What to sell and when on eBay!...

Working with the seasons and holidays is a good way to work while selling on eBay. Since joining the ranks of eBay sellers I have learnt that there is no point selling swimming costumes in January, although with Global Shipping available through eBay this may no longer be true. 

I will list below what has worked for me while following a seasonal pattern, although I do list most and any goods all year round, I do tend to focus on and put more effort into the seasonal items more at the appropriate time.

January - This is a good month, people are getting tired of the winter weather and are gearing themselves up for Spring, so start putting out a few Spring clothing like Wellington's, raincoats and umbrellas that you have to sell, also after the frenzy of Christmas people are looking to spend their Christmas money and are on the look out for bargains in the January sales, so add some sales discounts to slow moving stock you want to clear, ready for all your wonderful new spring wares, add some colour to your store with some red and green as Valentines and St Patrick's day are not too far ahead.

February - This month can feel like a slow selling month after the frenzy of Christmas but the first two weeks of February you have Valentines, so add some sales discounts and offers to your Valentines stock, make sure you have listed underwear, perfume and some jewellery, the valentines favourite staple. 

The second half of this month you can promote your St Patrick's day wares ready for next month. Don't forget that Spring break time is also coming up so make sure you list lots of those new spring goodies.

Easter is also just around the corner so add in some Easter costumes and Easter themed gifts in the second half of the month, so whilst this can seem like a slow selling month there are ways to boost those sales. Mothers Day is also next month so start listing those Mothers day gift sets.

March - Stores will be putting Spring items on sale now so put on some sales to bring in some traffic for those left over spring items. Start to list your summer clothes, Shorts, T-Shirts, Sundresses, Sandals, Sun hats, Sunglasses,  all this needs to be on now to build up some good search positioning in the eBay algorithm. Put those Easter gifts on sale and add discounts. St Georges day should not be overlooked and is coming up next month so add in some red and white.

April - Lots of weddings coming up this spring so list wedding outfits. People will start to buy for their summer holidays so make sure you have plenty of summer apparel for your customers to choose from add some luggage sets and travel goods.

May - School proms will be starting in June and July so start to list your special occasion dresses. List more of your summer stock as people will be starting to take those holidays and Fathers day is coming up next months so add some Fathers day gifts to your inventory.

June - Start putting those back to school items into your store now, school will soon be out for summer, add some sales and promotions to your remaining fathers day gifts and clothing. As summer is in full swing summer clothing sales will be struggling, so add some discounts and bargain sales to boost traffic and get some sales. look to see what films have been released and add some film themed goodies to your store to boost those sales and keep kids occupied over summer..

July - Many people will start to buy those back to school clothes so make sure you have backpacks, shoes, jackets, binders, notebooks, keeping those prices competitive. people will be hopping off on holiday so make sure you have walking boots and camping gear available, waterproofs and wellies, put those luggage and travel sets on sale to boost traffic and sales.

August - Start to put your back to school items on sale to bring in some traffic and clear the stock. Start adding your Autumn clothing and put those remaining Spring items on a mega sale to clear and put your Summer Holiday clothing on discount offers, add some sales to your wedding and prom outfits as the season will be slowing down but there will be plenty of September Weddings so last minute bargains will sell well, add some Halloween stock as Halloween is coming up.

September - Time to add in some Christmas stock, dresses, toys, gifts as the kids have gone back to school and the parents are starting to sneek in Christmas presents. Start discounting your Halloween goods or making sure you are competitive in your price. Days will get cooler towards the end of the month so add in cardigans and jumpers.

October - Halloween will be a good selling month so add sales and discounts to your stock to make sure you clear what you have. Winter clothing should start to go on, coats and jackets, hats and scarves, boots and trousers and jumper dresses. Sales start to rise as the Christmas shoppers start to come out looking for their Xmas gifts, start to add occasion dresses and outfits and underwear, perfume and gift sets, avoid fad items that are flooding the market, unless you are at the start of the fad then there will be no profit in it but plenty of competition. Add toys and pyjama sets, personally engraved items are always popular.

November - You could start to list some Christmas decorations and clothing as a traffic  boost, there will be plenty of sales going on so make sure you set your store up with discounts and sales to clear some slow moving stock and attract those buyers. Stock up on your winter clothing, gift wares and shoes and accessories and make sure you have some competitive pricing, this month and next are going to be very busy.

December - Make sure all your winter items are on, clothing is slow this month so stock up on gift items and supplement those sales by adding sales to your slow moving stock. This month is all about toys and gifts so make sure you have plenty available.

For my own stock I tend to have the main focus in my store as clothing and supplement my listings with seasonal goods. The goods that I sell for other people tend to get promoted or discounted during seasonal times to boost my clients sales.

Also don't forget the good thing about the Global shipping is that if you can keep up with seasonal trends in other countries you can make some good sales all year round of your seasonal stock, for instance while it may be cold and rainy here in UK January it is full swing summer in Australia, so while swimwear is a slow seller in UK it may be a good seller in Australia.

So keeping your store well stocked up all year round utilising sales promotions and discounts will guarantee you some good seasonal sales all year round.

Keep an eye on the trending and events (click through to find out more) pages and make sure your deals are competitive by checking regularly on the deals pages.

In addition to my seasonal tactics I also follow a pattern of auction listings to get traffic through the door. At the beginning of the month I list and source as much as possible and list them all on a buy it now format, once the end of the months starts to kick in I use the last 7 days to make the most of my free auction listings. 

I select all the items that have not sold from the newly listed items and in addition the items that have sat there for a while and list them at my rock bottom price on the auction format, this works well and clears out some stock and frees up some cash for next months sourcing trips, it's a good alternative to using discounts and gets items seen on the ending now search preference.

Keep proactive and whilst out searching for stock, have all these things in mind and always have something your customer wants!.