Curious...How have ebay sales been?
 

Super dead for me. Not even getting bad offers. Anyone else notice a downturn?

Same here, I am small time and don't list much but it has been almost nothing selling lately.

sales decline on eBay
 

According to the data provided by eBay (if the information is accurate), in the category of Baseball cards, overall market sales in this category are down 10% in the last 30 days compared to the same period last year. Sales compared to the previous 30 days are down about 2% I believe that that drop in percentage of sales has been pretty consistent since eBay has been collecting State Sales Tax earlier this year. I assume that decline in sales in all categories is increasing.

Personally, my sales are up, but I have about 50% more listings for sale than I had last year.

Best regards,

Joe

Bad enough that I am planning on a Short-position earnings play for January Earnings

I rarely sell on EBay, but over the last month sold a handful of nicer cards. They all seemed to sell pretty well, but I know I have bought less cards on EBay because of the State Sales Tax. I personally have been buying a lot more cards privately and through AH’s, and I look for this trend to continue for me anyway.

May not last long... many/most auction houses are now implementing the state sales taxes. Just saw the disclaimer from Hunt, that they're doing it, effective with their current auction. I'm pretty sure all others will be following suit before too long.

EBay said it expects adjusted earnings of 73 cents to 76 cents a share on sales of $2.77 billion to $2.82 billion. EBay stock has gained this year, is on par or above the S&P 500 index rising 20%. P/E is right at 16 and bata 1.1. But it not a buy for me. I haven't held a position in EBay in a long time.

I have been selling for 15 years and this happens to be one of my best years yet.
It is also a record breaking year for buyers who refuse to pay for their items.

Yes!! the past few weeks for me have been super quiet. With over 900 listings and new material weekly, this is just crazy!

As a buyer, I can tell you the new imposition of the 'ebay tax' really stopped me in my tracks. I have to imagine that a huge number of regular buyers also curbed their spending habits somewhat. Although it's 'only' around 10%, it takes a card that I would feel good about buying (in other words, at a low enough price to make me think I'm getting a steal) and pushes it into the ole 'that's a little too much for me' category. Plus, it seems that many, many sellers have suddenly raised their shipping charges, too. Could be coincidental with the cards I was looking at, but it really bummed me out. It's like grabbing a hamburger off a fast food dollar menu, and then returning a couple of days later to find it's now on the $5 menu...if you like nonsensical analogies.

eBay
 

October was the worst month for sales that I have had in the past 2 years.

As a buyer, the 5.5% sales tax doesn't stop me from buying something if the price is decent if it is for my collection. If it is for resale, then the tax is a consideration.

There is one unexpected development. I received a message from eBay that I could send offers to specific customers. I thought "what the hell", so I sent out 27 offers with hefty discounts. Within a few hours, I sold 6 items because of the offers.

I know that some people may not like the offers, but if I am watching something and the seller sends me an offer, I may accept it. If not, at least I have a starting point for a counter offer.

I've got a fairly varied watch list and almost nothing has been moving off it that I haven't gotten myself

Almost unrelated, I’ve had two of my worst months for selling on COMC since I started about 6.5 years ago. I’m very small time, but July and October were negligible for sales.


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On a side note, ebay also hasn't had one of their 15% off promotions in God knows how long. I'm sure those are a nice short-term boon for many sellers.

it'll pop up once you buy everything you want!!!!

Personally the sales tax stopped me. Since I have plenty of other places to buy, Philly, White Plains, Long Island shows, plus the BST and a few auctions have been where I have been. I kind of like it, since it makes it more like a hobby for me saving up and heading to a show instead of setting snipes and waiting for the 10% eBay bucks days.

Sales have not been very good this fall, I had much better results last spring and early summer. Still a good amount of interest and the sales tax thing will take time to adjust. I think we are just going through a phase with so much going on in the hobby, always seems to be up and down. It's not just eBay, I noticed the same thing with local shows. In the long run the eBay issues will only help the shows and I may see an increase in show transactions. Due to the slow sales, I have not purchased as much either. I do expect the next few months to be a little better with the holidays coming around.

Jimmy

As a buyer with a pretty varied watch list, I haven’t seen a new fairly priced nice item showing up in 5 or 6 months. Frustrating. Same ridiculously priced items just being relisted month after month after month.

Agree with steve ,,,stupid prices and now you pay taxes ,,,ill keep it here

Sadly, living in WA with 10.1% tax and seemingly never ending shipping increases, even a 15% discount doesn’t compel me anymore. I’m honestly not sure 20% would either. I can count on one hand the number of things I’ve bought on EBay in 2019.

Why any member of this board would list something on eBay without at least trying to sell in on the BST first makes zero sense to me.

I am making more sales and buys on the BST than ever. Every time I factor in the +/- 10% tax plus shipping the deals on cards don't seem that good. I don't mind paying tax on stuff I use every day but for my collection it is just a cost I hate. And it has definitely lead to less buys on the bay (although I still do buy there regularly) than before the tax issue.

Someone above wrote about the tax stopping him dead in his tracks... for me, 1000% agree

slow...
 

I'm not a big time seller, but my Ebay sales have been dead for over a month. I'm waiting, hoping, and expecting that the holiday season and eBay's 15% off coupons will help out. I don't think there's been a good coupon since last winter?

Living in Canada, the shipping rates from ebay sellers are ridiculous. Thats why I buy off the BST here where members charge me actual shipping rates to canada not this inflated one that ebay sellers have.
I mean it does not cost 24 bucks to ship a 56 topps common to Toronto

I'm sure this has been discussed ad nauseam already...but is sales tax really being applied correctly here? A baseball card could change hands 20 times in its lifetime. Should the gov't be getting a cut every time? Are they taxing the item or the transaction? Seems like the transaction.

I don't hold positions in any company that promotes forgery and fraud and resides in the Philippines..... THAT MEANS NO FU BAY, not even in any of my mutual funds. They are crooks PERIOD.

can't wait for those 15% coupons,:D:D:D:D when my sales tax rate is 10%...No need for their coupon, they can keep it and stick it. :eek:

Jeez. . . .Do you think the decision to impose sales tax was eBay's idea?

Chuck has anyone ever told you that your positive nature lights up the room like a T206 Honus Wagner.

Ebay sales have been crappy. Like....record lows for VCP tracked cards.

I thought I was the only one who noticed that.

I used to buy/sell collections for fun. Considering time + shipping + hassle + rising ebay/paypal + fees+ taxes....just not enough (or any) money in it for me.

Not seeing a lot of interest in ebay, but anything I post in various facebook groups gets grabbed, often within minutes.

The only large trend I've noticed with ebay over the past couple years, has been the shift to more bins and fewer auctions.

And because of that, the ability to get "deals" is not as good as it used to be. It is more of a retail outlet now, in a world where online retail is not driven by Ebay.

I've had success doing this as well recently.

I don't sell a ton, but usually have 5-10 cards listed with a BIN / offer combo at any given time. I have noticed traffic is down. I used to get lowball / bad offers every day, now I only get them maybe twice a week. :D

I've noticed the opposite...it seems there's been a shift back to auction style...at least on the memorabilia side. I'd prefer to just make an offer and haggle...way too impatient to wait 7 or 10 days for an ebay auction to end.

taxes
 

Nothing new here. When you buy a car at a dealership, you pay sales taxes. When you sell it 3 years down the road the buyer pays sales taxes. Everytime it sells, sales taxes are paid. Why should baseball cards be any different?

Don't blame eBay. Blame your Congress person. Has anyone done anything besides bitching on Net54? Call your Congress person and bitch to them.

So I never used the BST here; does paypal charge/collect sales tax? or are these tax free so to speak, for the buyer? As a seller, I am technically not responible for any type of "use" tax right and I probably paid tax when I made the purchase?

I haven't slowed up much if any. No sales tax on eBay for me. :rolleyes:

I missed them putting Congress in charge of sales tax. Guess they have the expertise, though.

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Sales tax
 

It is actually the states that are in charge, and the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the South Dakota in one case, but there have been several bills that were making their way through Congress, most of which would have had the same outcome as the Supreme Court ruling. It looks like the States, the Courts, and Congress are all supporting online sales tax collection.

Yeah...I've made the car analogy myself. Seems odd though that a baseball card would be handled like a car. Cars are regulated and tracked by the government. It's known when they change hands. What other daily use items were re-taxed every time they changed hands prior to this law?

And in that case...Shouldn't dealers be charging sales tax at shows?

All depends on the deal you make with the seller. The BST is just a connector between both parties. It is actually a wonderful service that Leon provides.

The honest ones do in states that require it.:)

Rob, there are many stores (both for-profit and for-charity) that sell used furniture, used clothing, etc., and these store collect sales tax from their customers. And, of course, sales tax was collected on these same items when they were originally sold new.

Mabe taxes will take down all the Fraudsters in the Card Industry......It got Capone

Absolutely Crappy!

And just like that...Everyone that sells on ebay became a store. Even if you sell 5 cards worth $50 per year.

Again...by nature memorabilia and cards are more likely to change hands more often than furniture or clothes. Do you own a shirt that 19 other people owned first?

This country is predicated on the concept if capitalism. If one sells stuff online...like a retailer...or rents part of their home to strangers(air bnb) like a hotel...why should they be immune from paying taxes? Everyone wants their cake and to eat it too!

I have been mostly not buying graded cards until this past weekend...i picked up a few on ebay and am very happy with the prices...even with the taxes.