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Hi all!
I’ve only been selling for about 6 months, so this is the first season switch over I’m experiencing. I recently found several very nice jackets while thrifting…apparently people are spring cleaning their winter wear.
While certainly nothing that isn’t listed will sell, I’m curious about your personal strategies for listing seasonal items. As we are approaching summer, I imagine that sales for things like jackets and coats will diminish. I’m hesitant to list those items since their likelihood of selling is low and I’ll just be paying listing fees for a few months on them. On the other hand, if I sell even one, then that profit will probably cover all the fees for the others.
So basically, for those of you that have been doing this longer, do you find it worth it to just list, or do you have a method for adjusting your listed inventory to match the season and not get stuck paying listing fees for items that probably don’t have a market at the moment.
Cheers,
Christian -
You may think it is odd, but seasonal items sell all year round. I just sold a bulky Dallas Cowboys coat last night – winter is over, and NFL season isn’t even close to starting. I also sell Christmas and Halloween items all year round – people buy them more near the season, but consistently buy them during the off-season as well.
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I also bought some winter coats and clothing recently. I bought them at auction, and I definitely had less competition because of the seasonality.
I quickly listed some higher priced ones. I haven’t sold any yet, but they were worth getting them up.
I’m waiting to list the others until I’ve finished up with other, non-seasonal items. If I haven’t listed them by July, I’ll make them more of a priority. Some people start to think about their winter clothing in August, and I see a small increase in winter items at that time.
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Cold locations exist year round somewhere in the world. Hot locations exist year round somewhere in the world.
However, stores do NOT sell seasonal items year round so needy buyers turn to ebay.
Think about it – you are planning an off season trip to the beach. You can’t shop for swimsuits at stores because they don’t stock swimwear in the fall/winter.
Same issue with winter or fall apparel in the summertime. Always have your items available for purchase.
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Alrighty.
Seems to be the consensus. I was definitely leaning that way because as I said there is a 100% chance of not selling if not listing. I just wasn’t sure if it was a wise use of my listings…I’m right on the border between jumping to the next store level. I’ve got about 130 items so I’m paying for extra listings every month. I’ve had a bunch of sales the past couple days so I’m down a little and trying to list more before heading to work. I’ll do my golf shirts first and then get around to the coats…similar to you Sharyn…but definitely before July. 🙂
Thanks.
~Christian-
If you list an item that is desirable and likely to sell within 90 days, then why are you wasting your precious time worrying about a 20 cent a month fee???
List your items for sale and collect money.
List 100 items at 20 cents a listing – $20.
Sell ONE item of that 100 in the month for $20 and you have covered all the fees.In reality you will sell much more than one – more likely 10-20 of them. You can sell even more if the items are desirable and you price right.
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Listings cost me 30 cents apiece, but your point is taken. The 90 days though is the source of my question…I’m not sure if winter coats will sell in Spring/Summer. Jackets have actually been slow sellers for me. Hoodies do well, as do sweaters, but my heavier coats haven’t really moved at all.
I’m very small time…total of roughly 25-30 sales per month. If I could sell 10 or 20 jackets, I’d be ecstatic. 🙂-
Mine are slow movers too, but I list high. When a heavy coat sells, it is a great day! It is usually a $50-100 sale.
I’ve sold 7 heavy coats in the last 90 days for $191.Looking back further, I see 20 more coats sold dating from late August to the current 90 day period.
So I sold 27 total coats for this season from August 18 to April 19.I sold ZERO coats in May/June/July last year.
I currently have 31 more coats listed, so my sellthrough rate was 47% for the coat buying season this year. 3 of the current coats were recently listed so its more like 50% STR.
So based on my actual data, I would have to recommend you wait until August to list coats.
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You’re forgetting that the hemispheres have different weather conditions. Someone going to the Southern Hemisphere will be wanting a coat, especially if they’re going somewhere with elevation. Upington in South Africa is regularly below freezing in winter. Southern Argentina is a frostbitten spot.
As others have said, don’t nickel and dime stuff. That’s how you’ll end up with a death pile. Just list it and forget it. Once it’s up, you don’t have to worry about it.
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Sort of off the subject here, but having to do with coats …
Has anyone had issues with armholes lately? I mean, with buyers returning something because the armholes weren’t right. Does anyone put armhole measurements in the description?
This winter coat was returned because the armholes were too big:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/183718070975This vest was returned because the armholes were too small:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/183758516193It’s just weird, but I think just a coincidence.
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I once had a brand new Calvin Klein (ie, mainstream brand) men’s overcoat returned b/c of some issue with the armholes. They came down too low or not low enough.
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Have you done anything differently with your listings? I’ve added armhole measurements to the new listings for the two returned items. I can’t imagine adding that information to all my listings, but it was just weird to have two items returned within a month of each other.
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Sharyn, No I don’t do anything differently – didn’t think of it. But maybe I’ll add armhole measurements the next time I list a coat. I kind of understand where the buyer is coming from with such complaints, b/c I know sometimes when I try on a top or coat with armholes that go too low, then if I raise my arm up even a small amount, the whole garment rides up.
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Another concern I thought of with listing off season items…
While again, things not listed are guaranteed not to sell, doesn’t eBay push things down in search after they haven’t sold for awhile? So for example, if I start listing winter coats now, by the time winter shopping season rolls around, won’t the people listing coats then be given preferential treatment over mine that have been sitting all summer?
I’m probably still going to list them now. This is just an interesting though exercise about how best to work with the systems in place.
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Ever since I sold a heavy Dale of Norway wool sweater to a guy in Florida in June, I have resolved to spend zero time thinking about seasonality. It was more of a thing in the old days of Ebay, when it was auction-centric. I remember strategically stockpiling Lilly Pulitzer all winter because there was really only a two-month window in early spring when you’d get good prices for it.
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I wanted to second what almasty said above: “If I don’t get to it when I have a chance to list it, I might not have another opportunity for a long time, thus bypassing the holiday entirely.”
I was waiting until closer to Easter to list an Easter themed item and I missed listing it in time for Easter. The same for Christmas last year and the year before. So even though I too am wary of listing something off season and paying fees for months and months until it’s more likely to sell, I find I’m missing out entirely because it’s unlisted when the correct season just suddenly sneaks up on me.
I’ve been researching Christmas solds recently and it is true that everything sells all year round regardless of seasonality. I’m going to work on getting up all my Christmas listings this summer.
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I would look at this another way, take advantage of out of season for stuff for sale and pick it up for a better price as you can. As an example, puffy north face jackets will be cheaper to buy in june than in december, but they will sell on ebay for about the same $ year round…
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