Writing is the Wall but Will I Read It?

[keziak]

I have always said that if I just quit ebay I would miss the money. Well the payouts just keep dwindling and I am approaching a point where it's foolish to devote a lot of time, effort and space to ebay. Right now I am trying to boost my number of auctions, see if that helps. I have so much inventory too low price to list on Amazon (books and media) so I lot them up on Ebay. But if they don't sell - or they sell too cheap - the point is...?

I don't know the technical term but I know there is remorse when making a big decision, a turn in the road. I guess I am operating out of fear of that versus welcoming all the time and space quitting ebay would bring. Arghh. 

[keziak]

Here's the deal though. I can't have book lots sitting in my store for a long period of time waiting for a buyer. My available space for storing boxes of lotted books is very small. 

In all but a few cases the single title stuff in my store is double-listed so the space on the shelves would be taken anyway. But single titles on ebay are a poor return on the investment of time listing them. 

My M.O. for  many years has been to start a lot of stuff at auction first then decide whether to store or pitch the  unsolds. But now the auctions are not generating enough money to be significant to my overall income. 

I'd love to stay active on ebay, love all the features Amazon doesn't have, and the option to sell in lots. But every week feels more pointless. I'm trying to smother the emotional reaction about this and decide if the whole thing is worth-while as a business model (=no).

[coolections]

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@redlinear wrote:

I thought you were of the sort......"Hasn't sold in 90 days chunk it"...?

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@redlinear   Yes but only AFTER you've dropped the price. 15% per month for 3 months if no takers then it is not worth a thing. It would be foolish to not first lower the price before chucking it. I figured that would be common sense  info already known to the average man/women. No need to keep things stale just collecting dust. Looking at the OP's listings prices they still have LOTS of wiggle room before the landfill.

[redlinear]

@keziak ,  I know very little about what you're selling.  But I do have quite a few items that I can't list one at a time because it's just not worth it.
And I do understand the storage thing.
But it looks like you are selling stuff.  What's the daily average over 90 days?  (6 or 7 sales a day??).
That seems to be good to me...given you only have 500ish listings. 
I mean, at least you are moving stuff.  

[joliztoyco]

As more and more sellers adjust to lower sales, or no sales at all, eBay is forcing them to confront a future where there is little profit in being here. So why bother?
eBay is "nice" enough to give us an example of how things will be with no sales.
Now that you've adjusted, take advantage of it, and quit wasting your time on here.
We all joined eBay so we could sell stuff. To a vast customer base.
And eBay failed us all by not retaining that customer base.
THAT was their job.
Their whole platform and profit relies on the transactions between buyers and sellers.
But instead of investing the funds to support and GROW their rapidly diminishing buyer/seller revenue stream they spend 3-4 hundred million in stock buybacks?
And worry about "dividends"?
Since when does eBay make FVF's off either one of those?
They don't. But they rely on FVF's to pay for them.
Selling has become a nightmare.
Used to be that "competition" was the key to sales.
Not anymore.
"There is no competition when you can BUY 1st place".
In a marketplace of shrinking buyers, all a seller has to do is be willing to give up huge chunks of their profits in PL fees to get to the top of the search engine and make sales.
The rest of you sellers? Go kick rocks.
As ridiculous as it sounds,eBay is forcing SELLERS into a bidding war against each other to be seen on their search engine and make a sale.
Quit now.
While you can. 
The proper word you're looking for isn't "remorse".
It's "regret".
eBay was that cool, wonderful place we all loved in the 1990's.
And 25 years later all I feel is regret.
For what could have been.
Life moves on.

[inhawaii]

Whatever you decide to do I wish you the best of luck.

[redlinear]

@joliztoyco , You're wrong.
You can't even buy 1st place.

[ed8108]

As a seller :

Unsaleable inventory is regarded as clutter due for disposal

[redlinear]

@ed8108 ,  unsellable inventory is pretty rare 

[lux.ra_14]

Books expand to fill available space. How would quitting eBay but continuing on Amazon solve anything for you?

As I recall, you have posted in the past about the stairs in your house, increased difficulty carting boxes around, lack of storage space, and inventory taking over your house.

Remedy: Focus on better books. Keep the best, cull the rest. Less quantity, higher ASP.

[keziak]

Haha, not that much a day. Used to be I would sell a lot of auctions every week and the single-title sales were  a nice add-on. These days I just feel so unsuccessful, it's a downer. I have a sale running, no idea if anything sold due to that versus selling anyway. To be fair I've let listings slide badly since embarking on an ambitious exercise program. But I"m not going to give that up. Can I make ebay worthwhile again? What would that take? Should I give it through the end of the year with still a college try and see if the holidays help? Dunno. 

[keziak]

Quitting ebay would mean less space needed to store and list stuff I can't flip as single items on Amazon.  Amazon books have a much smaller footprint, just shelving not all the floor space and piles I have now waiting to be tried on ebay. It would be easier in important ways to quit ebay and just do Amazon and get rid of what I can't sell there. For a long time I felt the ebay money was too good to give up but not these past several weeks. Hence the writing on the wall. Does the writing mean give up Ebay after all these years or find ways to sell successfully again here?

True talk, I don't put in the time to constantly check competiting prices on ebay for every little book. I list based on Amazon (unrealistic) and slap on Best Offer. I also send offers. Used to work well but has stopped. I don't systematically go back and slash prices because the odds are very good the books will sell first on Amazon and I don't want to drastically undersell the books here. All this is clearly not a winning scenario anymore. I am running a sale that reflects the discount I would generally give for offers but certainly sales have not surged thanks to that.

[ed8108]

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@joliztoyco wrote:

As more and more sellers adjust to lower sales, or no sales at all, eBay is forcing them to confront a future where there is little profit in being here. 

 eBay failed us all by not retaining that customer base.
THAT was their job.

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Some would argue ebay's job is to produce profit for itself, so far it has been able to accomplish that goal.

Would there likely be a negative impact on sellers, should ebay suffer more than a minor decline in corporate profit ?

[turtles-trading-post]

I know someone who sold postcards on eBay. When they decided to exit, they had a planned strategy. 

Like a brick and mortar store going out of business, they held a 25% off sale and later on a 50% off sale to sell merchandise, make some money and honor their store commitment.

After that they took the remaining inventory and bundled it into lots and sold it that way.  All gone!

Per other comments in this thread I too believe there is no unsalable merchandise. I’ve had items in my store for the full two years of its existence suddenly sell. Again, if you had a physical store it would be full of merchandise for folks to choose from, and some would sit for some time!

Good luck whatever you decide.

[keziak]

Back when houses and mortgages were cheaper I should have bought a stand-alone "ebay house" and avoided all the clutter here! I've always needed more space. Long-term storage of anything  has been largely impossible save for some very expensive books on Amazon. 

[rugerskick]

I would guess your sales increase then because the train groups and clubs may have summer expos and get togethers.  

It might be useful to consider other niches you have some experience in already, and have maybe 4-5 areas of expertise/item types, that are sought after by buyers here - so that you're not 100% dependent on train and train-related items.  What other things do you like and know about?  Shoes?  Hairbrushes?  Certain types of jewelry?  Artwork?