It's November 2023 - How are your sales doing? Holiday sales are only going to go up- are you ready?

[rosachs]

Traffic should be picking up as buyers start paying more attention to that "days until Christmas" countdown.  How are your sales doing?  What are you doing different this year from other years?  What are you doing the same?

-Bob.

[925.chrisp]

I currently sell $70 / day used to average $250+/day. Same merchandise: DVDs, CDs, Trading Cards, Books,  some clothing. Easy to locate at very low prices in CA but the competition is so severe that sales are just not making it worth it. I use eBay as a loss against another business venture. Anyone want to buy an eBay store? 

[lakefor94]

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@925.chrisp wrote:

I currently sell $70 / day used to average $250+/day. Same merchandise: DVDs, CDs, Trading Cards, Books,  some clothing. Easy to locate at very low prices in CA but the competition is so severe that sales are just not making it worth it. I use eBay as a loss against another business venture. Anyone want to buy an eBay store? 

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That is a negative key for a lot of sellers that visit the boards. 

[gloryglorygifts]

Seems like the majority of the things you sell are now either streamed or downloaded. It's so much easier to download just about everything now and that instant gratification that everyone seeks is satisfied. Sorry it's affecting you. You have a good attitude though!

[cine-montage]

Worst sales ever, I think I had 5 sales at the most this November, only 2 to 3 weeks at the most till Xmas, which means whatever happens, that will the sales you get. And Jan, and February  right after the holidays, is the worst sales ever, this will be one dreary cold winter. It's amazing that ebay did all these crazy changes right befour the holidays and drove a steak in the heart of there sellers.but I see there ads pushing sneakers,and watcher,makes me want to puke.

[ckimodog]

@rosachs 

1 sale...2 weeks ago.  🐈

[mcdougle4248]

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@ckimodog wrote:

@rosachs 

1 sale...2 weeks ago.  🐈

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Ouch! I am sorry to hear that.

My sales have picked up a bit. Sales are down 19.5% compared to last year. Since I ship GA, there are only a couple of more weeks left for buyers to shop and receive their orders before Christmas. It does not look good for making it into the "green" this year 😣

[ckimodog]

@mcdougle4248 

I sell on other venues as well, like a lot of people here.  Bottom line...it's been a tough year for many.  I sell hand crafted items, not to mention they are in a very saturated category.  So I've got that going for me....lol.  I just keep hoping & listing. Thanks for your kind words.  Wishing you much success.  

Happy Holidays

[dhbookds]

@jupiter_collectibles 

@rosachs 

Bob has been posting this monthly thread for years........it's been a relief to many to have a thread that we can respond to in talking about what "we" can do to help sales/talk about our aspirations and successes and failures without rancor.  

No one gets "brownie points" for anything on Ebay........except perhaps the "helpfuls" given by other sellers, which are more or less meaningless.  Ebay employee posts are always highlighted by a blue frame around their posts.  I've never seen one respond to threads of this type.

I applaud him for continuing to post the thread......none of us can control what ebay does/doesn't do........the only thing we can control is what we, as sellers do......and swapping positive ideas and experiences can only benefit  us.........

[onefootflippers]

My overall sales are about the same as they have been all year, however my Christmas ornament sales are down about 70 percent from this time last year. Likely because I am not promoting at 15 percent like some other ornament sellers are.

[femmefan1946]

None of my products are "giftable" but I've been shipping steadily in all three of my categories - used paperbacks, sewing patterns, and stamps.

Usually I expect the holiday season to be very slow and post-christmas to be busy.

Basically, I suspect that many sellers live in depressed       areas  which is why they are selling online as a living and think the entire economy is like their own.

While here employers are crying out for workers,  advertising $40 an hour for apprentice carpenters on job sites.

I was in Canadian Tire yesterday and the whole mall was busy busy busy. Three aisles to find a parking space - and we have handicapped tags-- lineup at the postal outlet in back of  Shoppers Drugs, lineup at the cash in Bolen's Books (and a sign that they were hiring), and no where to sit in the Food Court so we went to a cafe for our snack break  which has changed hands and the new Philippino owner has made the place a Pinoy community  centre and now also offers  ube rolls along with the butter tarts and nanaimo bars.

YMMV

[debbiet22]

I really appreciate Bob posting as well.  I always enjoy reading his goals, tips, and help.  I encourage you to continue.

As far as sales, the last 2 months of sales have been the best in years.   This year I am on target to increase my sales by 40%.  Most has been because I have focused on higher priced items and introducing products in other categories.  I sell mostly dinnerware and glassware but will continue to move away from selling china (except for what I have on hand). Sell more of everyday dinnerware and be selective in the glassware category.   Still continue to research and introduce other home decor categories.  Pretty much my business plan for next year.

Will place my store on vacation for a week during Christmas and try and work on my office.  It is in dire need of organization.

Hope everybody ends on a good note for the year!

[rosachs]

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@pls-consignments wrote:

After 7-months of being patiently optimistic that PL would eventually pay-off after all of the glitches and changes were complete, I'm sad to say that it has only been one giant profit suck. The only net profits going up are eBay's. Therefore, I've decided to stop the bleeding and liberate myself and my business from PL. PL no more!! 😊

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I haven't checked lately, but at one time eBay had an affiliate program - you generate traffic to the site, and if the traffic purchases, you collect a small fee.  You have to have the exposure on social media to make it work best, but I think it could work with even just a local blog or private resale site.

It's kind of the reverse of PL - instead of you paying eBay to generate eyeballs, you generate the eyeballs and eBay pays you!

-Bob.

[rosachs]

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@kensgiftshop wrote:

As bad as sales have been this year, I just shut everything down for the rest of the year.

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I just put the office account on Time Away for the several day period where I'll be out of town.  Did the same on our last trip and it worked pretty well - sales were still coming in, but estimated ship date and delivery dates were all based on the Time Away ending date/time.

I should really do that with my personal accounts as well - we'll be in Gulfport, MS over the Christmas weekend, and while I doubt I'll make any sales (folks will be busy with other things), it would still protect me from "late shipping" and "late delivery" dings.

-Bob.

[rosachs]

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@nilis13 wrote:

Just checked traffic, views, etc..down 90% today. Not normal. What is going on!

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I'm going into deep deep deep left field with this....

You know those hackers that keep trying to take down US networks and companies?  The ones the Russians hire....  What if Amazon were hiring similar 'talented' folks to impact other venue's traffic?  Not stop it entirely - that would draw attention, but just enough to get folks to give up shopping there and return to 'Mother Amazon'.

Hey!  Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get me!  🙂  Stranger things have happened in the last few years, and they keep getting stranger and stranger.

-Bob.

[rosachs]

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@blacktopautoparts wrote:

At this point, not only are we expected to move to PLA because PL is not what eBay wants......but they have also added another 2 layers with STORE ADS and OFF SITE ADS. Come on now, this is getting to be ridiculous and is only going to damage their business further because sellers are not going to opt into all 3 forms of promoted listings when you consider that our PL for the items we sell have hit almost a good 15-18% on some items.

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Remember back when eBay did this for us using the funds they collected from the simple FVF?  eBay ran the ads because they supposedly had the brain-trust to make it work.  These days, I'm not so sure it's a brain-trust and not just brain-rust.

When times get tough, you either find ways to increase traffic to increase sales, or you find ways to collect more fees from the sales & sellers you already have.

But at least I'm no longer getting those "increase your sales by lowering your price" malarkey messages anymore.  They should have been telling folks to "take better pictures" and "add an actual description and just not a repeat of the title" - you know, something constructive that would allow the seller to eventually have the traffic to raise prices, which would generate eBay even more in fees.

Do they still teach that in colleges and universities anymore?  Gotta wonder.....

-Bob.