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!

[keziak]

Your items are interesting looking and I can well imagine there are collectors for the games. When you say "dropped into  your lap" do you mean you obtained a huge collection of the items? I bought a very large collection of old PC games from an estate. No boxes so not stellar values but I had collectors agog to get some of it. I'm not done but I think most of the more interesting games are gone but I have a few boxes I haven't even dived into. I have no skill set for my stuff either. One of the collectors held my hand through the process but when he reported games that wouldn't work I paused for now. I don't have any way to test the games and I don't want to sell defective items.

[rugerskick]

1.  Bad economy. Latest article I read is 60% of americans are living paycheck to paycheck, if they still have a paycheck.

2. Ebay onsite search algorithm has poorer performance than google search finding most relevant listings a buyer is searching for.

3. More items are being considered wants, rather than needs.

[bluebirds-2013]

I agreed. I have only lost one item I sent to Russia, but after I sent a replacement, the buyer got it, and he payed me for the replacement too. I have kept things on my storage for years, but as soon as I tried to post

anything a new person with very little feedback already post it for .99 cents and sold for $ 1.02. Is useless.

[downunder-61]

The harshest part is that I see it as a very probable 'lose lose' scenario for sellers at this time of the year.

As a buyer I have done my online shopping already - pre-empting the Xmas rush on shipping/busy sellers.

So....

1. A lot of prospective buyers are already done with the gift buying.

2. The ones that leave it late (or last minute) may be your post Dec 24th INAD's coz the item didn't make it in time.

I always thought it strange how sellers would close over Xmas, but not so much in the last few years (2020 being the outlier)

Good luck to you all

[czg_71]

Yes, your hunch is correct.

[bluebirds-2013]

I been a seller for years, I quit for years when I had over 2600 feedback and came back, and started over again, you got to do it for fun, not for profit. Now buyers see us as something less than, they tried to get something for nothing I actually love to clean my toys, photograph them, and post them, ship them not so much. I do not buy anything anymore. I will retired soon from selling. New sellers please don't sell yourself cheap, it takes a long time to complete a set, don't start anything at .99 cents, unless is something worth a lot, and you know everybody wants it. right now buyers are taking a break from Ebay, to force ebayers to lower their prices. The smart sellers close shop this Christmas.

[zankinggallery]

23 years on eBay. Worst year ever. Always a “small boutique vendor”..part time. Items priced below sold comps, and yet no views of anything. When I get a sale, I swear a “switch is turned on for 48 hours.” I then get a lot of views. IF, I am lucky and get another sale in that 48 hour window, the switch is turned on again. After 48 hours of no sales…everything stops! No new views, and no new sales. 

Major manipulations on the site. 

[juggernaut4444]

It has been a VERY strange year for me...sales in March. April and May were half of last year...then in June my sales increased dramatically thru August ( which is usually a slow time of year for me...) but now my sales in October were down opposed to 2021, November sales were off 40% from last year and December has started out very slow...i'm actually selling more books than Christmas merch right now-it just doesn't make much sense compared to my historical patterns. Yes, inflation is hurting many people, but the unemployment rate is still near record lows, millions of people ( including me ) are still working from home, avoiding gas expenses..and Amazon is still roaring. It makes me wonder of less and less people are shopping E-bay anymore.

[sakic92710]

December is even starting out worse!  No sales since Nov. 28.  Worse streak I've had.  7 days was longest.  Working on 8 today.  Do not see any change is the plummeting sale rate on eBay.  FB & Kijiji have helped me buy food recently.  Best of luck to all!    🙂

[shado-x]

At least someone is having a good year.

I am!   Calculate the timing on when to list, and it paid off well.  Thanksgiving Day right after Turkey, sales soared.  This year was good given the state of The Brandon Economy.  Come January, Jerome Powell will be in charge of the country as the Federal Reserve will be raising and holding interest rates steady.