The Numbers: Week June 23-29, 2024

Sold a lot of stuff this week. Most of it lower dollar. Highest priced item was about $45. Our average sale was $22. Churn and burn.

We’re not sure if this is new or something we overlooked, but we realized that each week we’ve been charged for “offsite ads”. These are ads for our items that eBay places on other websites. If someone clicks on the ad, we pay a fee whether it sells or not. Last week we spent $27 on these offsite ads. Yikes.

No idea how long we’ve allowed these ads to occur. I think we’ve been able to turn them off because these ads do not fit into our system of selling. The whole point is we list items we find cheap/free and pay just a couple cents cents each month to keep them listed on eBay until sold. These offsite ads are eating into that profit margin since we pay whether the items sells or not. The Harvard grads at eBay are really finding more and more ways to get into seller’s pockets 🙂

eBay just list our item and let it all happen naturally. Trust the process.

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Our Store Week June 23-29, 2024

Total Items in Store: 9502
Items Sold: 37
Gross Sales: $1,233.03 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Net Sales: $830.84 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
Cost of Items Sold: $44
Cost of helpers: $40
Highest Price Sold: $45 (designer throw pillow)
Average Price Sold: $22.45
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 20
————
(Your numbers can be found here: https://www.ebay.com/sh/performance/sales)

This topic has 24 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 2 months, 3 weeks ago by Sharyn.

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- 07/03/2024 at 9:51 am #103483
  Jay
  Keymaster
  Location: Virginia
  @jay
  Sold a lot of stuff this week. Most of it lower dollar. Highest priced item was about $45. Our average sale was $22. Churn and burn. We’re not sure if
  [See the full post at: The Numbers: Week June 23-29, 2024]
- 07/03/2024 at 11:06 am #103485
  Retro Treasures WV
  Participant
  Location:
  @retro-treasures-wv
  I seem to remember at one point they were offering up to a certain dollar amount free each month for those ads. Maybe you set it up to get that free amount and then they changed the free amount? The ol’ “opt in bait & switch and hope they forget about the auto renewal” approach.
  
  I’ve never signed up for them and don’t intend to. The very thought of pay per click makes no sense unless you have a brand or widget you are wanting to get over.
  - 07/05/2024 at 8:47 am #103503
    Jay
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @jay
    That’s probably what happened. It is interesting how eBay keeps finding ways to squeeze money out of their system.
- 07/03/2024 at 11:34 am #103486
  Retro Treasures WV
  Participant
  Location:
  @retro-treasures-wv
  Items in Store: 2865
  Items Sold: 30
  Total Sales: $1,039.00
  COGS: $133.00
  Total Profit: $906.00
  Average profit: $30.20
  Average sales price: $34.63
  New Listings: 60
  Items scavenged: 35
  2024 weekly new listings Avg: 28
  2024 avg gross weekly sales $1,377.77
  2024 Avg weekly Items Sold 32
  2024 ASP $42.70
  2024 projected total sales $71,644.00
  
  Weird – a weekend with ZERO activities or commitments. I took naps!
  
  Well I got tired of waiting around for cooler weather and tackled my inventory shed this weekend. I set up an array of fans and as long as I stood in that fan vortex it was ok. If I took a stroll down one of the aisles even for 10 seconds I came back DRENCHED in sweat. I was able to get all of my listed items into inventory and cleaned up the front of the storage area that had become quite cluttered.
  
  After that I organized all my draft items and did some general cleaning in the garage/office. I needed a workflow space so I can process through photographs and funnel items towards the inventory shed. I was able to do 60 items this weekend and want to get the rest (225!) done as well. Meanwhile I’ll still be creating more draft listings at work this week so the number won’t go down super quick. I’d LOVE to hit 200 new listings this week to kick off my big listing push.
  
  So far I’m really knocking out the listings this week too – I’ve already done an additional 60 as of today. Oh man…I dread moving 200 new listings to inventory…
  
  Saturday yard sales were pretty dead until I hit one in the ‘rich folk’ neighborhood. This neighborhood can be quite hit & miss. These people had the GOOOOD stuff! They had a huge pile of nicer men’s clothes – Buckle jeans, fancy golf outfits, NWT shirts. I made a huge pile. The lady go tired of counting it up and just said “this is taking forever – do you just want to do $100?”. Of course I do!
  
  I also had some NWT baby clothes for the new baby, some transformers, and a like new Stetson hat that is worth $150-200 in that pile. They wanted $25 for the hat originally so that made everything else $75. Woot!
  
  Baby is not here yet, much to my wife’s dismay. Poor thing – she is so miserable. I figure she’ll go into labor likely on Friday.
  
  Premium Hoarder update:
  
  Sold 5 items for $478.
  
  I’ve started photographing/listing the new shoes and clothes that I’ve had sitting in draft state for a few weeks. Hopefully my sales explode over the next couple weeks. I’ve put up some HEAVY hitters, so there is money to be made! I’ve already sold a few pair this week.
  - 07/04/2024 at 4:24 pm #103494
    craig rex
    Participant
    
    Location: south jersey
    @craig-rex
    Retro, I hope you and your wife are celebrating a new addition to the family this weekend! Amazing everything that you can accomplish with so much going on, your ambition always inspires me. I’ll be spending this weekend in my little fan vortex knocking out as many listings as I can and shifting things around to improve my workflow and inventory space…maybe squeeze in a little nap, too!
- 07/03/2024 at 3:13 pm #103488
  craig rex
  Participant
  Location: south jersey
  @craig-rex
  Jay, what percentage are you and Ryanne running on promoted listings these days? I had an $85 sale with no promoted listing fee this morning and it felt like the good old days for a brief moment. I’ve stuck with 5% to 7.5% promoted listings this year and I promote everything. I’m not sure it’s the best way to go, but it’s been working so I haven’t messed with it in over a year.
  
  Two weeks of numbers since I was a big slacker last week. Made it to 300 listings this past weekend, and now let’s get to 400 by the end of July…
  
  6/16/2024 to 6/22/2024
  
  Items sold: 31 — 21 via best offer, 3 via seller initiated offer, 16 via promoted listings
  
  These numbers are a good reminder that watchers aren’t automatically going to become buyers. But there are all sorts of factors that go into this. I send 20 to 25 percent offers. Some of these buyers counter at 40 or 50 percent off my BIN. I don’t want to go that low. But maybe you do…in which case, send those big offers out! Especially with a holiday weekend coming up…
  
  Gross sales: $1109.19 (down 43% from one year ago)
  
  Net sales: $738.92 (down 42% from one year ago)
  
  Average sales price: $35.78 (down 13% from one year ago)
  
  I’ve been thinking about my ASP a lot lately since I’ve shifted my focus in the last few months to the small card lots I make. It can be frustrating when your ASP drops! But analyzing the numbers helped me figure out that I created this “problem.” Now I need to do the work to solve it by listing some higher-dollar items and maybe slashing prices on some of my older, high-priced slow movers.
  
  Highest price sold (net): $80.60 — Jared Jones 2020 Leaf 1/1 autographed printing plate
  
  A staggering 80% of my sales this week were my curated team lots, so this was far and away my largest sale by over $50.
  
  Lowest price sold (net): $9.43 — Eric Montross 1995 Signature Rookies autograph
  
  I rarely mess around with cards from the mid-90s, but occasionally I’ll make an exception for a quick flip. Montross was a very successful college basketball player who didn’t have much of a pro career, and he passed away a few months ago, so the sell-through rate on his cards is a bit higher. I have a few more of these in stock, but probably best to shift them to consignment and sell them for $5 than keep them in my eBay store waiting months to get $9. With limited space and time, always better to focus on higher profit and faster moving items.
  - 07/04/2024 at 4:10 pm #103492
    craig rex
    Participant
    
    Location: south jersey
    @craig-rex
    6/23/2024 to 6/29/2024
    
    Items in store: 303 (up from 270 two weeks ago)
    
    Items sold: 30 — 17 via best offer, 8 via seller initiated offer, 21 via promoted listings
    
    It felt slow to me last week, but I’m very happy to have sold 30 items with only 300 active listings. It’s so important to do the numbers to keep your feelings about eBay in check.
    
    Gross sales: $1289.09 (down 28% from one year ago)
    
    Net sales: $852.36 (down 29% from one year ago)
    
    Average sales price: $42.97 (down 4% from one year ago)
    
    Highest price sold (net): $146.62 — Paul Skenes 2023 Panini Stars & Stripes autograph jersey /85
    
    Lowest price sold (net): $10.86 — Josh Metellus 2020 Panini Contenders Draft blue auto
  - 07/05/2024 at 8:50 am #103504
    Jay
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @jay
    Jay, what percentage are you and Ryanne running on promoted listings these days? I had an $85 sale with no promoted listing fee this morning and it felt like the good old days for a brief moment. I’ve stuck with 5% to 7.5% promoted listings this year and I promote everything.
    
    I think we’re about the same. I think we’re confused how to do our settings? What do you have checked off so eBay just charges you if someone purchases through a promoted link (and no fees for just random ads).
    - 07/05/2024 at 11:14 am #103505
      Sharyn
      Participant
      
      Location: Central NJ
      @sharyn
      
      Jay – In Seller Hub, check the different menu items under “Marketing”; in particular, Advertising. Check Promotions as well.
      - 07/05/2024 at 11:19 am #103506
        
        Jay
        Keymaster
        
        Location: Virginia
        @jay
        
        Which selection charges you only if the item is purchased?
        
        07/05/2024 at 11:22 am #103507
        
        Sharyn
        Participant
        
        Location: Central NJ
        @sharyn
        
        Maybe look for “Offsite Ads”?
        
        https://www.ebay.com/sellercenter/growth/promoted-listings/offsite-ads
        
        07/05/2024 at 11:24 am #103508
        
        Jay
        Keymaster
        
        Location: Virginia
        @jay
        
        “Offsite ads” are the problem.
        
        With Offsite Ads, you can promote your entire eligible inventory on external channels. Every time a buyer clicks on your ad, they will be directed to your listing and you will be charged a fee for the click.
        
        07/05/2024 at 11:27 am #103509
        
        Sharyn
        Participant
        
        Location: Central NJ
        @sharyn
        
        Yeh, ugh. You must have opted in by accident. Not a good service for one-off type stores. I suppose you could call or email eBay customer service and complain that you never opted in.
        
        07/05/2024 at 6:06 pm #103515
        
        Jay
        Keymaster
        
        Location: Virginia
        @jay
        
        I find this page that explains each kind of ad campaign: https://mktg.ebay.com/select-campaign-type
  - 07/06/2024 at 10:05 am #103520
    Jay
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @jay
    Jay, what percentage are you and Ryanne running on promoted listings these days? I had an $85 sale with no promoted listing fee this morning and it felt like the good old days for a brief moment. I’ve stuck with 5% to 7.5% promoted listings this year and I promote everything. I’m not sure it’s the best way to go, but it’s been working so I haven’t messed with it in over a year.
    
    We deleted everything and are starting from scratch. It’s obvious that Promoted listings + offsite ads is eBay’s new income stream.
    
    Do you pay for the promotions where they put ads for your items on other sites and charge you per click even if then item doesnt sell?
    - 07/06/2024 at 8:56 pm #103526
      craig rex
      Participant
      
      Location: south jersey
      @craig-rex
      
      Do you pay for the promotions where they put ads for your items on other sites and charge you per click even if then item doesnt sell?
      
      I don’t do any of the pay per click stuff, just promoted listings standard at 5% on new listings and 7.5% on anything older than 30 days, anything big and bulky and anything I can restock once the listing sells (like my card lots sorted by team, or cards I have duplicates). So I pay the promoted listing fee when the item sells and the buyer clicked on that promoted listing or another one from my store in the last 30 days, which happens on about half of my sales.
      
      I have been thinking about messing around with Promoted Listings Advanced on some of my non-card inventory like signed memorabilia which has been in the store a few months with no watchers and no offers. I’d love to learn how to use the feature. I’m sure most sellers could benefit from knowing how to best use promoted listings.
      
      But I like to set it and forget, and it’s so simple to run a markdown sale or send stuff to auction that I will probably just do that instead.
      
      I wonder how useful offsite ads would be for a seller like me where most of my buyers know to go to eBay to find their cards, memorabilia, or weird books and media that I sell occasionally. Same for your store with thrift store and auction finds, Americana, random items that you come across. Are people really Googling for items like that, then clicking on the eBay search that comes up, then buying from you? I’m suspicious. But buying trends change so fast that it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that offsite ads are worth it for some sellers.
- 07/03/2024 at 3:51 pm #103491
  ChristineR
  Participant
  Location: Southern California
  @christiner
  Total Items in Store: 1150
  Items Sold: 37
  Gross Sales: $678 (including eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
  Net Sales: $455 (minus eBay fees, shipping, and taxes)
  Cost of Items Sold: $60
  Highest Price Sold: $180 (4 skeins of yarn)
  Average Price Sold: $45
  Returns: 0
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
  Number of items listed this week: 20
  
  I’ve been running sales on Ebay – 20-25% off the whole store, even if I just listed it. I also have switched to using just the last year of Terapeak comps. A few of the older items are moving, but also brand new items. Trying to make it the “summer of sales” and just thin things out. In the past 6 months I’ve been able to source lower than thrift store prices, so it’s easier to do mark downs. I also have pretty much stopped doing RA for now.
  
  The last live booth day was just ok. Art, clothing and smalls seem to do ok. I will probably hit up the flea market later or a yard sale with some other things I want to move out that are bulkier.
  
  Need to hit the listing hard before our trip in two weeks. There is plenty.
  - 07/04/2024 at 4:20 pm #103493
    craig rex
    Participant
    
    Location: south jersey
    @craig-rex
    Christine, I’ll be curious to see what your numbers are like the next few weeks while you’re running sales and then once they’re over. It’s always good to see the results of these little tweaks to our prices, even if it’s hard to find specific patterns since some weeks are naturally busier or slower than others.
    
    I haven’t done a markdown sale in quite some time, but I do something similar to you when I send out offers. I will send out 20% offers to watchers even if I just created the listing in the last few days. Not on everything, some items I think I can get full price for or I am fine waiting a few months, but on probably half of my listed inventory. I think with certain buyers, price really matters and with certain types of items where there is lots of competition or it’s a want/nice to have listing versus a need, you have a narrow window to make a deal before they move on to spend their money elsewhere. So an extra $5 off can become the factor in making a sale.
    
    It wasn’t that long ago that you had less than 1000 listings! So you’ve really been cranking out those listings. It should be a really good Q4 for you.
- 07/04/2024 at 5:33 pm #103500
  Sharyn
  Participant
  Location: Central NJ
  @sharyn
  Of my over 1600 item store and millions of eBay users, only three people wanted my items last week. The current week is just as slow (possibly slower). The plus is that I am focusing on getting my recent auction buys listed as fast as I can. This is a good thing since I’m running low on room. I did de-list some books I have had for years. Everything I don’t want to sell will go to freecycling over the next few weeks.
  
  I also reached 2500 in feedback.
  
  Week of May Jun 23 – 29
  Total Items in Store: 1635 eBay, 32 Etsy
  Items Sold: 3 eBay, 0 Etsy
  Cost of Items Sold: $0 + $39 Commission
  Total Sales: $112.56 eBay
  Highest Price Sold: eBay $69.66 for Braided Byzantine Chain Necklace 925 Sterling
  Average price: $37.50
  Returns: 0
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $84.67
  Number of items listed this week: 7
- 07/06/2024 at 9:55 am #103516
  Mark S
  Participant
  Location:
  @mark-s
  i have discovered some new (to me and never have seen here) important statistics that I will post here on Monday when I get home from vacation. These stays have to do with how often you need to list and the results you can expect from listing, etc. This will be a game changer for me.
  - 07/06/2024 at 10:06 am #103521
    Jay
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @jay
    Be curious where these stats are. Welcome back. Its been a while.
    - 07/06/2024 at 10:24 am #103522
      Mark S
      Participant
      
      Location:
      @mark-s
      
      Jay,
      
      These are stats that we have all known that they exist: you list more, you sell more. But these stats are based on Data Analytics. In my IT world, that means solid data based on millions and millions of rows of data.
      
      Mark
- 07/06/2024 at 11:49 pm #103528
  Retro Treasures WV
  Participant
  Location:
  @retro-treasures-wv
  I tried out the new “enhance” function in the eBay app for photos.
  
  whoah! The AI enhance is pretty awesome! I suggest you check it out.
  - 07/07/2024 at 9:55 am #103531
    Sharyn
    Participant
    
    Location: Central NJ
    @sharyn
    What does it do exactly? And can you link to an example?
- 07/06/2024 at 10:00 am #103518
  Mark S
  Participant
  Location:
  @mark-s
  oh, I forgot to mention that I just went full time with my business. So, I hope to be more active with the conversation here.
  
  Mark
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