Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Ebay is unusually flat for me. If I was only selling on ebay right now I’d be very frustrated. Fortunately I started cross listing back in December.
Since the beginning of February I’m averaging 25 sales for $600 each week combined on Depop, Poshmark, and Mercari using Nifty… even though less than half my items are cross listed. That number is trending up the more I cross list. I do all my new listings and I try to do 100 old ebay items each week.
For the year I’m averaging 51 sales a week, which means ebay is only accounting for 50% of my sales and that percent is trending down. I currently have 4100 ebay listings and less than half of those listings are cross listed.
Another rough project I took on at the beginning of April was switching to business policies and flat rate shipping on ebay. The goal was to sell more items based on reasonable shipping costs. I modeled my rates based on Depop’s rates, so $5.99, $7.99, $9.99, and $12.99 for anything other than huge items.
I was hoping that business policies would get my shoe sales weekly average up, but it didn’t. I was still only selling about 12 pair a week. So 5 weeks ago I started a concentrated effort to cross list shoes – at least 20 pair a day. Over the last 4 weeks my shoe sales have doubled to an average of 24 pair a week.
So I say all this to say that ebay…is not good. I have fixed my shipping. I have refreshed my entire store so no stale listings. I am listing more than I ever have before in the first half of the year -averaging 51 new listings a week so far. Something has changed, something is wrong.
I do all that and I’m selling just as much stuff off ebay. Even worse, stuff that has sat for years on ebay sells like hot cakes on the other platforms.
My sales are trending up in alignment with my increased efforts everywhere else. Why is ebay flat?
Anyways, I’ve laid all the groundwork in the first half of this year to make a real run at $100k gross sales (sale price only – not including shipping) this year. Hopefully ebay starts to pick up as well so I can get there. My second half sales are always much stronger than the first half.
One last note, I shipped 66 items last week and I am on track to ship 70+ this week for the first time ever. That is ALOT of shipping and ALOT of work for a part time gig.
Nifty.
The automation only is $22 a month. That will auto relist your items and auto send offers. $22 is worth it to keep your 10k item store fresh. Implementing a price reduction when relisting is optional. I have implemented a 5% reduction and only end/sell similar after 180 days. Once my whole store is within 6 months I’ll reduce my end/sell similar daily cap from 100 to 50, just to spead everything out a bit more. I have no desire to relist every month, and with a 10k item store I think ebay would penalize you for that much turnover without sales. Having a fresh 6 month store is, in my opinion, the sweet spot. I was working to get to a 1 year rotation manually but it was alot of work.
Since I let Nifty take over I only have about 700 listings that are older than 6 months. All of those will filter into the relist cycle over the next 60 days.
There’s nothing wrong with having long tail items, but it is definitely a different era now. It will only get worse the more AI is integrated. List it and forget it is no more. You have to have some kind of refresh activity or you’ll be buried.
I would even recommend you run 10-20 old listings through an AI tool each week just to get some fresh keywords and refresh the title and item description and item specifics.
You can train ChatGPT and create a custom GPT where you can feed in a few listing URL’s each day and it will spit out revisions in whatever format you want that you can cut/paste into the listing. Refining the custom GPT to just spit out the actionable items and leave out the fluff is very helpful. I made a tool a while back to use when sourcing where I set all the paramters to the point I can upload a photo of an item while scavenging and the tool will just say “yes” or “No” if I should buy it. Then I say if I bought it or not. Then when I’m done shopping it will spit out a formatted file with all the listing info for the items I buy. It’s a great tool for shopping commodity stuff like clothing, shoes, toys, and games.
As a matter of fact, this listing refresher tool was a good idea so I started doing this for myself.
My sales/impressions numbers this week are on par. Nothing out of the ordinary. I haven’t even listed anything new in 2 weeks.
I also don’t think blanket end/sell similar is good for your store, the same as blanket editing or ending promoted listings is not good.
eBay seems to prefer gentle pruning rather than plowing everything down.
I sell old stale items regularly after relisting. They do even better on posh and Depop. Mercari is doing better but it has been slow since they only allow 100 more listings for every sale I make. In 2 months I only have 6 sales on Mercari. I have to be selective as to what I cross post there for now. I’ve sold over 100 items between posh and Depop so far even though I’ve been slow to cross list.
It’s a setting as to how many it will sell similar each day. I have mine set to max 100. So even after 2 months I still have listings from 2024. It will eventually get them all.
no I haven’t used the listing tool yet as I don’t have business policies. That is a requirement to use the AI tool. I’m at a point I could use them, but I don’t have the time to deal with that conversion headache at the moment.
I have used it to create some draft listings to sell some baseball bats. Worked great. I copied the titles and descriptions into eBay as drafts. Sold several of those bats already.
I do pay my oldest kid to list my clothing backlog and she does a good job. Kids her age HATE AI. She don’t want anything to do with it. She does occasionally use google to reverse image search at least.
Strong disagree. I’m almost completely out of promoted listings – down to about 200 left in a 4000 item store. I am letting nifty remove them as part of the auto end/sell similar along with an auto price drop. I have it set to relist anything older than 180 days. FYI, if you didn’t know this the nifty auto end/relist will always remove your promoted listing. You have to add it back manually.
My slow process of ending promoted listings over the last year has resulted in zero drop in sales. I’m still growing year over year. I’m meeting my goal of 40 sales a week on ebay with the added benefit of an extra 15+ sales a week on depop/posh/mercari. I’ve broke my all time weekly record of sales twice this year already. I’m only up to about 1500 cross listed items as it is a manual process, but so far the sales I’m getting from cross listing are well beyond my expectations. I’m gunning for $100k in sales (sale price only – not including shipping) this year.
Listing quality items with good STR trumps promoted listings all day long. As I’ve been saying for a while now you have to phase them out slowly so ebay don’t crush your store. I did that experiment a few years ago and the sales ban hammer was REAL.
Nifty will slowly remove the PL for you and even apply a price reduction for you for your stale items. I recommend you give it a try. It’s worth it for that feature alone. If you just want ebay automation (auto end/sell similar, auto offers, price reductions, etc) that is only $22 a month.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267233268482
Fiesta Hostess Serving Bowl Marigold 40 oz HLC Fiestaware
I’m slowly but surely selling the Fiesta ware death pile I listed a few weeks ago. The next time a lot of this stuff comes across my path I think I’ll pass.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267243864818
Beltone Model C-1 Hearing Aid Charging Case With Box Tested
Sold for full price. I did a bundle when I bought this at an estate sale so my purchase price was sround $5-10.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266893783613
Louis Vuitton Denim Leather Sandals Flip Flops Size UK 10
Sold on offer for $385. From the hoarder collection.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267218445431
Lazer Tag Team Ops Master Blaster Missile Launcher WITH missile
Shame on me for letting this sit for so many years in a death pile. Sold for full price. Having the missile let me command top dollar.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267243306590
Sony PSP-1001 Playstation Portable Console Black W/ Game, Memory Card, Charger
Sold for full price. including a game and memory card helps my listing stand out and get a higher sales price. I considered replacing the battery but at the end of the day I just wanted to get it listed.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267228100566
DynaTrap 1/2 Acre Trap Fly Mosquito Bug Light Zapper Pole Mount New In Box
Sold on offer for $85. I just picked this up a few weeks ago at a yard sale for $10. Glad to have flipped it so quickly!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267048223028
Oofos Sandals 8 EU 39 Ooriginal Thong Comfort Slip On Recovery Pink
This is a bolo brand if you can find them. I picked up two pair for $1 each at a yard sale last fall and both sold recently for $30 each.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267099265063
Burberry Jeans Mens 42 x 32 Beige Stretch Pantaloni NWT 5 Pocket Straight
Sold on offer for $118. Hoarder item.
I’m trying to get my yard sale pickups listed same weekend this summer. Here were some of my best scavenges.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267271949347
Sizzix Big Shot Stampin Up Die Cutting Embossing Machine & Multipurpose Platform
Paid $10.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267271949675
EATON CHSPT2ULTRA Complete Home Surge Protection Surgetrap Type 2 SPD 10800 Amps
I picked up 4 of these for $80. Once I listed them though, only these were higher dollar. The other two only sell for $50. Still, $80 into $300 is great!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267271951084
GUITAR HERO PS3 Dongle Red Octane Model 95121.806 LES PAUL Wireless Receiver USB
Guitar hero dongles are extreme BOLO. Paid less than $1.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267271954617
Lectron Tesla To J1772 Charger Adapter 250v Charging Electric Vehicle 48A – New
Paid $5. It was marked 10 but I found a nice messenger bag that will sell for $40-50 to bundle both for $10.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267273053718
Herbert Ryman Disney Cinderella Castle Serigraph Framed 198/200 Imagineering
Boy I REALLY debated on buying this one. It’s sooooooo big and the matte is in rough shape. I picked this up Friday during my lunch break for $90. I told myself that I had to get it listed and stored immediately – no death pile addition. I fulfilled my mission and now I don’t care how long it sits. There is one other listed for sale at the same price on another platform and there is one worthpoint entry for print only. I don’t have a worthpoint so I don’t know what it sold for. I do know that this cost about $1600 when it was purchased at Disney World originally.
My hope is that someone will offer me over $1k in the near future so I can move it on.
I apparently killed the sale of the week thread. I waited 10 minutes between posts but that didn’t matter. Still ate my post and I doubt anyone elses posts will show up.
Regarding your box of autographed stuff.
As a test, lay it all out and list it as a big lot on ebay as an auction. Worst case, nothing happens.Best case, you blow it all out at once. You’ll probably get eyeballs on your other items if it gathers some attention.
The only cool item of note I sourced last week was this item:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267265849379
Playskool Power Cycle Ride-On Big Wheel Pet Shop Girls Pink Purple 1988 Vintage
Not one of the big boys of the big wheel era like the GI Joe, Transformers, or Knight Rider big wheels, but still pretty cool. I priced it to the moon and we’ll see what happens.
Personally, I had the knight rider big wheel and it was AWESOME! I wore that big front tire clean in two with peel out starts.
If eBay open was east coast and at the beach or Orlando I’d maybe go. The ability to tax deduct a vacation/mileage would be wonderful.
Vegas? I don’t drink or gamble so no desire to go there at all.
Yes that is correct. Depending on what you are wanting to track, you can select different time frames.
weekly STR for my style inventory is about 1%, so if I want to sell 45 items a week on average then I need about 4500 listings.
I also log quarterly STR so I can get a feel for how my sales will vary throughout the year. It keeps me from panicking when sales are slow. I know when
45 sales with a $45 average sales price is my long term goal as that is a $100k annual sales store. 4500 items is about as much as I can efficiently store as well.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266917451649
REEBOK Men Rapid Response Composite Toe Tactical Boots Size 14 M Black RB8874
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267200757780
Nike Zoom Hyperdunk 2011 Blake Griffin BG 32 Shoes Mens Size 14 469776-006
Two good examples of why shoes have to be researched a bit at time of purchase. These catch my eye, but until you research the model you don’t know if you have undesirable (but nice) shoes or something special. I’ve put back really awesome shoes because there was no market, and I’ve been shocked by some that were interesting enough to at least research. For sure though – I don’t leave a thrift shop until I’ve researched every item in my cart and applied my sourcing standards. Both of these pair sold for full price and I paid $5-8 each.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267201711839
Porsche Design Sunglasses P’8613 64 mm White Aviator P8613-C-6414-135
Another hoarder item. I’ve been slow walking these Porsche glasses to ebay. This is the second pair I’ve listed and sold. I’ll put up another pair soon. Sold from sent offer for $135. My cost was $10.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267217421397
Gucci Supreme GG Canvas Bloom Print Green Flower Slip On Sneakers Men’s Size 10
Sold on offer for $300 since I was hungry for sales while on vacation. I had high hopes for this pair since they had a receipt and even a hand written thank you from the salesperson. Eh, can’t be greedy – time to move this stuff at the near 2 year mark from when I got my first load of stuff.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267243304670
Cooper XL7 Hockey Helmet White Size Small Vintage
Pulled this off of a death shelf while reorganizing. It’s another one of those “why didn’t I list this thing when I bought it!” items. Sold for full price within a week. Paid $3 at Goodwill from the olden days when they didn’t put a barcode on every item.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266925679430
PetSafe Large Freedom Alum Pet Door 10 1/8 X 15 3/4 Magnetic Flap HPA11-11600
Sold on sent offer for $60. I got lucky with a buyer in Virginia so my shipping was less than $7. I rarely use free shipping but on some items it can be strategic when comparing to the market. When the buyer is local it’s just a bonus.
Your ebay store has been overperforming for a while. You sold 8 items on an inventory of less than 300 – all of which are in a very specific niche? CONGRATULATIONS! That’s a resounding success! A store that size (unless you are selling underpriced hot cakes) I would expect to generate less than 10 sales a week.
My store has about a 1% STR every week when I’m actively listing. Back in March I had a week of 10 sales for $286. That really was a doomsday feeling week. Since then I’ve listed almost 500 new items.
Keep your head up and keep plugging. If ebay no longer works for you, feel free to pivot to wherever the iron is hot. That’s why so many youtube resellers have left ebay and went all in on live selling. You can always come back to ebay if you need to.
Live selling is eventually going to get oversaturated and then hit a decline. The growth it is currently experiencing is not sustainable. Will it be as epic of a collapse as the metaverse? I doubt it. It’s here to stay in some form or another. Just another tool in the tool belt.
