Sell Through Rate & Category

[tarotfindsandmore]

Since I've returned to reselling full-time, I've noticed a crazy (imho) degree of emphasis on sell through rate.  Every YouTuber under the sun seems to go on and on about the importance of sell through rate.  I understand that this is probably very important for sellers who sell clothing, electronics, and everyday essentials as these things come and go very quickly.  For those of us who have no interest in these categories, however, this obsession seems a bit misguided.  

Occasionally, I might look at the "solds" for something I'm thinking about buying, but 90% of the time my research involves things like IMDB, Vinyl Pulse, or some other external resource.  Most of the things I sell for real money have little to no history on eBay.  If I went by sell through rate, I would have skipped most of them and lost out on tens of thousands of dollars.  

This idea of looking at 90 days or even 3 years of history for items that were produced in batches of dozens or hundreds is completely absurd.  More importantly, eBay doesn't know what's on the horizon.  It only tells us whats behind us.  For example, I recently picked up a lot of Pottery Barn x Wednesday (Addams) merchandise at very good prices because the new season has been delayed and the company can't hold on to inventory until the release.  Same for Squid Game.  These are just a couple of current "hot" examples, but this has happened time and time again.

I suspect my fellow toy and collectible sellers have seen similar patterns, but I'm curious what others think of this emphasis on sell through rate.  What do you sell and how much does it actually matter to you?

[luckythewinner]

I've noticed a crazy (imho) degree of emphasis on sell through rate.

I have no idea how to calculate my sell-through rate. My focus is on my "hourly wage" over the long term.

If I spend an average of 5 hours a week on eBay and average $250 a week in profit, I was "paid" $50 an hour and it is worth selling here.

If I spend an average of 50 hours a week on eBay and average $100 a week in profit, I was "paid" $2 an hour and it is not worth selling here.

But for the most part I sell inventory that has minimal cost or that was already in my collection. So my perspective might not hold up for everyone.

[tarotfindsandmore]

I'm talking about sell through rate for items, apologies for not making that clear.  

[chapeau-noir]

IMHO youtubers go on about sell-through rate and span of time it takes to sell something because they don't have anything else to say - there's only so much that can be said about online sales, and there are so.many. of these youtube channels all saying the same thing. Sell-through is the easiest to talk about. I finally just quit bothering with Youtube.

[slippinjimmy]

Sell through rate is a key metric for ANY business that sell goods/merchandise.

One problem with sell through rate is that there are several different ways to measure it and the resulting numbers are really only meaningful when you include other factors (cost of goods, type of merchandise etc.)

Like most of these things, a number that is good for one business could be lousy for another business.

[tarotfindsandmore]

When did this become a thing?  I posted the original question because I had honestly never even heard the term prior to returning to full time.  I don't even know how one could calculate it for many of the things that I sell, nor how I would determine what a good sell through rate would be.  Many of the things I buy I buy expecting them to sit for six months or more and am surprised when they sell sooner.  What good is sell through rate for sellers like me?

[luckythewinner]

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@tarotfindsandmore wrote:

I'm talking about sell through rate for items, apologies for not making that clear.  

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I understood that, and you were perfectly clear.

I guess I wasn't clear enough when I stated that I have no idea how to calculate my sell through rate.

I do not care about my sell through rate, because I focus on a completely different measure of my business.

[slippinjimmy]

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@tarotfindsandmore wrote:

When did this become a thing?

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About 100+ years ago........

FYI -- Generally a STR is like many other numbers, they are applied to business as a whole or by sector (Category on eBay) rather than for individual items.

[fm2000]

Sell through rate is only one metric. It might matter for someone doing RA and only interested in selling "hot" items, but if ones deals in items like collectibles and media it matters far less; those items can have low "sell through" rates but can still absolutely be worth selling. Some of those "million dollar" (supposedly) Youtube know-it-alls might turn their nose down at a book purchased for $20 and sold for $500 just because it takes 12-18 months to sell. I would call that a smashing success, and I suspect some others would as well. Some items just take longer to sell than others, it doesn't mean they are not worth selling.

Likewise, a media item may have a high sell through rate, but the item also sells for less than the cost of shipping for most resellers. Those are definitely not worth buying, unless you are a megaseller who gets special deals from eBay and the USPS.

I saw a video by one of those "million dollar" sellers, telling new sellers to only sell high sell through rate items like iPhones, electronics, and designer items. Those items have certainly have excellent sell through rates... and can also come with serious risks (many designer items in the wild are counterfeit, electronics have high return rates and high shipping costs, and I can't think of a worse item for new sellers to sell than iPhones!) Another was flexing about being able to get boxes full of Gucci sunglasses for a just few dollars a pair... take what some of those guys say with a major grain of salt.

[tarotfindsandmore]

Amen!  I like seeing what other people sell, sometimes for inspiration but mostly out of curiosity.  My favorite sellers on YouTube are the ones who rarely even mention sell through rates. I would never have the patience to deal with the **bleep** that comes with clothing or electronics, and I don't have the attention span to sell 400 of anything, but I have no problem waiting for years to sell a treasure that I've had so long I forgot I even had it.

I recently sold a toy that I bought back when Kidrobot first started about 25-26 years ago.  Talk about a crappy sell through rate LOL!

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@tarotfindsandmore 

Well, some sellers have always emphasized sell through rate, the popular terms back in the day were "sales velocity" or "strong cash flow". I suspect there are a few reasons for the current emphasis. In no particular order:

1. With Product Research (formerly Terapeak) available on phones, it has become easier than ever to come up with a sell through number, and so a seller can not only see sold prices, but he can get a quick Sell through estimate as well. So, convenience is one factor.

2.Additionally, there are plenty of You Tubers who are doing the research for you, and then posting which items they consider to be high value sell through. So, again, convenience.

3. ebay's algo stresses sales velocity and deprecates "stale" inventory. The changing nature of search and the emphasis on Promoted Listings has made it more difficult to sell long tail , poor sell through items without paying for Promoted Listings.....not impossible, but it is more of a challenge.

4. As I (and others) have pointed out for years, if you want  strong sales velocity, list only items that are likely to sell quickly. You can improve your sales conversion rate markedly by listing high sell through rate items only.

5. However, sourcing these items is a challenge, and especially sourcing them at a price that makes it profitable to sell them. Again, not impossible, but....

Years ago, a now deceased seller posted his strategy, which was a combination of slower moving items (in his case, chiefly antiques) with high margins (he had good sources) and faster moving items (from his B&M gift shop) which had lower margins (he bought items at wholesale) but quicker sell through. The gift shop items brought in his (relatively) steady cash flow, and the antiques were his profit center. 

So, I'd suggest you figure out what works for you, and don't worry too much about the You Tube gurus. I'm not saying their strategy doesn't work, but each seller has to figure out what they are comfortable with.

[yuzuha]

For me, sell through rate determines which crane game prizes I bother to win. If merchandise from a particular series has a low sell through rate, I won't even bother winning prizes from it because there's no point in winning something that's going to sit around for the better part of a year (or even more) when instead I could go for something that would sell within a month or two.

I don't have unlimited space in which to store things, so I want my inventory to move. I don't mind sitting on SOME stuff for ages if it's worth it, but I want a fairly steady turnover so that I have the space to bring in new items to keep things fresh.