Ebay Sales Down

[jamcas997]

So February of this year was the first one where I did not do 2k in sales since November of 2019 and September was my second month under 2k. Now with October finishing up I am going to fall short of $1000 in sales since October of 2016.

While I did sell over 225 items most are well under $4. Yes I get some will come here and say they had their best month ever, but I really want to hear from the ones that seem to be seeing the same trends.

I believe a lot of this is due to economy and the market making a downward turn with cards in general as well.

[thenightman]

Originally Posted by jamcas997

So February of this year was the first one where I did not do 2k in sales since November of 2019 and September was my second month under 2k. Now with October finishing up I am going to fall short of $1000 in sales since October of 2016.

While I did sell over 225 items most are well under $4. Yes I get some will come here and say they had their best month ever, but I really want to hear from the ones that seem to be seeing the same trends.

I believe a lot of this is due to economy and the market making a downward turn with cards in general as well.

My net sales have remained steady, typically around the $1500, give or take, but where I've seen the biggest difference is in my profit margin. I definitely chalk it up to the current state of the economy and the doom and gloom within the hobby.

[Raleigh504]

Originally Posted by jamcas997

So February of this year was the first one where I did not do 2k in sales since November of 2019 and September was my second month under 2k. Now with October finishing up I am going to fall short of $1000 in sales since October of 2016.

While I did sell over 225 items most are well under $4. Yes I get some will come here and say they had their best month ever, but I really want to hear from the ones that seem to be seeing the same trends.

I believe a lot of this is due to economy and the market making a downward turn with cards in general as well.

Originally Posted by thenightman

My net sales have remained steady, typically around the $1500, give or take, but where I've seen the biggest difference is in my profit margin. I definitely chalk it up to the current state of the economy and the doom and gloom within the hobby.

Had strong/consistent sales, but like you most items were on the lower end. The number of sales dipped but was still good. Also didn't have a ton of people buying in bulk. The bulk this month was 6 cards vs 20 cards. Could be my inventory, but definitely think the economy and also holidays coming up are causing the slowing down.

Will post my numbers later today when I have a chance to look at them more closely.

[shrevecity]

My sales were about the same as they were last month. This was tge first month where the average sale price fell though but I think some of that was due to the penny auctions I ran early in the month. I am expecting a dip in sales as I continue to shift to smaller items and getting rid of the larger heavier items. Mainly due to storage constraints.

[KhalDrogo]

Originally Posted by jamcas997

So February of this year was the first one where I did not do 2k in sales since November of 2019 and September was my second month under 2k. Now with October finishing up I am going to fall short of $1000 in sales since October of 2016.

While I did sell over 225 items most are well under $4. Yes I get some will come here and say they had their best month ever, but I really want to hear from the ones that seem to be seeing the same trends.

I believe a lot of this is due to economy and the market making a downward turn with cards in general as well.

Speaking from my perspective as a buyer, prices are absolutely softening. I’m grabbing Malcolm Brogdon cards that I’ve paid $15-30 for years for anywhere between $3-10. I just paid less for a BGS 9.5 Prizm Gold RC than I did in 2018. The non-scarce GoT autos are going for half to two-thirds recent comps. The lesser known Pikachu registry cards are costing me 10-25% less than what I might have paid earlier in the year.

Cards like that, which don’t have a hoard of people chasing them or financially interested in pumping them up, are a good barometer of the overall market.

[beauspencer]

October was one of my worst months of 2023. July was my worst (we were finishing up renovations with our house and moved in, I spent 4 days out of town for a wedding, and 5 days out of town for the National). March was my 2nd worst month to date, and I was out of town at Spring Training for 8 days.

October started out average for me until the middle of the month. Starting on October 8-9 through the next 10 days sales were absolutely awful and I was trending on pace for my July sales. Fortunately, I saw a nice rebound toward the end of the month and October ended up 6th for monthly sales in 2023. It was a real roller coaster of a month.

For context, I am mainly baseball cards. I tried to buck the trend of slower sales by listing more football and basketball, but that really didn't move the needle too much.

I am expecting to see a nice rebound month for November, and expect December to be on pace with October.

[nam812]

June - 289 sales - $1,400
July - 296 sales - $1,565
August - 205 sales (store on pause 5 days for vacation) - $1,140
September - 214 sales - $1,260
October - 185 sales - $850

[waytoomanycards]

Originally Posted by KhalDrogo

Speaking from my perspective as a buyer, prices are absolutely softening. I’m grabbing Malcolm Brogdon cards that I’ve paid $15-30 for years for anywhere between $3-10. I just paid less for a BGS 9.5 Prizm Gold RC than I did in 2018. The non-scarce GoT autos are going for half to two-thirds recent comps. The lesser known Pikachu registry cards are costing me 10-25% less than what I might have paid earlier in the year.

Cards like that, which don’t have a hoard of people chasing them or financially interested in pumping them up, are a good barometer of the overall market.

It also seems like slabs are bringing less of a premium relative to current raw values for most bowman chrome prospect cards. The top, most hyped prospects still bring big premiums, but after that the returns can get pretty mediocre, especially with $19 grading.

[jamcas997]

Originally Posted by nam812

June - 289 sales - $1,400
July - 296 sales - $1,565
August - 205 sales (store on pause 5 days for vacation) - $1,140
September - 214 sales - $1,260
October - 185 sales - $850

2023 #sold
JAN 489 $2,644.68
FEB 458 $1,879.04
MAR 651 $7,700.75
APR 453 $4,201.74
MAY 371 $3,204.33
JUN 911 $4,292.77
JUL 659 $3,285.93
AUG 377 $2,813.38
SEP 271 $1,606.03
OCT 232 $956.31

[thenightman]

1 - 127, $2,914.47
2 - 99, 4,155.60
3 - 86, $1,738.57
4 - 73, $1,769.30
5 - 87, $2,054.23
6 - 82, $2,328.44
7 - 99, $4,877.82
8 - 53, $1,690.02
9 - 64, $1,296.19
10 - 151, $1,417.52

[Raleigh504]

$ sales: down 24% from last month
Quantity sold: down 19.1%

YoY:
$ sales: up 113%
Quantity sold: up 131%

September was a really good month for me cracking over 400 items sold. 3 out of the last 4 months have sold over 300 items. Aiming to get it over 400 on average starting in 2024.

[prospectorgems]

These last couple months have been brutal to say the least. Our October was the lowest sales month we had since 2020.

1 - 362 - $9,253.25
2 - 568 - $12,992.38
3 - 516 - $10,885.42
4 - 584 - $15,115.45
5 - 518 - $10,681.85
6 - 481 - $13,988.92
7 - 466 - $9,695.84
8 - 454 - $14,838.89
9 - 323 - $7,427.57
10 - 366 - $6,473.73

[bravesfan#1]

2nd half of the year for my eBay sales has been better than the 1st half. I'll attribute that to baby #2 consuming most of my time earlier this year + listing more in the second half. My sales dollars are up almost 50% year-over-year as I've expanded my online footprint. I will say inventory turnover has been an issue as things become stale and the market hits a correction. If I have an item unsold in my store for a few months, it gets shipped off to DCsports or COMC now. My goal to continue into 2024 is to keep inventory fresh, list new items monthly, and liquidate stale items.

YTD stats are ~$182K total sales and about 1,100 items sold. I deal mainly in mid-end items with the occasional high-end. This is mainly golden/silver age comics and PSA slabs of established players. I rarely dabble in prospects or speculative players whose values fluctuate week-to-week.

Monthly stats below for those interested.

January - $17,400
February - $8,300
March - $13,150
April - $13,150
May - $27,750
June - $15,400
July - $20,800
August - $23,800
September - $20,300
October - $21,750

For my parting comments, I started flipping and collecting cards with my dad in 2001. I've watched HOF autos, rare inserts of star players, and HOF vintage sell consistently and rise steadily in value for 20+ years. This is mainly what I buy, sell, and collect. On the other hand, I've watched people spend fortunes on Mark Sanchez, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, Greg Oden, Delmon Young; the list is a mile long. Those people have been here for years and they will continue to come and go, blowing their money on speculative cards. We are seeing people get destroyed on young QB's yet again this season It will be a blood bath for many again this year because they like to gamble. I'm not part of the "sky is falling" crowd because the people I've surrounded myself with are not just in it for the money and the cards I transact with do not have values tied directly to on field performance each night. My local shows continue to be strong and the three cards shops in my area are having great success. Good luck to everyone as we finish up the year!

[thenightman]

Originally Posted by bravesfan#1

2nd half of the year for my eBay sales has been better than the 1st half. I'll attribute that to baby #2 consuming most of my time earlier this year + listing more in the second half. My sales dollars are up almost 50% year-over-year as I've expanded my online footprint. I will say inventory turnover has been an issue as things become stale and the market hits a correction. If I have an item unsold in my store for a few months, it gets shipped off to DCsports or COMC now. My goal to continue into 2024 is to keep inventory fresh, list new items monthly, and liquidate stale items.

YTD stats are ~$182K total sales and about 1,100 items sold. I deal mainly in mid-end items with the occasional high-end. This is mainly golden/silver age comics and PSA slabs of established players. I rarely dabble in prospects or speculative players whose values fluctuate week-to-week.

Monthly stats below for those interested.

January - $17,400
February - $8,300
March - $13,150
April - $13,150
May - $27,750
June - $15,400
July - $20,800
August - $23,800
September - $20,300
October - $21,750

For my parting comments, I started flipping and collecting cards with my dad in 2001. I've watched HOF autos, rare inserts of star players, and HOF vintage sell consistently and rise steadily in value for 20+ years. This is mainly what I buy, sell, and collect. On the other hand, I've watched people spend fortunes on Mark Sanchez, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, Greg Oden, Delmon Young; the list is a mile long. Those people have been here for years and they will continue to come and go, blowing their money on speculative cards. We are seeing people get destroyed on young QB's yet again this season It will be a blood bath for many again this year because they like to gamble. I'm not part of the "sky is falling" crowd because the people I've surrounded myself with are not just in it for the money and the cards I transact with do not have values tied directly to on field performance each night. My local shows continue to be strong and the three cards shops in my area are having great success. Good luck to everyone as we finish up the year!

Amen on the last paragraph. I mainly focus on serial numbered cards, but as my store has grown I've started adding more autos and graded cards. I started with a mere $1000 and am grossing more than that month after month. Been doing this consistently since 2020 and my gross/net sales have improved each year.

I don't think the "sky is falling". Rather, we're in a dip. It may be a prolonged one, but it'll still remain a dip. In time, things will improve and in the meantime, while my store may not grow to the levels that I want, my store will continue to grow because I'll focus on cards collectors want, not on speculation.

Heading into 2024, the one thing I want to focus on can be summed up in one word, "turnover". Like you point out, if I'm not selling a card after X amount of time, I'm sending it off to someone who can sell it, or I'm dropping the price to a level that it will get bought. Loss, or no loss, the card is moving, so I can get in new cards and keep things fresh.

[Raleigh504]

Originally Posted by bravesfan#1

2nd half of the year for my eBay sales has been better than the 1st half. I'll attribute that to baby #2 consuming most of my time earlier this year + listing more in the second half. My sales dollars are up almost 50% year-over-year as I've expanded my online footprint. I will say inventory turnover has been an issue as things become stale and the market hits a correction. If I have an item unsold in my store for a few months, it gets shipped off to DCsports or COMC now. My goal to continue into 2024 is to keep inventory fresh, list new items monthly, and liquidate stale items.

YTD stats are ~$182K total sales and about 1,100 items sold. I deal mainly in mid-end items with the occasional high-end. This is mainly golden/silver age comics and PSA slabs of established players. I rarely dabble in prospects or speculative players whose values fluctuate week-to-week.

Monthly stats below for those interested.

January - $17,400
February - $8,300
March - $13,150
April - $13,150
May - $27,750
June - $15,400
July - $20,800
August - $23,800
September - $20,300
October - $21,750

For my parting comments, I started flipping and collecting cards with my dad in 2001. I've watched HOF autos, rare inserts of star players, and HOF vintage sell consistently and rise steadily in value for 20+ years. This is mainly what I buy, sell, and collect. On the other hand, I've watched people spend fortunes on Mark Sanchez, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart, Greg Oden, Delmon Young; the list is a mile long. Those people have been here for years and they will continue to come and go, blowing their money on speculative cards. We are seeing people get destroyed on young QB's yet again this season It will be a blood bath for many again this year because they like to gamble. I'm not part of the "sky is falling" crowd because the people I've surrounded myself with are not just in it for the money and the cards I transact with do not have values tied directly to on field performance each night. My local shows continue to be strong and the three cards shops in my area are having great success. Good luck to everyone as we finish up the year!

Originally Posted by thenightman

Amen on the last paragraph. I mainly focus on serial numbered cards, but as my store has grown I've started adding more autos and graded cards. I started with a mere $1000 and am grossing more than that month after month. Been doing this consistently since 2020 and my gross/net sales have improved each year.

I don't think the "sky is falling". Rather, we're in a dip. It may be a prolonged one, but it'll still remain a dip. In time, things will improve and in the meantime, while my store may not grow to the levels that I want, my store will continue to grow because I'll focus on cards collectors want, not on speculation.

Heading into 2024, the one thing I want to focus on can be summed up in one word, "turnover". Like you point out, if I'm not selling a card after X amount of time, I'm sending it off to someone who can sell it, or I'm dropping the price to a level that it will get bought. Loss, or no loss, the card is moving, so I can get in new cards and keep things fresh.

Agree on the turnover, with everyone here helping me learn about the "sell similar" I have been utilizing that more and revamping my store/diversifying. I list more low to low-mid with some mid-end cards (mainly graded stuff) since I typically buy cheaper collections. My goal is quantity sold and try to only list items that would sell vs. everything that I see. Sometimes it is trial and error, but learn from everything.

One thing I did think about but will punt it to next year is to diversify into comics. I have to figure out how to ship them and the cost/best method and such. It wouldn't be anything massive to start, but at least something to add to my store.

In 2024 I will (as you both put it) get some stale items out. I will either do large lots (if it is rookies of various years or just in a flat rate box to move on from it). This will also help get my inventory in order with the new format.

Also considering moving more items to the free shipping vs paying $1. I may do the free shipping under $20 and calculated shipping at $20.01+ since the under $20 would be ESE and if someone buys more than it will be beneficial. As of now I have my free shipping items not allow for offers. I may switch it up and allow it but have a floor on it. I have done well with the free shipping and no offers recently so not sure if I want to mess around with it (I do send out offers when they show up but do the no-counter option on all my free shipping).

[shrevecity]

Originally Posted by Raleigh504

Agree on the turnover, with everyone here helping me learn about the "sell similar" I have been utilizing that more and revamping my store/diversifying. I list more low to low-mid with some mid-end cards (mainly graded stuff) since I typically buy cheaper collections. My goal is quantity sold and try to only list items that would sell vs. everything that I see. Sometimes it is trial and error, but learn from everything.

One thing I did think about but will punt it to next year is to diversify into comics. I have to figure out how to ship them and the cost/best method and such. It wouldn't be anything massive to start, but at least something to add to my store.

In 2024 I will (as you both put it) get some stale items out. I will either do large lots (if it is rookies of various years or just in a flat rate box to move on from it). This will also help get my inventory in order with the new format.

Also considering moving more items to the free shipping vs paying $1. I may do the free shipping under $20 and calculated shipping at $20.01+ since the under $20 would be ESE and if someone buys more than it will be beneficial. As of now I have my free shipping items not allow for offers. I may switch it up and allow it but have a floor on it. I have done well with the free shipping and no offers recently so not sure if I want to mess around with it (I do send out offers when they show up but do the no-counter option on all my free shipping).

For comics Amazon sells comic mailers fairly cheap. I sandwich them in cardboard and send in one of them or one of dollar trees photo mailers if I don't have one.

Forvmore expensive books dollar tree has 12x12x2 boxes that work great for many items

[smanzari]

Originally Posted by shrevecity

For comics Amazon sells comic mailers fairly cheap. I sandwich them in cardboard and send in one of them or one of dollar trees photo mailers if I don't have one.

Forvmore expensive books dollar tree has 12x12x2 boxes that work great for many items

I have noticed the average Sports Card Buyer is much more reasonable than the Average Comic Buyer -- If you like NOT receiving Neutrals or Negatives, it is very important to buy "Comic Mailers" -- Gemini makes "THE" version but many other sites have similar that work the same way. I've seen countless sellers dragged through the coals for shipping a book "incorrectly" despite absolutely no damage to the item

[bravesfan#1]

Originally Posted by smanzari

I have noticed the average Sports Card Buyer is much more reasonable than the Average Comic Buyer -- If you like NOT receiving Neutrals or Negatives, it is very important to buy "Comic Mailers" -- Gemini makes "THE" version but many other sites have similar that work the same way. I've seen countless sellers dragged through the coals for shipping a book "incorrectly" despite absolutely no damage to the item

Raw comic buyers can be insane when it comes to shipping styles and raw book conditions. I steer far away from raw comics because of this.

If anyone is thinking about getting into raw comics though, Gemini mailers are the way to go. When shipping CGC slabs, 16x12x4 boxes + packing peanuts can be bought in bulk on Uline. I've shipped about 200 CGC slabs this year, zero complaints from buyers.

[rwperu34]

October Sales Update;

My worst month since September of last year. I was down 34% year over year in $ and 15% year over year in items. Total sales were about 45% of my monthly average for 2023 (keep in mind, three of those months store was shut down for 10 days). Average daily sell through was 0.5%. That is off by a solid 20-30% from my yearly average of 0.7%-0.8%.

This was mostly by design. I let my inventory get super low in an effort to stockpile cash and by lowering prices. Sales have already ticked up since I started adding new inventory in the 2nd half of October. My current inventory is 50% higher than my October daily average already and will be shooting up like a rocket for the next 4-6 weeks. Much of that is priced at March, 2024 levels, but plenty of it is in the Flip Zone. I expected sales to be slow in October and they were.

[shrevecity]

Originally Posted by smanzari

I have noticed the average Sports Card Buyer is much more reasonable than the Average Comic Buyer -- If you like NOT receiving Neutrals or Negatives, it is very important to buy "Comic Mailers" -- Gemini makes "THE" version but many other sites have similar that work the same way. I've seen countless sellers dragged through the coals for shipping a book "incorrectly" despite absolutely no damage to the item

I have never had any issues or complaints with those mailers or boxes and have shipped hundreds of comics in those mailers. my Amazing Spiderman 300 I sold 2 years ago I shipped in one of those boxes I mentioned from Dollar tree. Put the book in one of those amazon mailers and wrapped it up. Buyers feedback was "One of best packing jobs ever from a non-comic seller, Fast shipping"

[Raleigh504]

If I do venture into comics, it will be after I get my inventory at a better place with the new naming convention (except for cards pre 1980 as it is nice to be able to pull them and create a starter lot if sales are slow for that year... I have done it several times before and made $50 or so on a starter set. Made less than I would selling them individually but good to clean up and get rid of duplicate cards).

[glassofwater]

What % are you guys doing for promoted listing? I had dynamic listings on but eBay was doing 12-20% ad rate. Which is crazy I had. 550 sale and the ad rate was going to take a big chunk of my sale. I turned it off. But I know you have to pay to play. What’s a good medium for an ad rate %?

[shrevecity]

Originally Posted by glassofwater

What % are you guys doing for promoted listing? I had dynamic listings on but eBay was doing 12-20% ad rate. Which is crazy I had. 550 sale and the ad rate was going to take a big chunk of my sale. I turned it off. But I know you have to pay to play. What’s a good medium for an ad rate %?

Most items 2%.. big profit items or items with lots of competition 8 to 10

[rwperu34]

Originally Posted by glassofwater

What % are you guys doing for promoted listing? I had dynamic listings on but eBay was doing 12-20% ad rate. Which is crazy I had. 550 sale and the ad rate was going to take a big chunk of my sale. I turned it off. But I know you have to pay to play. What’s a good medium for an ad rate %?

I'm at 2.5% across the board.

[Bosoxfan5990]

Originally Posted by glassofwater

What % are you guys doing for promoted listing? I had dynamic listings on but eBay was doing 12-20% ad rate. Which is crazy I had. 550 sale and the ad rate was going to take a big chunk of my sale. I turned it off. But I know you have to pay to play. What’s a good medium for an ad rate %?

I'm 2% across the board.