lifehero
Supreme Member
- Jan 26, 2018
- 1,420
- 945
my traffic has tripled over the past week. income is boosted by a bit as well
EBAY SALES SURGING due to Coronavirus
- Thread starter oatmeal
- Start date
t2van
Banned - Constantly insulting other members
- Feb 18, 2018
- 1,178
- 3,080
If you are selling on eBay and your normal flow is 1-2 units per day or whatever and it has boomed THEN be careful. Chances are people who where getting sales before you have ended listings or paused them due to stock issues. So you want to make sure you don't fall into the same trap last thing you want to do is sell or over sell something you can't provide.
Not to mention with more sales your eBay fees and costs will be higher (in terms of you sold more so you have more fees - so expect a larger invoice than you are normally used to getting)
IT depends on your product. Like I said if some are turning off listings because they no longer have stock THEN all you are doing is taking orders away from another seller rather than seeing "new" buyers the panic vs normal sellers depending on your product should be obvious.
Any surge like this the way I look at it is, if you can make it through it then on the other side things should be on the up for you.
I've posted in threads twice on here I'm also experiencing a surge I think its partly down to the virus and also ranking improvements I've not experienced gains like this at all (for the current brand) so a little on edge with uncharted terrotry and also the reason why I'm up at 4am printing postage labels!
Not to mention with more sales your eBay fees and costs will be higher (in terms of you sold more so you have more fees - so expect a larger invoice than you are normally used to getting)
IT depends on your product. Like I said if some are turning off listings because they no longer have stock THEN all you are doing is taking orders away from another seller rather than seeing "new" buyers the panic vs normal sellers depending on your product should be obvious.
Any surge like this the way I look at it is, if you can make it through it then on the other side things should be on the up for you.
I've posted in threads twice on here I'm also experiencing a surge I think its partly down to the virus and also ranking improvements I've not experienced gains like this at all (for the current brand) so a little on edge with uncharted terrotry and also the reason why I'm up at 4am printing postage labels!
Benni0315
Regular Member
- Nov 27, 2016
- 226
- 130
Your absolutely right.
But if you can keep these customers buying in the shop after the crisis, then you are the real winner.
May I ask, what type op products do you sell?
t2van
Banned - Constantly insulting other members
- Feb 18, 2018
- 1,178
- 3,080
IG Professor
BANNED
- Feb 22, 2017
- 4,855
- 4,567
It''s because of the niche. Outdoor. Right now nobody is getting out of their homes due to covid19 so people are not seeking outdoor products.
t2van
Banned - Constantly insulting other members
- Feb 18, 2018
- 1,178
- 3,080
Can you list ' common sense' on there?
LOL yeah it's in short supply!
t2van
Banned - Constantly insulting other members
- Feb 18, 2018
- 1,178
- 3,080
Depends what the outdoor product is.
If you are trying to sell kites then yes I would agree. Garden games etc on the other hand or things to do with kids outside is growing.
Home & Garden are hot.
BUT it all depends what your trying to sell and the price point in them markets.
Yes, I'm a dropshipper. Sales are still really high. I predict it will last like this for another 2 weeks before it begins to taper down because people will a) become normalized of the situation once the realize there is nothing really to panic about and b) suppliers probably over saturate the market trying to compensate for the earlier huge demand and later on they'll have too much surplus stock so expect them to slash prices to sell them all off making it even harder for ebay sellers to sell (until the surplus stock are all sold).
My only problem is that I have a selling limit of only $19k. I'm constantly limited by how much I can sell/list now because I'm suddenly selling way more than my limit (trajectory/pace wise). I still have about 4k left I can use up but considering I moved about 12k worth in the last 8 days alone, these next few days are going to seem very slow to me because I can't sell as much as I want to.
Second is everyone else is out of stock so it's harder to supply my buyers with stock. This has turned into a GAME for me. This is like playing Maplestory Free Market all over again HAHA.
I'm basically browsing all the products that I sell and refreshing the page every 10 minutes for 12 hours a day checking to see if they are back in stock and be the first to grab them all up lol.
They often come back in stock 2 or 3 times a day in small quantities so you have to be fast and ready. As soon as it's back in stock, I process orders as fast as my fingers can type and/or scoop up any extra to a storage unit to fulfill later on.
There's some risk involved because I will list products for sale that I don't actually have in stock or any of my dropshippers but I am putting it on faith that it will be back in stock within hours or a day or two and be able to ship it out and get it to the buyers. Because they are out of stock, I also mark up the prices by quite a far margin and they actually still sell! Then if I'm lucky and played my cards right, I'm able to catch them back in stock a day or two later and ship it out....this is where I make huge profit now compared to normal. My fulfillment storage is only for absolutely last resort when product hasn't come back in stock for days and I can't keep my buyer waiting forever.
I've also noticed that it's harder for international buyers to get some of these products in their own country or region so they are willing to pay a lot more to get it. Something that costs me about $4 to ship internationally, I had marked up to $40-$60 shipping and they are still buying at that rate. Based on my market research, I realized that these products are already hard to get in USA due to being out of stock all the time but even more difficult for international buyers as these distributors I think place priority to US merchants and buyers before international.
Anyways, this has been quite an experience. I've been fortunate in some ways because due to the virus situation, I've also had lots of time on my hands the last couple weeks. If I had to work and try to capitalize on this ebay surge, I wouldn't have been able to as you need to have a lot of time on your hands to constantly monitor and check product availability and be the first
person to snatch up the products when back in stock.
Like I said, it's like playing MS free market where I'd stand or sit and wait by the front door to get the best spot as soon as a shop closed down LOL.
I've also noticed that buyers seem to be a lot more friendly or tolerant if orders take longer because all you have to do is put in the message somewhere about the pandemic situation
and telling them you are trying your best and wishing them safety. They all seem to be much more patient and understanding. They even tell me a lot of nice things too, like to take care of myself and stay safe. This is kinda sweet.
But yes, I'm aware it won't be like this forever. I'll be back to my normal small-time self at 1-2 sales a day, but honestly, I can't complain right now. I'm just glad I was able to do something more than the usual and have this experience under my belt.
My only problem is that I have a selling limit of only $19k. I'm constantly limited by how much I can sell/list now because I'm suddenly selling way more than my limit (trajectory/pace wise). I still have about 4k left I can use up but considering I moved about 12k worth in the last 8 days alone, these next few days are going to seem very slow to me because I can't sell as much as I want to.
Second is everyone else is out of stock so it's harder to supply my buyers with stock. This has turned into a GAME for me. This is like playing Maplestory Free Market all over again HAHA.
I'm basically browsing all the products that I sell and refreshing the page every 10 minutes for 12 hours a day checking to see if they are back in stock and be the first to grab them all up lol.
They often come back in stock 2 or 3 times a day in small quantities so you have to be fast and ready. As soon as it's back in stock, I process orders as fast as my fingers can type and/or scoop up any extra to a storage unit to fulfill later on.
There's some risk involved because I will list products for sale that I don't actually have in stock or any of my dropshippers but I am putting it on faith that it will be back in stock within hours or a day or two and be able to ship it out and get it to the buyers. Because they are out of stock, I also mark up the prices by quite a far margin and they actually still sell! Then if I'm lucky and played my cards right, I'm able to catch them back in stock a day or two later and ship it out....this is where I make huge profit now compared to normal. My fulfillment storage is only for absolutely last resort when product hasn't come back in stock for days and I can't keep my buyer waiting forever.
I've also noticed that it's harder for international buyers to get some of these products in their own country or region so they are willing to pay a lot more to get it. Something that costs me about $4 to ship internationally, I had marked up to $40-$60 shipping and they are still buying at that rate. Based on my market research, I realized that these products are already hard to get in USA due to being out of stock all the time but even more difficult for international buyers as these distributors I think place priority to US merchants and buyers before international.
Anyways, this has been quite an experience. I've been fortunate in some ways because due to the virus situation, I've also had lots of time on my hands the last couple weeks. If I had to work and try to capitalize on this ebay surge, I wouldn't have been able to as you need to have a lot of time on your hands to constantly monitor and check product availability and be the first
person to snatch up the products when back in stock.
Like I said, it's like playing MS free market where I'd stand or sit and wait by the front door to get the best spot as soon as a shop closed down LOL.
I've also noticed that buyers seem to be a lot more friendly or tolerant if orders take longer because all you have to do is put in the message somewhere about the pandemic situation
and telling them you are trying your best and wishing them safety. They all seem to be much more patient and understanding. They even tell me a lot of nice things too, like to take care of myself and stay safe. This is kinda sweet.
But yes, I'm aware it won't be like this forever. I'll be back to my normal small-time self at 1-2 sales a day, but honestly, I can't complain right now. I'm just glad I was able to do something more than the usual and have this experience under my belt.
weaselgivenantiquity
Junior Member
- Dec 26, 2019
- 141
- 47
It definitely would depend on what you sell. Sounds like you're a toilet paper drop shipper.