sales down

[modelsandtrainssupplies]

How are your sales lately. Mine are way down. I am used to doing fairly well.

[sakic92710]

Mine have been down so long, I closed my store & removed my listings.  $100 a month isn't going to be missed!  

[reallynicestamps]

There are sellers who make a substantial part of their living here.

There are sellers who are clearing the basement, or mother's estate.

There are sellers who are keeping themselves busy while living on their pensions.

There are sellers who are proprietors of small businesses whose employees are running the online sales outlet(s).

Only those who are not kept busy by listing, photographing, describing, packaging and shipping are here-- unless they have a difficult problem and want advice.

The rest of us are taking a social break or are just bored busybodies. Probably both.

I fit into groups 2 &3. Usually I would have such poor sales in November and December that I basically close down shop for the holidays.

Then comes Boxing Day, boom! the collectors are back.

January to March are my usual busy period.

This year October was off, because I had my Stores closed off and on for personal reasons.

But November and December have been busier than 2022 and almost as busy as 2020 and 2021, during the pandemic surge in online shopping.

How do you current sales compare to 2022? To 2019? To 2018? We can't count the outlier pandemic years.

[chapeau-noir]

If you truly only started selling in 2021, you started during the pandemic 'bounce' - eBay's number of buyers has been shrinking at a good clip since then.

[richard1rst]

RE: your list of seller types.

You missed a couple.

There are sellers who are sole proprietors of One Man small businesses (i.e. no employees) and do it all themselves

There are sellers who make a living here.

[chapeau-noir]

Only those who are not kept busy by listing, photographing, describing, packaging and shipping are here-- unless they have a difficult problem and want advice.

The rest of us are taking a social break or are just bored busybodies. Probably both.

I'm a small seller desperate for an outlet for my corny jokes and Jabberwocky parodies.

[inhawaii]

My sales are way up.

Probably because we sell different stuff.

[gail5176]

Yes it’s really sad on eBay anymore

[dbfolks166mt]

     It depends on whether you are asking about just eBay sales or from the bigger picture. My eBay sales by both volume and price were a bit below what they had historically averaged but I can only measure up until 3 December at which point I shutdown for the holidays not only on eBay but the other ecommerce sites. I used to sell all the way through but the one thing I tended to notice in January was a rise in return requests probably for the same reasons you see the long lines at the retail customer service counters a few days after Christmas. I now enjoy the holidays and the break. 

     My local venue sales have surged dramatically from mid November up until the present and I will continue to sell on those forums up until around 17 December. I suspect that surge is somewhat due to the fact that I can list the items for 15-20% less since those venues have lower fees or no fees. The buyers also don't have to worry about shipping delays, damage or lost packages. More importantly they don't have to pay shipping costs. They can also see and inspect the items before they take possession and I only get an occasional return request after the holidays. So it's been a mix. 

[wheredidiputthatremote]

@modelsandtrainssupplies I sell a very similar niche. I agree with your assessment of the current bleak sales. I stopped sourcing for items a couple years ago because my inventory was/is massive. But as of late, I have sourcing again to mix up my listing product types a little bit. Hopefully our slump will end very soon.

[logical_collection]

i find you need to work harder to get what came easily just a year ago. as for trains, i used to sell that kind of stuff out of my garage, i stopped last year as it became slow if not dead. now i cannot sell what i have left even at 75% off. same goes for antiques and collectables... i stopped completely and switched to something more profitable before i broke(mentally and financially)

[john_wade]

If one has a large collection of Picasso paintings, drawings, sculptures, offer them for $50 each and you'll get all kinds of sales. I'm going to try it in the near future. 

[ebeths_eclectic_collectibles]

You just a powerful influencer to suggest trains along with their favorite ugg styles