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sudden change in number of bids

I am baffled.  I have been listing paintings regularly 6 days a week for a year on eBay.  My number of bids per item had been steadily growing, then around December precipitously dropped off.  They have remained fairly low with low selling prices.  Is an ebb and flow common on eBay? Am I doing something wrong? 

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sudden change in number of bids

It could be seasonal.This year a lot of people are reeling over their heating bills. When you get a few years under your belt its easier to judge seasonal changes.

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sudden change in number of bids

Yes, it's normal.

 

For example, on a shorter time period, although I list most of my items as Fixed Price Good Til Cancelled, I get most orders on Monday and Tuesday , and rarely other days of the week. This is over seven different IDs by the way.

 

We retired and closed our B&M shop, but many years ago, DH would get his knickers in a twist every time the day's sales didn't cover the nut.

So I started recording sales in our daybook (It was the 90s, we had computers but that was too fancy) At the end of each week , I made a total . And at the end of each month, totalled the totals.

It quickly became apparent which were our good months (January through March, July to September)  and which were awful (December). The other months were profitable without being spectacular.

Because I only recorded money through the cash register, we were not counting sales twice (when the order was made and when it was paid, a bad habit of DH). And a day with many small sales which did not involve The Boss, could be seen as very profitable even if none of them went over $100.

This also helped us decide when to have sales* and promotions, and when our newsletters went out.

 

So.

While things are quiet, massage your listings. Maybe you need better titles. Or perhaps a jpeg in your listing with your training, shows, and awards. Or perhaps your prices should be higher, because people appreciate things more the more they pay for them.

 

And make a list of last year's sales, and keep it going for a couple more. If you use other sites, or have a B&M, put those on the list too. The specific information will be invaluable . And often comforting.

 

 

 

 

*We discovered for example that if we had a sale during a slow month, our number of sales did not rise, but our profit dropped even more due to our lower prices. So we switched to having our sales during busy months. Sales were even higher as a result.

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sudden change in number of bids

Thanks for all this. Some great suggestions! Appreciate it!
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sudden change in number of bids

Reallynicestamps, I'm impressed by your replies on these message boards! The detailed answers you provide are fantastic, thanks for all the great info!
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