Sales are dead!

[glenmorecollectables]

Seems sales have ground to a halt - anybody else seeing same/different?  Don't need comments on why (I think I know), just curious if others are seeing same...

[powapar-0]

Quite the opposite, things are going nice for me.

[virginia-internet-sales]

I had no days in March where I didn't at least sell ONE item. Then, my sales fell off a cliff so far this month. I've gone from that complete absence of zero sales days in March to 3 of the first 6 days of April being zero sales days.

I was starting to wonder if something was up with eBay itself (algorithm change, etc.) given the suddenness of the drop off for me. I know there's inflation, etc. but that didn't hit all of a sudden at the beginning of this month. Ebay Youtubers are also taking note of many people seeming to have slow sales right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIjHweDURi8&t=5s

[dbfolks166mt]

     This is kind of a double edged sword. While the economy is recovering it is also battling inflation which can impede and or adversely impact that recovery and push it into a recession. The FED is poised to raise interest rates to try and slow the inflation but that is a delicate balancing act between slowing the inflation and not impacting economic growth. Inflation is the boogeyman when it comes to recoveries. If prices continue to climb, as they’re projected to, people may begin to pull back on spending, which could lead businesses to halt hiring.

     There is in fact a labor shortage across a lot of areas at the moment as a lot of the baby boomer generation either have or are in the process of retiring. There are a number of books and articles on "The Graying of America" and the long term impacts that will have on the workforce and the economy. 

[dnasilver]

Yep, that is why I put for "many people". We only know one family struggling and all the others are traveling, going out to eat, shopping, buying cars, and even building new homes. It would be interesting to know what the average income of buyers on eBay is and what is the average net worth of buyers. We use different mediums to sell based on item values and are amazed how much cash is flowing across America. We all hear about the billionaires, but not all the millionaires, which apparently there is a lot of them.

[meme6253]

Yep seeing the same!

[sakic92710]

March was the worst month I ever had & April is starting out worse!  The last 4 weeks - 4 sales, 3, 2 & only 2 so far this week.  I've been depending on market Sundays to survive week to week.  If that slows down, it will be a disaster waiting to happen.  Good luck to us all.   🙂

[mightymouse]

If you are selling money in for money out you need to look at your margins

[goldrushfinds]

When Ebay gives me my short window of favored visibility, sales are great, otherwise they are highly erratic and overall underwhelming. Nobody can convince me that Ebay does not rotate your items for sale through periods of preferred exposure to nearly invisible. Just 2 days ago every few minutes another one of my items sold, now in the last 48 hours, I measly sale. This pattern has been going on for the past couple of months. Statistically nearly impossible. A midweek $400 day followed by 3 days with total sales of maybe $100 ($33/day avg). 

[meme6253]

At least your getting those sales

[barlightbroker]

My initial guess would be the inflation going on.  It's a little deeper though. Ebay played their part in all this. It was planned the whole way.  Just know this is widespread. It's what I like to call the "devils plan". 

[trob-1450]

The economy is definitely not recovering.  Gas, groceries and housing do not reflect recovery at all.  In fact, our problems are about to dwarf the Great Depression.  Most people are going broke trying to stay afloat.  That is why sales have tanked.  

[femmefan1946]

While the economy is recovering it is also battling inflation which can impede and or adversely impact that recovery and push it into a recession.

Yes the mainstream media are pushing all the troubles and none of the successes.

Boomers should know better, since we weathered the Ford through Reagan recession that pushed mortgage interest up to 22% and only recovered with Clinton.

What the US needs is more immigration to fill those jobs that people are leaving.

[femmefan1946]

Nobody can convince me that Ebay does not rotate your items for sale through periods of preferred exposure to nearly invisible.

That's why many suggest that we should list every day, (or use automatic relisting for the same effect). Because Newly Listed and About to Close are two popular Searches.

And it seems that the algorithm rewards successful sellers-- and does it in successful markets.

That means if you sell a Thing, your visibility rises, increasing the chances of another sale.

And if you sold the Thing in Iowa, then your visibility rises in Iowa, because the algorithm figures  Iowans want Things.

But again-- don't compare March to February.

Compare March to March.

Retail has rhythyms- bathing suits don't sell in August and christmas trees don't sell in April.

The pandemic has confused things so comparing to 2021 or 2022 is questionable since there was a huge surge in online buying.

But comparing to 2018 and 2019 should be possible.

[dbfolks166mt]

     I remember those years quite well and there are two sides to every coin and of course the press seldom reports the good news, it doesn't sell. While the mortgage rates were 20+% the 5 and 10 year CD's were paying 15-17%. It took the financial institutions time to drive down the CD and other interest rates to be able to lower the mortgage rates. It had little to do with who was president at the time it simply took several administrations to correct. I didn't have a mortgage during those years but I had a LOT of cash tied up in 5 and 10 year CD's that I gleaned a pretty good chunk of change from. 

     The U.S. bureaucracy moves at a snails pace so the success or failure of a president, and congress, is generally based on what the previous administration has done, or did. The one admirable quality of Clinton was Regan and Busch handed him an economy that was flourishing and he was smart enough not to mess with anything, Monica being excluded. 

     Most of the more recent recessions have been caused by an increase in oil prices which kicks off a domino effect across the full spectrum of other prices most of which are necessities such as food, clothing, transportation, etc. 

[new_haven_toys]

I think you forgot one very important fact. It was the Carter years that gave us double digit inflation and double digit mortgage interest rates. It wasn't Ford or Reagan. Carter lost his re election bid by a near 50 state landslide. I think those voters knew the problems they were living with. As for the Boomers, they are maxed out on Credit and will never be part of the game. They live for instant gratification and though they may have heard about but never lived in a bad economy, they may be about to find out what a recession is. The trillions in paper money that's been printed is worthless and has given us the highest inflation rate in near 40 years. After the bills are paid, I have to believe there is very little left to be spent on eBay.