My Sales have stopped dead! What is going on???

[scorwin814]

I've been selling clothing on eBay for well over 10 years.  This past week I have no sales, no offers not anything!  This has never happened for this long before.  I'm truly concerned. Is there anything else to try besides the obvious, listing, promoting, etc????

[dirk12955 · Accepted solution]

1)   Tax time

2)  Spring break

3)  What's happening with 401Ks

4)  Stock market down 3,000 points

5)  Layoffs

6)  People getting fired right and left

7)  Tornadoes and floods

😎  Wildfires

9) Inflation

10)  Over saturated markets

[dirk12955]

The smiley face was an accident and I can't seem to delete it

No,  Wildfires are not funny.

[campanaelia]

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@dirk12955 wrote:

The smiley face was an accident and I can't seem to delete it

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@dirk12955 

To delete emojis you need to use the backspace key, not delete. Delete is grayed out for emojis..

[toomuchstuffagain35]

Bottom line? People are too scared to spend much right now on anything they don't actually NEED.

[whatmorefabric]

I usually   put out 2 to  3 buckets of packages today across all 3 venues I sell on.

Yesterday I put out 2 packages and today I will put out 8.    

It is not you.

[pls-consignments]

I did read recently that there is a consumer shift as a result of fear and uncertainty. Vintage clothing is style driven, rather than necessity or price driven. Style will usually drop down on the priority list during times like these. Better to diversify if you're able, at least until the storm passes. 🙂

[fbusoni]

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@toomuchstuffagain35 wrote:

Bottom line? People are too scared to spend much right now on anything they don't actually NEED.

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@toomuchstuffagain35 

Is that in fact the bottom line?  I am not experiencing it -- either as an eBay seller, or as a regular old consumer.   (I should hasten to add that I have never bought things that I do not need... and as a general rule I am not into "things" anyway. 😁)

From what I've observed, perceptions of the economic environment -- let's say, whether it's "safe" or a "good idea" to spend money -- is a highly subjective.

If a person lives within their means and manages their finances responsibly, then the economy is always in good shape.

Conversely, the economy is usually lousy if one is broke, living paycheck to paycheck, or deeply in debt. 

There are also vast regional differences to take into account.  The area where I live (DC metro area) traditionally is pretty immune to economic vicissitudes.  Same applies to other locales I'd imagine.  

And of course there are areas where the opposite is true, for example, these days, the US-Canadian border.

I'd enjoy hearing other perspectives. 

[mam98031]

It is important to pay attention to the world around us.  Often you can find your answers there.

We have weather event notices by Ebay almost weekly in some part of the USA.  Large sections of the country.  We now have our economy experiencing things most have never dealt with before as adults.

[dirk12955]

Mam,   And well said.   Not just the USA is feeling this $$ squeeze.   How many sellers 

on ebay are wondering when they'll lose the USA market.  

Buyers get jittery when they see headlines $5,000,000,000,000.00 in 

investments or market value just went up in smoke

[roccotacodad54]

   The same perspective as yours except I do buy things I don't need but want. I live within my means and pay attention to my finances.

   Not a different perspective, just reinforcing yours that if people pay attention to their debt and don't spend money they can't afford to then all is well.

[chapeau-noir]

There are always lists of "reasons", and they're always the same no matter what the economy is doing or if the Superbowl is on or not - they are often subjective to each individual - but March/April is transitional and often a dead period for clothing sales.

Also, for those who have a lot of mart/mall level brands - they're increasingly over-represented and these days can be had for a dime on the dollar at any catalog or store clear-out. I try not to carry them anymore and am trying to get rid of the ones I still have. The glut after the supply chain problems from Covid guaranteed that.

ETA: Tariff scares, etc., might be pretty good for we pre-owned clothing sellers.

[natoman777]

Have you tried coupons?  That has kept my sales moving very well

[12345jamesstamps]

Sellers put too emphasis on cost of shipping...like sellers need to get 'to the penny' on what the shipping cost is domestically.

Have you ever tried 'free shipping' and raise the price of the item a little?

Selling nothing means selling nothing as oppose to selling something.

[inhawaii]

Your sales have stopped dead?

I can tell you EXACTLY what's going on.

People are not buying your stuff.

It's up to you to figure out why.