Black Friday and Cyber Five Are Almost Here----Doing Anything Special?

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

My stuff is not on any of the "Hot Christmas Gift Items" lists that abound this time of year, but I do get people buying stuff for gifts and also for home decor or entertaining. Still, I'm expecting most of the internet shoppers to be elsewhere, especially during Cyber 5, when there are so many promos going on...and Small Business Saturday tends to draw people to B&M stores. 

I'll probably run a sale or two, and will maybe try to participate in some cooperative marketing on Social Media.

Do you have any particular selling plans? 

[tarotfindsandmore]

Running a sale over the Black Friday weekend and trying out both the Store Promotion and Off-site Promotions for four days (Thanksgiving to Monday).  Not sure the promotions will do anything but it can't hurt for a few days.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@tarotfindsandmore  Great! Please let us know how the promos work for you. Do you sell primarily new stuff? Do you have multiple quantitates of most of it?

[tarotfindsandmore]

I sell a bit of both.  I have quite a few vintage items, some new-old (sealed but out of print or part of very small LEs from independent artists) tarot decks, and a variety of new retail arbitrage and collectible items (designer toys, jewelry, accessories). I'm basically a kind-of-everything-but-not seller....which is why I'm doing  the sale (just vintage stuff @ 50% off, and coupons for 20% off for holiday and tarot store category items) and trying out the off-site and store promos. Half the battle for me is just getting seen.  

I'll definitely post results of this little experiment regardless of how it turns out.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@tarotfindsandmore  Thanks so much! Do you use social media at all?

[tarotfindsandmore]

No, I have X, Instagram, and FB but I never log on.  I'm not all that sociable.  I just watch artists and creators that I enjoy on the first two, and the last (FB) is a remnant from when I was overseas in grad school a decade-and-a-half ago.

[angelno9]

Do you have any particular selling plans? 

I sell vintage, "long tail" music memorabilia which is definitely not in the "Hot Christmas Gift Items" list. 

My plan is the same year-round. I list as many item as I can for free (currently 1200+ items on six selling accounts), I do not accept offers, and I do not run sales or promotions. 

[femmefan1946]

@angelno9 

My experience is that November and December are dead in the 'collectibles' category.

This may be different with new 'collectibles' like Funko Pops or Barbies, but not stamps or books.

My busy period is Boxing Day through March, when collectors are stuck at home and browsing.

This year is complicated because our Canadian postal system is on strike. No word yet on when they will be legislated back to work.

I just took down about 500 Promoted or Watched items, since those seem the most likely to be found and purchased while shipping is impossible. And I've been counteroffering at a penny less, with an apology and explanation, on Best Offers. None were particularly good BOs so we'll see about those.

Using the extra time to write Drafts of incoming product and to work on my current novel. I have a book launch in early December too.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@angelno9 Definitely some cool stuff, but I can see that it isn't exactly Holiday/Gift oriented. I imagine like my stuff, at least some of your stuff is bought as a gift for someone who does not just want the latest gadget, but I can why you don't do anything special for the Holidays

[chevymontecarlo88]

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@angelno9 wrote:

Do you have any particular selling plans? 

I sell vintage, "long tail" music memorabilia which is definitely not in the "Hot Christmas Gift Items" list. 

My plan is the same year-round. I list as many item as I can for free (currently 1200+ items on six selling accounts), I do not accept offers, and I do not run sales or promotions. 

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Good advice. List as much as you can now. There will be more eyes online during these times and the more you have out there, the better chance in snagging some of these items. If you have rare items, i don't think it is necessary to discount anything. If you are selling run of the mill items that are plentiful online, being best in price would be a good plan. (Discounts/Sales/Promotions)

You have some cool items @angelno9 that might do better on other platforms as well. I know many that would buy your stuff for the holidays. Kudos to your mix of items. 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@femmefan1946 I don't find that it is dead, but agree...some subcategories will do better than others...obviously collectibles related to Christmas are likely yo do better than many others. So, it depends on your mix, I suppose. Also agree that I usually see a nice bump AFTER the Holidays, into January and February.

What kind of book are you launching? That certainly sounds interesting. Do you use ebay to promote your books at all?  

I assume you sell into the US. Do you use the $800 de minimis rule to do so? That might or might not remain the law come January. And yesterday the president elect here announced he intends to levy tariffs of 25% on Canada and Mexico when he is inaugurated (Jan 20th). I would guess the de minimis rule would basically exempt you from that, but if the rule is rescinded, you will be looking a the 25% tariff (assuming he carries through on his promise). Just something to keep in mind as we head into the New Year.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@tarotfindsandmore Ah, OK, thanks. I'm not a huge fan of ebay's Store Social Media tool (It could be much better), but it is free to use and convenient for posting items to FB and a coupe other sites. 

[meme6253]

I have been running sales all month & will continue to do so through the season.

[femmefan1946]

It's an anthology -  Island Writers. My story is one of many. The title is The Neighbours, but my original title was Trailer Park Werewolves.

The $800 de minimus is why any non-uS seller can ship to the USA.

It is also why the threatened tariff would not stop Chinese sellers on eBay.

At one point, Chinese sellers were importing in bulk to the USA , renting warehouses and hiring staff, and shipping with US carriers. Earlier tariff talk ended that and they didn't come back.

The UPU "work to rule" action had begun the rise in Chinese postal rates by September 2020.

Right now, we are more concerned about the Canada Post strike, going into its second week.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Ok, you had me at "Trailer Park Werewolves"   will you be selling the book on ebay? I'd consider buying that!

As for the $800 rule, the thing is, it might be going away, so while the tariff might not have a direct impact on your ebay sales to the US, the elimination of the $800 rule would. But as you say, right now the postal strike is the immediate and much larger concern. I hope it gets resolved soon!