Sales Slow over Last Few Weeks

[kirkie]

Anyone else having low sales recently, I know the summer is never that good for online retail but I have found the last few weeks to be very slow, People don't have the money like they used too.

How are your sale guys?

[stevebills]

my sales are steady but its easy for me as I am the cheapest lol

[cookiecutter101]

It's very dependent on the type of items you sell.
If they are summer friendly or not.

But in general, it's summer, people go on vacations, weather has been good, camping, days out etc. less people are sitting at home, which means less people browsing/buying on eBay.

Don't worry about it, or get seasonal items (for summer).

August is just around the corner, and autumn's coming.

[cookiecutter101]

Personally, only down about 5-10% in sales this last week. Other than that it has been growing steadily.

But I sell non-seasonal items, you will need them throughout the year.

[rsot]

Steady here too but I dont do high volume - perhaps research new market lines are in order?

[GreenBean]

Pottering along OK.

Parcels are getting there despite Royal Mail.

No complaints.

[jeffweico]

Sales are OK, considering it is the off-season.

[cookiecutter101]

Forgot to add:

I have been seeing a lot of complaints for sales dropping from mid-June on the ebay community forums - do a google search if you'd like

It's something to do with visibility and the tweaks ebay has been doing to their search ranking/results. In some cases listings disappear & reappear within the same search term within a couple hours.
Less traffic = less sales

I believe they recently implemented a new search system or something, as I have noticed all of the Best Match and such were all over the place these last 3-4weeks.

All of this is based on my ebay UK experience, may or may not apply to other sites.

[jeffweico]

It is called Cassini, eBay's new search algorithm. But I have not noticed anything abnormal for this time of the year.

[Sandy D]

Seems to be picking up a bit for some reason.

My sales have been steady but I am noticing a lot more bids, especially for todays ending auctions.

I usually run Sunday to Sunday so a big factor for me is seeing items get bid up and having multiple bidding and that I have notice has picked up.

[Sausage]

This weekend has made up for the quiet start to last week. probably one of the busiest weekends I've had for a few weeks.

[rsot]

If your sales are low, also check out your competition to see if business is drifting towards them...

[stevebills]

Originally Posted by kirkie

Anyone else having low sales recently, I know the summer is never that good for online retail but I have found the last few weeks to be very slow, People don't have the money like they used too.

How are your sale guys?

I always undercut the competition by 50p
works wonders lol

[Sausage]

I think a lot has to do with how professional your listing looks, out of my competitors I am probably the most expensive by $2 / £1.50 but my listings are sleek, and professional unlike my competitors who just copy and past a load of text, different fonts, sizes and colours and justify it down the centre. I aim for 80 - 100 sales a week and that gives me an extra £400+ in my pocket a month.

Judging by feedback received I am the one winning.........at the moment!

[rsot]

Originally Posted by Sausage

Judging by feedback received I am the one winning.........at the moment!

Always good to stay up on things - there will be other sellers coming out of the woodwork...

[Callidus]

Originally Posted by stevebills

I always undercut the competition by 50p
works wonders lol

Problems with this is you are then creating a price war and the items value starts to drift lower and lower as the weeks progress. Once you start a price war I find it hard to stop it or t least gain control. Hopefully an ecommerce solution for me will be the best idea eventually as relying on ebay isn't going to be the best option.

[jeffweico]

Originally Posted by hdavey10

Problems with this is you are then creating a price war and the items value starts to drift lower and lower as the weeks progress. Once you start a price war I find it hard to stop it or t least gain control. Hopefully an ecommerce solution for me will be the best idea eventually as relying on ebay isn't going to be the best option.

That is not really a "price war" it is just the normal marketplace competition. Price wars happen when marketplace competition is taken to an extreme, like when a seller is willing to lose money on every sale just to prevent the competition from getting the orders. This will always happen with "commodity" items - items that are not rare or unique.

I recommend trying to differentiate yourself based on your ratings, customer service, better and more informative listings, etc. I will often pay a slightly higher price on a commodity item to buy it from a Top Rated Seller.

Also, I put a coupon & ad for my website in with each order. Done properly, over time, you will build a customer base that comes back for more. At that point price is STILL important, but you don't have to have the LOWEST price, you just need to be competitive. Not to mention, you save on the eBay/Amazon fees. Best of all, eBay can't shut you down.

[Krypto]

Originally Posted by hdavey10

Problems with this is you are then creating a price war and the items value starts to drift lower and lower as the weeks progress. Once you start a price war I find it hard to stop it or t least gain control. Hopefully an ecommerce solution for me will be the best idea eventually as relying on ebay isn't going to be the best option.

I have an e-commerce website if you are interested but I haven't yet promoted it.