Tumble Weed

fitbricks

I anticipate tumble weed any moment now, rolling through my virtual store. I am fully aware of the dips and troughs of Lego sales but I have never known a month so quiet as this. Not a single sale or quote request since June 26.

Anyone else experiencing this? I had to check I hadn't mistakenly closed my store!

Jay37

No, all quiet here too. From a personal standpoint closing in the middle of the month for a few days holiday probably didn't help, but only had two active carts at the time! I suspect that, in the UK with some Covid restrictions being lifted, people are trying to get out and catch up with friends or back working away from home.

I also get the impression there's quite a few new stores on here too, so maybe there's a diluting effect as a result.

fitbricks

Yep. My first thought is that people are spending their cash on other activities outside the home. It is common to have a lull in sales during summer months/at good weather times as people head out but I've never witnessed it so complete before.

Calibrick

While I saw a bit of a lull in June and sales are smaller right now, I am definitely seeing orders, some quite large.

Pikka

<crickets>
All quiet on the central European front as well. People are spending more time outdoors so the traffic has been trickling for a month or so. In the last 30 days we received less than 50 orders, mainly from the western Europe and the States. The UK orders gradually came to almost complete halt, because of the import VAT. Nevertheless, we've noticed a slight increase in active shopping carts – 32 right now. We use this quiet period to invest in some heavily discounted sets, part them out and replenish our inventory. The autumn is around the corner, the winter is coming – so get ready.
</crickets>

Hoddie

People are going back to work, having to buy expensive lunches, travel tickets, etc. For others, "free" money has ended as countries wind down their support packages. I obviously hope I'm wrong but I think it's going to be a tough year for many in my opinion, which will naturally impact on people buying Lego.

HeartlandBrix

Even with everyone trying to quarantine last year, my sales fell off dramatically in July, so I was expecting a slow month. My August was even worse. With governments shutting off supplemental funds and kids out of school, adults have to put money into other things like fitbricks, Pikka and Hoddie have said: more mouths to feed at home, summer out-of-house activities, etc. Based on my sales trends last year, I hope to see an uptick in September.

P6tu

Hello,

As a quite steady purchaser (at least 1 order per month), then I can state that I do not order anything from UK any more, since the shipping times are insane even with correct markings (at least a month) and then the VAT also plays a role - it is cheaper to get something from EU that from UK.

With regards,

Geert Middelman

Slowed down slightly here, compared to last few months. I closed down two weeks in June this year, and last summer I did some additional selling of full sets on eBay, so I don't have these months to compare. Normally we see an uptick again starting halfway October, towards the winter months. I'm taking the opportunity to invest a bit more in new inventory to make sure I'm ready for this.

fitbricks

@P6tu I hear you. I new there'd be problems there.