Low sales in January 2023

[annettedolls]

Has anyone else seen a dive in sells in January.

[wifetrained]

Inflation is a killer. I went to the store today and bought 1 carton of eggs and 2 small "share" size bags of Hershey's kisses. That was almost $20.00 right there. The Hershey's bag would barely fill up the average tabletop candy dish, nothing more. Also, while looking on Ebay, I'm finding sellers (some not all) trying to flip Harbor Freight tools with a 50% markup, some Craftsman items 100-300% above the normal retail price I see at Lowe's. I don't see that as a winning strategy as people will shop price at a variety of locations. 

My Craftsman example is the Magnetic bit handle CMHT65079, selling on Ebay for $14.99 w/free shipping. Being sold at Lowe's for $5.48 minus 10% for my military discount so it's under 5 bucks.

Some of those items did offer free shipping, however its meaningless when I can go a couple of miles down the road and buy it direct from the store, save money and have it immediately rather than waiting for it in the mail or UPS and hope I got what I paid for. I've no doubt that some are doing well on this site, but I would submit that the vast majority are not.

[namtrag1]

I've been selling on eBay for over 16 years.

I used to rack my head against the wall trying to figure it out..is it eBay, is it my prices, is it my offerings, etc.

You're gonna have ups and downs - all for no reason.

Just keep listing and always do the right thing.

Good things will come to those who operate a straight arrow and not worry.

don't worry about it

[traditonalproducts]

I am up about 8% from this time last year. Of course, I have more listing starting about October. 

[ms.rodriguez*]

I paid $4.21 a gallon for a fuel delivery two weeks ago.  Things are always a bit slow for me after a postal increase too.  Buyers need to get used to pay nearly 5 dollars for a loose Hot Wheels car.

[krazzykats]

That's just it.  I have to buy that fuel, but not a Hot Wheels car.  Postage is killing it on the small items. 

[wifetrained]

Has there been another postal rate hike recently? I've lost track after the last couple.

[zanmart]

My sales are down over 70% from December. where I was bringing in $200-$600/day.  January was the worst month I've had since 2019.  BUT some of that I attribute to being on travel. My son graduated from Boot Camp and I was in SC for 4 days. I didn't want to close my store so I had a 4 day handling time (eBay informs potential buyers of a longer than usual handling time) and I had very few sales plus was on travel some other days as well and did not invest as much time as usual in listing.

[lawnmowerpartsstore2]

Here is your USPS price increases for 2023 :

https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2022/1007-usps-announces-new-prices-for-2023.htm

[john_wade]

Horrible economy. Supposed to be one of the worst in U.S. history thanks to you know who. They stink. 

[lawnmowerpartsstore2]

I have seen better

[werepupy]

So, of course, eBay decides to up their fees to help their sellers.

[movieman630]

My sales have been great however, I'm listing new stuff almost every day and have promoted my listings to the "suggested rate".  Impressions are up 1000% and that is equating to more sales.

[partfinds]

Did you up the item prices by the advertised rate?

[movieman630]

Not to mention you can't make money shipping something that sold for $5.00

[movieman630]

No, I research prices to see what the best price is and try to beat it by 1 cent.  If I'm the only one with that particular Item I may raise the price.