Sales at standstill...

[missingcord]

We use to depend on eBay for our income full time. this is back in the paypal days. It was so profitable that we where able to get 3 of those capital loans , The last 2 being 10k +. I can remember 700$ days. Heh that phone was constantly going off. I should have diversified and sold more on my own platform and built it up during the good days. Then things started going down hill. with the fees and promoted listing. We noticed that at the end of the day we were taking less and less home. And the returns started ramping up. On our own site and other platforms they where normal , but here they went through the roof. it got to a point where we would make 700$ in a whole week. then less then a few hundred.  Now it no longer makes sense to pay for a premium store with how little we make here. I know its summer but wow. Its never been this bad and I have been here since 2003. 

[yuzuha]

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@lazarustradingco wrote:

Yeah, it’s brutal out there for the used clothing/houseware/trinket/tchotchke market. I’ve been to Goodwills and thrift stores everywhere and these things just sit there collecting dust even at ridiculously low prices.

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This is very true. I go to a lot of the local rummage sales and I can always predict exactly what sorts of things are going to be left gathering dust on Sundays: china, glassware, and collectible figurines like Hummel/Precious Moments/Royal Doulton. There really isn't a market out there for those anymore.

[chapeau-noir]

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@samanthasb0utique wrote:

You are absolutely not alone. I have been selling for 13 years now and 8 million dollars later….. I was making around 100k in profits each year and now this year, I’m trending to make around 30k in profits. Maybe less than that. This event is unprecedented (for me at least). Granted I sell things that require people to have extra income but still, this has my mind completely boggled. I thought by now, my business would be flourishing and I would be expanding by leaps and bounds. Now I’m hemorrhaging faster and faster that each days passes. This business of mine I have poured every ounce of my being into and now watching it burn right before my eyes is so devastating. If business doesn’t get better by the end of the year, I will be throwing in the towel. I never ever thought I would say that.

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I thought high-end designer goods were steadily migrating to other venues. I do know that plenty of people have money and are spending it so it's not like you're selling something that's not in demand, it is.

[windycityart4u]

We all feel your pain. Watchers don't matter anymore. End items instead of letting them be auto-relisted. Make sure you are listing items ever day. When you are sourcing, only purchase trendy items or items you think will sell fairly quickly. Refresh your items at least once a day (go to manage active listings, click the "edit" pull down and edit all items. Promote all listings. Buckle up for the wild ride. eBay decides when you will sell. You can do every mumbo jumbo superstitious action you want but eBay decides when your item will sell. This is NOT a free market for sure.

[windycityart4u]

One more thing you need to do. Get the tracking scan at the post office for all of your packages. If the tracking is delayed, eBay will limit your sales.

[samanthasb0utique]

No, there are plenty of us still on here. I talk personally to a bunch of them and most have not left. Some have though. Everything has been fine until January of this year. It started to decline and hasn't stopped declining. Over the years, I have noticed obvious ups and downs but this year, its just down and getting worse as the days pass by. The luxury handbag brands have also lost their resale value by 20-30% in the last 3 months (LV, Chanel, Gucci, etc). There are many articles about it too on the internet. I honestly don't understand why but maybe people just don't have the money anymore to spend. I am trying everything to get sales and have been trying things for months but nothing is working. The demand has changed all of the sudden and I have come to terms with the big possibility of closing up. The ones who sell on other platforms are going through the same thing. Its not just bad on eBay, its bad everywhere in my category.

[coolections]

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@samanthasb0utique wrote:

The luxury handbag brands have also lost their resale value by 20-30% in the last 3 months (LV, Chanel, Gucci, etc). There are many articles about it too on the internet. I honestly don't understand why.

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Just my guess but like everything else, they designer handbag fad was over-rated in the first place and people have finally figured it out.

[samanthasb0utique]

A fad lasts for like less than a year... the luxury handbag "fad" has been around for over 30 years.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Luxury handbags is one of ebay's Focus Categories, so I'm a little surprised to hear about this decline (which you say is both on ebay and elsewhere). I would expect ebay to be pushing this pretty hard, as they do high end sneakers, luxury watches etc.

Could you link some articles about the general decline?

It sounds like this may be largely a buyer-demand issue.....demand has dropped even as supply has likely increased.

Could it be that the demand has just shifted, from certain well known brands to some newer, up and coming designer brands?

[samanthasb0utique]

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques 

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2023/01/19/business/resale-trends-2023/index.html

This article has been shared so many times all over the place. I recently just found it since I really didn’t know it was happening until I stopped selling all of the sudden after 13 years of selling the same brands. These brands have been booming online since 2000-2022… but they have dropped in value by a lot since January. I guess the demand has changed drastically and so suddenly.  What’s even more insane is that these high end brands have increased a lot when bought brand new at the stores… but the value of them are dropping like a rock when trying to sell them used. 

[inhawaii]

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@missingcord wrote:

The sales have pretty much vanished on this platform.  

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Do you think that because sales have vanished for you, that sales have vanished for everyone?

There are people making MILLIONS of dollars on this platform.

You could be one of them.

You just need to be selling the right items.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@samanthasb0utique 

Thanks for the article. All business entails risk, and it looks like maybe a couple things happened here? Certain well known luxury brands might have lost some of their cachet, at the exact same time other brands gained some: 

"Demand for higher-priced luxury brands at resale is down, which is pushing prices for brands like Chanel, Gucci and Louis Vuitton down.” At the same time, she said, demand for previously owned lower-priced luxury brands — such as Miu Miu and Bottega Veneta — is up."

This could indeed have to do with the economy etc, but it might also be that many "influencers" are showing off their latest Miu Miu rather than their latest Gucci. 

The decline might find a bottom, and start to rise again. Or it might not. 

Even high end, dependable names like LV are subject to the whims of a sometimes fickle market. Those of us who sell used and vintage odds and ends learn quickly just how fast a "hot" item can cool off. But something like LV is kind of like the gold standard of reselling.....we expect it to go up in value, or at least not really lose value, because it has a long history of doing just that. But then, Sears had a long history of dominating American retail....things change. 

You have my sympathy, and really the only thing I can suggest is maybe try expanding your inventory to include other designer brands, or maybe look into other types of inventory entirely. It sounds like you have the business savvy to turn this around, but it might indeed require a serious re-examination of what you sell.

I think this is a risk ebay itself is taking with its Focus Category strategy, but ebay has some built in protection....if the designer handbag market drops, luxury watches or P&A might increase. Multiple categories offer protection that a single category doesn't.

[ckimodog]

@lino7866 

Advertising & spamming your .com company is against the forum rules.  Please post them elsewhere.  

[toomuchstuffagain35]

A friend said to me recently "Gucci - the Walmart of luxury handbags" LOL

[toomuchstuffagain35]

"the gold standard of reselling.....we expect it to go up in value, or at least not really lose value, because it has a long history of doing just that."

One could say the same about the "high end" names in the collectible categories.

Look how the value of Hummel have fallen. Think of any high end name in Crystal, china etc.