What are your general sales patterns during the year? When do you notice more sales?

[vintageantique77]

For the first time in my eBay "career" I have reached the 200 free listings cap that we receive as sellers. This has me a little nervous, as I routinely go out to thrifts everyday and find goodies to sell. Recently, I was experiencing an increase in sales and it almost got *crazy* - but after the Christmas holiday, I have had barely anything sell. I have an uneasy feeling that things are getting ready to screech to a halt. I have over 140 things listed currently, and will be cancelling their recurrence if they don't sell within the next 20 or so days....I'm wondering if anyone has noticed a unique pattern for sales depending on the time of year vs many different things. I hope I am clear with what I am asking. Thank you!

[jayjaspersgarage]

Your questions are clear.  There are a few weeks during the year that are slow for me.  They almost all are during major holiday weekends when people typically go away for a quick three day break from life and the internet.  I think Memorial Day weekend, Forth of July, Labor Day weekend and the last ten days of December  are consistently my lowest sales times after ten years out here.  

Additionally, several product areas are over-crowded so sales may drop off dramatically if a larger seller decides to undercut the market in certain areas for a sales blast.  If I am staying home (who isn't these days?) over a holiday weekend I will focus on buying local trips when some of my buying competition has left town and I sometimes run specials on slow-moving items to get them cleared out.  

I used to run 2200 auctions full-time until the GTC policy went into effect.  I downsized my store because in my regular job I was working up to 60 hours per week plus commute time.  My Basic store is manageable for 700 or so items and the lower store fees are saving me quite a bit of money each month.  Now with Covid-19 my dilemma has become whether to upsize the store back to Premium since I was laid off in March of 2020.

[luckythewinner]

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@vintageantique77 wrote:

I have reached the 200 free listings cap that we receive as sellers. 

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There is no cap on free listings. You get 200 free listings with each account, but you can create as many accounts as you want. 

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@vintageantique77 wrote:

What are your general sales patterns during the year? When do you notice more sales?

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There is no pattern to my sales, other than the fact that over the long term they are remarkably consistent.  

[southern*sweet*tea]

I sell (for the most part) paper ephemera, vintage books and recipe books.  There is no pattern to speak of for my sales. They do normally slow down for the holiday seasons, but this year was good.

For collectibles like mine - long-tail items that appeal to only a small niche segment of buyers - there is no real "season". They sell (or not lol) year round.  That's why I have a store. I have to keep this stuff listed. If it's not listed, it won't sell. You never know when the right buyer will come along.

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

@vintageantique77. Well, my Buds 1st let me wish you a very prosperous New Year!

     You know you live in a glorious part of the US just filled with treasures up the " ying yang" and I personally think you have an advantage over a lot of us especially me.

     On ebay, I sell collectables and lots. Never seen a trend for me online. Now when I buy on ebay say for Christmas, I start in October and I buy embroidered vintage kitchen towels for gifts to the gals I work with at the thrift shop and they are getting harder to find and more expensive every year.

     Now at my store in the Antique mall, different story. I cannot keep dial phones in colors in stock...HOT! ( so get some pink ones) Elvis is big too, porcelain dogs 50s-60s, Hoodies with graphics and rock star tees...big now but in our summers it won't be.

     Now I did real good this year before the holidays and supplied a lot of Pyrex measuring cups, divided dishes, baking dishes and all have been snatched up and sold.

     Now I've already started on vintage glamping and camp gear..50s plaid thermos, green coolers, 50s Motel postcards and blankets and that will be in April when that will be displayed.

     You have a good eye for collectables not everyone does. Good rule to live by: "buy what you like, you may get stuck with it!

     Take care still got cha saved as a seller!

[jayjaspersgarage]

That would be "rotary" phones that you need to dial.  Back in the 1970's you had to be very clever to get a phone number with the last four digits  to be threes, twos or ones.  It sucked if your customers had to dial 9680 at the end of your number.

[buyselljack2016]

Due to the category that I generally sell in my sales are usually somewhat constant.

A bit amused when looking at my account.  There was some unknown issues going on in November on one account. Sales were pathetic.

So pathetic that after having the account on "time away" for 21 days the sales are only down 5%, and views are up 62.5% with the spike in the 1st 8 days of December😁

 

[dirk12955]

No pattern whatsoever.    I've been selling 20 years.

November 2020 was the worst month I've had in 18 months

December 2020 was the 2nd best month I've ever had.       That's ever in 20 years.

[creativecrisis]

Generally I have a sales bump in the first quarter of the year. Maybe because I sell craft supplies and people stay inside and do more crafts in the winter? The summer months are typically slower for me, but I usually see an increase in September/October/November. While this past December was decent for me, it's usually my worst month.

It will be interesting to see how 2021 goes. I had my best year ever last year in terms of sales ... one of the few bright spots in a very difficult year.

Happy New Year, and wishing everyone great sales!

[skeletonstore]

There probably is a seasonal effect post Christmas.  Of course this is post Covidmas so it might be off the charts.  My brother says his sales are down but then out of the blue someone will walk in the store he sells things and tank down $1000 of goods.  My sales are completely dead and that's what I sell and historically my sales die this time of year.  Consumer confidence could be hurting too.  You have uncertainly about the future. Bunch of people are about to get $600 though. Maybe they won't spend it on fireworks, booze and parties  😄

[dhbookds]

generalities........

4th q....largest amt of $ sales

lst q ....2nd largest amt of $ sales

2nd q...3rd largest

3rd q smallest

Study B&M advertising ......i.e. white sales in May, navy clothes in spring...... to some extent buyers are "trained" to buy certain things at certain times..... Seasonal stuff is obvious........gardening and  home decorations in the spring, summer stuff from April-May thru July or so. 

Xmas Decorations, I keep all year round......selling more in 4th q, but alot in Jan/Feb also.  Minor holidays...Valentine/Easter, etc.......get up at least 2 months in advance.  I've already got offers (low) on valentine stuff.....  Halloween sales starts more heavily in July.

From Jan-May.........pyrex/corning sells better for me......  dead in the summer, little in the 4th q.  I sold more in the 4th q last year than usual....  Someone recently posted that toy (adult) railroad stuff is hot from Jan-May, dead the rest of the year.  Crafts/puzzles, indoor stuff in the lst quarter....

Just some thoughts.......but I would also say.....if it isn't listed it can't sell.....the more stuff listed, the more possibilities of more sales.  Don't be "too" conservative about listing if you have pretty solid sales...  Try increasing the store size on a monthly basis during the hot selling times (if you have the inventory), and then cut back in the summer months........ 

All this is predicted on good listings/competitive prices, etc.  One thing, I've learned is not to try to squeeze the last $1 out on every item......IF you have the inventory, obtained at low prices,  go more for turnover at good, if not the best, dollar price. 

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

@jayjaspersgarage 

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@jayjaspersgarage wrote:

That would be "rotary" phones that you need to dial.  Back in the 1970's you had to be very clever to get a phone number with the last four digits  to be threes, twos or ones.  It sucked if your customers had to dial 9680 at the end of your number.

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Very interesting jay, didn't know that..did know that phones before 1973 were hardwired. I know I pick them up anytime I see them. Those Snoopy phones, had 1 and didn't last a week!

[jayjaspersgarage]

I grew up in the 1960's when most houses had only one or two hardwired phones everyone shared.  Once in a while the lines got crossed and you would end up on another person's call, not the same as a party line where multiple households shared the same connection way before my time.  Many people will remember that if you dialed "popcorn" you would get the time of day.  People will also remember looking up the zone where you were calling into to see how much per minute the call would cost.  Before fax machines and microwave ovens these were the types of things people worried about and the Vietnam War.

[van-loo]

Holiday season I was selling like crazy, but this week has been very slowed. I mainly sell antiques and it is a niche market. I take the to slow times to list more items. I have huge sells for weeks and then it slows down some.  I'm not for sure why my sells slow down, but I use the time to list as much as I can. I have a Premium store, and have over 800 items for sell. I never know when a item will sell, but I have learned that all items sell some sooner than others.

[axiombody]

I sell clothing  so  there are seasons for specific types of clothing.  Right now shorts and shirts are a slow go, but pants and sweatshirts sell better.  Also it is harder to find seasonal item within the season so I have to stock up in the off season.  Pants and sweatshirts are harder to find right now.  That being said there are also lulls between colder and warmer seasons.  Shorts and shirts don't speed up until about April or may and pants and jackets until at least September/October.  After Christmas I always have a major slowdown for a couple weeks.  Usually January accelerates into April and slows again and accelerates until July.   August slows and accelerates into December but the last few years November is usually my better month along with May. Slow days and weeks can be anywhere for any reason but months usually hold true.  Over years the good months can fluctuate to an earlier or later month but the general flow of ups and downs holds true.