eBay

dmasternac · ‎09-21-2021

Is anyone else having trouble making sales this last week? I've been adding new items practically daily and have more items than I have had in a while but haven't sold anything. I have been forced to increase some prices due to USPS going up in price but I didn't think it would have that great of an impact. Any insight would be appreciated.

runninggolden95 · ‎09-21-2021

I'm seeing the same trend. I was selling items daily and now nothing is moving. Buyers, I think, are spooked by the current state of the stock market (Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Russell 2000, etc.). There has been a steady loss for the last two weeks and people are afraid to spend on excess things. Hopefully this changes, I have a large inventory of collectibles coming that will be listed!

m60driver · ‎09-21-2021

Yes, sales have slowed but I think it is a seasonal slow down for some categories combined with a certain amount of uncertainty regarding the pandemic and the economy. As they say, winter is coming and folks are saving for the holidays as well as spending to prepare for the cold season. Also, you and I sell items that are not really geared to be given as gifts given to others. I will be closing my store in October and ending most sales in November. I am only keeping my store and listing through October in order to insure I will have most listings available to relist in late December and early January. The only items that I will continue to list, through November only, will be holiday trinkets and a few pieces of winter gear. I have always had much better sales after the holidays as people begin to spend some of their holiday gift and pay bonus money on themselves.

mr_lincoln · ‎09-21-2021

@dmasternac wrote:
Is anyone else having trouble making sales this last week? I've been adding new items practically daily and have more items than I have had in a while but haven't sold anything. I have been forced to increase some prices due to USPS going up in price but I didn't think it would have that great of an impact. Any insight would be appreciated.

Sales volume is down but dollar volume is good. You may want to consider putting a stiff piece of cardboard in the bubble mailers with your comic books ... otherwise they will continue to get damaged.

Another approach (and we do this with thin paper back books and magnetic mailbox covers) is to simply fold corrugated over and tape the 3 edges ... that's 2 layers of corrugated and is pretty stiff ..

Best regards,
Mr. Lincoln - Community Mentor

femmefan1946 · ‎09-21-2021

Don't compare sales to last week.

Compare to August/ September 2019 or 2018. (2020 was an outlier with a pandemic surge in buying online.)

Every retail business has waves. When I sold woodstoves and patio furniture (note seasonal merchandising) we sold patio furniture from February to July, BBQs from Easter to Father's Day, and woodstoves from June to November. December and January were mostly dead time.

On a weekly basis, Tuesdays were quiet and on a daily basis, two pm to three pm were dead. We ate late lunches.

So look back at your weekly, monthly, and annual records. You may find this drop is normal.

Or not.