Question
Ok, my apology to Hamlet, but I am having a hard time getting restarted with ebay and need either confirmation or motivation.
I haven't listed anything in three months, due to tax season, planning my parents 50th anniversary party, my son's graduation and various other things that took up time. Just as I was thinking I needed to get with it, the Item Specifics rolled out in the Pottery and Glass category, my main selling area.
Now I have no motivation to list at all. It was so nice not having any ebay related business hanging over my head, no emails to answer, no packing. Of course, there have also been no profits either, but the IS and low sell through rates I have been reading about make me think I haven't missed anything but paying for listing fees on unsold items.
I did miss the excitement of checking my auctions for bids at first, but now I am no longer in withdrawal. Every day it is becoming more and more easy not to list.
So, am I justified in sitting it out, or do I need a kick in the butt?
Answer
I took a couple of weeks off and it was a big relief. But I need money so I started listing again last week. It isn't any fun. I have 33 books listed, 2 have bids. I worked all night for that? Gonna try again tonight with non books and see how they sell.
If you don't need the money I'd continue to sit it out. Supposedly eBay will be making a change in this IS crap in the first week of July.
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Thank you for the reply. I could certainly use the money but I am not yet at the point of dumping merchandise just for cash flow. I guess I'll have to wait and see how the category changes and item specifics play out.
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If you don't need the money, I would wait...
I'm having my worst summer ever and am reading that many others are also.
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If you have ever considered opening an Ebay store, this might be a good time.
I usually stop selling on Ebay during the summer slump. That meant my Ebay storage area got crammed to the gills over the summer and I worked like a madwoman during the fall and winter selling seasons to try to clear it out. I decided this year to stock an Ebay store over the summer, with the hopes of at least having the listings done and ready to go in the fall. To my surprise, the store items are selling quite well!
I ran a couple of auctions during last week's penny pack promo. They are sitting there getting no bids, and very few hits. In the meantime, I made four store sales Thursday, 2 on Friday, four on Saturday, five yesterday! None of my store sales are related in the least to the two blah auctions I have running. I couldn't be happier, since I put the items in the store at the amount I want to get--no giveaways there whatsoever. So far I have had no auction buyers also order store items, but I have had store buyers buy multiple items. I know other folks have had different experiences--I guess it depends on what you sell.
I will not be running any auctions at all during the summer, unless there's a promo I can't resist like a FLD. But I will continue filling up my Ebay stores (I have two!). I will look at anything that sells as a big summer bonus. And if the items don't sell, then my original plan of having the listings ready to go in the fall will be met.
This is my second go-around with the stores. The first time was pretty much a bust for mine so I closed them. Buyers have definitely learned how to find them now, and to my surprise, it is not as important to have auctions running as I thought it was, at least for the items I sell.
Answer
It might be a good time to reassess where you are going with online selling.
I made a change from general preowned inventory to mostly new, category or theme specific, items which then justified a Store.
My entire perspective has changed.
Two weeks ago I had great sales and last week I went 7 days without any sales. Both results bother me because I don't understand how that happens when I continue to offer the identical inventory.
But I'm looking beyond what is happening right now towards making the Store better, adding new lines, learning about search engine usage, building towards the time when I can start to make productive use of other venues and an independent website and enjoying my product line's contribution to a better understanding of my own heritage.
I really feel fortunate that I've finally found a direction that is more than just immediate sales.
The path to where I am was paved with frustration, disappointment, lack of motivation, little joy, no sense of creating or building anything and general dissatisfaction.
Now the times past were not without some pleasure. The easy money days of early eBay where fun and I always got a high from finding something at an auction that made good money the next week, when sold.
I went back to the flea markets after frustration with eBay's more recent direction and failed but discovered the Irish product line that is now providing satisfaction.
Maybe not constant joy but at least mild continued contentment.
To be a little crude I'll fall back onto a comparison. It is as if I was involved in a long sequence of one night stand. They certainly were a lot of fun mingled with some near tragic and/or very funny encounters and a lot of frustration.
I accept it was only through them did I become ready to see what I really wanted. A place for me was always waiting, I just wasn't ready to go there yet.
There is a place for each of us. Find that place.
Accept that your mood and lack of motivation might be part of yourself saying it does not want to do what the other part of you is asking to be done.
Find even one thing that all of you, yourself enjoy. Follow that path.
I went through a couple of years when the anger in me and my frustration with eBay management were a dominate negative force in my life.
Not a fun or positive trip but I guess it was one I had to make to get where I am now.
Meg can stand up all day long and tell the world that everything is wonderful and, by the way, aren't the new Priority boxes with eBay logos pretty.
I know the accounting system is in chaos, the categories are being mangled and the SA listing programs, upon which I am still dependent, is perpetually broken.
I'll use whatever works and find a way to do the rest in spite of them.
I haven't found a perfect world, I've just gotten to the point where I've found my space and I'll be dammed if I'll let them take that away from me.
Go find your space, it's waiting for you.
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Thank you so much for your very thoughtful posts. I have really enjoyed online selling for the past 4-5 years although it has been less fun in recent times. I have been trying to figure out if it was just my loss of interest, that the activity has run its course and it is time to move on, or if the dynamics of ebay in particular has curbed the fun.
I have a couple of websites that are just sitting there. I kept telling myself that once I got through the last few hectic months, I would really dig in and get those sites going. Learn and master HTML, figure out the whole shopping cart, credit card configurations, google adwards etc, and push the business to the next level.
I was in overdrive for so long that the first free weekend I didn't know what to do with myself (so I cleaned my house from top to bottom, even stupid stuff like washing down the bottom of closets). Now two weekends have gone by and still no progress. Seems like I will do anything NOT to go ahead with ebay or the website.
I'm not even sure if I should be mad at the ebay changes that have made selling so difficult, or if I should be glad that they are making it easier to leave.
I guess I'll just have to ride out this period of inertia and see what falls out. Thanks again.
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I can't imagine a week without listing let alone three MONTHS....
I love ebay......not ready to give up on it yet, but yes, it is time for everyone to re-evaluate seriously.
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Put simply: you can't control the number of page views or the number of bids.
What you CAN control is your selling approach.
Tough times on eBay are shaking out the fainthearted sellers, which is probably a good thing. Frankly, anyone not interested in learning marketing or not willing to change their methodology should save their chips and go to the beach this summer, for eBay will be cruel to you.
On the other hand:
People still have discretionary funds. Actually, with the economic upturn, more people have more dollars than ever. Also, shopping for basics is now commonplace for bidders. (I'd blush if I told you all the mundane things I bought on eBay recently.)
I have made a few small adjustments this summer, such as not listing on weekends. Otherwise, bidding is strong -- my customers still like to eBay at work -- and sales are very good.
I sell on eBay fulltime.
--
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i think skipping summer if cost effective may be good
truth is before minor issues which seem to be defined by needing verification of who i actually am came about i was making sales
a bit here
a bit there
but never enough to actually find a niche that worked for me
about the only thing i ever found that got attention was bulk dvd's and even that was in fits and starts
i could make things happen sometimes but never consistently
still like to buy on ebay a bit but i am not even sure i am ready to start listing again even when my issues sort themselves out
i think i will wait till closer to school season and try again then