The big sales slowdown

[Tootyred]

Thats the thing...its a hobby....practically everything else comes first. When there's a squeeze that what gets knocked on the head first for spending.

That's probably why big money items still seem to sell....as those who can afford a big money bike, probably still have big money to spend.

Kinda makes sense as im sure, thinking about it, that a fair proportion of people looking at the site ( old hands excluded possibly) are fishing for parts.....if there's no money...no fisherpeople!

Tied with our "weird demographic" and a general lack of interest, im not suprised sales are dropping off.

 

[FluffyChicken]

It was often joked that I'd be the last one here to turn off the lights, and sometimes I feel that that moment has already been and gone

@slimjoe is rb-older than you and four or five of us in this thread are rb-'00ers.
You've still got plenty of years to go before you're left to turn the lights off.

 

[Tootyred]

However im wondering if there's mileage in a BLACK FRIDAY sale!

pick a friday and we all try to list some stuff we want gone as cheap as we can....clear the benches, move some stuff, generate some interest and traffic?

 

[Tootyred]

Its friday 24th november this year, so plenty of time to scour those cupboards!

 

[mk one]

However im wondering if there's mileage in a BLACK FRIDAY sale!

pick a friday and we all try to list some stuff we want gone as cheap as we can....clear the benches, move some stuff, generate some interest and traffic?

Do you sell on other platforms, or abroad? there seems to be a lot of retro interest in other parts of the world compared to here recently, also for myself, and others it seems, sales on other platforms are fine by comparison.

 

[Tootyred]

I personally dont. I tried facebook, but im not in this for money and tbh the waste of time on that platform just became a pita.

For every thing I sold I probably got 1 scammer and 20 "is this still available" (read "im only pressing this button because I'm a time waster with nothing better to do than be a pain") requests.

I gave up ebay when they decided to become an unlicensed bank and tbh, the stuff i sell is often low value, so its not worth it imho.

So...I am only selling on here....and....I see it as helping out a community of interested people first.

What's worrying about the obvious slowdown is that its a insidious creature, because the more I dont sell the more I won't be bothered to list....the more that doesn't get listed, the less people will look. That's no good for the forum in general. The sales page may well be the life blood of the site? Im not sure, but the lack of sales does seem to be going hand in hand with a perceived general slowdown in traffic.

 

[Tootyred]

Plus im selling old toot the kids dont want!

 

[mk one]

The larger audience for sure helps.

 

[FluffyChicken]

The larger audience for sure helps.

Depends, FB marketplace isn't for me, but then I'm not a bike flipper, I'm not here to make money. I'm here for a retrobike community, not to sell bits of bike.

If FB keep taking their advert cut making money off your sales, thus driving sales and people from here. Then nobody puts stuff or asks for stuff here, it shuts that part of the site down, possibly driving people away. When it becomes unviable for John to run the site you say goodbye to a resource of knowledge and back to FB full of wading through half a million guess the answers to the question asked type knowledge.
Same as the Amazon/CRC arguments from LBS or just everyday shops.

Each to their own.

You could always post on there and then link to it on here in the ebay and other sales area. If saving time is your want.

 

[greencat]

Note to selves if posting on Facebook, there is one guy who insists on spamming a local N.Wales for sale group with small retro parts - for pick up only from somewhere on the South Coast of England. No-one is going to travel that far for a £20 Deore LX mech from the mid 90s.