With a mild level of panic among sellers because eBay is removing items older than one year, we have to ask ourselves: what’s our back up plan is eBay was no longer feasible for us? In the early days of selling, we had didn’t have much at all, nevermind a backup plan. Just piles of stuff, a camera, a computer, an internet connection, and lots of time. We put our heads down and listed like our life depended on it. When eBay really started feeling like a real business, it was really exciting to know we made something out of nothing. We applaud any seller who takes themselves to seriously enough to build a steady stream of income from their own wits and sweat. It’s a big deal.
But as we established our eBay business, we knew we wanted a back up plan. eBay is fun for us, but what if someday it’s no longer fun? For us, vacation rental property was something exciting. We took our extra profit from selling old shoes and bought a couple old houses, fixed them up, and now are close to doubling our income. This took eight years, but time takes time. Like our eBay business, we love making something from nothing. We can look back and see that our hard work is paying off.
In reality, the new eBay initiative of ending old listings isn’t the armageddon that some assumed. Here’s the official announcement:
We have identified a relatively small number of unproductive listings and have begun removing those with one or more years of no sales and minimal page views, and are refunding any associated listing fees. We value long-tail inventory – it is what makes eBay unique – and remain committed to helping sellers of all types be successful on our platform.
So it’s good that eBay acknowledges that “longtail” items are important and sell slowly. I guess eBay is reminding sellers to look at old listings. They haven’t touched our old listings. But if they did, all we need to do is relist the items as if they were new. Doesn’t hurt to check them over to make sure they look good. No big deal.
Hope you had a good week!
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Our Store Week May 28-June 3, 2017
Store #1
Total Items in Store: 5,724
Items Sold: 58
Cost of Items Sold: $116
Total Sales: $2,154.73
Highest Price Sold: $200 (vintage jewelry)
Average Price Sold: $37.15
Returns: 0
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $38
Number of items listed this week: 26
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Bonanza/Trugether:
Sold 1 items for $13
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Store #2
Total Items in Store: 1255
Items Sold: 15
Cost of Items Sold: $62
Total Sales: $470.12
Highest Price Sold: $140 (vintage soap dish)
Average Price Sold: $31.34
Returns: 0
Number of items listed this week: 0
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Home › Forums › Scavenger Life Episode 313: What’s your Backup Plan to eBay?