December 2021 sales down 50% from prior years

[herway]

How were your December sales?

Mine were down 50% from prior years.

I have been selling on ebay for 25 years so I do have the stats to prove that statement.

Now I have to dip into my savings account to pay my rent and heat my house.

Will the algorithm allow me to make that shortfall in sales up in January, probably not--speaking from experience.

So frustrating.

The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

[leeduva]

Pretty bad, so far the worst year was 2021. I'd say about 85% down. In late December during the holidays I got a slight boost in sales. 

[jayjaspersgarage]

Not sure what to say.  My December started horrible and finished strong.  You do sell a lot of interesting items.

I always make sure my ebay income is so low that I don't rely on it for anything.

[leeduva]

I hope ebay remains strong and not go the way of sites like ioffer. I know Amazon is dominant but people still like to use ebay to buy and sell. 

[jayjaspersgarage]

" sites like ioffer."

Add that to the list of sites I never heard of.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@jayjaspersgarage  ioffer was initially touted by some as an ebay killer, meaning it would replace ebay. It didn't work that way. it finally closed down in 2019 after running into a lot of trouble because it had become something of a haven for counterfeit items (like designer handbags)...Some may remember that Bonanza's founders claimed Bonanza would replace ebay, and even with a huge push from ecommercebytes, the site never got the traction it needed, and now seems to be mostly used by ebay sellers who cross post to the site.

[jayjaspersgarage]

"Some may remember that Bonanza's founders claimed Bonanza would replace ebay, and even with a huge push from ecommercebytes, the site never got the traction it needed, and now seems to be mostly used by ebay sellers who cross post to the site."

Bonanza was a ranch to the north of Lake Tahoe as far as I'm concerned.  I live in the thick of Silicon Valley and have seen these start ups come and go for 35 years.  Just like Standard Oil and the Rockefellers ebay is the premiere on-line selling site with the advantage of being the first.  I lived across the street from one of the original coders for ebay and BETA tested for him in 1994.  That was four miles from the present day TESLA plant in Fremont, CA

[cambriachick]

Hi herway,

Like you and mycottage, I sell vintage.  I did well the last 2 years but had a definite downturn when ebay introduced the promoted listings plus.  I'm not participating in that promotion and I think that might be the problem.  I'm considering trying it for my higher priced items, maybe 2 of them.  It's pretty expensive.

[paulspickupparts]

I notice you have nothing listed .  Did you quit selling on ebay . My sales were down 40 percent on ebay  for December verses previous year .   $16000 in listing with $90 dollar sales per week  30% profit margine.   During Christmas . Really?  What did I do wrong . 20 years with never a negative feedback. In the dark .

5 percent 

[joseh1445]

My sales were $500 for December 2022.  My sales for December 2021 $3950...  The good thing, that is if its a good thing, is that I got a job back in July 2022.  And I am not relying on ebay to pay my bills.  

[buyologist-3]

. "I doubt many rich people even come to Ebay."

-----------------------------

Ooooo~~~~ Guess again!  They sure do!

And P.S. Never call anyone's things 'JUNK'.  Not nice, no class.  Have some empathy.  We'll have it for you when your time comes.

[buyologist-3]

Your things are beautiful!  Things have slowed down a lot and both sellers and buyers are gone.  Too many changes, too fast.  Time might help, but is there enough time??  Good luck in the future.  I've been there, and it 'suks'...  

[chapeau-noir]

Chugging along here, no problems.