internet. Granted, he promoted it...

---

So what exactly did Al Gore do and claim he did? In May of 1999, Gore told CNN's Wolf Blitzer, "During my service in the U.S. Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet." This quickly was mutated into "I created the Internet" and became part of the presidential campaign.

https://origins.osu.edu/history-news/gore-did-help-invent-internet?language_content_entity=en

It's a persistent joke that continues to this day and of course used regularly as a form of sarcasm.

[yesterdays_treasures_44]

It boils down to greed. And because of this greed, we sellers appear greedy when we have to raise our prices to make a buck. And that defeats the point of ebay.

[dbfolks166mt]

Who's Al Gore??

[chapeau-noir]

<<if I had been here for 10 years, had a great business going, making five figures a month ... systems all set up (with a fixed cost of four figures a month) and a mistress and house payment and wife

Mentions the mistress twice ROFL. 😂 

[pennysdream]

I don't know if you are correct or not. 

I just wanted say that I love your manicure