Regards,
Can you believe it's already March? Wasn't Christmas just a few weeks ago? And then New Years Day just a week after that?
So what are your plans and goals for March 2022, and how do they compare to your goals and achievements for February -- as in how well did your plans hold up and perform?
Speak up - no need to be shy! We're all friends here... and only bite if we're asked to! 🙂
-Bob.
@postcardcountry wrote:Stupid propane company ... Good thing we have 29 days left of propane.
I think the one lesson that I hope everyone remembers from the last two years is that 'Just-In-Time' inventory management might work when nothing goes wrong, or only a wee bit goes wrong, but can produce some amazing fails when the whole world goes wrong. Oh... and that 30 days of toilet paper is probably going to be fine - just keep restocking weekly and you should be good. 🙂
I'm going to give our Kroger store another crack at free home delivery. The required minimum is not bad, and most of what we'll be ordering will be non-perishables (I prefer to pick out my own fruit, veggies, and meats)... and those big bundles of water bottles that my wife has come to enjoy. I flavor tap water (and yes, we're getting a filter system), but she prefers just straight water and the doc has wanted her to increase her water intake anyway.
-Bob.
@chapeau-noir I know all about clip clopping ... we have many Amish neighbors, here's one I wound up passing on the way back from a trip to the Post Office yesterday ...
I thought some folks might find this interesting ... I just sent the message below to another member.
" I just finished one of the strangest 2 weeks of sale ever. I ran a 30 day Promoted Listing Campaign that ended Feb 28. That means I promoted ALL my Fixed Priced items for about 30 days, it does NOT cover Auctions.
So, historically, the week after a Campaign ends sales on Fixed Priced items tank then rebound the 2nd week ...
NOT THIS TIME! What I just experienced was 2 weeks worth of sales where OVER 90% of the sales were from Auction listings NOT Fixed Priced items AND the 2nd of those 2 weeks was worse then the first one. I know the reason for this has something to do with eBay's new Item Specifics functionality combined with them butchering Categories last November.
If you Sell long enough you notice trends in your stronger categories ... the trend I see is not good."
I know @chapeau-noir mentioned "trends" in a post recently (not sure if it was this thread or not) as I am sure others have too. But the last two weeks were so out of the norm for the way items sell in my categories I've just been scratching my head. I think GTC listings are getting buried in Search because of the changes eBay has made ...
Mr. L
@chapeau-noir wrote:
@mr_lincoln wrote:I thought some folks might find this interesting ... I just sent the message below to another member.
" I just finished one of the strangest 2 weeks of sale ever. I ran a 30 day Promoted Listing Campaign that ended Feb 28. That means I promoted ALL my Fixed Priced items for about 30 days, it does NOT cover Auctions.
So, historically, the week after a Campaign ends sales on Fixed Priced items tank then rebound the 2nd week ...
NOT THIS TIME! What I just experienced was 2 weeks worth of sales where OVER 90% of the sales were from Auction listings NOT Fixed Priced items AND the 2nd of those 2 weeks was worse then the first one. I know the reason for this has something to do with eBay's new Item Specifics functionality combined with them butchering Categories last November.
If you Sell long enough you notice trends in your stronger categories ... the trend I see is not good."
I know @chapeau-noir mentioned "trends" in a post recently (not sure if it was this thread or not) as I am sure others have too. But the last two weeks were so out of the norm for the way items sell in my categories I've just been scratching my head. I think GTC listings are getting buried in Search because of the changes eBay has made ...
Mr. L
@mr_lincoln When eBay did the same with the fashion categories in October 2019, we experienced similarly really strange turbulence - I was still full time and used to steady sales, even though I was mostly in fashion and old tech, and when the IS's were changed and NOT properly migrated, my sales stopped dead, and remained blank for over a week. This included promoted items. Sales started coming back as I chugged through listing after listing filling in IS's like size (yes, this hadn't been migrated and we had to yell and holler before they even fixed some of this extremely basic stuff, like having plus sizes in the plus size category), colour was gone, etc. etc.
The cats you're selling in were pretty much shipwrecked from everything I've read - I have no idea how anyone would find anything when the item specifics were also completely goofed up.
Part of what this told me was that IS's are important for search - even if one doesn't do a drill down, those IS's do factor into the database because of the way these distributed databases work.
Unfortunately, since I run no auctions I couldn't have that as a data point, but what you say is very interesting and somewhat disturbing because it's an impact on selling format and not just categories.
@chapeau-noir, You are right about categories being "goofed" up (you are being polite, thank you LOL).
I use Templates for most of my listings AND eBay had laid in their new IS fields prior to the Feb 22 rollout ... and to your point, they FAILED to bring forward IS I have already put in Templates PLUS live listings to the new IS fields ...
I posted on another thread that I was noticing that the only things that were really getting any traction were recently purchase Inventory ... lots from mid-Feb on do better then lots prior to that ... and we're talking within in the last few months ... BUT here's the kicker, I am still using the SAME Templates I was using last year so this sudden and apparent selective drop in activity just sort of sticks out like a sore thumb.
I seem to recall our Sold pages used to show the format an item was Sold on ... not any more, they have taken that from us along with a number of other things Sellers can use to monitor their own sales success or failure. There are NO filters on the order pages for that either. If there is a "report" for that then I don't know about it ... most of the reports and analytics are useless to be honest.
I currently have 8 items with bids ending later this week and I suspect that number will grow. From the 7th to today (the 14th) I had 31 sales and only one was a GTC ... the rest Auctions ...my starting Auction prices are determined the the same way I would for Fixed Priced items so a one bid sale makes profit ...
Its funny, if you do this long enough its easy to notice a deviation from the norm ...
@debbiet22 wrote:I am at 9/20. Don't think I will be meeting my goal of 20 this month. EBay says I have 50 listings to update. Some were listed not too long ago. This is getting old, needing to update things. For the categories I sell in things are so generalized. How can that be helpful in searches?
On the eBay updates - focus just on the Required and glance thru the Recommended. Don't worry about the others. The Requireds tend to be easier to set, and the Recommendeds are what I call 'nice to have but I'm not spending time chasing down odd details'.
At work, I've got about 20+/- that need Required entries... and over 2000 that it says need Recommended entries. I'll have the 20 done by the end of the week. The 2000 need to ferment a while longer yet- until I have to time break them down into manageable chunks.
I use the eBay lists as a guide, then make the changes in SixBit and update the running listing and the Item it was posted from. This way, if I use the Item as a duplicate source, the updates will go with it. If I make the changes on eBay, they stay on eBay and I'd have to redo them if I end/repost or use the Item for a new duplicate/similar record. Doing the changes once is bad enough - I don't need to be setting myself up for doing them again. 🙂
-Bob.
@downrightspecialkids wrote:Clay, that sounds interesting!
Bob, TWIN granddaughters? That will be run. How did I not remember that announcement? Getting a small economy car with these gas prices seems to be the way to go for daily commuting. My DH just got a Honda Civic, which is not anything I would have expected. When he had the expedition, it fit him well. He's a bigger guy, sounds like your size based on your previous post, so I was shocked when he said he was getting a Civic, but he's getting 30-34 MPG, so I am glad he made a smart choice.
The "twins" thing is just something I use to rattle my boy's noggins a bit. The boys both think that kids are fun and easy... forgetting that they don't always have the funds to make ends meet as it is -- and diapers & formula ain't cheap!! To say nothing about what their significant other might want.
So I 'threaten' them with the curse of twins -- and in our youngest's case, it's a valid threat. There are twins in my family tree and twins in both sides of his wife's family tree. And while Grandpa would love a new baby girl to spoil..... Grandma's had about all the grandchildren she wants. They're not so bad when they grow up and get out on their own... but their parents are a mess while they are growing up and we're ready to retire from parenting and just enjoy the occasional "drop in with sugar and gifts" visits. 🙂 I'm so bad!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Sales have been slow - just one this past week. But that's OK - I've had more than enough other things going on that I've hardly even noticed. Youngest will be working on my truck this week, IF he doesn't get a call-in for a job he's wanting with the Winchester Arms Company in Oxford. Machine Maintenance - builds on skills he already has and provides new challenges to engage his mind. And pays decent with very good benefits. He should hear on Monday (3/21).
We did get to spend Saturday with the Iowa grands - youngest picked them up Friday in St. Louis (momma was late dropping them off) and then brought them back Sunday 5pm (momma was late again). Then she does her whole drama scene at the Jack-in-the-Box where they were eating while waiting for her (the kids were hungry!) and made some statements that, if shown via the store security video to the judge, will make her life even more interesting that it already is. I don't understand her constant need for drama and attention - it's not helping her and it's not healthy for her kids. I still pray that she will see what she is doing, to herself and to them, and will get the help she needs to get some balance in her life and mind.
On a happier note, the weather this week is nice and I've got a number of working computers ready to be posted to FBMP. And the parts already stripped are getting better organized so I can get started listing them on eBay. Need to clear out storage space -- looks like we'll be selling the house in about 2-3 months!
-Bob.
