Home › Forums › Buying and Selling › Selling on eBay › A Different Kind of Summer Slowdown
- This topic has 35 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 10 months ago by Marshal_G.
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06/20/2018 at 4:46 pm #42919
I’ve been selling on eBay since 1995. I get that summers are slow. That said, I have 2,300+ items in my store. I average $250-$300 sales a day. Starting this past Sunday I hit an abrupt drop. $86 sales on Sunday, $70 on Monday, $80 yesterday and so far today, $20. This has never happened to me before. I can’t even remember the last time I dipped below $100 on any given day. I list 20 items a day, offer free returns on first class, 100% positive feedback and 1 day handling time. Something seems drastically off.
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06/20/2018 at 5:21 pm #42920
Do you use promoted listings and if so, at what percentage rate?
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06/20/2018 at 5:41 pm #42921
AdventureE, Yes 5%.
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06/20/2018 at 6:07 pm #42923
Ebay has set it up so they profit from us at higher percentage amounts and they set it up so trending rates (which tend to be on the high side)are set when one starts the campaign which is most likely what people choose. I believe this is effecting sales because people are choosing to pay the higher percentage while pursuing the number of sales even though it is costing them a large chunk of their profits. Many are agreeing to a higher percentage rates plus final value fees plus PayPal fees plus possible free shipping and/or returns.
With all of this ebay is able to collect data showing that sellers will pay higher fees, so we will probably see our fees go up and profits go down.
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06/20/2018 at 6:18 pm #42926
Comparatively, I’m a low volume seller but I haven’t noticed an unusual slow down.
There could be all sorts of factors contributing to what you’re seeing in your store sales, thrift stores do a lot of 1/2 price sales these days and garage sale season is in full swing.
It’s only Wednesday, perhaps it’s a temporary anomoly. -
06/20/2018 at 8:10 pm #42944
The summer feels normal for us. Definitely not holiday sales season. Just normal summer retail. Just judging from Sunday to Wednesday seems to short a time period to really get worried.
–When you say you $250-$300 sales a day, is that during every single day of the year?
–Are your sales numbers even higher during the holidays? -
06/20/2018 at 8:14 pm #42946
Agreeing with Steven here that there’s a ton of contributing factors. I would avoid getting into conspiracy territory as that will just make you paranoid and result in a ton of wasted brainpower.
My “hot take” on promoted listings are that they make zero sense if you’re selling unique items or have little competition. I was looking up my own items one time and had a bit of an embarrassing moment when a search only returned 2 items – the promoted and non-promoted version of my own listing. I went back through my promotions and removed some from the program. To use a common example from the podcast, if I’m selling the same iPhone cases 12 other sellers are also carrying, then I’ll need to fight for my position in the search rankings. If I’m selling an unbranded vintage doohickey that’s getting 5 views a week, then there’s no way that needs a promotion.
When sales are slow and I’ve done all the listing I can possibly do, I just take the opportunity to do all the boring, business-related work that I put off. Deep-clean the office, reorganize inventory, etc.
- This reply was modified 5 years, 10 months ago by IndySales.
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06/21/2018 at 8:52 am #42994
@Jay $250-$300 sales a day NOT during the 4th quarter. My sales get a bit of a bump then much like everyone else. My sales very rarely dip under $100. To have it happen so abruptly is just puzzling. And I’ve been listing like a madwoman.
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06/21/2018 at 9:14 am #42999
To make $300/day in the summer is incredible. That’s $2100/week. That’s $9000 a month. Are you mainly selling clothes?
We reliably make $300-$400/day in the holiday season. In summer time, we usually make $100-$200/day.
But this is why we always look at our overall sales in a given summer month. We will always have a day where we only sell one thing. It’s balanced out with a day where we sell 10 things.
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06/21/2018 at 12:28 pm #43031
@Jay I sell a mix. Probably 75% clothes and shoes with the rest being jewelry and other hard goods. I source in the NOVA region (not far from you), so I have access to nice items for usually cheap prices. My inventory has grown significantly since last holiday season, so I have high hopes this year.
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06/21/2018 at 12:38 pm #43034
Well, your numbers are awesome. Let us know if things pick back up this week.
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06/21/2018 at 12:43 pm #43037
@Jay finished the day yesterday at $49. So if you need me, I’ll be in the corner hyperventilating.
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06/21/2018 at 12:54 pm #43040
AtomicStar,
It must be very scary and overwhelming to see such a huge drop. I am sorry to hear you are going through this.I would offer to do an experiment. Find 20 or 30 items that are summer related and not moving and then create a promoted listings campaign using trending rates. If they are already in a campaign, end the campaign first which will allow you to start again.
- This reply was modified 5 years, 10 months ago by AdventureE.
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06/21/2018 at 1:10 pm #43045
@adventuree my pricing does not allow me to move up any more than what it’s already set at. I price my items pretty competitively and going in to raise all the prices to adjust for it is very overwhelming considering my mental state right now, lol. I have my son’s college tuition payment looming in August and I’m in panic mode. I’m not going to do anything rash, mind you. I’m just venting.
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06/21/2018 at 1:26 pm #43048
That makes sense AtomicStar. I would offer to give yourself some time and space. When you are ready, options and possibilities will be there. I would also offer to remember that this like everything else will pass.
Best wishes as you move forward. -
06/21/2018 at 1:37 pm #43050
AtomicStar: We felt the summer slowdown for the first time this week. We are similar to you in size, what we sell a lot of (shoes and clothes) and sales amounts (we are $200-$300 per day as well).
Using some current data on our store (includes shipping):
Sales last 31 days – $8,852
Sales last week – $2,462
Sales last 7 days – $1,497 (yep, a little slow)So yeah, we see the drop as well. We were out of town Sunday-Wednesday, and changed our handling to cover that. But then things picked up when we got home. I put the store back on same day handling, and we did our shipping this morning, then our daily numbers picked up. Granted, today is Thursday, which tends to be our best day of the week, but look at the numbers suddenly:
Thursday, 6/14 – $583
Friday – $293
Saturday – $236
Sunday – $188
Monday – $239
Tuesday – $219
Wednesday – $90 (!)
Today – $274 (so far as of noon MDT)We usually see our store dip in mid June until early to mid August. So this is on schedule. We get back to having good days, then days of crickets.
So for us, we are on track.
For you, what to do? Best I can say is run some 10% off sales, look at any stale listings to spruce them up, etc. We have been trying to look for more summer type stuff and I think that has helped smooth out our summer. But summer is summer. If you don’t have what buyers are looking for, they don’t buy from you. No level of promoting, sales, etc. will help that.
How to keep from hyperventilating? Know that what they say on Game of Thrones is a good thing for resellers… Winter is Coming…
Ride the wave, list good stuff, and know that you will have a lot of shipping to do in November-December!
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06/21/2018 at 1:44 pm #43053
T- Satt and AdvetureE, Thank you both. I appreciate the pep talk. I’m sure this will rally at some point. It’s just SO hard to spend money right now when the gettin’ is good with very little coming in. I’m just going to plug along, stocking my store with the good stuff until things turnaround.
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06/21/2018 at 2:01 pm #43063
I’ve felt that way about spending when the till is near empty but every time spend big money I end up with great sales. Fear not the slow down, keep the volume turned up.
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06/21/2018 at 1:49 pm #43056
Your feelings are real and understandable. And they are a big reason why going full time is tough. How to handle the swings…
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06/21/2018 at 1:58 pm #43061
AtomicStar,
Just a thought,
I would offer that when you are ready and if you choose to do the promoted listings experiment, there is no need to reprice. As you know, ebay shows you how much it will cost to use the trending rates on items. Calculate how much it will cost you if those particular items sell.
Let’s say it will cost you 40 dollars if they all sell. If so, add a dollar onto to the next 40 to 60 items you are listing in order to make up the loss for using trending rates for those particular items. I say 40 to 60 to give yourself a cushion due to not knowing what will sell when. -
06/21/2018 at 6:36 pm #43106
Summer is so contrary – a period of slow sales, yet also the time of year when the best stock can be found in plentiful amounts. I tend to stock up heavily during this time of the year for the 4th quarter, and not really expect purchases to match sales. Work now will pay for sales later.
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06/22/2018 at 2:03 pm #43176
I had amazing sales in January, then hit a major skid starting in February which continued through the end of May. Literally, my income was cut in half from January to February. For 4 months, my sales were about equivalent to my worst month of 2017. And I had about the same number of items in my store as last year (around 1200 items). I have failed to find a concrete reason for the drop in sales.
I think I’m finally (hopefully) pulling out of the funk this month, as my numbers are looking better the last few weeks. Luckily, I have a part-time job, plus I have a lot of savings, or otherwise I would have really freaked out.
I have found a lot of good merchandise this summer and that has driven more sales lately. However, if my sales crater again for such a long period, I may have to reevaluate using eBay as my primary income source.
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06/22/2018 at 2:11 pm #43181
I virtually stopped sourcing listing about 2 months ago as I’ve got an upcoming move. My sales dropped, but less than I though it would. This week I changed my handling time from 1 day to 2 and sales are almost zero now.
I’m waiting to see if sales pick up again. If not I’ll go back to one day and see what happens.
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06/22/2018 at 2:28 pm #43185
So Cal Joe: Let me know if you see any change when you go from 2-Day to 1-Day.
Our goal is to stay above $300/day (including shipping) this month, and we were beating that before we left. When we left, we moved to 4-Day Handling. Then each day, I moved up a day. We saw our sales slow down while we were on the road below $300/day, down to $90 at one point. Then when we got home and I moved back to Same Day, we had a $497 day. We went from $90 on Wednesday to $497 on Thursday.
Again, could have been the Thursday Effect (Thursdays are our best selling days right now), but was strange that I change to Same Day Handling on Thursday morning at 4am, and then sales start happening right after that.
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06/22/2018 at 5:13 pm #43215
So far my sales are normal for summer, but I just removed “free returns” this afternoon so we’ll see what effect (if any) that has on my sales going forward.
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06/22/2018 at 10:11 pm #43256
I’d be really interested to find out if removing free returns slows your sales.
I reluctantly jumped on the free returns bandwagon when I was offered the “ebay will pay for return shipping on any “free” returns you take for items listed between June 1 -15″ deal. Of course I continued with free returns after June 15 since I got used to offering free returns during the offer period.
EBay is diabolically smart, I’d say: they found a way to get reluctant sellers like me to offer free returns!
I think I’ve only had 2 returns the whole time I’ve been on eBay, and I’ve sold several thousand items. So I’m not feeling anxious about it, at least not yet! But I’m not much of a clothing seller and I would think returns would be much more likely on clothing, due to fit.
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06/22/2018 at 10:43 pm #43259
The summer slow down hit me two months ago, trying to see what I can buy to sell during the summer. For now just stick piling in the summer for fourth quarter sales
A little nervous to jump on the free returns wagon. After hearing the podcast I immediately added it and then thought about the whole free shipping ordeal. I turned it right off. Especially thinking about some of the bigger items I ship which would ruin me if I had to pay for it twice. Im going to wait to see how it turns out before I jump back on
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06/23/2018 at 8:37 am #43270
VintageTreasures, I sell mainly hats and don’t have a lot of returns normally either. However, since starting “free returns” I’ve had 2 really random returns that I don’t think would have happened otherwise. So far my sales are normal…granted, it’s been less than 24 hours since I removed free returns, so that probably isn’t a fair assessment yet though.
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06/23/2018 at 10:49 am #43274
As a follow up, my sales have sort of rallied since Wednesday. A tiny bit. I sold $156 Thursday and $186 Friday. Not my normal, but it’s better than $45. And today I’m already up to $130 which is encouraging as it’s still the morning and I’m listing fresh stuff from an estate sale yesterday. I’m feeling a little bit better. Mostly because of all of you. Thank you again.
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06/23/2018 at 11:35 am #43275
June is traditionally slow for my niche, so I’m not too worried about a summer slowdown. I have not been listing much these past few weeks, and have also slowed down sourcing. For my slow sales, it is more a combination of me not really working and a traditional slowdown, so I’m not really fretting. When I do list, I sometimes get sales within the hour for items I’ve just listed. I just need to work a little harder, and sales will come back.
I did look at my numbers from last year at this time, and noticed something interesting that I have not seen anyone else comment on as another reason for this slump. A lot of my good days from last June were thanks to foreign sales. While I still get foreign sales on my stock, the numbers seem to have dropped quite a bit from last year. This is due to the recent large postal increase by the USPS this past January.
I ship packages myself to foreign customers. Has anyone else seen a dramatic slowdown this summer in sales to other countries either by shipping themselves, or through the global shipping program? Definitely something to consider for what may be a more extensive slowdown for sellers than even last year.
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06/23/2018 at 12:47 pm #43279
Almasty,
A slow down in international sales could also be because of the trade war Trump started.-
06/24/2018 at 10:40 am #43331
I think it’s a little too early to discuss trade war impacting our economy (though there is definitely the possibility of the very beginning of a worldwide contraction/most likely next recession occurring due to this garbage) in terms of selling vintage one-offs on ebay, but there is something going on. I don’t know what, but it is definitely messing up at least my numbers for this month.
I like how I complained about it here and got an international sale last night. I just checked, and my sales are definitely down this June because of the lack of international buyers in my store. The sale last night was the 1st international sale I have gotten since May 31st. That is unheard of in my store. I usually sell at least 1 item internationally a week, if not several.
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06/25/2018 at 12:08 am #43382
I tend to have pretty good (or even very good) sales when most people on the forum are reporting a significant slowdown. This June is no exception. June was a really good month for me last year as well. May, not so good.
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06/26/2018 at 4:55 pm #43636
Not sure I have much to add as this is my 2nd summer (1st as full time) but you have to keep up with market conditions. I recently stepped up to bulk buying shelf pulls and at first was selling way more a month ago that I was selling last Q4. I thought I’d hit the holy grail. Then my sales started going down. When I listed my items my competition was selling their items at much higher prices than me. When I went back and searched for comps a week ago I noticed the same high end brand I was previously selling well had apparently also sold through Costco and there were now tons of listing that had the high end brand but also Kirkland in the title. They must have dumped a ton of them on the market because the market tanked and they were selling for half what I had my items listed at. The market is the market, no sense trying to fight it or complaining that it is unfair. If you start making money then a 1,000 people will rush in to get into the same niche. Also, My first bulk buy heavily weighted in plus sized items which sold very well. I didn’t check the manifests on my 2nd bulk buy and got all size 12’s. Gawd. When I do a search my listings consistently come up high in the rankings but they just aren’t selling. I either have to dump them for little profit or sit on them for a long tail sale and move onto something else. I feel bad because I have the capital to eat it but my girlfriend who I got to also do her first bulk buy is freaking out because she was relying on turning a quick profit.
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