Once a week my sales drop as if a switch was hit. Anyone else with this problem???

[markej67]

All year I have had record sales months.  I'm a TRP, I list every day, I promote all my listings, I ship daily using    E-Bay labels.   I'm an active store.  I'm averaging $200 a day in sales.  I sell books priced $10-100 dollars. 

MY FRUSTRATIONS:  #1. Every week, the day varies, I have a $10 to $80 day.  #2.  I can have a good $200 day, but sales come in groups.   I might have several sales in the early morning hours and then nothing the rest of the day or perhaps not until late at night.  Sometimes I have no sales all day and several in the evening.   It's as if a light switch is turned on and off.   Several times a month I have $300 - $500 days.  when that happens, I get consistent sales every hour or so all day long. 

I've heard about being 'capped' but this should not apply to me.  I used to have a store with 7.500 books.  Two years ago, I downsized, delisted common books, changed my business model and began promoting.  I now only have 2.500 books on more desirable topics.   When I call E-Bay support they say there is nothing wrong and my items are visible.     IS ANYONE ELSE HAVING THIS PROBLEM???    

[markej67]

I've been on E-Bay for 20 years.  I have not experienced drastic drops during the week, that's why it is troubling.  My drops were by season.  I sell war books so my sales dropped during the summer when the majority of my buyers were camping, fishing, playing baseball, yardwork etc etc.  In the Fall and Winter these guys would start shopping on E-Bay again.  In the Spring sales would start to drop.  That was the cycle I experienced. 

[tobaccocardyahoo]

I do not look at my daily sales totals. I do look at my monthly totals and average sale and number of sales.

I have targets for each of the numbers I look at, and history of which months of the year are the best months.

July and August felt slow. A comparison of with history shows that they were slower than the previous months of the year and ahead of the same months last year. Amazing how we get used to better numbers.

My average sale amount is dropping. I have years of online sales under my belt and this is troublesome. In the past my average sale dropped precipitously when the economy went into recession. When my average sale drops, Ebay fees and shipping costs take a much larger percentage of the sale price.

My average sale has not hit the level at which I panic, but I find myself adding more lower priced items to my listings to keep the order volume up.

Fortunately, I am not desperate for cash, but one never knows when that might change.

[psfhobbies]

I get it all the time anymore just replied to another post about it as well.

[reallynicestamps]

I sell on Friday (almost annoying since I can't mail until Monday) Sunday, Tuesday  and Wednesday.

I have no idea why.

But it gives me time to list new stuff. 

[reallynicestamps]

That seems a little drastic to me for a site with millions of buyers.

EBay has millions of buyers.

I don't have millions of buyers and you don't have millions of buyers.

Not all of those millions are philatelists.

Many don't read. Or don't read English.

By the way, have you considered that flat things like books can be scanned and to show the cover and title better than photos?

[yuzuha]

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@byrd69er wrote:

I know well how that goes. I visit a friend weekly at his brick and mortar store just to catch up on things, see what's new, complain about events, have a cigarette...blah blah blah. There's dead days, and days when I step in and help customers when the traffic gets knee deep.

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Exactly. One of my friends runs a liquor store and I always go over on Friday nights for the free wine tasting and just to hang out.

Some Fridays it's just me, him, and his assistant manager sitting around talking and drinking wine. Some Fridays I have to take over pouring for the tasting because there's a line six people deep at the register.

[markej67]

I take pictures at an agnel, so buyers know if it is a hardcover or softcover instantly with one picture.  Flat scanned pictures do not show the edges.  I used to scan when I sold military patches. 

[dbfolks166mt]

     As long as you have been selling this is the first you have noticed up and down swings in sales? I have been selling on eBay for a long time and I also sell on other venues/forums and I have never had anything that resembled flat-line sales on any of them. 

     The same applies to most business enterprises. I worked in multiple business environments from retail to service and there were always ups and downs it's just the nature of the environment and I never really considered it a problem. 

[rugerskick]

Its more than once a week for me.

[inhawaii]

I should go in to business supplying ebay with switches.

Their switches seem to get a lot of use. 

Lots of wear and tear.  😉

[thriftntree]

I started listing about a year ago, and quickly noticed this.   I get excited when I see a lot of sales, then Quickly sad when all of a sudden nothing.   A lot of sales for me is definitely a small amount for others here, but keeps me motivated.   😆

[dbfolks166mt]

      I have had "this problem" for years but have never considered it to be a problem as others mentioned retail is cyclical. I focus on the bigger picture generally by quarter for tax purposes. I don't have the time or inclination to look at a day by day trend. 

[richard1rst]

Well, truth is, I don't see it as a "problem". The occasional down days give me extra time to work on My Door. Another couple of weeks. Wait'll you see it. It will knock your eyes for a loop. I'll give you a hint. It's done in bas relief and made out of Lacewood.

[reallynicestamps]

My dead days online are Tuesdays and Saturdays. Consistently.

When I worked retail, we would tell customers with complex orders to come in around 2pm and preferably on Tuesdays because that was a consistently slow period.

I usually have enough incomplete listings to complete and upload, or new inventory to purchase, or shelves to tidy that those low sales days are a mercy.

[slyders_finds]

The patterns are very obvious that there issues going on in the background whether purposely or not. Not one sale for 10 days! Then 1 or 2 sales a day for 8 days. Now back to no sales for 9 days. "Rockstars" 🤣 save your breath. You are just delushional fan boys.