You sound just like me... Although I didn't stop listing except for summers, same story...
Four years ago I would list something and watch to see it come up in search so I could count the bids.
Buying was jolly good fun, too! Remember when you could browse every single category looking for treasures?
Now? I'm more selective about what I list and very careful about my opening bid. Don't buy much either.
It's still fun but certainly a lot different than it was then.
I think it started when everyone and his Uncle Fred got the idea they could make a fortune on eBay. Of course the avalanche of sellers peddling hundreds of brand-new boring items, cheap costume jewelry, "Just Like on TV" stuff, etc., starting them at a penny and making it up on shipping didn't help much.
I've learned to ignore the vast majority of auctions.
Eventually, though, I think a lot of the newer sellers will realize it's not all that easy and/or lucrative and will simply fade from sight. I do notice fewer "junk collectible" listings lately.
posted on June 3, 2003 11:09:59 PM new
hotcupoftea, you are fortunate to be able to take time off in the summer and enjoy a more relaxed lifestyle. This will be my busy season and I work daily.
Many sellers on ebay can't afford to take the summer off as they still have to support themselves so I understand that they are concerned if ebay is their only income.
As for the penny and dollar auctions, I know a few sellers that did well with them but in the past year or two they no longer do it because they took too many losses.
ohmslucy, I have also noticed a reduction in the junk auctions. I wonder how many sellers got stuck with all those "hundreds of brand-new boring items"?
posted on June 3, 2003 11:25:48 PM new
Kiara, I know it is repeated over and over on this Board and other Boards, and that is diversity of income sources is important. I know you have a profitable shop, eBay sales, and probably other income flow. Other sellers don't have to emulate you exactly, but should follow your concept of income diversity.
With my income, my diversity has come from years of adjusting my business model. I know in some posts it may seem that I am a hobby seller. I am not. It is just that my primary role must be to care for my slowly dying husband, who has Alzheimers and CHF. This has forced me to risk going in different directions, and in so doing, I have taken advantage of different opportunities, such as selling directly within my home and I have been suprised to see how profitable such sales are.
Of course, I will say this again, as I have in the past, it is important to have savings and zero or minimal debt. I quit my job and started my eBay sales when I had money in the bank and internet sales were booming, back in the late 1990s. I didn't do it the other way around, as in get laid off, have huge debt, and attempt to sell on eBay in order to keep creditors at bay.
posted on June 3, 2003 11:26:08 PM new
lindajean's post brought back nice early ebay memories. There were only about 250,000 listings when I joined ebay. It seemed like everything sold back then and bids came fast and furious. As the number of listing rose the bids got scarcer and scarcer and bidding wars started to disappear as another identical item was sure to be coming down the line soon.
Yup, those days are gone forever but I wonder if it's going to get worse and worse as time goes by. I hope not but who knows.
posted on June 3, 2003 11:51:58 PM new
hotcupoftea, sometimes unexpected things happen in our lives and that changes our financial situations drastically. If I didn't have to work so hard I wouldn't and I think there are many others in that same position.
I don't want strangers in my home and I don't want the burden of having expensive items to insure and care for, extra burglar alarms, etc. Having worked retail for many years I have met my share of weirdos. My only other option is to have a store in the business section of my city and costs are high.
My store has been broken into but after the first time I no longer thought of the stock as "my" things. My home is my personal space and I am very careful who enters it.
posted on June 4, 2003 09:12:11 AM new
Here's the listing stats for the past few months:
Feb 1 - 9,630,000
March 1 - 10,400,000
April 1 - 9,615,500
May 1 - 9,620,000
June 1 - 9,750,000
It seems listing totals have remained close to the same so if some sellers are not listing as much during the slower summer months, others are picking up and replacing them.
Sell through rates are another matter. I'm not sure where to find good data on that. Wish I did!
posted on June 4, 2003 11:56:07 AM new
As long as e-bays listing numbers have not sunk dramtically, I see no reason for them to give a FLD except perhaps at the end of the year as a goodwill geasture. The 1 cent gallery fee promotions I am sure is to encourage more use of the gallery and in many catagories they seem to be achieving that goal. The sell through rate and the final bid amounts I am sure are down quite a bit - tremendously so since 3 or 4 years ago but is that not to be expected as the number of listings increase to the extent that they have? But e-bay has made up the revenue in listings and it is a business just like any other plus they have the advantage of being a virtual monopoly. The only thing I worry about is whether they will in the future decline to give FVF credit for NPB
buyhigh
posted on June 4, 2003 02:15:15 PM new
An FLD can cause problems for ebay's servers and that's always an embarassment to them. There has been a steady stream of reduced this or that this year already and the steady numbers reflect the success of those promotions.
posted on June 4, 2003 02:36:05 PM new
I guess it really depends on what you are selling. I've stopped ebay now until after the 4th to prepare for an upcoming (and much deserved) vacation. I had been doing pretty well for the past couple of months, and hope to continue to do well after I start again. I think diversifying helps too, I now have three different streams of online income that are not related to one another, so if ebay does tank, I have two other resources. I think having one product line, and only using ebay for income could cause problems...
posted on June 4, 2003 03:54:24 PM new
During the summer months, the regular sellers cut back on listings. However, at the same time, we get more sellers listing who are off for the summer, or trying to sell for the first time, which equalizes the number of listings on eBay from month-to-month.
Yet, we all know the number of buyers has diminised, and the other buyers are more savvy and not prone to get into bidding wars. For you long-term sellers reading this post, dig into your records and plug in some buyers' ids from a few years ago. I did that, and more than half of the ids show zero bidding activity in over 12 months. If anyone else can do this, I am interested if you get the same results, in finding out that prior buyers have vanished from ebay.
