Gas here is $3.11, diesel $3.55, heating oil $4.22. stores are empty, very few people, lots of empty shelves.
I don't buy it that its due to shipping issues, the items that are gone from the shelves are local sourced items.
The supermarket for instance the other day was out of bread, milk, meat, flour, sugar, and snack items.
A year ago it was paper goods and snacks that were missing but not much else. There are signs all over the stores saying that "due to the supply chain issues these items are in short supply". A same brand store 15 miles up the road is fully stocked.
Money is tight these days but in the nearly 20 years on here I've never seen it this bad. Certain items always sell, till now. Back in Aug. we were shipping 20-30 items a day, then when Sept rolled around it went dead, maybe one or two items a week at best. Then it picked up a bit mid Nov. but its been one or two items a week ever since. Sept has always been bad, and we always attributed that to school starting.
Our best selling months were always Nov through Feb. That's held true for all these years. This year is different.
There wasn't much of a jump in 2020, a few things moved faster but not by much.
What has increased is non paying bidders and bidders who never leave feedback.
In years past, nearly all buyers left feedback, now its 1 out of a 100 at best. I sold 59 items last year on my one personal account, 9 left feedback, 21 of those buyers were repeat buyers, 11 of them bought more than three times. 44 of those items were sold through the Global Shipping program.
At work, almost nothing goes overseas, sales are down 88% from four years ago.
I get a ton of complaints about shipping but when many items are over 3 lbs, options are limited.
Often the best option is Priority Flat rate boxes, but that don't help larger items like motorcycle or bicycle wheels or tires. FedEx has been the best option there but the cost is no doubt a deterrent to many.
A few things we did learn over the years is to avoid clothing, and to avoid 'kids' items. Those categories always led to a ton of returns and a ton of scammers. The boss got tired of folks buying things, using them for a few weeks, then returning either their old one or one they ruined for a refund. At first it was a few items a month, then it got to be nearly every other item so he sold it all to a local flea market guy and shut those accounts down. Even now, if we list something 'FOR PARTS ONLY' with a clear description that its not complete or doesn't work, you still get the buyers who complain it don't work.
What I really get tired of is buyers who buy something listed for a Ford, then complain it won't fit their Toyota. (Had a guy buy a used steering wheel off a 2007 Ford truck complain it wouldn't fit his Camry). He filed a INAD and we were out the shipping. That sort of crap has to stop here.
That along with those who win an item, then never pay, or come up with lame excuses as to why they can't pay, or those who try to negotiate a lower price after winning an auction.
I always thought the rules were "Your bid is your contract" here but that seems to have gone out the window. I'm also seeing quite a few cancelled bids on certain items. They bid and retract three or four bids before finally leaving a bid in place, many retract bids last minute too, leaving the item either unsold or sold at the minimum bid
On the buying side, searching anything here is a real mess, it refuses to block out the Chinese sellers using US addresses, it refuses to let me set permanent search parameters.
I don't care to buy counterfeit Chinese items but the site is packed with thousands of those ads.
Many have horrible feedback, yet they continue to sell low quality, inferior items.
Amazon isn't much better lately.
Locally, things don't sell, CL and FB are dead, all you get is replies looking to collect email addresses and phone numbers. I still keep a few hundred items listed on each but I think I had one sale all last year on CL, and none at all on FB. As a buyer, I've done well on CL, but have never been able to buy anything through FB. Most people just never reply back yet the ads stay listed for months. I just figure those items are fake ads?
Like eBay's Non Paying bidders, CL has a ton of no shows, folks who make contact, call, tell you they want the item or want to see it then never show up.
Lately for some reason I keep getting folks from 1000 miles away contacting me on CL only to realize I'm too far away. Not sure if they're that dumb or if they're also just collecting information.
Right before New Years I had a bidder email me here asking if I'd let him pick up an item in person, he was emailing about a set of wheels. I said no problem, but he doesn't bid for two weeks, he finally wins the item, and it turns out he's 1,800 miles away. He tells me he's got a friend that's closer to me, (only 800 miles away), and that his friend will pick up the item and pay me cash. I never heard back from him again.
I canceled the sale after two weeks and relisted the item. That buyer had over 5k 100% positive feedbacks.
I have had a few long distance buyers, the farthest came 2800 miles to pickup an item that would have shipped for $40. I had one buyer, who was a no pay, email me 4 months after the fact under a new eBay name asking if I still had the item they won, with a long explanation about how his ex wouldn't let him pay and that he spent the last two months in jail and now that he was 'back on his feet' he's still interested in the item. (It had been relisted and sold months ago).
