The majority of AuctionBytes readers responding to a recent survey reported lower October sales compared to a year ago, consistent with other published surveys of online retailers for the month. Survey respondents also said they expected holiday sales for the online retail industry to be "fair" or "not good." The survey was conducted in November to determine how current economic conditions were affecting online sales of small eBay and online sellers.
When asked how their October 2008 sales had changed compared to the same period last year, a majority of readers - 69% - said they had decreased, while 22% said they had increased, and 9% said they stayed the same.
When asked how their eBay sales had changed in October 2008 compared to the previous October, 75% of sellers said their eBay sales had decreased, 6% said it had stayed the same, and 19% said sales had increased.
Readers were also asked how they thought their sales would be for the holiday season (October, November and December), and how they thought ecommece sales for the entire online retail industry would fare. Twenty-seven percent thought their own sales would be excellent or good, 31% thought their sales would be fair, and 42% said their sales would be not good or terrible.
Twenty percent thought total industry sales would be excellent or good for the holiday season, 48% fair, and 32% not good or terrible.
There was an inverse relationship between the cost of items sold and whether the sellers saw sales of the items increase or decrease from a year ago. The higher the item-cost, the greater the number of sellers reporting sales had decreased, and vice versa.
Respondents were also asked to compare sales from October 2008 to October 2007 by type of merchandise. Categories that had the biggest percentage of sellers reporting sales declines were: "Consumer electronics and computers"; Musical instruments"; and "Art, antiques, collectibles and memorabilia." Categories with the lowest percentage of sellers reporting sales declines were: "Home & Garden, Health & Beauty"; "Apparel and accessories"; and "Business and Industrial."
Comment on the AuctionBytes Blog
