topic Re: My worst week in 8 months in Selling

My worst week in 8 months

jellybirddesigns — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 09:55:15 GMT

Hi all,

I have had virtually no sales this week which has become my worst week in 8 months.

I was just wondering if my listings are showing up properly?

Has anyone else noticed a big drop off lately?

Re: My worst week in 8 months

dazzledayz — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 10:00:29 GMT

@cushioncovers wrote:
Hi all,

I have had virtually no sales this week which has become my worst week in 8 months.
I was just wondering if my listings are showing up properly?
Has anyone else noticed a big drop off lately?

You bet, sales have been the slowest I've ever seen.

Even B&M outlets and Op Shops are reporting the same though so it's not just eBay.

It looks like the public is just not spending ATM.

Re: My worst week in 8 months

jellybirddesigns — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 10:05:43 GMT

It's so frustrating.

Hubby has been unemployed for 8 months and to some extent we live off the supplemental income my store generates.

It sends my stress levels through the roof when things dip right down like this.

Re: My worst week in 8 months

247newdeals — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 11:39:45 GMT

@cushioncovers wrote:
It's so frustrating.
Hubby has been unemployed for 8 months and to some extent we live off the supplemental income my store generates.
It sends my stress levels through the roof when things dip right down like this.

First love your cushion covers. With online sale particularly but also with B+M sales you will have dips and times where sales drop to or nearly 0. With any form of self employment you will have lean times so you need to be frugal during the good times and put some aside for the quiet/quieter times.

Now just a thought you have a good product and clearly have a grasp on how Ebay works how about getting hubby selling to? Before you disregard it the reason I say this is a) a bit of extra cash never goes a miss b) If hubby sells a different product type the diversification would decrease the chance of having a 0 sales week c) if hubby make just $20 a week that would give you $1,000 a year which is a nice cushion for lean times (sorry for the play on words but can not resist if hubby makes a small cushion you would have it covered 😉 )

Whatever you decide I hope things picks up for you soon just to add I have had 2 pretty shocking weeks so your not alone not that it makes it any better

Re: My worst week in 8 months

jellybirddesigns — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 12:08:45 GMT

Thanks 247newdeals,

Will run your idea past hubby - might spark a creative thought or two. He's never been much into Ebay and has pretty much left that side of things to me, but you never know....

Another thing that occurred to me is that people are getting all those Xmas bills which have now come due and are suddenly realising that there is no money! It's only 2 months since December, so I'm thinking that might be part of the problem.

Re: My worst week in 8 months

clarry100 — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 20:26:07 GMT

On Friday we had one single sale.

On the very day first day we sold anything on ebay back in 2011 we had one single sale.

Since that day this has never happened again until Friday.

I know Feb-Mar is usually the quiet time for us but its a worry when it dips this low.

We are thinking we will see ZERO sales days this year.

This is supposed to be our mainstream income.

On the upside our ebay fees will be low too.

Re: My worst week in 8 months

cathyjoyjoy — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 20:32:21 GMT

Remember also that this is the month of February which is a very quiet month for many businesses as school returns. Things start to pick up from March. Also (and I'm not sure about this) I'm wondering if the addition of Myer to the growing options of major retailers has had a further impact on some smaller sellers.

Re: My worst week in 8 months

clarry100 — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 21:16:59 GMT

The major B&M stores don't carry our product range (or very little if any).

Which is one of the reasons we originally chose this line.

We think its the continual increase of the cheap Chinese sellers flooding our category.

We quite often used to be up inside the top 100 in search results.

But these days there is rarely any Aust seller inside this top 100 in our category.

We just wish our Govt would bring in this low or zero GST threshold on imported goods accompanied by a (say $25) collection fee if the item value is below their cost threshold to do so. This would stop buyers from buying for O/S and tip the advantage our way lots.

Yes... we would then have to pay GST on our imported raw materials but that would be easily offset by increased sales volumes for our final hand made products.

Re: My worst week in 8 months

everard6920 — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 21:48:37 GMT

Yes, my sales dropped off so I decided to have a sale (I've had some of my stock for months, and I have a large shipment arriving tomorrow or Tuesday and will need the room for it).

So far, it's working a charm. Many of my regulars have come out of the woodwork and I've had some new buyers, too.

Obviously, my margin has taken a hit because of the reduced prices, but I'm still making something and I was sick of looking at that stock, anyway.

I know not everyone can afford to do this, though.

Re: My worst week in 8 months

funkyflamingo* — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 21:55:27 GMT

I had a great December, a brilliant Jan, and a good first half of Feb, and then I think my lights have been turned off. This was the quitest week I have ever had but shops and walk in stores have also been quiet in my area. I am also contemplating doing a pop up shop. Just to mix it up a bit. I hope your sales pick up, and stick with it, I completely understand the stress and frustration.

Re: My worst week in 8 months

6508.froggy — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 22:07:52 GMT

Strange to read all these comments as I have to say it has been one of my best weeks beating pre Xmas - I have had a strong Feb a little more sales than pre Xmas - one never knows. Some items I have sold have been very old stock and feel that they are probably great value with the way our dollar has gone, Have sold a lot of items to the US and UK which woud be dollar driven. Ebay is all about highs and lows!!! - Not looking to my fees this month. !

Re: My worst week in 8 months

springyzone — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 22:58:20 GMT

You could be right about the credit card bills all coming home to roost about now. Plus the back to school expenses.

Your listings are showing just fine.

I guess it depends on what products people are after, I know that just lately I seem to have had a surge of ebay & other online buying.

Have you thought about maybe also having a Sunday market stall somewhere? Aim for a place that does have a few other craft stalls.

Or the other thing you could do, if you can find a little craft store or two over your way, they may be happy to stock some of your cushion covers for a small commission.

I know a friend whose sister in law, a few years back, made earrings and marched into Myer, of all places, to try her luck. I thought she would have no hope with a big retailer like that but she did get a commission to supply several hundred.

Re: My worst week in 8 months

chameleon54 — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 23:26:42 GMT

@clarry100 wrote:
On Friday we had one single sale.
On the very day first day we sold anything on ebay back in 2011 we had one single sale.
Since that day this has never happened again until Friday.
I know Feb-Mar is usually the quiet time for us but its a worry when it dips this low.
We are thinking we will see ZERO sales days this year.
This is supposed to be our mainstream income.
On the upside our ebay fees will be low too.

CLARRY, I, ll match your zero sales day and raise you a zero sales week.....( OK so you can probably see I dont play poker but you get the drift ) ....

Last week our smaller store had ONE SALE FOR THE WEEK of $18.95. I was absolutely gob smacked as this store can easily turn over $1000 and 30 or 40 sales in a week. Its a bit better now, but not great. My other store has been pretty quiet too.

I should stress that I havnt done any serious listing of new items for many months and are just running down old listings, some of which have been there for several years. I suspect if I got off my bott and started listing, things could turn around fairly dramatically.

I have done fresh listings on the private acount with the ebay freebie auctions and these have gone very well, so there is still buyers out there for the right items.

The reason I havnt been keeping the stores fresh is that I have been building up a sheep grazing business over the last couple of years, to replace some of our internet income. This has reached the point where it is taking a lot of my time as we are still leasing new properties which all require fencing and stocking. Sheep prices are currently good and the season is being kind to us, so fingers crossed.

I have to admit it makes a nice change to sitting behind a computer desk, and people are commenting on the fact that I have lost weight. ( its hard physical work ) so something good has come of it already........

Re: My worst week in 8 months

starwood2111 — Sun, 28 Feb 2016 00:03:50 GMT

I don't think at this time of year its very surprising. Feb always holds the worst week of the year for us and often the second and third worst as well. I also think that business was a little better in Dec and Jan than expected and now there is a void because of that. This year looks tough at best I think. Consumer sentiment is still very very fragile while competition contiues to increase. We too are getting occasional ZERO days

Re: My worst week in 8 months

*tippy*toes* — Sun, 28 Feb 2016 00:42:41 GMT

I have zero days, even zero weeks (occasionally), then I'll go bang, bang, bang and can't keep up. A few times it got so "bad" that I was tempted to take a day off work just to catch up with the packing and posting. Some of my items are quite fragile, so if I sell a few of those in one go, the packaging can take ages when there's a few to do.

Then there's the ones that buy a few things and I package them up and weigh the parcel, 510g. Or one time it was 502g. My el cheapo kitchen scales are exact to the PO scales, so I know 502g is 502g on their scales and the postage could increase for the buyer, over 2 lousy grams.Those ones I have been known to unpack and repack several times just to get it under the 500g. I know it's crazy, but it's doing stuff like that that gets buyers coming back.

I'm tempted to start doing what a seller I've bought a few things off does. She sends a message when the items reach 500g (with packaging), so you know that the next item will push you into the next price bracket. Then she'll send another message "your purchases have exceeded $70, so SOD will be added to the postage costs for safety reasons". Then when the purchases exceed $100, she sends another message saying that the cost of insurance will be added to the cost.

It's not a bad idea, because at least the buyers aren't going to get any nasty surprises when they go to pay.I bought quite a bit from her because I liked how she conducted her business. Like a lot of us, she's a smaller seller, but conducts her business very professionally. When I feel the need to empty my PayPal balance again, she will more than likely benefit! I feel if I go that extra mile for my buyers, they might keep coming back.

Re: My worst week in 8 months

jellybirddesigns — Sun, 28 Feb 2016 02:29:37 GMT

Thanks everyone,

I only opened my shop around June last year, so I have not gone through a full 12 month cycle.

It will be interesting to compare the month to month picture when June rolls around this year as I suppose it will help me plan my stock levels going forward.

Re: My worst week in 8 months

phorum_junkie* — Sun, 28 Feb 2016 03:35:29 GMT

For me it is swings and roundabouts, my store id had the best three weeks for a while then it dropped right back to hardly anything this week just gone. My biggest auction id has been steady for most of the time since I re started in November but has dropped off in the last 3 weeks, my third auction and BIN id which usually sells very little has been the busiest ever since I opened it three or four years ago.

Re: My worst week in 8 months

chameleon54 — Sun, 28 Feb 2016 21:07:06 GMT

@starwood2111 wrote:
I don't think at this time of year its very surprising. Feb always holds the worst week of the year for us and often the second and third worst as well. I also think that business was a little better in Dec and Jan than expected and now there is a void because of that. This year looks tough at best I think. Consumer sentiment is still very very fragile while competition contiues to increase. We too are getting occasional ZERO days

It probably depends on what you sell. If your target market is everyday consumers I could imagine they would be watching the pennies at this time of year. My buyers are businesses that have Christmas / January off and come back to work in February looking to purchase new items get back into the swing of things.

February has been quite good the last two years, but this years figures are down around 50% on previous years. I do think some of this is down to the fact that we have not been doing any new listings.

Re: My worst week in 8 months

transport-posters — Sun, 28 Feb 2016 23:21:15 GMT

Same here, hardly any sales to Aussie buyers, but international sales still holding up.

Council rates and BAS is both due today, and there's news about the changes to tax and an unstable Turnball government in the media. People might just be keeping their heads down and holding onto their funds right now. I heard it's never been so bad with people in arrears over council rates now. At least the price of petrol is helping the situation at the moment.

I find that increasing your prices seems to make a difference and either makes eBay expose you more (since they get more fee $$), or makes people realise they better buy sooner before you raise them again. Stops people sitting there watching your items over and over for weeks or months.

Re: My worst week in 8 months

phorum_junkie* — Mon, 29 Feb 2016 02:39:29 GMT

I agree that raising prices very often works as well or even better than lowering them. T%his is especially true of the cheaper items, it is as if you think they are more valuable then so does the buyer.