posted on September 19, 2001 03:45:57 PM
This week I have been running from 30 to 35 auctions,with about 3 bids at any one time.Is anyone else experiencing this? If you're doing great don't tell me,I'm discouraged enough already.
posted on September 19, 2001 03:52:48 PM
You are not alone!
It's hardly surprising that sales are down given the events and turmoil of the last week.
From now on it's going to be crucial that all sellers may much more attention to careful listings, costs and the degree of customer service they offer.
Things will be tough for a while but a savvy seller will still do well, provided that they do things right.
Just hang in there!
posted on September 19, 2001 04:01:35 PM
I'm basically a parttime seller and a full time buyer. I listed about 10 items this week to have something to do besides worry. None have bids.
I have had two buyers from my last round that have emailed to ask if they could back out since they don't think it's prudent to be spending money on items they don't need when things are so up in the air and they don't know what tomorrow will bring. These were items that had been bid on prior to the tragedy and closed last Thursday.
I really can't argue with them on that. I sell jewelry items and by no stretch of the imagination are they "necessary". That's why I think maybe I should just stop my auctions and wait to see what will unfold over the next month.
Although we have been asked NOT to panic and to go about our business as normally as we can, we may start seeing people think twice
about purchasing something they can do without. We may see the Auctions for America do OK because buyers can justify spending on non-essentials because they will be helping the victims of the bombings. Otherwise, it's just spending money they should maybe be hanging on to in case things go from bad to worse....
posted on September 19, 2001 04:04:04 PM
Mylanta, I agree. I was reminded by your comments of an auction I saw today. The item was one I would buy for resale as it is desirable, priced low, in the wrong category. I noticed the $3.95 shipping price and wrote to ask the seller if they would ship media mail. The reply was "it WILL go media mail", the rest of the expense is packaging and handling.
Uh, sorry. I'm not going to bid $2.99 on an item and then pay nearly $4 to ship it when the postage is going to be $1.76. This is not to dispute another seller's business methods, rather to say, there goes someone's sale. Maybe this happens all the time but in this climate, can anyone afford to chase off buyers?
OTOH, I say I don't use credit cards with PayPal so probably I can't talk about chasing away buyers...
