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“Taxes are due Monday. There’s millions of people freaking out.”
That would be me, LOL, got them done and paid today (I don’t make enough to file quarterly and always leave it until April, this year later than most–ugh.)
You are right about Etsy giving me a chance to compare.
I don’t think that slow sales are an ebay conspiracy–my etsy sales are nonexistent as well–but keep the faith people I had a $125 sale on ebay this morning! and yes, I am going to start saving to get over the summer hump–summer is buying time.
I tried running some auctions last night on stuff that I have had up for awhile, that I had little money in, and that had the most watchers–the result? horrible, LOL (auctions are useless for average items.)
I am having a disastrous week–you are definitely not alone, I list, I post on pinterest, I pay for promoted listing on etsy–nothing has helped recently. It could be tax time. I try not to compare myself to high profile sellers such as Jay and Ryanne who have built up a “brand” with their various media channels, or clothing sellers since I don’t do clothing, but this is one of the times (and not even summer yet) where “woe” is definitely me, LOL.
As I’ve whined before, I sell zero practical stuff virtually no clothing, etc. so the last couple of weeks have been slow, I still managed to sell around $450 worth of stuff (highest was an $80 ring on ebay.) This morning I have a single package going out–and I haven’t paid my taxes yet (yes, I am a horrible procrastinator.)
I am running a few auctions on ebay just to move some stuff out. At any rate, I am a big fan of auctions–I am lucky that my local auction house has a good mix of fancy stuff and plain old box lots that go reasonably.
The last week and a half has been very slow for me, but a few of my recent sales:
This was a piece of contemporary Lalique bought on impulse at the local auction house, and ultimately, not a good buy–bought for around $45 and sold for $65 (and according to research I was at the top end of the market for this piece.) Moral is, never bid without researching first.
common tourist item (there are antique examples that bring $$$) but quick sellers–bought for $2.99 at a thrift and sold for $22
bought at a thrift store for $5, sold for $50
bought for pennies in a lot–sold for $35, unusual photos always sell
bought at an online auction for $22 with shipping sold for $65. There are a lot of repros of old still banks out there (which drove down prices) but I knew that this was old, and researched it before bidding.
I sold a similar pair of saddlebags myself for around the same $–saddlebags, unless unusual in some way, don’t sell for as much as you would think that they would.
In my opinion J&R hiring help was the best business decision that they have made–it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see how strong their sales have become after they hired her–my takeaway is that constant, significant listing pays off.
The last part of the week was horrible for me, until I ran the numbers I honestly thought that it had been a disaster (despite having the best March on Etsy ever) anyhoo, I did $476 in sales (14 items sold–9 on ebay and only 5 on etsy) with the highest sale a $100 vintage bag on ebay. Even though ebay has receded as my main platform, I would never rely on just one store since it picked up the slack when etsy slowed down. Starting my taxes, ugh, I don’t make a true living at this, so my taxes are simpler than most, but still a hassle–I always wait to pay my taxes till the end of the year since they tend to be not that much, but still it is stressful.
Mike–very helpful–research can be so difficult–here is one of mine, any idea what in the heck this hat commemorates? I have done searches using every term I can think up and have come up with bupkis.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/508641508/antique-vintage-parade-cap-civil-war
