Slow sales, SLOW mail - is it just me ?

[zzrmags]

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 ?

[queenslander]

177 Lots over 4 Sites  Finished Tonight Not One Sale.

I wouuld say Ebay is Dying.

[springyzone]

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.

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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!!

[lyndal1838]

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.

[casbit33]

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.

[chameleon54]

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@4946marks wrote:

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

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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..

[gec2002]

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.

[englishrosegardens]

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@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.

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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!

[wilmajames123]

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?

[davewil1964]

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.

[stylesilver]

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!!