Hello --- How is February so far

[vintagemelrose2009]

Hello everyone - We don't sell any Valentine's day items so we have a very slow February so far.  No sale on Feb 1st  and then we have a good day -- nothing to brag about -- then back to no sale.  Not sure if it is the lull --- winter is not so much in CA --- our sales of snowboard gear is down this year --- usually people stop buying unless we are getting so much snow in the mountains and then we will see sales for snow gear pick up.  no one seems to be buying regular stuff - t-shirts and tops and hoodies -- we sell all throughout the year.  

We are kind of taking a break from lising too much.  We used to list as much as we sell --- about 200 to 250 items but last couple of months, we have been reducing old inventory and slowing down on listing.  That may explain slow sales.  When new listings, there are sales of new items.  

How are you guys doing?  I have been talking with owner to find some interesting items to sell.  clothing is ok and it sells but there are so much out there.  We need to find some new category to sell.

We are working on it.  Any suggestion?  Of course, e-bay comes up with inventory suggestions.  We don't want to sell health and beauty.  It is too specific and people have such wide taste and interest.

Love to hear how you guys are faring in February so far.   We are down to selling half as much weekly

compared to Jan & Dec.  Neither month were great by any means.  Best wishes.  Happy Spring.  Just around the corner.  Cheers.

[professor-t]

Well, I'm just getting squared away as a seller with a store.  I can sat that February has been better than January and I'm showing a profit even when you add in the store subscription.  I think I've found a couple of product niches that will be my mainstay from now on.

[thatsallfolks]

February was by far my worst month last year. This year, I’ve almost reached my monthly average, with 12 days to go.

[vintagemelrose2009]

Good luck with your store.  The owner i work for has been in business for over 10 years.  Now it seems like a hobby since he hardly makes any money.  but it has more to do with what he sells.  good luck with your business.  cheers.

[vintagemelrose2009]

good to hear.  we hope our sales pick up.  we had a great january two years ago but otherwise, sales are just normal or below normal.  hope spring brings more sales for all of us.  cheers.

[nettiemaria79]

Can not complain.  

[demyan1978]

I added new listings, but it didn't help. Very very slow sales on February. January was much better.

[calntom]

Sales were steady for me until the 15th and have fallen off since Thursday. 

[timemachine777]

Still dead. Worst than Jan which was 3 sales out of about 150 on this account and no sales in over 30 days. eBay is throttling all my accounts really bad these past 2 months. 

[baantiques]

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@vintagemelrose2009wrote:

Hello everyone - We don't sell any Valentine's day items so we have a very slow February so far.  No sale on Feb 1st  and then we have a good day -- nothing to brag about -- then back to no sale.  Not sure if it is the lull --- winter is not so much in CA --- our sales of snowboard gear is down this year --- usually people stop buying unless we are getting so much snow in the mountains and then we will see sales for snow gear pick up.  no one seems to be buying regular stuff - t-shirts and tops and hoodies -- we sell all throughout the year.  

We are kind of taking a break from lising too much.  We used to list as much as we sell --- about 200 to 250 items but last couple of months, we have been reducing old inventory and slowing down on listing.  That may explain slow sales.  When new listings, there are sales of new items.  

How are you guys doing?  I have been talking with owner to find some interesting items to sell.  clothing is ok and it sells but there are so much out there.  We need to find some new category to sell.

We are working on it.  Any suggestion?  Of course, e-bay comes up with inventory suggestions.  We don't want to sell health and beauty.  It is too specific and people have such wide taste and interest.

Love to hear how you guys are faring in February so far.   We are down to selling half as much weekly

compared to Jan & Dec.  Neither month were great by any means.  Best wishes.  Happy Spring.  Just around the corner.  Cheers.

---

Slow.  Down 40% from last February and down 5% from January's pathetic numbers.

I used to stress about it and bust ass trying to figure out what they changed and counter act it, but I'm tired of expending all this energy just to maintain what I have.  

I'm in the middle of closing out my dad's estate, after that I'm going to be hitting my other business ventures hard.  When I get those to the point they are making money, I'll be closing my store and selling my inventory.

[slideshopper]

Hello, Slow start for Feb but to be expected with the Superbowl, Winter Olympics etc. I will end Feb with a very profitable bang though. 

As for looking for a new niche, a suggestion if I may, sell what you know and love and you will make money. That is as long as it isn't Hummels , Beanie Babies or Avon Bottles

[rktoyandhobby]

Typically poor.  Toy sales are still in a protected slump.  Lots of collectors just wait for clearances at Ollies now (forget parents with kids - at shows they are loathe to let go of even $5).  Leaves me chasing the long tail for just about everything I care to put up with.  I set my prices about 20% over MSRP and let stuff sit until somebody is desperate enough to pay the premium.  Might sound counter-intuitive but it actually works better than chasing nickels and dimes for months on end.  February's usually tough because Toy Fair reveals alot of cool stuff and everybody starts saving their pennies to afford a couple of $20 Marvel or Star Wars figures due in late summer or fall.

[mr_lincoln]

@vintagemelrose2009 

Sales in collectibles and vintage stuff seems to be fine ... idealy I prefer having between 300 - 400 items for sale at any one time ... the last few months have depleted inventory faster than I can replace it combined with getting another ID going by diverting some inventory from the main account ...

[turquoisetulips]

How are you guys doing?  OP - unquote ------------------------------

Better now thanks ,, the last few days sales have increased  which is always fine by me 🙂  Monday is a postal holiday[ I just assume ] so that gives me a little bit more time to get my sales prepared to be shipped . Someone here last week  mentioned junk drawer sales , just gathering up bits and pieces of small  useful things  and selling them as a lot .  So after that suggestion  I put together  several junk drawers and listed them  on auction . I've got watchers and even bids on some  now  ! So that's awesome . Why not try that too ?  Tulips

[femmefan1946]

On one of my accounts eBay tells me my sales are up 131% over February 2016.

The odd thing is the lack of US sales. (I'm in Canada.)

I'm getting lots of domestic sales -- and saving on postage since I offer Free Shipping to both USA and Canada.

And my International sales are up noticeably.

The Canada Boards are having a fit over problems with Calculated Shipping for International sales (which of course includes sales to the USA). Apparently if we use Calculated Shipping the international customer can't see the cost of shipping, until she starts to check out.

Doesn't affect me because I use Flat Rates/ Free Shipping. But I'm wondering if it makes a difference even there to US customers.

My (Canadian, mostly) postage sales remain strong, both on eBay and my own site, and most of my customers are eBay sellers.  I haven't done any outreach on my own site in about four months because it's been difficult to buy postage lots in auction lately. But the orders keep arriving.