Sales down

[alfrexientertainment_2]

I’m rather new at this. Just a little over 6mnths. Right after Christmas I was finally able to open a store. Ever since my sales dropped a lot. I’m lucky if I sell one item a week. I’ve checked all the items, and they are all priced according to what has sold on eBay. Help! Any suggestions on what I could be doing wrong? Getting very discouraged.  Gina

[rpalma]

You are selling beanie babies and other small pop collectibles from what I saw.

Most likely, any you had that would sell quickly sold and you now have the ones left that are slow sellers or won't sell. After Christmas is probably the worst time of year for these type items.

I'd also be concerned that since you listed them, the prices have come down because of a glut of listings and slow sales, so maybe your prices are no longer competitive.

If you are selling long tail items (things that sell slowly or have to wait for the right buyer), then 1% chance of selling is in the ballpark, so selling 1 or 2 per week with 200 listings sounds about right.

Find a variety of items to sell. Look for items with higher profit margins and/or things that will sell quicker. Look for seasonal items you can purchase cheaply in the off season and then hold until right before the season.

If you are selling mostly long tail items, you need many more of them listed to increase your sales rate.

Consider pricing the common cheap to move it and the uncommon really desirable stuff above market but with really good descriptions and pictures so it waits for the right buyer.

[kensgiftshop]

The listings I looked at don't have any descriptions.

Give good descriptions with as much information about the item as you can.

Having dimensions help so buyers know the size of the items.

[lex-talon]

I've only sold two items in February so far. December 2019 & January 2020, were great months for me. This time of year is known to be slow for sales. Just hang in there, things will improve. Good luck.

[domin-tomas]

Sales have been dropping more each month. It appears that the more I add the less I sell. So far this month I made what I used to make in a day. If by July this does not improve I wont renew my store, just not worth the extra expense.

[goldrushfinds]

Anyone denying the fact that Ebay currently has major issues has got their head in the sand. Yes you can attribute slow sales to the time of year, product sold, listing quality, etc. However, too many people are just seeing drastic drops in sales and views, over the past months. Sales activity for too many has become abysmal. People will say, "well it's what you are selling", which to a point is obviously true. I sell a lot of clothing, and people say it's a saturated and dead category. That is a gross generalization. You are aware that some of us not so stupid as to not check the sell through rate of a particular line of clothing before listing it aren't you? Just like any category, there are items in high demand and those with little. Something has changed, and it isn't for the better.

[chapeau-noir]

This is an odd, kind of doggy time of year - winter carries on, spring not here for a lot of people (a long way away for some of us).  In clothing it's Transitional so some of us have some of this and some of that with 'some of this' just dripping along, 'some of that' not gaining traction yet.  I manage a living from my humble little store and don't live in a cardboard box, but February has always been slow and a bit bleh.

For what you sell, which is a niche, I think you may experience just a few sales a week, though checking your 'solds' area I think you're actually doing well.  It's hard to compare with the holiday run-up because everybody's buying stuff.  My advice would also be to diversify.

[monstertoybox]

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@alfrexientertainment_2 wrote:

I’m rather new at this. Just a little over 6mnths. Right after Christmas I was finally able to open a store. Ever since my sales dropped a lot. I’m lucky if I sell one item a week. I’ve checked all the items, and they are all priced according to what has sold on eBay. Help! Any suggestions on what I could be doing wrong? Getting very discouraged.  Gina

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I'm so sorry, I know how discouraging Ebay can be. After being here 10 years I've seen my sales dwindle to almost nothing. It is purely sales manipulation by Ebay and their awful algorithms. There is nothing that you can do (besides marking your items down to unrealistic prices), you basically have to "wait for your turn". There will be a handful of posters (who are on every slow sales thread) saying that this is just a "conspiracy", but unfortunately for those of us who have been around for a long time know that the manipulation is just reality. 

From what has been said in the past on the board, Ebay gives new sellers a boost, but then you are "set free" from that and either you will sink or swim. Did you try promoted listings? Some have said if you just put the rate at 1% for your all your items, sometimes this helps sales pick up. It's just paying more money, but at such a low rate it is something to at least try. You can also try to put on a sale through the markdown manager, like 5% off everything. I like to offer "free shipping" to items under a pound, because some buyers searching for items like yours may use the "free shipping" option while searching and this would eliminate your items from the results currently. Also, listing a new item every day might help.

As you try new things in your store, like the ones I mentioned above, sometimes it will get your sales started again.  But once the algorithm changes again, your sales will stop and you will feel like you are closed. It's just the nature of this website unfortunately. You did a great job on your store and pictures by the way! Hopefully it will pick up soon for you.

[yuzuha]

I sell a lot of the same things that you do, and I'm going to be very blunt: Beanie Babies have next to no demand these days.  In fact, I just sold one today that I've had listed for more than two years, and I was only asking $5 for it.  They'll sell, but expect them to sit around for over a year before they do because no one collects them anymore.  The Beanie Boos sell much better than the Beanie Babies, but even then, they're a slow sell.

For instance, I see you're selling Jake the mallard duck.  I've had one listed for $2 for almost three years now and it still hasn't sold even at that price.  The demand just isn't there.

[chapeau-noir]

I'm actually impressed that the OP has sold as many as they have, and knowing how hard it is to move Beanie Babies (one of the 9 bazillion types of things I've sold on here down through the years lol), find it encouraging and think they're doing a great job.

Oftentimes people buy smalls like that as 'add ons', i.e., they don't purchase them by themselves, but along with something else with combined shipping - that's how I've sold most of my smalls.  So having more variety may increase the rate of sale for this little guys.

[byrd69er]

One word....

Beanie Babies.

oops.

[comp_usa]

I feel your pain, I sell pretty good demand items and still it is pretty bad this year and not getting any better. As others have mentioned, selling all month what used to take 1 - 2 days in 2019.  

Something has definitely changed with eBay and hopefully they notice all the way up and make some changes soon to boost sales. I sell on Bozos Bezos monopoly as well and there has been a slight decline but nothing like here on eBay.  

Best of luck to all, hopefully it is just an anomaly . The economy is doing pretty well overall so it is definitely an eBay management specific issue. 

[coolections]

Anyone denying the fact that what they have listed is either not in demand, in an oversaturated category with too much competition, or priced too high has their head in the sand. Beanie babies are a dime a dozen and there are 218,627 current listings. Of the ones that have ended 157,098 went unsold and 30,174 sold. The 20% that sold where most likely the rarer hard to get ones.

[treasuresbyloulou]

Sales have been booming for me.  I thought the whole coronavirus panic would severely affect my business, but it appears that people still have no problem clicking that "buy it now" button for me.  Don't forget, the money is made in the buying, if you can get items out there cheap enough to compete with your competitors, your store will be gold.