Wow End of January 2023 Sales Compared To January Sales 2024

[collectingatcollectables]

January 2023 Sales Were   £3751.89  January 2024 Sales Were  £776.45  Something is definately is up

Please

Kind regards

Robert

[nigel_paul_wright7557]

No one has any money.

I found no Christmas rush this year, sold next to nothing.

Had a few sales first week in January now gone quiet again.

[the_book_seekers]

I think its partly ebay not competing against its rivals (I'm afraid I can't see what sponsoring Love Island will achieve) and partly the economic climate. Although there was a consumer confidence survey published this month which puts confidence at its highest for a couple of years, but ebay just seems to be on a slide. Their plan to extract as much as possible from sellers will only work if there are sales which means attracting buyers. 

[sheba-knows-best]

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@the_book_seekers wrote:

I think its partly ebay not competing against its rivals (I'm afraid I can't see what sponsoring Love Island will achieve) and partly the economic climate. Although there was a consumer confidence survey published this month which puts confidence at its highest for a couple of years, but ebay just seems to be on a slide. Their plan to extract as much as possible from sellers will only work if there are sales which means attracting buyers. 

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Er... you cant see the point, when Love Island must be one of the most watched programmes on TV...  okaaaaay.....moving swiftly along...

...my sales are up y-o-y YTD - although I am fighting an endless battle with profitability. I am currently dumping old stock as I do my usual new-year-new-strategy stuff so I am happy with the situation. I have a plan to get ebay's cut back below 20% by the end of the year...

[the_book_seekers]

Er... you cant see the point, when Love Island must be one of the most watched programmes on TV...  okaaaaay.....moving swiftly along...

One of the most watched programmes on tv - I doubt that.

Ratings for the British edition of “ Love Island ” have plummeted for a second consecutive season. The ITV dating reality show’s Season 10 premiere on Monday night drew 1.3 million and an 11% audience share — that’s slightly more than half the viewers from the 2.4 million (15.4% share) who tuned in for the 2022 summer season opener.

Viewer number have been sliding for the last few seasons which is why they  are trying the all-stars series.

Will this be any better? I doubt that too. 

[sheba-knows-best]

You're just nit-picking. There is no doubt that Love Island is a popular programme. Viewing figures are hard to judge nowadays as many programmes show declining figues due to watch on demand. You only need half a brain to see that Ebay is attempting to maintain its preloved clothing market share (something it has been synonymous with) in the face of competition from the likes of Vinted.  Lets agree to differ.

I would be interested to see everyone else's January sales figures?

[the_book_seekers]

Not nit picking just stating fact as the viewing figures bear out, but I'll agree to differ.

[superchallenge]

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@sheba-knows-best wrote:

I would be interested to see everyone else's January sales figures?

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The volume of sales for the month is down, but revenue is up considerably. I've been working on getting better-quality items so my ASP increases, as well as bundling up less desirable or lower-quality items. Seems to be working out!

[sheba-knows-best]

Well done you. Superb numbers.  I can see net sales are up even more than total sales.  I agree the way to go is to increase your ASP.

Curious, how do you feel about selling costs of 28% to ebay?  I resent 24% . Do you feel it is what it is with online selling, or do you feel it can be reduced?

[superchallenge]

I think it probably is what it is when it comes to online selling, to be honest.

39% (£384) of that 28% is for postage labels, which could be reduced if I just sent standard second class parcels or large letters, but I prefer to send everything via Tracked 48. Ad fees only account for 9.2%, though I've been playing with the promoted listings rates this month, so they aren't usually that high. With my store fee and everything else barring postage, it comes to £593.81 going to eBay this month.

For comparison, I set up a separate e-commerce site with Shopify at the start of the month to add a backup/second string to the bow. £25/mo plus 2% + 25p per transaction. Seems reasonable enough!

However, to sell internationally and have the site calculate and charge import fees the same way eBay does with GSP, you need to be on the Advanced plan, which is £344/mo plus 1.5% + 25p per transaction. Plus you either have to use RM Click 'n Drop (which is a nightmare these days) or pay yet another subscription to a third-party to be able to buy labels from inside the store admin area the way you can with eBay. And that's all before paying a penny to actually get customers to the site itself (which ain't cheap!) bearing in mind that Shopify does absolutely nothing in this regard, other than sometimes submitting your items to Google Shopping when they feel like it.

Of course, then I'll have to handle stuff like international returns on top of that, too.

On balance, I would like them to be lower, but I think the eBay fees are relatively standard. Even - dare I say it - pretty reasonable for what you get!

[howmuchtobid]

If fees of nearly 30% are the norm or deemed reasonable I think most online businesses will have very little longevity.

Sales of 80k (deliberately kept under VAT threshold). Cost of goods 40k leaves a gross profit of 40k. 30% away from 80k is 24k. We are down to a net profit of 16k and that doesn't take off any other expenses so you may end up with 10 - 12k.

I haven't even included postage costs!

The average UK full time salary is 35k.

[superchallenge]

Well, postage costs were included in the fees, to be fair. (Aside from packaging, of course.)

Regardless, you're not wrong, even though I try not to pay 50% for stock. I have a full-time job outside of my online store, as there's no way the store would ever cover my monthly expenses alone.

[anbyrdnes]

I feel your pain. My business account sales are down by about £100 from last Januaries takings. I earned about £430 the previous year opposed to £330 this year. I only had 17 sales, 12 on Ebay throughout this period, with long gaps in between with no sales. The previous year it was 33 with 3 on other sites. The worrying thing is my sales were only boosted through selling a high value item. Without that sale my sales would have been about £115.
I think the main problem is the state of the British economy, high inflation mixed with global uncertainty. I've noticed US sales have declined as inflation has increased. I have numerous items for sale with watchers, but sending out offers doesn't seem to work anymore. I stubbornly refuse to sell things way below the market value.
However, as has been mentioned previously on this forum sales took a nose dive around mid-October when Ebay tinkered with the website. The sales seemed to gradually improve throughout the winter period and now into January have gone into free fall. I still don't believe that Ebay’s constant tinkering with the website is not causing problems.
What would be nice is if Ebay could start helping small business in line with inflation, moreover special offers, reducing selling fees etc., but I suppose that would be like getting blood out of a stone. I'm wondering just how long it is until I reach a month in which my earnings don't cover my fees, but at that point it's about time I call it a day.

[sheba-knows-best]

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@howmuchtobid wrote:

Sales of 80k (deliberately kept under VAT threshold). Cost of goods 40k leaves a gross profit of 40k.

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Why do you quote cost of goods at 50%. Surely that is the ten million dollar question? Is 50% universally recognised as an average or something?

[howmuchtobid]

It's an example, I cannot quote every figure under the sun.

[typo_lee]

We are down 21.5% on previous year.

[twofourdeltasurplus]

Sales have been slow for a few months, not going to lie. Ermm about 50% down from last year, but not bothered for a few reasons, trying to get below the VAT threshold, stock changes from month to month ( so does the value of items )