topic Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ? in Selling

Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

zzrmags — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 03:10:17 GMT

Looking back at the last several years of Ebay sales and this is definitely the slowest December in history for sales.

The only constant is that Ebay and Auspost having a VERY different opinion about delivery times.. which invariably every year really pleases our clients... sigh..

So.. anyone else on the bandwagon of doom ?

Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

transport-posters — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 04:00:31 GMT

Right there with you buddy. Share a drink with me?

Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

englishrosegardens — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 04:39:34 GMT

You'll be really pleased to know that ebay has put "delivery before Christmas" on our listings now (where they think it's appropriate). It's appropriate at the moment but will they still have it there three days beforehand when THEY think the post will get it there in time.

Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

zzrmags — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 11:07:03 GMT

or three 🙂

@transport-posters wrote:
Right there with you buddy. Share a drink with me?

Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

knewdoors — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 12:26:11 GMT

no it's not you it's Ebay.. A pathetic December already....again Sale is a four letter word on this site..E-Bay circa 2016 is a Gumtree experience..the only thing ticking over is price increases from Aust Post and price slugs from Ebay and a store lights off / on policy....seller hub tinkering and all the other stuff that EBay has served up over the past couple of years make it a deeply unpleasant experience..and with Amazon Australia on the horizon things can only get bleaker..Ebernezer E-Bay definatley needs 3 ghost hauntings to revert back to it's former good self...

Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

davewil1964 — Fri, 09 Dec 2016 12:48:36 GMT

Not me.

I've matched last Nov-Dec profit with a week to go. Notwithstanding higher postage costs.

I guess I must be speshul. Or sell items that are attractive to buyers.

Oops, just sold another 3.

Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

ourphonecase — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 08:05:25 GMT

Maybe it's not eBay but rather the buyers don't want to buy on eBay anymore?

Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

4946marks — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 08:46:02 GMT

i call bull s$$$ one book in nov and one in dec stop making up stories

Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

shiver_me_shrimp — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 08:56:52 GMT

He's likely talking about his main selling account

Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

davewil1964 — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 10:20:37 GMT

@4946marks wrote:
i call bull s$$$ one book in nov and one in dec stop making up stories

No stories - I only deal in facts. Compared to last year that is 2 more. An infinite percentage increase.

I am not stupid enough to post on here with my main selling account. There are enough people like you around to make that a bad idea.

Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

queenslander — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 10:46:49 GMT

177 Lots over 4 Sites Finished Tonight Not One Sale.

I wouuld say Ebay is Dying.

Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

springyzone — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 12:17:40 GMT

--------------------------------------------

You're right, that is really dicey behaviour on the part of ebay because they are not in charge of the postage or process so shouldn't be promising buyers anything. It may be well and good to have an 'estimated delivery date' on ads but to underline that with 'delivery before Christmas' is building up buyer expectations.

Sales may be slow but I don't know that the post is slow. Last Tuesday night at 11.30pm I uploaded some photos & I ordered some Christmas cards from vistaprint, to be printed. Admittedly I opted to pay for express post. Those cards were delivered early on Thursday morning & I wrote in them and sent them off the same day. I was stunned at how fast that package got to me, considering the cards had to be printed first.

So.. good luck with your sales and may your post go like a rocket!!

Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

lyndal1838 — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 12:29:26 GMT

Springy, so far this year I am finding the mail very quick....cards and letters posted in Sydney suburbs are arriving overnight or within 48 hours even without the 50c surcharge.

Parcels within Sydney are 2 days maximum and interstate (Victoria & SA) are within 4 days. I have not had anything from WA recently but the last parcel in October was 5 days.

This is basically how our postal system used to perform normally and is great considering how close to Christmas we are now.

Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

casbit33 — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 21:51:01 GMT

perhaps Aust.Post are going quicker now because of all the christmas postage items. They don't want to get blamed for cards and presents not arriving on time, so they have lifted their game. I'm sure it will be back to snail mail 26th Dec.

Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

chameleon54 — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 23:14:19 GMT

@4946marks wrote:
i call bull s$$$ one book in nov and one in dec stop making up stories

In response to your post, I checked daves main selling account and can confirm he had 3 sales in a row on the day he made the statement on the forums. He has also had plenty of other sales before and since. Not my job to say how many, but definately not bull s$$$.

Wether you love the guy or not, I have always found dave a pretty straight shooter, who is not prone to making up stories about his selling experiences..

Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

gec2002 — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 01:46:26 GMT

He may be a straight shooter but is maths skills aren't strong. Based on what he stated he sold at least 3 items ("Oops, just sold another 3") over Nov-Dec which is at least 2 more than last year ("Compared to last year that is 2 more"), so last year in the same time frame he had at least 1 sale, so he possibly had a 200% increase in sales. However, that is almost an infinite away from being an infinite increase in sales, which would only occur if he had no sales last year. So least part of the story is BS.

Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

englishrosegardens — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 04:16:47 GMT

@gec2002 wrote:
He may be a straight shooter but is maths skills aren't strong. Based on what he stated he sold at least 3 items ("Oops, just sold another 3") over Nov-Dec which is at least 2 more than last year ("Compared to last year that is 2 more"), so last year in the same time frame he had at least 1 sale, so he possibly had a 200% increase in sales. However, that is almost an infinite away from being an infinite increase in sales, which would only occur if he had no sales last year. So least part of the story is BS.

According to my Oxford dictionary: infinite = boundless, endless, very great, innumerable, very many, etc etc.

There's nothing wrong with dave's maths - I did maths in year 12 and loved it, but I only remember a fraction of what dave does!

Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

wilmajames123 — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 05:01:15 GMT

Several weeks ago I contributed to a similar thread. At that time I reported drastically reduced sales from both Australian and US buyers. Normally, at this time of year, I'd be at the post office every morning. So far, not one sale for December!!!!

Question: Does anyone know how department stores and other big sellers, are doing this year on eBay?

Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

davewil1964 — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 06:02:54 GMT

My maths is fine, thanks.

On THIS account I sold 2 books in Nov-Dec. Last year, on THIS account, I sold nothing over the same period. As this account is what I was getting called on, that is what I gave those numbers for.

Any number divided by 0 equals infinity.

Re: Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

stylesilver — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 11:36:41 GMT

Not sure about department stores but I've been selling to retail B&M for years & this Xmas is the worst I've seen in terms of re-orders. Shops telling me they're doing OK now after a slow start to Xmas, but it's certainly not going to be setting any records in terms of spending this Xmas. Surveys of people on expected "spend " of individuals this Xmas came to the same conclusion, -people around Australia were reporting they were going to spend less this Christmas than last year! (with the biggest "spend" downturn in Females 18-34 yr sold). You could google it- its all over the internet, prob. cos usually spending exceeds the previous year!

BUT this doesnt explain how bad it is on Ebay this Xmas for everyone. Has anyone ever seen this many new threads being started all about baddddd slowwww sales. Mine's is up & down, no sooner do I say mine's had a pick-up... it stops again. This has to be something that Ebay did about 6/7 weeks ago as that's when the selling boards starting filling up with this same theme!!