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. 

[double2trouble]

Going into debt over 50 for education is a real gamble. Many employers will not touch older workers. 

[reallynicestamps]

Housing costs very much depend on where you live, but low cost housing often goes with low employment.

And a house is not a liquid asset.

DD lives in a "mill town". Her house is valued at about $225K (Cdn) with a rental suite. But she has to work several contract jobs to make a living.

Part of her problem is that the gorgeous mountains around the town attract healthy, athletic early retirees with good* pensions. And when they get bored they scoop up a lot of the well paid professional part-time jobs.

The (unionized) mill workers earn from 90K to 125K with overtime-- but like all resource based industry that can be boom and bust.

OTOH- we live in Victoria BC and our house has doubled in value since we bought in 2014. We probably could sell for $1.2million in a couple of days, but where would we go? Everywhere is the same sort of price.

Oddly, our local primary schools both have portables, so young families are buying here.

Victoria is the provincial capital so there are government jobs, and two universities,  but the big employer is hi-tech. Our housing is still lower than Seattle or San Francisco and Canada welcomes over 250,000 immigrants a year, many with IT backgrounds . And refugees  (20,000 to 30,000 annually) are highly motivated and entrepreneurial.  So our IT companies can scoop up those immigrants who are not sure they would be welcomed in the States.

*A lot of teachers. Canadian teachers with 15 or more years experience earn ~$90K. And the teachers's unions are very very good investors.  BTW, BC is looking for teachers since our provincial government reduced class size.
If you know a teacher who is looking for work, or just better pay, tell them to look into immigrating. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada.html

[gamersbaystore]

America is stuck in the midst of an enormous economic divide, so the answer would heavily depend on who you ask.

For example, ask someone who earns $90,000 a year if the economy is good, they will always say yes. Ask someone who earns $10 an hour if the economy is good, they will always tell you no. Ask someone who's rich, they will tell you they don't care.

If someone asked me back in 2008 when the stock market went belly up if the economy was good or bad, I would have told them I don't care. I had so much money the state of the economy wasn't even relevant to me at all, I could care less. Now that I'm broke I have reason to care.

Is the economy good or bad? Well, its great for some people, and its horrible for others. Back in 2008 when tens of millions of Americans were losing their jobs, I was doing great, but others apparently were not. Back then, the media was saying the economy was really bad, but the reality is that it wasn't bad for many of us.

One thing's for sure, the majority of Americans are dirt poor, regardless of who else actually benefits from our nation's economic activity. Nonetheless, tens of millions of Americans are very well off, and of course they will continue to insist things are great.

One thing's for sure, the U.S. is very economically stable in terms of government and business corporate interests, not so sure if its as stable for people though. So overall, our economy is probably very good, but not everyone benefits from it.

In my opinion, its a lot harder to survive today than its ever been before.

To answer your question, yes, anyone who has to steal laundry soap is definitely poor.

[gamersbaystore]

Very good points you made. If the economy were so great, then why are the government and the American people collectively taking on so much debt?

In a good economy people wouldn't need to constantly borrow money to pay their bills and buy the things they need.

As for jobs, they are junk or simply don't exist, its the whole reason many of us are here to begin with. If there were viable work opportunities out there, I definitely would not be here selling on ebay. I'd sooner be waiting tables in a restaurant again any time the chance arises.

[lja440]

Is the economy bad? It depends on where you look.

I live in a rural area with a lot of family farms, they are dropping like flies.  My daughter and son in law are minor owners in a lakeside bar and grill. They usually close up for a month or so (this is their last weekend open) . Because they drain off the lake and won't be solid enough for the ice fishing crowd till Feb. But now the boss says they may not open again till March. 

As far as eBay. It is what it always has been in my categories. Around a 80% sell through. People have not been buying fine china and art glass as much. Books, records and audiobooks are still doing well. Along with good used common brand clothing such as Levi's.

Anything that they can get at Walmart and now pick-up at the curb or have delivered to their house  you are NOT going to make money on unless you get it at such a small investment that you can undercut Walmart and the dollar stores.

China has the market on cheep knock offs.  And also Wish with the same so it's not even worth the time.

What I look for is vintage usable items. I swear I could retire if I could only find enough red or green handled hand mixers and match holders.  

[lja440]

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@jamwspr85 wrote:

Yep! This is totally true.

There are a ton of jobs in my area, but they are all minimum wage. You can't pay $1000 for rent and still pay utilities and eat on $9.10 an hour. Even at $15 an hour it's pushing it if you have car insurance and buy gas for your car

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Yup, That's why my girls (22 and 28 years old) are still on my car insurance and phone plan. It is cheaper than the three of us separately.

My youngest lucked out big time. She found a 2 br  in a old Victorian. The landlord found out she works at Lowe's and loves to paint. She cleans and paints his apartments when they come up empty and takes care of the laundry room so he dropped Their rent to $700 a month. LOL she even gets to pick the colors for the rooms.

[mesodude]

TX has a “strong economy” in large part because, like a lot of red states, it treats the environment like a giant toilet and because a huge number of people living there don’t have health insurance. What good is a “strong economy” if  the environment is poisoned, people are walking timebombs with no healthcare, and people have jobs but **bleep** worker protection?

[turquoisetulips]

TX has a “strong economy” in large part because, like a lot of red states, it treats the environment like a giant toilet mesoude ----

That's the very first time I've heard that Texans treat the environment like a giant toilet . I live in one of the bluest states there is  and if you'd like to see a giant toilet  of a town there's plenty to behold .  In fact I think we make the news quite often.  Tulips 

[rixstuff]

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@patd3283 wrote:

Two thoughts.

If all you can only find are entry level jobs at minimum wage, maybe you need to up your skill level.  Many employers here offer $$$ help to employees who take classes to improve their skills and even time to go to class.  We have a great tech college system that produces top employees.  Many of us oldsters have out of date skills that are no longer needed in our society.  Many are too proud to go back and learn or update their skills.  AI will make skills even more important.

Anytime I buy ANYTHING, I always look to see where it was made - especially food!  I expect a lot of items from WM to Nordstroms to be be MI China.  If that is unacceptable, you have to be willing to pay for items made in the US or other acceptable countries.

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I work at the community colleges in Virginia and there are often agreements with the local tech employers for them to cover the tuition for certificate or Associate's in return for a 1 year employment commitment.  They cant always fill the tech jobs so they are putting money into creating their employees themselves.  Education AND a paycheck! MUCH better than sitting home unemployed.

[rixstuff]

My mom is over 50 and gets a new job about every 18 mos or so - she is a defense contractor, high tech, speaks multiple languages.  So any company who turns away a highly skilled elder person is ridiculous.  She has co-workers in their SEVENTIES.  Too skilled and experienced to let go.

[rixstuff]

...UNLESS you are ALSO the one delivering these to their door.  Bread and butter items are always in demand.  Folks need basics like jeans all year, all over, and household goods.  Though I think someone could do well offering a variety of niche items rather than just focusing on one small niche.  and of course so many folks are selling the stuff that people are actively discarding with the Marie Kondo minimalist and Swedish Death Cleaning crazes.

[jojitsusensei]

Only if you're a Democrat!

[monster-deals]

For millionaires and billionaires this is the best the economy has been since the 1920s

[dastap9594]

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@turquoisetulips wrote:

TX has a “strong economy” in large part because, like a lot of red states, it treats the environment like a giant toilet mesoude ----

That's the very first time I've heard that Texans treat the environment like a giant toilet . I live in one of the bluest states there is  and if you'd like to see a giant toilet  of a town there's plenty to behold .  In fact I think we make the news quite often.  Tulips 

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You've obviously never been to the oil fields in Texas. 

[rixstuff]

Im not sure what you are referring to.  What has party got to do with anything?