@perfumenmore wrote:
I don't sell for a living. I have a full time job so I sell just to buy what I want. I never have more than 45 listings at a time and haven't yet had to pay any listing fees even when a listing ends because it just gets relisted and the available free listings, as part of my 50 free listing a month, takes care of the listing fees. I average about 3 sales a week. I then list the amount of products I sold.
I feel sorry for sellers that are doing this for a living. I think that I've always used GTC for my listings so I really don't think that is at play here. I think the implementation of sales tax is what is driving down sales and that is what politicians and the Chamber of Commerce wanted. They want to drive traffic to physical stores and make it as unprofitable for buyers to purchase online as they can. I really think that when shoppers are checking out and get hit with tax it is making them pause and rethink their purchase.
I still think online has better prices than physical stores and it will just take time for the consumer to realize that even with the implementation of tax added to their purchase they will still be better off shopping online than at a physical location. Besides the benefit of lower costs, they will also save on gas (if they drive), not have to deal with crowds, and even be safer. What can be better than to make your purchase from the safety of your own home?
Don't give up hope. Things might still turn around for you yet.
Hmmm.. I know that when I walk into a B&M to buy an item, I don't take pause at the sales tax when I'm at the register. Not sure too many buyers online would either. I think the B&Ms have latched onto this as something that is allegedly hurting their businesses but I think its doubtful. In most areas, the sales tax isn't high enough to make a huge impact on the bill.
I do think the shipping is causing an issue, though. A 5lb, 18x18x6 costs $23 to ship to the east coast via ground service and $46 priority mail, while being only $7-$10 to ship to a nearby zone. That's as much or more than the item the box contains. Shipping shouldn't be 100%-200% of the item value.
Frankly, I don't think delivery times are as critical as some large vendors make them out to be and whats needed is a slower and cheaper delivery method. People are buying tons of Chinesium goods and seem to have no problem waiting 16-30 days to get their items.
I'm not sure what the total sales volume is on eBay but it sure seems like eBay ought to be able to negotiate much better rates than commercial plus with USPS.
