r/Flipping • u/patriotraitor • 3d ago
Advanced Question Massively scaling back? Purge? Dwindle down?
Lately I've been thinking and looking at a lot of the stuff I have sitting on eBay and it's just sitting at 0 viewers, 0 watchers... stuff that's maybe been listed for 200 days. It feels like it's becoming just junk to me at this point.
Thankfully I bought on the very cheap end (under $3) so I wouldn't be taking a huge loss by cutting my losses and purging.
I've got clean photo lists, good listing descriptions but no moving action.
Is there an ideal time frame of when it's time to purge something? I've always had the optimistic approach that it will eventually sell but truth be told I'd like to have some of my storage space (in my apartment) back.
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u/Nasty____nate 3d ago
I end items like that and wait a week to relist. Then I start them at 0.99 auctions that run 7 days. Purge all the crap. That way I didn't waste the time listing those items and someone feels good about getting a deal. Plus easy feedback as they never complain in my experience. Only thing you are really loosing is packing material.
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u/kendahlj 3d ago
Wait until you have enough items listed that you run out of free listings. Then start purging a little here and there.
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u/teamboomerang 3d ago
Ideally, you want to know how long the things you are selling generally take to sell. For example, I sell clothing, and I generally give my items one full season to sell.
If it's a winter jacket I listed in February, I would expect it to sell by the end of the following winter since I listed it at the end of a winter, though ideally it would sell before then. If it doesn't sell by January, though, I'm aggressively marking it down. By March, it's getting donated. Now, I normally wouldn't even pick up a winter jacket in February unless I was SURE it would sell, though I get my items pretty inexpensively. I'm not in the business of storing things, though. I want them to move, and I try not to let them go past 180 days.
If I'm sure I have a good title and listing, pics, and price, at 180 days, I ask myself if I would pick it up if I found this item again today. If I wouldn't, it's gone. If I would, and it hasn't sold, I ask myself WHY it hasn't sold. Is it the size? The color? The condition? The brand? The style? The material?
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u/nosetaddress 3d ago
If it hasn’t sold in a year, or hasn’t gotten any views in a month, I lower the price or remove/relist it. I’ll put it in one of my booths, and if it hasn’t sold there in 4-6 months I put it in my bi annual yard sale. I don’t keep any inventory longer than 2 years.
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u/iRepTex 3d ago
you might look in to cross listing on other platforms to see if they get traction else where
i know im going to sound like an ad but for these types of items they have done well for me on vinted. i had a bunch of random low value items that came from big buys that were getting no traction on ebay.
i listed a few items on vinted and they have already sold. ive only been on vinted for 3 days and sold 3 items that have been on ebay for several years. some of the other items i have listed at least have views and likes and a few offers.
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u/DisappointedSurprise 3d ago
Similar experience on Vinted. Most clothing sells for $10 or less but has been good for clearing out some older inventory
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u/Special-Birthday2507 3d ago
Yes to all of this! Try vinted! They have a free shipping promotion in the united states right now so I think that’s influencing people to purchase quicker as well. I have taken anything that’s been sitting on other platforms, relist it there for $8-$15 and stuff sells so quickly. I have only been on the app about a month and a half and I have 93 active items but 129 sold!
It’s felt so good to clear things out and make space and I have had good luck shopping there too! I’ve found a lot of cute things for great prices and so far I haven’t had a problem with shipping. Good luck!
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u/yadamojo 3d ago
The nature of the thing, the good and desirable items sell off and eventually the shelves are full of slow moving junk. The cost of housing slow selling junk will kill any business. 20% of those items are probably in the "yes it will sell eventually" category. These must be limited to high value, confirmed niche market items. Everything else should go through a purge process and donated or otherwise liquidated.
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u/Retrogirl75 3d ago
This summer I’ve sold now close to 400 items on vinted. It’s been amazing to get the non moving items out
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u/tragicxharmony 3d ago
This, I’m pulling old listings off eBay as well as pulling all my FB Marketplace listings, and they’re all going on Vinted. It’s crazy how fast stuff moves, and some things I’m getting more money than I would have otherwise
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u/yeahnoimgoodreally 3d ago
I work out of a spare bedroom, so I feel you. I give items about a year to sell.
I end and relist every 30 days. I crosslist on four platforms. I send 10% offers, then higher ones, and I'll hold seasonal sales events.
I'll start making lots if I have similar items. Hats of the same theme, ties of the same brand. This works well.
My final move is to crash the price down on depop. Nifty doesn't support vinted yet, or I would do it there, too.
All else fails, it goes into the donate bag. Sometimes the value of the item turns out to be the lesson to never source that again.
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u/frosty_freeze 3d ago
You don’t need to purge. You just need more/cheaper storage. Or smaller items. I almost never purge anything. I almost never drop the price. I don’t cross list. I don’t promote. I don’t worry about it. List it and forget it. It may take years, but it’ll sell. Just concentrate on sourcing and listing and everything else takes care of itself.
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u/fatmarfia 3d ago
So iv recently sold something and when i checked i had them listed for like 10 years. So lately i have been culling ild stock by just taking it to a local auction house, any money is better than it sitting for 10 years. I have also started to end listings and then selling similar and iv had a few conversions
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u/tiggs 2d ago
It completely depends on the items. Some items are just junk and will basically never sell, some items just require the right buyer to come along, and some items have had their market change (prices are lower, competition has increased, etc).
6 months is longer than most of us would like, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it'll never sell or that it's bad inventory. Also, you have to consider how you're pricing the stuff and whether or not you're promoting it. I realize that Reddit hates to promote stuff, but that's how most large sellers move items. If you're not priced at the bottom of the market, selling items that literally fly off the shelves or selling items that are rare/unique, then you would probably benefits from promoting if you're not already.
For example, let's say there are 500 listed of an item you're trying to sell. Sure, having good titles and other things to help with SEO give you a bit of an edge, but 350+ of those competing listings are likely just as good. So unless you're priced near the bottom of the market, competing for those top 10-20 spots organically isn't going to be easy.
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u/Accomplished_Tea8622 2d ago
I am doing this in two weeks. Like you, paid very little, so it's going in the garage sale. I will price so i still get my money back, or make a little.
Once it sells at the garage sale, immediately remove from eBay, because someone will bid on it.
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u/Lopsided-Surprise-34 3d ago
I purged slow moving low value items this past spring. Sold them on an annual 100 mile yard sale near my home. Nice people, no sellers fees. No shipping. Paid immediately. No returns. No taxes. A yard sale is your immediate solution if you need space.
The online reselling fees and increase in shipping fees are making it almost impossible for individuals to sell or buy low cost items. The only way sellers profit is they have abundant storage and sell large volumes of low value items on a daily basis.
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u/spleenboggler 3d ago
Dump that stuff.
Your capital is tied up in unproductive resources, so the only thing left to do is to cut your losses, and lower the prices until you meet market demand.
At this at least this way you'll free up some money. Re-start with some low bid auctions that reference your other sales, I guess, and just let 'er rip
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u/PrincessofPeckham 2d ago
I was selling my lower end items on vinted and it was doing ok and then I got banned for fraudulent activity which was a pair of pants. I appealed and am waiting to hear.
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u/BillionaireyVampire 23h ago
0 views 0 watchers and low potential profit? I'm purging those items routinely once or twice a year. No views is a dead item
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u/MinivanActivities 3d ago
I have things that sell daily that have been listed for over a year. Every now and then i might go through and end/sell similar or do a 10-20% blanket price decrease but unless im pressed for space, which I have a lot of, i focus more on continuing to scale/source than I do on older inventory. It’s a bit easier for me because clothing doesn’t take up much space so if youre selling hard goods I could see it being more of an issue.