Ridiculous sales drop!

[lqdtechoutlet]

On eBay, I sell electronics (mainly phones) which I refurbish myself. Besides Monday (9/10/18), I've seen a huge drop in sales. Ever since Tuesday (9/11/18), I've made only $40. With smartphones being in such high demand combined with the fact that I make sure my listings are (almost) always lower than everyone elses, I'd think that I'd be making more sales than that.

Yesterday and today, I haven't made a single sale. This is surprising to me considering an eBay rep told me that September is their busiest month.

Not only this, but eBay is eating most of my profits with their monthly fees. The monthly fee is coming up and I'm not even sure I will be able to afford that. 

Is anyone else experiencing the same thing? What months do sales normally pick up again?

[goldrushfinds]

I have experienced the same decline in sales in recent months. I know people will say "well you sell clothes, that's why", but even my non-clothing items are not moving. Ebay is just taking up time and making me broke. I may pull the plug and just liquidate everything. I could make much more money with the free time in other endeavors. Making a sale is like a miracle nowadays on Ebay (truly profitable sales that is).

[lqdtechoutlet]

How is Amazon compared to eBay? Id honestly rather pay higher fees than have no sales at all.

[nfuchs]

I can only tell you my experience.  I am having robably my best month of the year.  And I do sell some phones, but new not refurbished and I sold one even today.  Personally I stay away from refurbished anything especially seller refurbished.  I do't know what kind of market there is for such cheap phones especially seller refurbished but maybe that's a factor.

[goldrushfinds]

Have not tried Amazon in a long time (couple of years), and even then only dabbled in it. Therefore I cannot say how it compares.

[lewisburggold]

Our sales are down too.  Best regards

[lqdtechoutlet]

Honestly, when I first started selling on eBay, I was selling broken devices for cheap more than anything. I do not think that is a factor.

I've only been selling for a few months but have seen nothing but success and even praise from multiple eBay representatives. A few of them even said they could see my account becoming very successful in the upcoming months. Yet here I am.

[chapeau-noir]

I sell mostly clothing but also computer peripherals (older tech) and sports gear - July and August were great (which is supposed to be slow for clothing). September has been borderline dismal.  I have no idea why. I've done this for years and September is usually when sales start building - yet had had twice the sales this summer as I did last summer but now I've dropped 13%. My sell-through is still good but I'm not getting a lot of views.

Kind of like walking off the end of a dock.

[chapeau-noir]

@lqdtechoutlet

What I would do (and often do) is include a sentence or two in your listings about your qualifications as a phone refurb tech. I have an IT pro working with me with 40 years of experience, and on some of the more complex devices that have gone through testing I note this. It gives buyers some confidence.  I think I only have a sentence noting that.

[goodluckselling]

Do you have recents requests?  Return requests or not as decribed requests?  If so is the number higher than usual?  Any requests that got escalated into cases?  Any unresolved by seller cases?

These things will lower or remove you from search visability if your numbers are higher than your group peers.

I do not know your answer.  I am just trying to give a few ideas.

Good Luck Selling!

[lqdtechoutlet]

I do have some return requests, however, this is mainly due to people not reading the description. I did a search of the items I have listed and a lot of them come up first or close to first in the lists.

Not sure what is going on.

[superaliepi]

I'm seeing this same big drop since Tuesday (I sell clothing). I think it is Hurricane related as I saw the same pattern last year around Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. You have many people displaced and or without power and others worried/donating extra money.

[tunicaslot]

You answered your own question right there - newer sellers get a boost in visibility for a few months - after that you have to work to maintain visibility and continue to get sales. 

I have to agree with one of the posters above - I may buy a manufacturer refurbished but do not buy seller refurished - anywhere. 

Also the past few days I've been having trouble with my phone as well as my GPS losing satellite connection. Whether it was due to the storm down south - I don't know - but it may be a possibility.

[duncanvr]

Its been a very poor week this week, last week my sales were at 76% up. This week in the red -26% down. Overall traditionally September / October were really good months for me. The best time of the year to sell.  But this September is a disaster with sales the worst on record for me. Things have been on a decline this year. Its like buy it now is switched off an can go days with no sales no matter what you try. There could be various reasons one of them could be a bad ecomony? The other could be site glitches and people getting fed up with it? Anyones guess here.

Sadly when things are slow like this most of the money is eaten in fees as the OP states. That can only get worse every year from here on in. There will be more price increases and it will at some point kill it for many small sellers.

[turquoisetulips]

Is anyone else experiencing the same thing? What months do sales normally pick up again?Iqdtech - op 

Yes , I've only had two sales in the last 7 days  and both were under 15 dollars each . My sales are down 46 %  when they were way up last month . The slow sales could have many causes ,, someone mentioned the recent hurricane . That would certainly have something to do with it   unless you were selling disaster  supplies  real cheap . My sales always start to climb as we get closer to the holiday season ,, not a whole lot better in October  but by  Novemeber  things really take off . I've seen these slumps before  but they don't last forever . Just hang tight . Tulips