Reamond
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posted on November 25, 2002 11:21:53 PM new
I thought we might be moving towards 10 million listings with the xmas buying season upon us, but it appears listings are dropping off.
http://www.medved.net/cgi-bin/cal.exe?EIND
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oldhat98
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posted on November 26, 2002 06:19:33 AM new
In the past few years, I have seen a drop during Thanksgiving week, then a big jump the week after. The two weeks into December it will drop like a rock and panic the Ebay accountants to scream THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!!
[ edited by oldhat98 on Nov 26, 2002 06:20 AM ]
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trai
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posted on November 26, 2002 07:40:55 AM new
They should be going back up again as we get closer to the xmas season .
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lindajean
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posted on November 26, 2002 08:35:38 AM new
All I can say is "I wish they would drop ----and stay dropped!"
But, then again, I have been saying that since the listings went from 890,000 to 1,500,000 in 1998 and just look at them now! 
Remember the good old days of 100% sell through. I could sell anything (really) for 10 times what I paid and often many times more! I sold yarn I picked up at garage sales for more than Walmart asks for it, TV guides, old magazines, half used craft supplies, old beads (plastic, not glass) 8 track tapes, and records (1 at a time for $8.00 and up), and couldn't wait to get up the morning after I listed because half of the items would already have bids and the other half would have them by the end of the day.
Then, you just sat back and waited to see how high they would go before the week was over!
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quickdraw29
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posted on November 26, 2002 08:48:52 AM new
Auction counts drop off sharply each year in December.
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Reamond
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posted on November 26, 2002 11:30:22 AM new
I am beginning to wonder if it wasn't eBay employees and/or family members buying all those things at high prices in the early years. It sure paid off in stock options if they did.
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lindajean
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posted on November 26, 2002 11:35:14 AM new
Not my items! I'm still friends with many of my early buyers. They owned craft stores or just wanted things delivered to their homes since most had rural addresses. I received pictures of their kids, knew their anniversaries and birthdays...it was really fun back then! And I sometimes sold as much as a couple of hundred items a week and had time to visit with each buyer.
Now that the personal touch is gone with everyone using bulk emails and checkout those people have moved on. I think they wanted the company as much as anything.
One little old lady actually sent me a picture of her with Anne Murray backstage after she bought some Anne Murray records from me. I wish I had kept all those early cards and letters! That first year I received over 50 Christmas cards from my repeat buyers who knew me well.
Edited to correct statement about selling. I sometimes sold 200 items a week, but did not list that each and every week. Back then I would take a week off after a heavy listing week to clear out all my sales and then start over. I have always dealt in one of a kind items so using the same ad for multiple listings doesn't work for me.
[ edited by lindajean on Nov 26, 2002 05:03 PM ]
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Reamond
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posted on November 26, 2002 11:54:27 AM new
Retail Sales Fizzle as Holiday Nears
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20021126_256.html
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quickdraw29
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posted on November 26, 2002 12:12:18 PM new
"And I sold a couple of hundred items a week and had time to visit with each buyer."
That's incredible, how did you have time to visit 800 people a month? You could do four people an hour for ten hours, equals 40 people a day, times five days a week. That's nuts!
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robertsmithson
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posted on November 26, 2002 01:02:19 PM new
The early days of ebay were a far cry from now. Sellers threw in bonuses a lot and wrote chatty personal emails but now there are a bunch of automated and computer-generated EOA emails sent out.
The little country store turned into a Walmart superstore with robotic store employees.
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lindajean
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posted on November 26, 2002 02:44:37 PM new
I sold 10 to 12 items a week to the same buyers who would also buy the next week or the week after. That was how it used to work (or at least it did in my categories way back when).
I had tons of repeat buyers and nearly everyone bought more than one item.
Edited to add:
I can email 10 to 15 people an hour. I type over 100 wpm. Used to be a secretary before I became an accountant and then tossed it all to retire early.
[ edited by lindajean on Nov 26, 2002 02:46 PM ]
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sanmar
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posted on November 26, 2002 03:21:28 PM new
Well, I know mine will drop like a rock come Dec. 15th. I want all of my auctions closed by then as I am leaving on the 22nd for week & I want to have everything shipped by the 20th. Leaving the sun & palms of Central CA for the Mtns & ? snow of northern AZ. Should be a great time.
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MAH645
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posted on November 26, 2002 04:00:16 PM new
For the first time I'm not going to list anything for Christmas and it feels good not to be bugged about when someones package is going to arrive.I'm working 72 hours a week so I don't have time to even shop on E-Bay and I'm missing alot of good buys and I do hate that.
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ahc3
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posted on November 26, 2002 05:28:14 PM new
I always travel around Christmas, this time about 3 weeks, so this Sunday will be my final auctions of 2002. I certainly don't miss the post office rush this time of year. I tend to sell items that would not sell as gifts anyway, so things probably would not sell well anyway.
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stonecold613
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posted on November 27, 2002 07:54:46 PM new
In my opinion,
You will find listings high around this time of year because there are more items for sellers to list and as we get into mid to late December listing will drop off simply because sellers have sold many of their items already and simply have less inventory to list.
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robertsmithson
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posted on November 27, 2002 08:54:45 PM new
Now is the time of year every seller has been waiting for. 
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janusaries
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posted on November 28, 2002 08:14:32 AM new
My sales dropped off dramatically between Thanksgiving and New Years last year, and it looks like they might do the same thing this year.
If so, I will NOT be listing during this period in 2003.
I don't get it, either, as I'm selling fancy "wear-on-the-outside" corsets that should be desirable for holiday party wear or to give as gifts, and my sales are steady the rest of the year.
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janusaries
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posted on November 28, 2002 08:28:41 AM new
Oh, and lindajean, I miss the "old days" at eBay, too!!! I signed up in December 1997 and my 1998-2000 sales were *great*, no matter what I was selling. Some of the prices were truly astonishing. I sold stuff from my parents' estate, stuff from my own personal collections, stuff on consignment from friends, stuff I manufactured myself, and stuff I purchased from various sources and re-sold on eBay at a substantial profit. Once eBay crossed a million listings, the "easy money" was gone, and once eBay crossed 3 million listings, it became a real struggle to sell. I'm hanging in there, but now I only sell stuff I manufacture myself, so I can price somewhere between wholesale and retail and still make a couple $$. But if overall pricing on eBay slips any further, it will no longer be profitable for me and I will be gone.
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Libra63
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posted on November 28, 2002 09:11:15 AM new
Sanmar-nothing like snow for the Holidays. I know it is nice to have warm weather but give me Snow. I live where we have snow all winter and I don't mind it except for the drivers and they are nuts.
I think that sales are slow because of the sales in the retail stores. With these sales everyone can buy something. It's unbelieveable what one retail store is doing. They have hugh sales on Wednesday with 60% - 70 % off some items then it is also senior day with an additional 15%. I guess that beats buying on eBay.
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quickdraw29
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posted on November 28, 2002 11:37:15 AM new
At Christmas I sell vintage toys you can't find in stores any longer, like Batgirl, or Xena. Some buyers buy every one I have. These are toys I couldn't give away for free the rest of the year. Although I don't depend on Christmas for most of my income, I do depend on it to clean out inventory.
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