Is there something going on with sales?

[krys888]

I went from 4-9 items per day for the past year consistently to the past few weeks of barely 1 or 2 every other day.  

[mam98031]

It is the time of year.  More and more and more listings on Ebay as sellers are trying to get their stuff posted for holiday shoppers.  We all have much more competition this time of year.

[pijjy_marketing]

I have over 400 different items listed in Antiques and Collectables and this month,  October 2018, and I have seen a 100% drop in sales (yes... 100%!). No sales this month at all! In September I had to run both a sale and a paid for eBay promotion to obtain any sales at all and even that did not produce startling results. In August I watched sales slow week on week until I was witnessing just a couple of sales. July was pretty good until the last week of the month.

Usually (as in previous years) I do see a dip when the kids go back to school in September for a few weeks and then a recovery in October but this year that has not happened. Just a slow painful sales death over a three month period.

I do everything as should be done. Listings, listing titles and customer service are spot on, 100% excellent feedback, prices are about right (not excessive), postage is free to UK mainland. I can't think of what more to do other than look for other sales avenues.

Over this past week I have been running a 20% off sale in the hope that a drop in price will stimulate sales but, as yet, I have seen no difference.

I am now on the edge of despair.

[krys888]

I sell collectibles too! Its been weird. Not a gradual decline, but immediate.

[krys888]

I’ve been selling for over a year and this time last year was robust and stayed that way until a few weeks ago, then all of a sudden it seemed to come to a near screeching halt.

[pijjy_marketing]

Yes. I refuse to believe that a whole market has died over night, something else is afoot. But what???

[krys888]

I just saw that WSJ story about ebay stock dropping and their rating downgraded after PayPal reported that ebay’s Volume wasn’t growing at the rate ebay had projected, which means, the drop in sales we’re seeing is also being seen large scale by PayPal. So, we know there’s a slowdown, but I’m with you, why? All I can think of is maybe “Main Street” is selling off their stuff for cash and not spending the cash they do have. There is something weird in the market, but what?

[pijjy_marketing]

I went to a sizable shopping area near to where I live last weekend. The large food stores were heaving with people but the non-food stores were not. It was easy to park outside the non-food stores and none of the usual hustle bustle. Perhaps what is happening in the malls is translating to the internet too? Just a lack of available cash and people not spending on non-essentials.

Plus, in the UK, the weather has been surprisingly good for October. Maybe trade will return when it is too cold and wet to go for walks or sit in the garden? I hope so.

[futuretomorrow]

@mam98031

Let's take a look.

I've been playing with a lot of data lately, sourced from eBay's "completed items" for some models of shoes and the output is disturbing.

Let me give you an example. Between October 1st - October 23rd, 147 pairs of size 11 Asics Gel Lyte III's were posted by sellers. Many for less than the MSRP. Of those, only 31 pairs sold or 21.09% of the total listed inventory for that size on eBay. The average price was $85. This model releases from the manufacturer for $130 - $200. When I compare this data against the POS data from online retailers, the problem is eBay. Many of the destinations are sold out in the most common and popular sizes of this model. Yet only on eBay can you find them at rock bottom prices.

When some of the online retailers put the items on sale, they sell out and their sale prices are sometimes still higher than eBay's starting listing prices for comparative or the same models. 

I started doing this because of a. not being able to sell some models of shoes that should be gone already at the prices I have them listed. b. the prices customers are actually emailing me saying they are willing to pay. c. completed items data and d. a post a friend recently wrote about eBay being a declining destination for many models of shoes and early releases.

The Alexa ranking data and other investment news suggests that for shoes eBay is now a destination to seek the absolute lowest price and if a "legit" store has their size versus an unknown eBay seller they're going with the store first. These stores also all still accept PayPal and have ZERO plans to switch to another payment processer anytime soon. It's all about the categories, some are far worse off than others and not surprisingly shoes are not the worst category. 

[macna-0]

I am almost positive that this is due to eBay promo codes. I've noticed that eBay has been posting 15 - 20% off everything close to the end of the month. The first and second month this happened it boosted sales a bit but now I notice that buyers must be waiting for the promo codes before purchasing. This I think creates a huge problem for antique and collectible sellers as it eliminates impulse buying. My sales have also tanked and as soon as I seen these promo codes coming out on a regular basis I knew it would happen.

[juststuffisell]

You are speaking truth! I had two pair of VG or better Timberlands still in the box - very light wear. 5 or 6 months couldn't sell them for 45 bucks a pair in a size 10. $179.00 shoes.....sigh Last year they'd of been gone within 30 days. I had decided I was going to take them down and keep them since they are my size and inside of around 24 hours or so last week both pairs finally sold. Fortunately 1 pair is a non-pay (i turned off my require immediate payment to make things easy on eBay shoppers) and that case closes out today at noon - I will be keeping that pair.

Regardless, I cannot get my millennial kids to buy on eBay unless they are going for something cheap from china. They have all been burned. I think eBay has really hurt themselves with allowing the explosion of Chinese/Hong Kong sellers to pollute their platform with cheap junk & knock offs to the point where they have a crises of confidence at the consumer level. (that is not even considering the bad U.S. sellers that give all of us a bad name).

Heck, I'd be ok with a blanket 3 to 5 day minimum return policy if it was a site wide policy....for fixed priced listings only. Just to help build some confidence back in the marketplace. I don't believe the return period (number of days) is the issue and think the 30 day & 60 day options are simply untenable for used items. And barely tolerable at 30 days for NIB items. I think a lot of the issues arise when you have "no return" items - and I personally like to use the no return whenever possible - on fixed priced items in general. Offering a consumer 3 or 5 days to evaluate, inspect & authenticate something is more than adequate and works well on Etsy without any hiccups. A more streamlined return process would be ideal as well.

Auctions are no different than any online or local auction house - no return - you can't return something at the local auction house and you shouldn't be able to on eBay.

I want to say, I am not political - i.e. - I am not a R or a D. I hate both parties and vote only based upon my wallet as an entrepreneur and capitalist. It is an election year and you will always see a slow down during election cycles. I think part of the slowdown is tax payers who make money scared of Democrats getting elected knowing they will pass legislation that will hurt them financially in order to give more of someone else's money to their voter base which unfortunately is a foundation built upon the non-productive. (happens every time unfortunately). Combine that with the Fed raising rates to fast, pushing a tightening credit market and higher cost of capital, and you have an economic storm brewing similar to what we saw in '06. Add to that the republicans spending like drunken sailors...well... Let's just say there is a lot of uncertainty right now.

Cheers

[highcountrystoneworks]

Same here - we sell replacement dinnerware and have over 10,000 listings. We were doing well until Sept. Since then we are running WAY behind last year. We should be seeing holiday sales for Thanksgiving but it is not happening. Getting worried about no holiday season.

[lewisburggold]

There is a lot of solid theorys out there but nobody really knows why.  Hope they pick up for ya.  Best regards

[luckythewinner]

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@krys888 wrote:

I went from 4-9 items per day for the past year consistently to the past few weeks of barely 1 or 2 every other day.  

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There are a vast number of somethings that are constantly going on - or not going on, or changing, or evolving. 

Supply.

Demand. 

Trends.

Fashion.

Demographics.

Price.

Returns.

Shipping cost.

Advertising.

Listing appeal.

Mobile technology.

Traffic.

Competition.

Site changes.

Emotion.

Perception.

Sentiment.

Economics.

Seasons.

Weather.

News.

Any one of these topics could turn into a ten-page discussion of how it affects eBay. If you are looking for a simple answer, I'm afraid you are vastly underestimating the complexity of a marketplace with a billion items.

[2396angel]

Hi, I've been selling on ebay for 16 years. I usually sell 12-14 items a day (sometimes alot more). I have had consistent sales every month for the last 5 years of 300- 400 sales a month. This month I have 156! Business has dropped more than 50% in a month. I have my ideas why but am half afraid to voice them anymore.