Is the American economy bad?

[brsel48]

This qualifies as a rant, I do not take eBay seriously and I like to watch how many views my items get and with that knowledge I can learn what’s in demand. 

I’ve learned that Snow Globes are very popular for example.

Many people complain with their eBay sales as well as locally selling using other platforms.

One think I’ve noticed is so many items posted online and in local platforms are stolen which drives the margins down, a common stolen product near me (Dallas) is laundry soap and so it’s hard for people to competitively price when you’re trying to compete against someone seller(s) getting things for free...

1) are people just cheap?

2) are people that poor? 

3) Is there too much stolen product on all these selling platforms saturated making it hard to sell anything for a fair price. 

[jewelbiz]

As we say here in New York City, “Are you crazy?”

The economy is good not bad!

[rock.star]

The economy is very good, you just don't know how to make a sale.

[brsel48]

Everyone is moving to Texas because it has one of the strongest economy’s.

There’s a small population of rich people and everyone else is poor.

not seeing this great economy, Americans seems broke overall 

[luckythewinner]

@brsel48 wrote:

a common stolen product near me (Dallas) is laundry soap and so it’s hard for people to competitively price when you’re trying to compete against someone seller(s) getting things for free

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It is also hard to compete when you are trying to sell a commodity product like laundry soap that can be easily obtained (at no shipping cost) from any big box store, supermarket, dollar store, flea market, or convenience store.

I can buy a 10 oz bottle of Tide from Dollar Tree for $ 1 and a 40 ounce bottle from Family Dollar for $3.95.

I suspect the low margins on laundry soap have more to with it being a commodity than it has to do with stolen merchandise flooding the Dallas market. With those prices available in traditional b&m stores, I don't suspect that many people shopping for laundry detergent are looking to eBay or Craigslist. 

[brsel48]

I’ve done asset protection for Walmart which I can prove.

a Walmart 40 miles north of Dallas had a near 2 million dollar shrink.

so much laundry soap that retails for let’s say 20, was being flooded on local platforms and eBay for 30 to 50% of retail price.

in south Dallas, laundry soap is literally a currency 

laundry soap is just an example, legos get stolen...  cards (yugioh / pokemon)...

so much + so much internal theft as well where management can change the prices by using the clearance prices 

[southern*sweet*tea]

Can't speak for the rest of the country, but the economy here in North MS is thriving. There are more jobs than there are people to work them. There have been more factory expansions and hirings here in the past two years than I've seen in the entire 26 years I've lived here.  Retail is booming. There is absolutely zero reason for someone who wants a job here to be unemployed.  If someone claims they can't get a job, they're either truly disabled in some was as to be unemployable,  or they're just plumb  lazy.

And yes, a lot of people out there are truly cheap. There are also a good bit of lazy people who would rather steal than do actual honest work.  These people aren't going to spend money, they're going to take it any way they can. That's what happens after decades of entitlement.

[myboardid]

Overall, the economy is good.  There are always places where it isn't good, and places where it is great.  There are always some very wealthy people, and always some very poor ones.  Most people are in the middle somewhere.  America is not broke as a country. 

As to stolen goods, yes there are some sold on eBay.  Not a lot, not enough to affect the market for any specific items.  We had a local person who was an estate appraiser, who stole items from the estates and sold them here.  She got caught and went to prison. 

[myboardid]

Laundry detergent is cheap and very, very commonly available.  There is no reason why it should be in demand enough to alter market prices. 

[brsel48]

Times have changed, Dallas county is saturated with people and the crime is up.

you can shoplift 450 dollars and the police will only come out for 500+ which makes it a class A misdemeanor (state charge) 

With that said and doing asset protection many people that steal know this

laundry soap is a currency in the ghetto. 

counterfeit money is also a huge issue

[luckythewinner]

@brsel48 wrote:

I’ve done asset protection for Walmart which I can prove.

a Walmart 40 miles north of Dallas had a near 2 million dollar shrink.

so much laundry soap that retails for let’s say 20, was being flooded on local platforms and eBay for 30 to 50% of retail price.

in south Dallas, laundry soap is literally a currency 

laundry soap is just an example, legos get stolen...  cards (yugioh / pokemon)...

so much + so much internal theft as well where management can change the prices by using the clearance prices 

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I'm not sure what any of this has to do with margins on eBay.

40oz Tide is already available for under $5 at WalMart and under $4 at local dollar store. Even if there was no theft at WalMart and no local black market of stolen laundry detergent, it would still be hard for people to competitively price laundry detergent.

The black market is not the problem with reseller margins on laundry detergent. The problem with margins on laundry detergent is that is it a widely available, low priced commodity item.

[coast_of_maine_antiques]

I believe the reason for slower sales across the board- if that is even true- is because the economy is very good. In a good economy the secondary sales markets like here, can take a pretty good hit. When things tighten up a bit we will all do much better on this platform. This is why the dollar stores took off like a rocket back in the 90’s and around ‘08. I certainly don’t want our economy to crash but when it dips, which it will, our sales will go up. Take that to the bank. 

[mtgraves7984]

The American economy is great now!

For what it's worth, you misspelled the title of your 'Kidnapped' VHS listing. Also, do you have one too many zeros in the price???

[futurespast1113]

Here is what I think. Apparently the US economy is very good, but more people are not as frivolous and not into consumerism as much anymore. With the invention of Amazon and most stores price matching Amazon, consumers have become a whole different beast now. The US consumer is the most educated it's ever been when it comes to shopping for things now, they are always looking for the lowest price. There are much more educated buyers than there were before the invention of the internet. Americans are now always looking for a bargain.

Also, what I noticed is that most millenials are minimalists. People in this age group are not big consumers especially of things in certain categories such as collectibles, vintage items and antiques. The people in this demographic are into electronics, video games, and starbucks and are not into collecting things like the baby boomers once were.  Millenials also aren't slaves to name brands and designer clothes like the people of my generation (Generation X) was. We grew up in the era of malls and consumerism. Now we are trying to save our money for retirement and not buying things we don't need just for the sake of buying.

The baby boomers are now getting old and are mostly on Social Security and fixed incomes. They no longer have disposable incomes like they used to. I am hoping Generation Z becomes the generation that likes to buy collectibles and antiques in the near future. But I don't hold out much hope for that.

[turquoisetulips]

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@brsel48 wrote:

This qualifies as a rant, I do not take eBay seriously and I like to watch how many views my items get and with that knowledge I can learn what’s in demand. 

I’ve learned that Snow Globes are very popular for example.

Many people complain with their eBay sales as well as locally selling using other platforms.

One think I’ve noticed is so many items posted online and in local platforms are stolen which drives the margins down, a common stolen product near me (Dallas) is laundry soap and so it’s hard for people to competitively price when you’re trying to compete against someone seller(s) getting things for free...

1) are people just cheap?

2) are people that poor? 

3) Is there too much stolen product on all these selling platforms saturated making it hard to sell anything for a fair price.  OP 

The economy is booming ! In fact it's at an all time 50 year high ,, so say the economists and expert pundits  on the subject .   Tulips 

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