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Sales slow???
 

I suspect its normal for sales to have dropped off this week? Will it pick up in Jan?

Re: Sales slow???
 

Not till March, depending on the category.

People's wallets hurt from the holidays, and the weather deters shoppers and slows down a huge section of the economy.

Re: Sales slow???
 

I don't know about all that. Sales for me usually pick up about 2 weeks after Christmas and steadily improve until summer hits. Then they are slow for 3 months, until the kids go back to school in September. Then sales pick up again and reach a peak during the Christmas season. Of course, it also partly depends on what you sell. Not too many swimsuits moving off the shelves in February...

Re: Sales slow???
 

Depends on the Category etc. To be honest price wise this was the worst year I have ever had for the items I have sold. Years ago at the discounted prices I offered especially with the fewer eBay sellers due to the purging I would have sold 10x as many items. I really don't sell items that are on Amazon or compete with them so I have no idea why the past two years especially this one have been so crummy.

I guess just keep planning and hoping for the best. That is what I am doing.

Re: Sales slow???
 

Can only hope so - will depend on market niche...dont forget to check in on your competition/competitor prices...

Re: Sales slow???
 

December has been steady slow for me. I actually had better sales in Oct. & Nov. Who knows? The economy is really weird and sales are unpredictable.

Re: Sales slow???
 

The week after Christmas is slow everyone spent all their money and just tired of buying but once January comes around there are a lot of gift cards given out and I guess that's why now paypal advertises to buyers they accept prepaid cards for purchases because they want to grab that second round of gifts given as visa gift cards

Re: Sales slow???
 

Totally agree! They will try..

Re: Sales slow???
 

eBay has been turning off buyers and sellers as well for at least 5 years now. It isn't what it use to be.

Re: Sales slow???
 

Lot of returns after the holidays too

Re: Sales slow???
 

Slow sales now for everyone the last week? I've been getting a lot of competitors troll bidding. Hardly any real sales. Tried to block but they keep coming like cockroaches.

Re: Sales slow???
 

I like that phrase, "troll bidding."
Never really thought of it like that - but very true. Too often did I use to get this when reselling computers.

I also think that it does not help with forums like this one - then everyone knows the "tricks-of-the-trade." Especially scammers.
Obviously there are many tricks that some will not disclose, but you get my drift.
But I can not complain - I would not know half as much as I do if it was not for sites like this :)

Re: Sales slow???
 

What is troll bidding? Non payers?

Re: Sales slow???
 

Pretty much non payers. You can see them create new accts just to bid on your items and then not pay. Like cockroaches. I am impressed that they are so persistent

Re: Sales slow???
 

I am assuming it would be 2 type of people:

1) People who are selling similar items - they want you to loose business. Create ⊗⊗⊗⊗/stealth account, and bid the highest, never to pay.

2) "Kids" or dumb people. That just want to troll you, literally.

http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/k...ne-you-see.png

Re: Sales slow???
 

I am starting to think ebay is the one that trolls people since it is so persistent. There is no way a normal person has so much time..

Re: Sales slow???
 

lol yuck.
Thats why I like bin with payment required. Although I refuse to sell high ticket items to new buyers and mention this clearly in my listings and they always sneak through.:nono:

Re: Sales slow???
 

@nivo, a friend of mine suggested that it could be eBay trolling. I was wondering how someone could just create accts just to troll me all the time. What I was thinking, maybe these competitors are outsourcing their troll bidding? Maybe outsourcing to s. America. Because I saw some Latin names, but I don't know for sure.

@user, problem with bin to me is that you're not as guaranteed of a sale in a predetermined time as auction. Auction people get excited pushing those buttons.

Re: Sales slow???
 

So sorry to hear about the slow sales you are having. The last 2 weeks have been the best ever. Even Christmas.

Re: Sales slow???
 

Naw - there are people - eB isnt as bad as that, in general

Re: Sales slow???
 

The problem with January is that all the overspent credit card bills come home to roost. Plus its the time of year for bad weather - hence big fuel bills, roof, boiler and plumbing repairs, etc. And our weather her in the UK is not nearly so extreme as the folks in the USA had a couple of weeks ago.

No one has any money for discretionary spending at the moment.

Re: Sales slow???
 

Don't forget about China's spring festival that last 2 weeks. Nothing goes in our out for a lot of shipping companies for 2 weeks, hurts a lot of sellers who can't stock up on inventory before the 2 week holiday.