Only one way to describe sales in November... BLEAK!

[movieman630]

What is going on here?  This year has been like no other.  There's been more dead periods this year than I've experienced in over 20 years.  I'm used to one, maybe two slow periods a year but this year it seems it's every 6 weeks or so.  I don't know if ebay has just been ramping up the website games this year or if it's just the economy.  Things being the way they are I'm guessing it's a perfect storm of both.  Ebay picked the wrong year to squeeze sellers with their games. 

I'm shutting down for the month of December.  I've been doing this for a couple years now since the USPS lost over $3000 worth of my products in December of 2020.  Worst month to ship.  I also do it for tax reasons.  This year it will sting if the last two weeks of selling in November continue the way they have been. 

What are you seeing this  month?

My rating on 2022 on ebay is VERY POOR!

[sakic92710]

Yes!  2022 has been dismal.  Never seen a year like it.  My only decent months were July & Oct.  Of course, when I had better sales, I was coming across more impatient buyers claiming INR after only 2 weeks time.  Shipping from Canada to the US takes longer sometimes, people!  So I had to take the bad with the good.  I'm waiting for 2023 to start but I don't see how that would make an improvement.  Good luck!

[lakefor94]

I have read these same posts for years. Same thing, different year.

My sales have always been steady since I went full time back in 2017.  I put the work in, sales happened.

This year has been different from my view. Things has slowed down across the board with November being the slowest I have seen it. Still listing some new items every week. Not a lot of noise from the cash register. Doing PL at 2.5%. I am seeing about a 50/50 mix with PL and organic sales. 

The organic sales mainly come from part number searches on external search engines. I have just started going through 1175 listings to determine what to do a "sell similar" on to refresh listings. Certain products will stay listed on their original listing because of Google placement near the top. 

Checking on pricing for nearly every listing is a must though I rarely try to be the lowest and do best offer on about 30% or so of listings. 

Going to have to put the work in reevaluating and updating listings. It won't be as painful as early this year when I was adding required item specifics, updating pricing and moving items to lots rather than selling one at a time. Probably will take me thru the end of the year to accomplish this endeavor.......

[coolections]

Yes, the worse year for the stock market and the economy in years. It probably won't change for quite some time. People just don't have the cash they used to have.

[mnantiques2014]

Last few months for me have been steady and steller.

[movieman630]

At least someone is having a good year.

[katzrul15]

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@movieman630 wrote:

At least someone is having a good year.

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Some parts of the year have been "steady" sales   Others, just an abyss.

Biggest issue for us are PLs/added fees.  Really knocking the wind out of our sails/bottom line(s).

[joseh1445]

Sloooow.  And as you pointed out, its ebay playing their games and the economy.  I am not holding my breath for my sales to improve this year.  

[nilis13]

My sentiments exactly- sales are non-existent - page views, impressions worse and worse each day.  

[cambriachick]

Agreed, it's just awful.  I sell on another site also and those sales are at the prepandemic level.  I wouldn't complain about it if I had a similar situation here. This is just ridiculous, like 4 sales this month:(

[iart]

Sales are slow but we're getting very good prices on what does sell. So, okay money and less work packing. Better that a lot of others, I think.

[keziak]

A few weeks ago I scaled back the number of auctions I run to allegedly list more on Amazon (somehow I manage to get everything in the world done except listing on Amazon the way I should). So, fewer auctions and difficulty selling stuff that "should" be selling. I expect there is just too much competition right now.  That plus the probability that my books are not necessities and maybe a lot of people are pinched by inflation and just not buying. 

It will be interesting to see what happens in Dec and January. As already pointed out, Dec can be tough in terms of the  USPS losing or delaying the mail though it won't be like 2020. Books sell pretty well in January most years. Now if I could just stifle my yawns and get stuff actually listed I might sell it...

[czg_71]

This is likely unhelpful, because I sell old, collectible items that few sellers have, so my buyers tend to be older with more disposable income who are passionate about their hobby. I also price my items at a  discount to the largest sellers in my niche. 

My sales this month have been stellar. I’ve negotiated two bundled purchases this week that included extremely rare first edition copies of some items for a total of $4K. My cheaper items have also sold decently this month.

I am very lucky to have my eBay business drop into my lap from out of the blue and prove viable. I claim no special knowledge or skill set for my success. I am just organized, and I put in the time to do the business.

[etrader61]

My self, Sales have been a downward slide since August. We all know the reasons. 60% live on paycheck to paycheck and the paycheck does not cover all the new higher costs day after day. That 60% was our bread and butter. But don't cry in your beer, and keep the glass half full.

1st, The fed needs to speed up and get us to, what they call, a "Positive Interest Rate". That is when the interest rate is above the inflation rate as they did with President Carter. Unfortunately this will cause a recession, but I wonder if we are in one now? 

2nd, we need to crank up energy production again, but that will not happen till after the 2024 election.

We have a long and bumpy ride for a while. Keep listing like crazy and sell cheep. Perfect your listings also. I mean like great photos, use the new video addition, well researched descriptions, and no misspellings. Watch the YouTube help videos and get all the advice you can. 

Keep a stiff upper lip and we will pull through.

[12345jamesstamps]

EBay started out for someone to make a few extra dollars. Not to actually for it to be your basic job in life. I do it for a few extra bucks. I feel December is a great month to sell. The shipping just takes longer than normal. Have to keep in touch with your buyers for any problems that may arise. in December or any month. Doing just domestic shipping in December might also help. I don't think anything gets lost in the mail. Just delayed. Buyer gets refund and then item arrives to buyer. Some buyers are honest and do repay the seller. And then there are those who don't.  Never had anything with tracking lost...never...with USPS