Hey all! Lately, I’ve been filling up my storage area with a whole lot of new items. I’ve been lucky this year to finally have some sort of client base built up so that I can actually start relying on those around me rather than the father of thrift stores, Goodwill! I wanted to talk about this build-up, and how you can have stale ebay listings over time. (And what you should be doing with them)!
What Are “Stale” Items Anyway?
“Stale” items are just listings that seem to sit and sit in your inventory and never sell! Perhaps the lighting on your photos just wasn’t right, or maybe you missed a flaw and it’s been returned twice. Whatever the case, you’re probably wondering why the heck you still hang onto those things!
If you can relate, you’ve obviously been in the reselling game for at least a little bit of time. This can strike you as a frustrating and daunting task to tackle, although it happens to be one of the fastest and funnest ones as well! (Bet you didn’t know)!
See, turning over stale inventory can go much easier than expected. Sure, you may start to dread it as soon as you see that boring polo t-shirt turn up time and time again, without a sale! But nonetheless, have hope! It will still eventually sell! I promise!
Stale items can sit for months, maybe even years! Depending on how often you go through your inventory and make sure everything in your bins is actually still listed for sale online!
This has happened to me a handful of times. While going through inventory, I’ve come across several items that are taking up space physically, and that (turns out), haven’t been listed in months! Talk about frustrating!
Related: ATTN Resellers: A Cluttered Space is A Cluttered Mind.
If your items are not listed, they don’t have a chance of selling! Be sure to take extra care of each and every item in your inventory, tracking their total cycle from coming in the door to out the door, so that you never take up space with something that can earn you some dollars!
What Else Can Cause Stale Items?
Stale listings can happen for a plethora of reasons. It can happen because of what was mentioned in the last section, or perhaps they need a nice and improved set of photos!
Maybe you took that first set on your floor, whereas now you have a nice white Lightbox that can really spice things up and set the tone for a much more professional background. It’s up to you! Keep your items presentable from start to finish.
Speaking of presentable, make sure that your items are stored well enough that they’re completely safe from household elements.
By “household elements,” I’m talking about pet hair! I know from experience with 2 cats and once again 2 dogs (more about that in a future post!), that pet hair can sneak into nearly EVERYTHING you own. We love them, but just wish they would keep some to their furry little selves!
- Related: How To Work From Home With Pets
This is by far the best scenario yet. It’s a simple but dreadful mistake. Can you guess what it is?
Your listing could be incorrect! Yes, really! It happens to the best of us. At times, I’ll be scrolling through stale items, when I notice that OMGosh my listing isn’t even spelled correctly!!
Or perhaps it’s got the wrong brand or size in the item specs. Oftentimes, fellow do-good eBay-ers will help you out and send a friendly message to give you a heads up! This is very cool and VERY appreciated.
So, What Should You Do With Stale ebay Listings?
Well, there’s a lot you can do actually. From relisting older items with rearranged titles, or additional item specs that you may have previously missed, to collecting a whole new set of photos. The amount of work you put into a fresh listing is completely up to you.
I suggest refreshing the item for starters. You can do this by ending your current listing and “selling similar” on eBay, or “copying” a new listing into your Poshmark store. This is the quickest and easiest way to do a refresh! You do not want stale ebay listings!
If you still notice that no traffic has been coming to your listing, try to switch up your title some, adding keywords that you may not have been aware of when listing the item the first time.
Keep up with trends! If you’re wondering why certain keywords aren’t sparking interest like they used to, do some quick research into finding out if those keywords are even still relevant to the reselling world.
Another option is to bulk sell off your stale inventory. Some things sell great for other resellers that may not sell at all for me. It’s a difference between your audience and who your customer base is! Perhaps you could even trade-off with local resellers on FB or something so that you each get something at little to no cost.
Don’t Forget About Donating and Upcycling!
Lastly, you could always donate these items. I’ve done this before as well. But in my experience, everything sells eventually, so unless you’re super duper tired of looking at the same items all the time, I recommend trying out a couple options mentioned in this post before parting ways with that expense staring back at you.
Keep your costs down and get crafty with your stale items! Upcycle or treat flaws so that these items have a new life and new look.
Whatever you decide to do, just remember that these items are your friend! Treat them as a new opportunity to use fresh inventory again rather than pitching them back into the Goodwill bins. Even if you’re able to get cost back for them, that’s new revenue that could be put towards new inventory!
Thank You for reading How to determine what ebay listings are stale!
A giant thanks to everyone that has supported me this far into my journey including today’s post about stale ebay listings! I greatly appreciate you returning to read my posts and hope that you will continue to drop by in the future.
Please feel free to drop any comments below that you would like to add! I am always open to advice, suggestions, or even hearing related stories of your own!
I stay as active as possible in the comment section, therefore I will reply to any questions asap.
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Happy selling friends!
-Shelby