SOME THINGS THAT AFFECT SALES: TIMING

Location may be important as the old saying goes, but timing is very important too.  Some of the timing is within your control; some is not. This is a brief overview of both.

Timing you can control: The items that you sell. --- Some things will sell at any time. Others are seasonal. How many folks are looking for snow suits in March?  How many are looking for Christmas cards in June?

Tailor the items you are selling to the season, to the trends -- for example --- right now the fashion color for women is plum, blue, and darker pinks. Take advantage of that knowledge especially if you handmake items for sale.

Have your Hallowe'en stuff ready to be listed or in your eBay store by mid September. Have your Christmas items up and running just before Thanksgiving.

Valentine's Day? Start advertising for that mid January. Easter, Thanksgiving, back to school. If you don't know when you should start listing items, follow what the brick and mortar stores are doing.

Timing you can't control for: The first of the month -- many folks are paying their rent and utility bills. No money left over for other things so sales slump around the end of and the first of the month. There is a week in there that has lower sales than the rest of the month. An idea to try: Offer FREE shipping if they spend over a certain amount. I do.  Offer combined shipping, offer shipping discounts, offer something extra.

Summer- people are vacationing and spending disposable income on their holidays. It is daylight longer so they are outdoors more, not sitting at a computer and so that time period traditionally is slower in sales.

Natural disasters - the most recent one was Hurricane Katrina. Everyone across the nation pulled the purse strings tight because the price of gasoline skyrocketed. That translated into less sales. Other folks were donating to the disaster and their extra income went there and not to ebay items.

The upside to all of this: The things we can control for are easy. The things we can't control for -- well, we are all in it together if that is any consolation. Things do pass. And things do get better. For example, gas prices levelled and then went down. Right now on eBay (the Christmas season) there are fewer sellers complaining that they aren't making sales than at other times of the year.