Coronavirus - Are your sales up, down, or no change?

[andrew547]

I'd like to understand how this virus situation is affecting ebay sales generally. I want to see what's happening, figure out what to expect, and survive this thing as a seller. Generally, are people buying on ebay more, less, or no change?

So, are your sales up, down, no change? To what do you attribute it to, if anything?

I'll start. My sales are up significantly the past week or so. I sell things that are not at all related to health or the coronavirus. However, there could be other reasons for the uptick. I got sick a year ago and didn't ship a bunch of orders, and that blew my top seller status and ebay handicapped my listings for a year. I just got top rated seller status back, and that could explain the sales increase.

[chapeau-noir]

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@lostweekendshop wrote:

It's been about a month since the entire nation really started paying attention to this, so I've been using that as my jumping off point to track sales.

First two weeks were slower for sure, but not horrific. Sales have been a bit better than that, and with most of my sources for inventory closing, I haven't been spending nearly as much. 

This past week was the first one that really felt anything close to how sales were over the previous several months. I also started selling on another niche platform last week and have been really enjoying it; only a sale or two a day, but it's so easy to cross-post my eBay listings that there's very little sweat equity needed on that platform thus far.

At any rate, I'm holding strong so far. Again, not being able to source has helped minimize expenses. Right now, sales could go off a cliff and I could be financially OK until later this summer. But then, I live pretty modestly, in part because being self-employed gives me that dose of reality that if things go sideways in the world, I need to be ready to roll with the punches.

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I agree with all of this - inventory is my biggest expense.  My personal expenses are quite low - I have this kind of simple-minded life, if I have enough books, friends, a bicycle, running shoes and my health, everything else is gravy.  I've been tracking for about a month, too, but my sales haven't recovered - I thought I might see a small bump, but really, I don't sell Fashion that anyone really needs, even for casual wear, and I know that will have impact.  Since I cross-list elsewhere, though, it helps with overall sales - 'elsewhere' seems to be outselling eBay for me, but I can't list computer and a/v stuff there. 

This has led me to really evaluating what I sell and where I want to go with this in the future (I'm past retirement age).  This slack time isn't great for my pocketbook, but it has given me needed thinking time.  Sometimes it's hard to slow down.

[femmefan1946]

@chapeau-noir 

It is thought that, at least in this region, it may signal a permanent change in telecommuting habits.

I'm less sure about that.
My neighbour in theory could work from home, but has been biking downtown (under 10km) to the hi-tech company he works for, basically because they have an 18 month old at home.

Poor wife- she was really ready to go back to work since her maternity leave is over.

My public servant friends have also been sent home, but are feeling stir-crazy without the structure of the daily commute, office chitchat, adult conversation. Worst off is a single mother whose teen was with her dad (amicable, good father) when Ottawans were told to stay put. She is very very lonely. The single people less so, since they are used to being alone at home.

Best off seem to be the retail workers, in spite of their concerns about the illness. Their days still have structure.

I'm scared to ask how my nephew and his wife in Saskatoon are doing. He's an anesthetist and she's a surgeon. Front line.

That so many are anxious to get back to the daily routine tells me that most people actually like to work and make a difference. Including those who are eligible for the $2000 a month already being sent to workers who have had no income in the past two weeks. Those went out surprisingly fast. (That single mother/public servant was one of those on duty taking names and addresses for the cheques.)

[chapeau-noir]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

@chapeau-noir 

It is thought that, at least in this region, it may signal a permanent change in telecommuting habits.

I'm less sure about that.
My neighbour in theory could work from home, but has been biking downtown (under 10km) to the hi-tech company he works for, basically because they have an 18 month old at home.

Poor wife- she was really ready to go back to work since her maternity leave is over.

My public servant friends have also been sent home, but are feeling stir-crazy without the structure of the daily commute, office chitchat, adult conversation. Worst off is a single mother whose teen was with her dad (amicable, good father) when Ottawans were told to stay put. She is very very lonely. The single people less so, since they are used to being alone at home.

Best off seem to be the retail workers, in spite of their concerns about the illness. Their days still have structure.

I'm scared to ask how my nephew and his wife in Saskatoon are doing. He's an anesthetist and she's a surgeon. Front line.

That so many are anxious to get back to the daily routine tells me that most people actually like to work and make a difference. Including those who are eligible for the $2000 a month already being sent to workers who have had no income in the past two weeks. Those went out surprisingly fast. (That single mother/public servant was one of those on duty taking names and addresses for the cheques.)

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Well, I'm just speaking of this region, which is a tech hub and was already going toward more and more telecommuting - the talk from people I know in the industry and also reading is that there is not going to be going back for some companies. I doubt it'll be a wholesale transition - that would be impossible, but it will accelerate a trend.

[patd3283]

My daughter has telecommuted for the past 20 years, going in to the office maybe one day a week.

Now, she has a different problem - a 6 year old daughter at home, home schooling - and trying to work.

She has had to cut back her hours in order to home school and tend to daughter's needs and this will probably go on for at least 3 or 4 months but the mortgage payment is still due as is the need for food and other essentials.

At least she has us as a back up, but... being antiques, we can't do much 😞

[stacy_pme]

Up, but I'm selling off a lot of my brick and mortar inventory to pay bills 😞
Xbox One & PS4 games right now are selling very heavily....  

Oh boy!  I hope we all weather this storm like heroes.

[moondogblues]

"It's just a liberal economic agenda typical b******* from the left!"

Tell that to the people who have died.

[chapeau-noir]

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@patd3283 wrote:

My daughter has telecommuted for the past 20 years, going in to the office maybe one day a week.

Now, she has a different problem - a 6 year old daughter at home, home schooling - and trying to work.

She has had to cut back her hours in order to home school and tend to daughter's needs and this will probably go on for at least 3 or 4 months but the mortgage payment is still due as is the need for food and other essentials.

At least she has us as a back up, but... being antiques, we can't do much 😞

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That's where it gets rough - workers are really in a bind when it comes to having the schools locked down, whether they telecommute or not. A couple of people have told me that they're glad that at least it's spring quarter with summer break coming up, but hard enough as it is. 🙁

I know in my previous profession, more and more of it has gone to telecommuting - it made no sense to have a large office space, at the ridiculous rates we have here, to house people who don't need to collaborate more than once or twice a week, if that.  I managed 22 people remotely in my last quality assurance job - yeah, I had chat apps and meeting apps. Once the DH saw me with a cell phone stuck on one year and a regular telephone handset on the other, and I was trying to type a message in the messenger app - I almost had to use my elbows for that.  This is so common in my region that I can see it simply rolling on and being further implemented. Again, this is all tech stuff and I'm just speaking of this as a tech hub.

[moondogblues]

I did telecom (Pacific Bell, MCI/Worldcom, Qwest, Frontier Global Crossing, etc) for over 30 years. I LOVED telecommuting...I could facilitate a cutover at 4am from a nice warm bed, instead of a cold office. I'm retired now but if I could work from home I'd consider going back. At least I know the difference between a T1 and a turnip...lol. Some of the techs I've tried to work with at CenturyLink make me want to hurl.

Just a shout out to sellers here...we may never have to go to town for about a year. There are still supplies and foods here that are reasonable, we've been fortunate. And I love to shop....

[sergo7sergo]

Slow sales, Usually sale 5-7 items a week, now only 2-3 items. 

Good luck to all sellers!

[bar-29368]

Mine have been up on some items, dead on others, but I'd rather have slow sales and no virus out there.

[turquoisetulips]

My Sales are down, and I am not buying anything.. And I need stuff.. Dont want to bring Covid into my home/ kragnasty 

That is possible with just about anything  you bring into your home  including groceries  and none of us can do without that  for long ..  Here's a few things to keep in mind . The virus can only last about 3 days  on most surfaces . So with anything new coming in , use gloves and leave it for awhile before using it.  Tulips 

[arch-vile]

Prior to the "virus" I was selling mostly on craigslist... ebay sales were almost non existent for months and months.. since the virus hit.. My CL stuff dried up and i've been selling left and right on ebay... It comes in phases.. but I think alot of people are bored at home and dont want to venture out.. doesn't matter to me.. either way.. sales are sales.. but my ebay has been busy lately..

[mom_and_pop_card_shop]

WAY up

[chapeau-noir]

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@arch-vile wrote:

Prior to the "virus" I was selling mostly on craigslist... ebay sales were almost non existent for months and months.. since the virus hit.. My CL stuff dried up and i've been selling left and right on ebay... It comes in phases.. but I think alot of people are bored at home and dont want to venture out.. doesn't matter to me.. either way.. sales are sales.. but my ebay has been busy lately..

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I used to sell vintage audio equipment - now is a great time to work on that project amp or receiver, etc. I can totally see bits like that selling well.  I've been going through my storage trying to find more remotes and parts but am running out.  eBay is the best place to find any of that, IMHO, bar none.

[remembermonday]

I worked from home for years and can give a reason why some people might not be buying tops for their meetings.

It was a large international company and most of the staff worked from home and we would just speak to each other by using teleconference. Back then we used WebEx and GoToMeeting.  I’m guessing some companies just talk instead of staring at a bunch of faces on a screen.  Of course, thinking of that company  I’m sure it may have had to do with security as well. I personally find staring at a bunch of co-workers on a screen kind of silly... pointless really unless it is absolutely necessary. So it may be because they just aren’t looking at each other- just listening. I used love cranking out the work and having a meeting in my jammies. Then I’d get dressed and raid the fridge at lunch. .  None of the office drama and I could pet that cute cat sitting next to me. Good times... 😁