Ebay Sales Down

[paulcarlcards]

Originally Posted by premium1981

I'm not saying sending in a box is a bad thing. I'm saying its unnecessary. I do not imagine anyone has gotten a package from me and stated "If only this was in a box I would buy more, but alas I shall not return due to the bubble mailer". That just isn't happening. Maybe if one is wrapping their cards in Captain Crunch cardboard or something. Furthermore, I can only imagine the look I would get at the post office if I had a wheel barrel full of boxes to ship out every day. It just isn't practical unless you are a smaller seller. Even then, I still see it as an extra cost that isn't needed. It isn't being cheap, it just isn't needed. But, with you selling lots, and only a few at a time I'm sure it works just fine.

Yeah, I understand that you're saying they're unnecessary. My argument is that they increase sales and revenue over the long term by virtue of improving the brand and customer experience.

It applies whether you are a small seller or one of the biggest sellers. For example, COMC sends all of my orders in not one box, but at least 2. Outside of cards, Amazon tried reducing costs on packaging but, due to backlash from customers, they had to add back the option for orders to ship in boxes/bubble mailers.

You can look at unboxing videos in any industry too and see how people feel and react to the unboxing experience. It can easily turn somebody's feelings towards your brand to be more positive, roughly neutral, or more negative. The price of boxes is negligible compared to the value it adds to your brand/customer experience and that's why I'm arguing that they are necessary.

[msucollector4]

Originally Posted by paulcarlcards

Yeah, I understand that you're saying they're unnecessary. My argument is that they increase sales and revenue over the long term by virtue of improving the brand and customer experience.

It applies whether you are a small seller or one of the biggest sellers. For example, COMC sends all of my orders in not one box, but at least 2. Outside of cards, Amazon tried reducing costs on packaging but, due to backlash from customers, they had to add back the option for orders to ship in boxes/bubble mailers.

You can look at unboxing videos in any industry too and see how people feel and react to the unboxing experience. It can easily turn somebody's feelings towards your brand to be more positive, roughly neutral, or more negative. The price of boxes is negligible compared to the value it adds to your brand/customer experience and that's why I'm arguing that they are necessary.

COMC does bubble mailers on small orders

[premium1981]

Originally Posted by paulcarlcards

My argument is that they increase sales and revenue over the long term by virtue of improving the brand and customer experience.

I just don't see that. Especially when factoring in cost differences of supplies and postage over the course of thousands and thousands of transaction. I just don't see someone returning as a customer because they got a box instead of a bubble mailer. But we can agree to disagree. Do what works for you.

[paulcarlcards]

Originally Posted by premium1981

I just don't see that. Especially when factoring in cost differences of supplies and postage over the course of thousands and thousands of transaction. I just don't see someone returning as a customer because they got a box instead of a bubble mailer. But we can agree to disagree. Do what works for you.

We can definitely agree to disagree.

The value of branding and customer experience is difficult (if not impossible) to quantify. And if Amazon cutting costs on packaging and then quickly doing a 180 on that decision isn't persuasive then I don't think any other arguments or examples would be either.

[jamcas997]

Who cares? Ship how you all want to. If its a money thing write it off if you can.

[Crosby 87]

Originally Posted by paulcarlcards

We can definitely agree to disagree.

The value of branding and customer experience is difficult (if not impossible) to quantify. And if Amazon cutting costs on packaging and then quickly doing a 180 on that decision isn't persuasive then I don't think any other arguments or examples would be either.

Amazon and someone selling out of their house are not comparable subjects and I think most can recognize that. If you want the best of best customer service along with top notch branding. I would recommend buying from fortune 500 companies.

[Budler]

Originally Posted by paulcarlcards

We can definitely agree to disagree.

The value of branding and customer experience is difficult (if not impossible) to quantify. And if Amazon cutting costs on packaging and then quickly doing a 180 on that decision isn't persuasive then I don't think any other arguments or examples would be either.

I just received an item from Amazon in a padded envelope yesterday. In fact 50% of what I have purchased from Amazon has come in an envelope. Along with all other places I buy online. Except COMC only once did they send 50 cards in an envelope. Then they sent the next 135 card was in 4 boxes and a couple of the cards (not the highest prices ones) was in top loader which I did not ask for. The box would not fit in my mailbox. I was not impressed but had to throw away the boxes on my end. (A big waste)

My neighbor buys a lot from Amazon, and she goes to the recycle center almost once a week to unload all the boxes. She is not happy with the overpacking as she is a Save The Earth person.

To me alike most people I know if it comes undamaged the packaging means verry little. It all boils down to what you are buying or selling. If we are talking only about cards, then the seller need to may sure there is no damage. How every they think will work. It appears you are only selling higher dollar stuff not the .25 stuff, so I see your way works for you. But not for me as I send out the very low end of cards (5 at a time the most) and a box would be over kill.

[Swipe79]

I wonder if she knows there's an option to have fewer boxes/deliveries at checkout - they call it Amazon Day Delivery. They basically hold your orders and then send them all on the same day.

Originally Posted by Budler

My neighbor buys a lot from Amazon, and she goes to the recycle center almost once a week to unload all the boxes. She is not happy with the overpacking as she is a Save The Earth person.

[no10pin]

Anyone know how to get your search results to stay in the same format? I like to see my results in the list view, but it is constantly flipping back to gallery view for me, even if I don't close the browser.

[Budler]

She may has found it.
I had seen the Prime truck stop at her place 3 time in one day, (all ways wondered why), but the last few months it shows up about once a week or so. They are small packages now so she may have cut back on her buying through them. We do not get along due to her dogs. It is a rental and the owner, and I had to put up a new fence vs just repairing it, due to the dogs. Costed me over $2,000. A whole another story.

[paulcarlcards]

Originally Posted by Budler

To me alike most people I know if it comes undamaged the packaging means verry little. It all boils down to what you are buying or selling. If we are talking only about cards, then the seller need to may sure there is no damage. How ever they think will work. It appears you are only selling higher dollar stuff not the .25 stuff, so I see your way works for you. But not for me as I send out the very low end of cards (5 at a time the most) and a box would be over kill.

Arriving undamaged isn’t enough. It needs to be undamaged and easy to unpackage. It’s crazy how frequently I have to waste 10-15 minutes dissecting a messy ball of toploaders and tape because the seller doesn’t think about his customers.

And yeah, for low end singles just use ESE. This argument was in the context of when you’re shipping cards that can’t go ESE ($20+ singles, slabs, lots, etc). Hopefully nobody from earlier was talking about cutting up cardboard for ESE, that would be insane.

Originally Posted by Crosby 87

Amazon and someone selling out of their house are not comparable subjects and I think most can recognize that. If you want the best of best customer service along with top notch branding. I would recommend buying from fortune 500 companies.

Yeah, they’re very different. The reason I brought that point up was because earlier it was argued that boxed shipping is only viable for small sellers and is a too expensive for larger sellers. At least that’s how I understood it, maybe I misinterpreted.


Ultimately, the “do what works for you” is pretty much right. I’d just tweak it to “do what works for you as long as it ships safely and is easy to unpackage for the customer.”

eBay is losing enough shoppers without us sellers “breaking the camel’s back” with packages that customers have to waste 10-15 minutes dissecting.

[paulcarlcards]

Selling cards on eBay is like participating in a college sport. We all benefit from attracting people to the “eBay card games,” and as members of the “card seller” team, we want our team to fill the stadiums every time. However, we also want to be the superstar of the team so we get drafted first and make the most money. This creates a blend of competition and cooperation that we have to navigate and balance in order to “play” our best.

[GoodMorning]

How do people still justify the bulk low-end business model? Ebay stores where most of their listed cards are less than $2

A 1 ounce eBay standard envelope now costs 69 cents. It was 57 cents a little over a year ago. At this pace, we can expect them to start pushing 80 cents within a year and a half

[Swipe79]

This thread has some information in it for sure and there are a few other threads with a lot of information - here's a couple.

https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1533680

https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1422503

I don't feel like giving cliff notes - but I include a fair amount of that stuff for two main reasons - volume and multiple card sales.

Originally Posted by GoodMorning

How do people still justify the bulk low-end business model? Ebay stores where most of their listed cards are less than $2

A 1 ounce eBay standard envelope now costs 69 cents. It was 57 cents a little over a year ago. At this pace, we can expect them to start pushing 80 cents within a year and a half

[shrevecity]

Originally Posted by GoodMorning

How do people still justify the bulk low-end business model? Ebay stores where most of their listed cards are less than $2

A 1 ounce eBay standard envelope now costs 69 cents. It was 57 cents a little over a year ago. At this pace, we can expect them to start pushing 80 cents within a year and a half

Buyers will adjust to shipping rate increases most are aware of the costs. The rate changes are typically announced 2 to 3 months in advance this gives sellers plenty of time to make adjustments to their pricing.

Sellers have to learn to be smart about what they list and the means to list you have to streamline everything to suit your abilities. Organization is also key. Some things sellers can do if say you have 3 low end cards of a well collected player put them all in one lot instead of individually. Key is you have to learn what works for you and if it stops you have to figure out why it has stopped and be willing to make those changes.

[beauspencer]

How do people still justify the bulk low-end business model? Ebay stores where most of their listed cards are less than $2

Volume.

[mnvikingstwins]

Anyone figure out how to save searches on mobile? They redid the filters/options and don't see it anywhere

[jkampis]

Originally Posted by beauspencer

Volume.

Volume itself equals more time. So, do you mean bulk sales to single buyers in the concept of low-priced items being worth the time expended?

[premium1981]

Originally Posted by jkampis

Volume itself equals more time. So, do you mean bulk sales to single buyers in the concept of low-priced items being worth the time expended?

For a small time seller, it probably isn't "worth it". When you get tens of thousands of cards into your inventory it is absolutely worth it. For example, I mailed out a 15 card order this morning that netted me about $25. These items were from old product openings that I am way in the positive on. So every penny that comes in is profit. It took me about 4 minutes to pull and ship this order. This is an example of why its worth it. And this was a very basic and pretty much an every day type order. Usually multiple orders like this on top of everything else every single day. This is what I call the foundation to my succesful business. The rock solid foundation that always produces, even when the stock market goes down.

[msucollector4]

Originally Posted by premium1981

For a small time seller, it probably isn't "worth it". When you get tens of thousands of cards into your inventory it is absolutely worth it. For example, I mailed out a 15 card order this morning that netted me about $25. These items were from old product openings that I am way in the positive on. So every penny that comes in is profit. It took me about 4 minutes to pull and ship this order. This is an example of why its worth it. And this was a very basic and pretty much an every day type order. Usually multiple orders like this on top of everything else every single day. This is what I call the foundation to my succesful business. The rock solid foundation that always produces, even when the stock market goes down.

Yeah I have a small time ebay store (100-150 listings at any given time) and the $5-10 cards move the best. Plus it is nice to have some cheap cards available from a buyer side when doing a combined shipping order

[shrevecity]

Originally Posted by premium1981

For a small time seller, it probably isn't "worth it". When you get tens of thousands of cards into your inventory it is absolutely worth it. For example, I mailed out a 15 card order this morning that netted me about $25. These items were from old product openings that I am way in the positive on. So every penny that comes in is profit. It took me about 4 minutes to pull and ship this order. This is an example of why its worth it. And this was a very basic and pretty much an every day type order. Usually multiple orders like this on top of everything else every single day. This is what I call the foundation to my succesful business. The rock solid foundation that always produces, even when the stock market goes down.

Spot on. The key is the time you have to invest in building to such a point. The vast majority of business owners especially when starting will often say the got very little value for their time. If you succeed tgen the time part becomes much more rewarding

[thenightman]

Originally Posted by paulcarlcards

We can definitely agree to disagree.

The value of branding and customer experience is difficult (if not impossible) to quantify. And if Amazon cutting costs on packaging and then quickly doing a 180 on that decision isn't persuasive then I don't think any other arguments or examples would be either.

All I know is that I've been selling regularly on eBay for over 4 years (5,000+ cards) and have never shipped a card, or cards, in a box. I've maintained 100% feedback and have 170 followers, so I think your claim that it increases branding and customer experience is overblown.

[jkampis]

Originally Posted by premium1981

For a small time seller, it probably isn't "worth it". When you get tens of thousands of cards into your inventory it is absolutely worth it. For example, I mailed out a 15 card order this morning that netted me about $25. These items were from old product openings that I am way in the positive on. So every penny that comes in is profit. It took me about 4 minutes to pull and ship this order. This is an example of why its worth it. And this was a very basic and pretty much an every day type order. Usually multiple orders like this on top of everything else every single day. This is what I call the foundation to my succesful business. The rock solid foundation that always produces, even when the stock market goes down.

Yes, that was kind of my point: 15 cards to one buyer for $25 is definitely worth it. I just question the 99-cent business model, unless that can lead to a lot of bulk sales. Otherwise it’s a lot of volume and work for minimal revenue.

[NatsSBR]

Originally Posted by jkampis

Yes, that was kind of my point: 15 cards to one buyer for $25 is definitely worth it. I just question the 99-cent business model, unless that can lead to a lot of bulk sales. Otherwise it’s a lot of volume and work for minimal revenue.

I used to have a very niche non-sport eBay store with total inventory of probably 10K cards. I was very surprised at how much of my sales came through $50-$75 packages of nothing but $1-2 commons. I sold a good number of midrange and big-ticket items, too, but just as others have said, if you have a good system for storage and fulfillment, those commons are shockingly profitable. Monetizing them also helps you squeeze as much as possible out of the wholesale lots you will inevitably be buying to feed the beast.

It ultimately wasn't worth my time as a business proposition, but only because the cost of living in DC is super high. In my hometown I know I could have scaled up that business a little bit and generated net profit WAY over the median income there before I even had to think about hiring a single employee.

[jamcas997]

Originally Posted by beauspencer

Volume.

What he said, I have 3700 listings and a listed inventory of almost 57,000 cards in those listings. It's about being organized also.