Do you sit tight or drop prices?

LondonZ17

Hi everyone,

Looking for some Ebay or Etsy advice.

Been selling on Ebay since 2005 and recently it has been going very badly. I mainly sell what I've bought for myself, and I buy a lot! I sometimes pick up extra bits to resell, but it's all to fund my shopping - I love vintage clothes and jewellery.

But at the moment it looks like it's only me buying, and no one wants to buy from me, except if I accept to make a loss. I've had surprises in the past; for example someone bought an arts & crafts silver napkin ring for £120 out of the blue after 10 months, when I had considered dropping it to £25. So I'm wondering if it's best to just sit tight and wait till a buyer comes along, or put prices down drastically.

Recently, whenever I've experimented putting down my prices and making a loss of up to £80 for a gold ring, it hasn't gained me new watchers, so I've always put the price back up. My prices are fair, they are based on a private seller rate and would give lots of space for a professional to still make a profit afterwards. 

Do you find the market is really dead and I'm better selling at a loss to get cash, or should I hold on? I can afford both options but getting a bit annoyed with all the stock I no longer want just sitting there...

Thanks for any advice!

neverlikedpeas

Keep prices high and sit it out is what I do although I know next to nothing about the vintage clothes and jewellery market.

I learned from a competitor who paid me  what seemed a realistic £30  for a book .I'd paid £10 off ebay and took several months to sell for £30 .He relisted the book straight away for what I thought was a laughable £150.About 2 years later someone paid him £150 for the book.I have a grudging admiration for the guy now and have raised prices to nearer his level.I study his sales every couple of weeks to learn and have achieved some very good sales thanks to following his prices

Sales have been good the last few weeks, winter is always the busiest time

forgotmyname

Sorry to say but if your items are not selling where you think a dealer can purchase and still make a profit then
your valuations may need a rethink.

If you can wait 10 months to sell an item for a good profit then carry on, if your looking to create a faster
turnover then you may need lower prices and hopefully your turnover increases.

The old saying that its worth what someone is willing to pay holds true. Either most people saw your
napkin ring as overpriced or they didnt see it for sale.  Possibly too expensive and then that rare
customer purchased it?

Are you tracking views on your items?   Percentage of view to sales?

Pollycat

I'm a private seller and just sell stuff that I no longer want - bric-a-brac, clothes/shoes & the odd bit of jewellery.

I price based on what similar items are going for and what I paid originally.
I wouldn't sell at a loss. It would go back in my wardrobe or jewellery box.

Do you need the money?
I don't need the money, I need the space.

LondonZ17

neverlikedpeas Thanks, the story about the £150 is very uplifting! Ideally that is what I should do too, and accept my money is blocked for years until the goods sell. 

forgotmyname, no, I don't track views, just watchers, and many items don't have watchers. Yes, got to decide if I want fast turnover or money now...Most items accept offers so buyer always have the option of offering far less.

Pollycat, thanks, that's what I was doing for years but it no longer works. I'm not desperate for money but it's sometimes annoying/scary to have so much money tied up in the clothes & jewellery that are not selling. I shop far too much, using the excuse I can always resell it later. This is no longer as easy, so and will have to stop buying things until I get money from Ebay...

Thanks for the advice!

soolin

On my private account I tend to sit on some things if they are a bit niche but others I give them a few months then just charity shop then. My private account is just decluttering and isn't to make money or profit- but I can't get rid of anything if I think it might have a value so will give it a chance of a sale first.

Even on my business account I often de list stuff and charity shop it - I occasionally buy stock and get it wrong (regulars will be well aware of my disastrous foray into art quite a few years ago!) , there's no point in keeping stuff for years just taking up room, be brutal- take the loss and move on.

Really though if it is private sales there is no element of profit- it's stuff you don't want, if you have room to store it then keep listing, if not get rid of it. 

theoretica

Have you done enough tracking of ebay to be sure whether it is that people aren't buying - or people aren't buying from you?

Do you have a private or business ebay account?  As a buyer, I have become more and more wary about deciding if I think sellers are genuinely private or not and taking it into account in buying decisions.

LondonZ17

soolin, thanks, I've been tempted to do this recently and although I lost £200 compared to what I'd paid for the items, I had worn them for years so was OK with it. The influx of money was great! Ha ha, art is so difficult, I got stuck with a few things too over the years!

@theoretica You have a point. I have a private account but have lots of stuff listed. My shopping can get truly out of control and even I don't know any more if I'm buying to resell or to wear.
Sometimes, thanks to my knowledge, I will spot a bargain, and can't bear to let it get away, so buy it without considering if it will suit me. Then I list it, and if I'm lucky I get my money back - there's no longer much profit in it. And there's other bargains that I could never bear to sell as they are so beautiful, even though I know I would make a lot from them. I guess a lot of sellers have the same problem as me.
I've checked sold items and people do buy the kind of things I sell, but there's less demand. It's the same in the antique jewellery business - I was speaking to traders recently and it seems dead. One of them was ready to knock two grand off a ring I've been admiring for years, but no way can I afford it...

JustAnotherSaver

neverlikedpeas said:

Keep prices high and sit it out is what I do although I know next to nothing about the vintage clothes and jewellery market.

I learned from a competitor who paid me  what seemed a realistic £30  for a book .I'd paid £10 off ebay and took several months to sell for £30 .He relisted the book straight away for what I thought was a laughable £150.About 2 years later someone paid him £150 for the book.I have a grudging admiration for the guy now and have raised prices to nearer his level.I study his sales every couple of weeks to learn and have achieved some very good sales thanks to following his prices

Sales have been good the last few weeks, winter is always the busiest time

You make me curious...

Would you rather sell low and often or high and infrequent?

It's been a few years since I actually sold anything but when I do I generally price on the lower end for what the item is but at the same time at a price that I'm happy with accepting.

Theory being, I picture myself as a buyer - if I can get the same or similar elsewhere for cheaper then that's where I'll go. I'm not going to pay high prices just because someone wants to line their pocket.

Slightly off topic but there's a garage round here which in my opinion only, must think he's based in London with his prices. There's 1 car in particular he has which i know for sure he's had since at the very least January 2020. I know this because I was interested in it so looked in to what engine size it was - didn't tick my box so left it. It was £2,999 which I thought for the engine size and other things was a bit overpriced. Probably more about the £2k-£2.2k mark.

It's now December 2021 and that same car is at the same £2999. He's had it damn near 2 years. Maybe longer.

I'm half tempted to go down, spark up a conversation and drop in a - "so how long you had this then, has it not long come in"?

Don't much see the point in holding on to something forever and a day hoping, but then some people do.

Pollycat

LondonZ17 said:

soolin, thanks, I've been tempted to do this recently and although I lost £200 compared to what I'd paid for the items, I had worn them for years so was OK with it. The influx of money was great! Ha ha, art is so difficult, I got stuck with a few things too over the years!

@theoretica You have a point. I have a private account but have lots of stuff listed. My shopping can get truly out of control and even I don't know any more if I'm buying to resell or to wear.
Sometimes, thanks to my knowledge, I will spot a bargain, and can't bear to let it get away, so buy it without considering if it will suit me. Then I list it, and if I'm lucky I get my money back - there's no longer much profit in it. And there's other bargains that I could never bear to sell as they are so beautiful, even though I know I would make a lot from them. I guess a lot of sellers have the same problem as me.
I've checked sold items and people do buy the kind of things I sell, but there's less demand. It's the same in the antique jewellery business - I was speaking to traders recently and it seems dead. One of them was ready to knock two grand off a ring I've been admiring for years, but no way can I afford it...

I wouldn't class this as a loss if I'd worn and got pleasure out of wearing the items over a number of years, although with jewellery I do like to at least get back what I've paid for the item.

LondonZ17

JustAnotherSaver , I love the car analogy. With cars they get older much faster so keeping to a high price for years seems odd. I often see items on Ebay that have been there for years and it makes them look less desirable if no one else has wanted them. There's a Victorian turquoise ring, for example; the seller is obviously selling it at the price she bought it, which is the jeweller's price, and few people will pay this on Ebay as jewellers add a huge mark-up.

The hope, I suppose, is to find a buyer like me. I buy on impulse, within a day of having seen the piece I want. Very bad, as these are the things I'm then stuck with as no one will buy them for the price I paid (which is far lower than what a dealer would charge, as I buy from individuals). So I find I am making a loss on really nice pieces of jewellery. I have worn and enjoyed them, but it feels wrong to sell them for less, and I wonder if the market will pick up again in a few years.