Are sales (much) lower as usual?

Gaston.La.Brick

I'm not running a high traffic shop, but the last few weeks the amount of orders is significantly less as other weeks. Usually, I get a few orders a day. Last two weeks only 2 orders per week.
Do other sellers notice decreased (relative) sales volume as well, or should I investigate something wrong with my shop?
Of course the economic/energy/inflation problems might explain it; still I wonder if it's a trend others notice as well.

Thank you so much for your feedback.

tons_of_bricks

It's been a little slower here on Brickowl. Overall though, it hasn't been bad.

Jay37

Same here. Glad it's not just me, but I put it down to a combination of the same global issues as well as the start of Easter holidays (and the fact this is the first time in two years that here in the UK there are now no longer any Covid travel restrictions), plus quite nice weather. All in all, not a great combination for a hobby that is best suited for indoors. I'm taking the opportunity to catch up on washing/adding inventory and taking photos for the catalog.

Malnaborg

Same here :-) "blaming" the sunny weather an season as well for more outdoor fun.
As long as i have ongoing shopping carts, i find it that people still want something from my shop.

So at the moment i am enjoying the downtime as well, to play or do other things :-)

nita_rae

@Gaston.La.Brick

I’ve seen a distinct slowness. Partly this is due to the situation in eastern EU (and how it is keep people preoccupied) and partly due to the steep increases in costs of living. When cost of living goes up, without a commensurate increase in disposable income, something has to give. This morning I was reading an article about how various streaming services are noticing an uptick in churn (customers leaving). Netflix was one of the few that was still holding onto subscribers. Just one data point tho.

Gaston.La.Brick

Thank you all for the feedback.
@Malnaborg , you mention you have "ongoing shopping carts" : where can a shop see those? I can't seem to find that feature.

AFOLchamp

I was going to post a similar question; I’m glad to see it’s not just me seeing a slow down.

Miniadventureworld

Same here very slow

Jay37

@Gaston.La.Brick I assume @Malnaborg is referring to the Active carts - this is on your dashboard and indicates how many people currently have stock in a basket but have yet to convert it to an order

Gaston.La.Brick

Thanks @Jay37 , found it

Calibrick

Season (more going outside), touch of a slowdown in Covid (though B.12.1/.2 is rising), and inflation... though without inflation and Covid, this is nearing (though not quite yet) the time of year I start to slow down anyway.

School is letting out soon and there's lots of outdoor activities! I generally don't see it until June, so it's earlier than usual, but I am still getting steady orders - just less. :-) Generally this is the time to restock and relist to prep like crazy for when sales pick back up for Oct/Nov (weirdly though my top sales months is ALWAYS January! I guess people are spending holiday $$ they were gifted). :-)

HeartlandBrix

April 2021 was slower for me than March 2021, so I was expecting a slower month. That said, every month this year is down vs. 2021. Fingers crossed things pick up in May. That's one of my strongest months.

tons_of_bricks

@Calibrick January is always a big month for us also. We've noticed over the last few years January being big, then a major slow down in February and March. April and May pick up a bit, then June and July are usually big for some reason; only thing I can think of is because that's when most of the big Lego conventions are held (at least in the US). August and September slow down a bit, then October through December are big.

Papa Pearson

Slow for me too. I am about 35% down from last month at this time. Strange thing is, we have more parts/lots than we have ever had. I guess there is a silver lining to the down sales, I have had more time to add. Take advantage of the down time if you can.

WESTIEKaTH

yeah same here but also i think there are a lot more stores opening up. Hopefully will pick up soon

XS Bricks

Definitely seeing a big slow down on BO, not so much elsewhere. No idea why there would be a difference.

nita_rae

> Netflix was one of the few that was still holding onto subscribers.

scratch that, Netflix is feeling some pain as well.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61173561

Calibrick

Yeah, I was reading about the dive in user subscriptions and the 35% drop in shares yesterday for Netflix too... I think they lost 700K when they cutoff Russia. I suspect the rest is simply people picking and choosing their priority in streaming spending? I've had Netflix since they mailed you DVDs and honestly I continue to be pretty happy with it. They drop enough shows to keep me willing to pay to support, e.g., the Stranger Things new season is dropping next month. I'm pretty picky about my streaming though (took me over a year to cave and get Disney+ and I only did it on a great deal)... Netflix, Paramount+ (the Trekker in me), and Disney+ is it.

nbrumby

My sales are normally around 50/50 BL & BO, April so far is 87/13 in favour of BL. Overall revenue is up this month by around 40% so not complaining.

White Horse Bricks

@nbrumby same for me. It has been a big swing this month. Busy on there, quiet here.

NorthernBrickSupply

I also noticed that we've lost over 100 stores, and my sales have been crazy low

nita_rae

A few thoughts here (and please mind the context) …

January was a tolerable month (from my perspective), February and March less so.

April feels like a month of recovery, as I just nudged past January’s numbers (but keep in mind that was mostly due to selling 20-year old sets that I might be the one of the few remaining sellers with stock). Context here is everything, but my sense is that buyers are beginning to loosen up and return.

nita_rae

This article may be of interest to anyone feeling a slowness …

https://web.archive.org/web/20220510174014/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/10/technology/e-commerce-big-tech.html

Papa Pearson

@nita_rae ...Interesting read. I know I've felt the decline since March and May isn't looking good so far.

Malnaborg

My sales have started picking up again.
Apart from the article, i also think it has a lot to do, with the "summertime" around the corner, or different covid restrictions being lifted, so people spend more time out with friends and so on. Hence not needing that much "indoor" activities, like Lego.

Neiljones

As I am a new seller here I can’t comment on whether sales are slow. But I’m happy with what I’m averaging a week. As I am not doing this as a business more of a hobby to sell what I no longer want and then use the money to buy what I do want if that makes sense. But I have found that older pieces in good condition that are not common seem to sell well.

XS Bricks

Over a week and no orders on BO, a record for me. With over 500,000 parts in nearly 10,000 lots at average or below prices I can't believe sales have dropped off so much. Anyone else think it is unseasonably quiet here? I know the Summer means less orders, but I have never gone so long here without orders.

Jay37

I've had three in the last week, which, given recent order quantities, is pretty good! I'm sure things will improve at some point, but this looks like it could be the situation for a while.

Pikka

We stock over 350K parts in over 12K lots, priced at average or slightly above average. In the last 30 days we had 46 orders, which is below normal for this time of year. Then again, some of these orders are quite large, so things are not that bad here.

Calibrick

I'm running about 5-10 orders/week right now, though primarily smaller orders... which are quick to fill! :-) It's just the season - plus a ton of inflation, people being trapped indoors, so many factors. It'll pick back up in the Fall I suspect as per usual. :-) (I have about 10.5k unique lots and I think around 140k parts at the moment off the top of my head).