Massive Drop In Online Sales For Ebay, Amazon, Play

[Executive Sadman]

One good thing ive noticed is a lot of new out of town developments near me have those yank style small retail units next to a big tesco's or similar. So you get the bonus of independent retailers but with free on-site parking, unlike in town centres/high streets.

[Harry Monk]

Interesting Harry, thanks for posting.

I'd be interested to know if your line of work is sensitive to such trends, are you noticing a reduction in cargo?

I read in Commercial Motor just a month ago that new truck registrations are down by 15% in the last year, there are huge numbers of business failures in road haulage right now and wages for drivers have, if anything, moved downwards over the last five years or so.

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

Good point. As houses and flats get smaller, people will buy less.

I'm in a catch 22 situation

I'm not buying anything because I'm saving for a house. Except that when I buy a house I'll be cleaned out and unable to buy much else.

What was the question again?

[The Knimbies who say No]

I read in Commercial Motor just a month ago that new truck registrations are down by 15% in the last year, there are huge numbers of business failures in road haulage right now and wages for drivers have, if anything, moved downwards over the last five years or so.

Hmm, fits the premise of the article. Stubbornly high fuel costs must be doing for a fair few.

[interestrateripoff]

Another sign of the success of the global economic policy? The only people soon left to buy tat will be the rich, however they won't buy tat as it's tat and will only buy quality.

I have to say I've cut back greatly on the amazon purchases, mainly because I've bought the CD's that I wanted and really don't have the room to buy more and it's the same with books I've still got about 10 to read and have just bought the Nook as I'd rather have an ereader which uses less space.

Amazon will have to adapt and organise deliveries to local "shops" for people to collect if deliver costs to homes keeps going up, it won't be economical to deliver to every address.

[Harry Monk]

Hmm, fits the premise of the article. Stubbornly high fuel costs must be doing for a fair few.

Fuel is the killer, I spent £5,000 ex-VAT on diesel this month against sales of £9,500, going back 10 years fuel was around 25% of turnover for a truck owner. The Eddie Stobart's of the world, who send their own fuel tankers to the refinery to fill up the yard bunker, and buy 100 trucks at a time get economies of scale but for everyone else it's a bit of a struggle.

All I hope is that I can hang on until we do eventually come out of recession and there is a shortage of transport and I can start making a reasonable return.

[Nuggets Mahoney]

I have to say I've cut back greatly on the amazon purchases, mainly because I've bought the CD's that I wanted and really don't have the room to buy more and it's the same with books I've still got about 10 to read and have just bought the Nook as I'd rather have an ereader which uses less space.

I've been splurging a fair bit on Amazon recently, stocking up mostly on quality tools and decent outdoor clothing. Stuff for doing stuff with, rather than consumption. Buying on-line isn't going to get any cheaper and current pricing, especially if you do a bit of price-watching and sniping, still makes store prices look sick*. Not a full-on Alpha Strategy on my part but buying quality stuff with a long working life offers a better return hedge than any savings a/c imho. The point about having to have somewhere to keep stuff is well taken though.

*=though I did walk out of B&Q with four discounted saws the other day

[tc9604]

I think the decline in eBay sales must be due to sellers not writing 'grab a bargain' as much as they were. I thought that used to be compulsory? How else would a buyer know...

[goldbug9999]

People are buying less because they have less money, its just that simple.

[winkie]

I've been splurging a fair bit on Amazon recently, stocking up mostly on quality tools and decent outdoor clothing. Stuff for doing stuff with, rather than consumption. Buying on-line isn't going to get any cheaper and current pricing, especially if you do a bit of price-watching and sniping, still makes store prices look sick*. Not a full-on Alpha Strategy on my part but buying quality stuff with a long working life offers a better return hedge than any savings a/c imho. The point about having to have somewhere to keep stuff is well taken though.

*=though I did walk out of B&Q with four discounted saws the other day

Good plan of action....buying quality items that are useful now and into the future that will hold their value, things you know will be becoming more expensive as time goes by, stuff that will be used regularly and will last a lifetime and beyond....like well made tools, good sewing machine, cottons, wool, good natural materials, quality bedding, patterns, a lathe, greenhouse, cooking utensils, quality pots and pans, well made clothes, warm clothes, thick insulated curtains, musical instruments, quality furniture, good books etc etc

[The Knimbies who say No]

Fuel is the killer, I spent £5,000 ex-VAT on diesel this month against sales of £9,500, going back 10 years fuel was around 25% of turnover for a truck owner. The Eddie Stobart's of the world, who send their own fuel tankers to the refinery to fill up the yard bunker, and buy 100 trucks at a time get economies of scale but for everyone else it's a bit of a struggle.

All I hope is that I can hang on until we do eventually come out of recession and there is a shortage of transport and I can start making a reasonable return.

Yikes. Your overall tax rate must be frightening, as if you need reminding. A total shakedown.

It's easy to see why Governments are addicted to ever-increasing taxation on fuel. No whizzy accountants can get around it, and it's hardly discretionary spend. Essential bulk liquids = manna from heaven for tax addicts.

[crashmonitor]

Fuel is the killer, I spent £5,000 ex-VAT on diesel this month against sales of £9,500, going back 10 years fuel was around 25% of turnover for a truck owner. The Eddie Stobart's of the world, who send their own fuel tankers to the refinery to fill up the yard bunker, and buy 100 trucks at a time get economies of scale but for everyone else it's a bit of a struggle.

All I hope is that I can hang on until we do eventually come out of recession and there is a shortage of transport and I can start making a reasonable return.

I hope you can do your own mechanical repairs, because that with the licence and diesel are really going to hammer the bottom line.

[Gigantic Purple Slug]

Very interesting post in one of the ebay forum threads..

Dealer I spoke to said he was doing fine (salesmen always say this but for various reasons this guy had no motivation to lie) and meeting his targets. He said that his primary competition is doing well, but some of the more well known far east origin brands are struggling big time. Sticker prices too high apparently.

Overall car sales in the UK appear to be doing very well, but my guess is that the overall figures hide some horror stories from certain manufacturers.

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

Good plan of action....buying quality items that are useful now and into the future that will hold their value, things you know will be becoming more expensive as time goes by, stuff that will be used regularly and will last a lifetime and beyond....like well made tools, good sewing machine, cottons, wool, good natural materials, quality bedding, patterns, a lathe, greenhouse, cooking utensils, quality pots and pans, well made clothes, warm clothes, thick insulated curtains, musical instruments, quality furniture, good books etc etc

If I bought a house big enough to store all that shit, I wouldnt be able to afford the shit to need to store it.

Deja vu?

[Paece]

I just listed 30 odd auctions on Ebay, first time in well over a year, mainly s/h dvds; they're selling, not big money but about 2/3rds of what I paid for them.

Decided to ebay them after watching a young couple in Cex get offered £22 for approx. 80 s/h dvds = 27 pence each. Cex will put them on the shelf for not less than £3.

Reading the ebay seller forums there have been several mentions of ebay making peoples auctions invisible to the search function, one person suggested ebay are doing it to save server power consumption ...

Personally I'm only spending on rent food and fuel as I pretty well have all the material goods I need, though I am planning a holiday.

I did the triple yesterday - Poundland, Primark and Aldi!

[winkie]

If I bought a house big enough to store all that shit, I wouldnt be able to afford the shit to need to store it.

Deja vu?

You don't need a big house.....you need a shed and a patch of land.......big houses cost money to buy, money to heat, high CT, money to maintain........you can only sit on one seat and sleep in one bed any one time.....the thing is to see whatever you do buy see that it is useful and will last......being beautiful is only a secondary consideration nice but not necessary.......all the things that can be used to make new things are often rubbish to many..... people tend to want new things not old well made second-hand stuff, they chuck that out.......one man's trash is another man's treasure.

[crashmonitor]

Good point. As houses and flats get smaller, people will buy less.

Even if you have got the same amount of space, there's definitely a movement toward less stuff....we now have hoarder programmes such as the one featuring Stellios Kiosses.

[winkie]

Even if you have got the same amount of space, there's definitely a movement toward less stuff....we now have hoarder programmes such as the one featuring Stellios Kiosses.

Saw a few of those programmes, the people in them have some emotional issues to overcome, but it is surprising how many people to a greater or lesser degree find it very hard to relieve themselves from their clutter.....you see their homes you wonder what is going on in their heads, I find it rather sad, having said that many of them may be quite at home with their stash, their memories, their past.....that is what I like about people we are all different but the same.

[amzsell]

Hi you all, I'm new here

Sorry about my English but enjoy :-)

I'm selling online for 7 years now; I'm selling on eBay for 7 years and selling on Amazon for 2 years now.

I don't think the problem of drop in sells it's because of Buyers not buying or the shipping price.

If you look at Amazon site details in ALEXA site, you will that something is wrong with Amazon:

Enter Amazon dot com into Alexa dot com search

Go to Traffic Stats --> Traffic Rank all look OK

Go to Traffic Stats ---> Reach % all look OK

Go to Traffic Stats ---> Pageviews % something is not ok in the last 7 days , 20% off

Go to Traffic Stats ---> Pagesviews/User Amazon is down from 8 to 5 pages for user in one month.

Go to Traffic Stats ---> Bounce% since the 21 in may Amazon Bounce rate% increased from 35% to 50%.

Go to Traffic Stats ---> Time on Site since the 21 in may Amazon visitors spend less time on the site (drop from 8 to 5 minutes).

Go to Traffic Stats ---> Search% big drop for users from search engine traffic. (6% to 2% drop in one month).

Amazon co uk look the same but eBay look ok at the Alexa site.

Reason for the Drop in Sells:

1) Technical Problems - I know Amazon have a lot of technical problems that they don't fix; I have 3 open cases with technical problems that they didn’t fix since 12 in May.

In the Amazon seller central there is a technical problem since the 21 in May that they didn't fix, that can be a big problem.

Amazon changed the "Offer Listing Page" in the 23 of May, which could cause a problem if the pages have code problems.

2) Hackers Attack - Amazon sites could be under Hackers attack, the same Hackers from China that attacked US last week.

3) Buyer – maybe, but I think they buy the same on eBay so the problem must be on Amazon site.

4) Google – last update to Google search engine was on the 21 of May and could hurt the Amazon visibility in Google Search.

Hope that help :-)

[easy2012]

Dealer I spoke to said he was doing fine (salesmen always say this but for various reasons this guy had no motivation to lie) and meeting his targets. He said that his primary competition is doing well, but some of the more well known far east origin brands are struggling big time. Sticker prices too high apparently.

Overall car sales in the UK appear to be doing very well, but my guess is that the overall figures hide some horror stories from certain manufacturers.

Where is the dealer located roguthly ?

Is this again the issue with the London+South East vs rest of country divide?

[this_prisoner_is_opting_out]

Personally I'm "off" Amazon/eBay due to the third party fakes.

"Buy cheap, buy twice" - I'd rather wait until I get a discount code from the main dealer.

[Gigantic Purple Slug]

Where is the dealer located roguthly ?

Is this again the issue with the London+South East vs rest of country divide?

SE. I think you are right in the respect that there is huge divergence between different areas, and one reason why you have to take anecdotes with a pinch of salt.

[Venger]

Interesting Harry, thanks for posting.

I'd be interested to know if your line of work is sensitive to such trends, are you noticing a reduction in cargo?

+1 and good question, which I hope Harry has replied to as I continue reading.

Why the big change in April & May? What happened that we didn't notice (or underestimated the effect of)?

A lot of people have been treading water for a long time. So many factors I wouldn't dare to make a guess, but perhaps including stimulus fatigue with it benefiting too many of the wrong people, instead of having allowed a bust? I want to see a return of more ebay listings of people forced to bring stuff to market, at lower prices, to raise money. Any trend in that and likely to be the same for housing on Rightmove soon after.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yeti-ARC-Hardtail-Mtb-BANKERS-AND-PROPERTY-DEVELOPERS-ONLY-/250926800928?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item3a6c672020#ht_3227wt_1179

[Frank Hovis]

Saw a few of those programmes, the people in them have some emotional issues to overcome, but it is surprising how many people to a greater or lesser degree find it very hard to relieve themselves from their clutter.....you see their homes you wonder what is going on in their heads, I find it rather sad, having said that many of them may be quite at home with their stash, their memories, their past.....that is what I like about people we are all different but the same.

Surely we all find it hard to throw possessions away? I find it very draining to sort through clothes, drawers, what have you. I recognised this a long time ago and my solution was to rarely buy anything and that way I got a steady (if slow) reduction in what I have by wear and breakage. People have often commented that you "never buy anything", I agree but don't go into why I don't.

If I was in the position of one of those hoarders I would be permanently exhausted due to the emotional pull between attachment to the possessions and despair at the cluttered state of my home.

[StainlessSteelCat]

Surely we all find it hard to throw possessions away? I find it very draining to sort through clothes, drawers, what have you. I recognised this a long time ago and my solution was to rarely buy anything and that way I got a steady (if slow) reduction in what I have by wear and breakage. People have often commented that you "never buy anything", I agree but don't go into why I don't.

If I was in the position of one of those hoarders I would be permanently exhausted due to the emotional pull between attachment to the possessions and despair at the cluttered state of my home.

Trouble is if you are a bloke it can take 50 years to wear a piece of clothing out. Couple that with a missus who thinks buying you something new will encourage you to chuck the "tatty old thing" out, I find it easier to pass the new thing onto the charity shop before any attachment has formed.

Has to be done under the cover of darkness though as the missus inspects every bag to leave the house.

I am only half joking...