Best & worst selling months

[muggins]

I'm wondering if January is a slow selling month? I sold on eBay for 8 years then due to life circumstances, I haven't really sold for 5+ years.  I used to know what months were slow.  I would appreciate any input.  I sell collectibles. Thanks.

[luckythewinner]

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@muggins wrote:

I'm wondering if January is a slow selling month? I sold on eBay for 8 years then due to life circumstances, I haven't really sold for 5+ years.  I used to know what months were slow.  I would appreciate any input.  I sell collectibles. Thanks.

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I sell music meorabilia and I have never noticed any change in sales based on what month it is. 

IMHO my sales have everything to do with the quality of the items that I list and the prices I charge. 

[mrdutch1001]

A worst month for one seller can be the best month for another seller.

There really is no definite answer to that question as selling varies from seller to seller and product to product.

[computeraidllc]

It comes down to what you are selling. You are not going to sell Christmas decorations very much in March or April or swim gear in December.

If it is a year around item, then expect it to do well every month.

[dhbookds]

As said, somewhat depends on the item.......  Housewares/decorative/utility seem to do well for us Jan-May and then quit.....June-Aug....little of anything of what we sell.....Sept-Christmas can be very good.....

[sakic92710]

Selling on eBay has turned into something similar to playing lottery scratch tickets. 1 day you can win $75 then, get $3 the next then, no winners for the next 4. Very active days are random & few. The saying, "Another day, another dollar" doesn't apply to this site. Personally, I see MANY $0 days. I sell a variety but, mostly collectibles. Best of luck to you if you venture back. Happy 2020.

[slippinjimmy]

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@sakic92710 wrote:

Selling on eBay has turned into something similar to playing lottery scratch tickets. 1 day you can win $75 then, get $3 the next then, no winners for the next 4. Very active days are random & few. The saying, "Another day, another dollar" doesn't apply to this site. Personally, I see MANY $0 days. I sell a variety but, mostly collectibles. Best of luck to you if you venture back. Happy 2020.

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It's much more about knowing the market, both the products and the buyers. I know both and my sales are remarkably predictable.

[gwzcomps]

Depends on how much eBay chooses to throttle a seller's sales.

[kathieskorner]

I am also a collectibles seller, and over the course of 19 years January-March is historically my best quarter of the year.   However, for me, eBay sales have declined dramatically over the past 9 months so I really don't know what to expect going forward.   

[yuzuha]

It depends very much on what you're selling.  I have certain types of items that do very well in December when people are buying gifts for others.  I have other types of items that do much better in January when people have Christmas money and are looking to spend it on themselves.

[reallynicestamps]

When we had our B&M store, December was our worst month.

We sold some supplies (including some expensive hingless albums) and a fair number of gift certificates/trade dollars, but our actual stamp sales were way down.

We opened in 1978 and closed in 2014.

We tried having sales in December, but all that happened was that we had the same number of sales but took in less money.

Our collectors had a stamp budget which turned into their gift budget in December.

Then come Boxing Day- doorcrashing !!!

We started having a Boxing Week/New Year sale that did not discount anything.

Our regular customers got a newsletter with a clip out trade dollar coupon - usually valued at $5.00.

And anyone who came into the store got a 15% discount (the amount of Ontario sales taxes) in the form of more trade dollars.

Bring in the $5 coupon, get your $100 purchase for $95 and $15 in trade dollars for your next purchase.

No discounts though.

We wanted to encourage repeat purchases not bottom feeders.

Online, it's been my experience that January through March are strong with July and December being weak.

This year December has been strong quite good however. I have been using Promoted Listings (at one percent only) and we'll see if that continues in 2020.

[simply_toyz]

Selling on here, Oct - Dec were my bread and butter months as I sell toys and collectibles. This year, my normally dependable Christmas sales didn't even match my slowest selling months of summer. Sales are currently down almost 60% compared to this time last year. An absolute joke if you ask me. I'd never recommend ebay to anyone looking to make a living. Ebay just isn't what it used to be. I have better sell through rates on Mercari for items that just sit here and don't sell.

[1tuna]

...............general reply...............

I have sold year round for 20 years,there is a slowdown in the summer for me,I still manage to sell as many items but the view count is down a bit,the action always seem to pick up after back to school.I runs many auctions that start at a dollar and they do better after summer is over.I think 65,000 was the best I ever did in 1 month and that was a January

[yuzuha]

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@simply_toyz wrote:
 I have better sell through rates on Mercari for items that just sit here and don't sell.

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It's interesting you say that, because I could not move my collectibles -namely, my crane game prizes - at ALL on Mercari.  I got nothing but nonstop lowball offers on them, not a single sale.  When I moved them over here, they started selling almost right away and so far I've sold seven of them in a little under two months, with the added bonus of no lowball offers.

[myboardid]

I sell holiday decorations, mostly Halloween & Christmas, and predictably my best sales are September - December.  March, April, May are the slowest, but in January I travel so I'm not selling for most of the month.