I just saw the list of sales for Delcampe International for the last three months -
"Sold items (June ) 420 276
Sold items (May) 422 024
Sold items (April) 470 101 "

It seems that sales are going down - Why should this be?

There are more and more very useful items for sale, and many of those are at reasonable prices.

I just do not understand why sales on Delcampe are not better.

Does anyone have any idea as to what can be done to improve sales?

I can only speak about the postcard area but I know that April--for some reason--was a particularly high sale month. June was not even a 0.5% drop from May and the summer is generally slower sales-wise, isn't it? People are travelling, gardening, etc, ie. not sitting in front of their computer.

As for postcard sales, they are higher on the US site than one year ago; I have faith that Delcampe is growing and will continue to do so.

Hello,
I just recently started selling postcards from the USA here. Being a new seller here I am pleased with the amount of views that I am receiving and the sales that I have made.. Language has not presented any problems since a lot of my sales are going to Germany & France.. I have thousands of postcards to be posted and will be adding more everyday... I still have a lot of my USA buyers to follow me here and I know they will be buying from sellers here too.
Alan65 is right about summer vacations and with gas prices going over $4.00/gal. money is really tight.. So if postcard sales are decent now they should really pickup come the fall season....

bonjour james,
i can't complain too much about my sales these past few months but then many people know the cajun. i have been here a while as member #301. i am certainly ain't at the top of the ladder with 496 sales, but many of them are satified customers who bought stamp gumbo from me, so they must like the taste. some have come back for seconds and even thirds. and the best things is... i have met many new friends in my long journey here. and it isn't over yet.

amities,
cajunsr.

Sales are no worse on better than any other time on Delcampe.I do not sell a lot here but payment is the issue for me.Six sales in June; five I have had no communication nor payment from and the sixth finally paid three weeks after the sale and four emails later.Deadbeat Bidders galour!!!!

I too have started to sell on here and even though it is slower than the "other side" I have found that it is picking up, slowly

I have also noticed that there are quite a few non payers ....more that the other side and perhaps Delcampe should introduce a 3 strikes and out over a 3-6 month period as there seems to be little done about non payers

It's the same over here with the prices....our petrol (gas) is aound £1.20 ($2.40) a LITRE !....Not a gallon a LITRE....and I am dreading the electric and gas bill this winter....I reckon that over the year I will be paying around £1800 ($3600) in eletric and heating compared to around £800 ($1600) 2 years ago
Take that and add it to an ever increasing food bill every week something has to give, and unfortunatly it's the 'hobbies' side

bonjour nanook,

yes, i have had a few of those myself, so when i get paid i consider myself lucky. but a tip, try to be friendly but firm in your contacts when asking for your payments from the deadbeats. you never know when someone has extenuating circumstances that will delay their payments. this has happened to me many times, but i have received the payment. however, i do give a time limit for my payments; 10 days for local customers, 15 days for overseas customers. this allows plenty of time for their payments to be arranged if they use PAYPAL or wish to send a cash payment in u.s. dollars which are the only payment choices i accept for overseas customers, and other choices for the local customers. i also try to get a contact with the customer within 5 working days following the auction with my invoice. other than that, you know the procedure for retrieving your commission fees. good luck.

amities,
cajunsr.

Cajunsr1: One of these non payers was a fellow Canadian who bought a Canadian stamp for the princely sum of .85 cents < .86cents for you Cajunsr1> and I asked .60 postage < .52 cents domestic rate a litle bit for the envelpoe>.I also said since it was a small amount of money he could send mint Canadian postage.If this fellow cannot scrape together 1.45,then he is really in the financial dumps and I have a great deal of sympathy for him but until I hear otherwise he continues to be a pain in the @*% to me.
Cheers! Jim

As regards Postcard Sales, I have some lots of 14 reprints of Russian Royalty postcards which I have put for sale (at the same low price) on both Delcampe and on Exxx.
The lots on Delcampe hardly sell at all, whereas those on the other site sell regularly, often at good prices.
We just do not seem to have enough byers here.

Hello,


Your figures are right. But no reason to panic... it's like that each year... June and July are the worst months of the year.

It's holiday time, sunny weather, people go more outside and less on Internet, ...

We average a growth of 150% compared to last year, which is a good thing, isn't it ?


Best regards, Seb Delcampe

bonsoir sebastien,
so why are you not at le plage getting a sunburn? the white sands of florida await you. and it surely is hot here. but the food is good in tampa, and the theme parks are also fun. come visit cajun and his family. and eat some gumbo with him.

un bonne WE a vous et votre famille.

amities,
cajunsr.

bonsoir jim,

with the price of gas, perhaps his car ran dry to the supermarket and his children grow hungry. it is the same here with the cowboy still in charge of the white house. the situation is surely affecting sales from u.s. buyers. it is a sad time for americans, north to south.

amities,
cajunsr.

Bof !

In London on Tuesday it was hotter than Los Angeles or Barcelona.

I don't know what it was like in Blankenberge, once so popular with the English.

Rogermo

bonsoir rogermo,
yes perhaps so. but in tampa, we have our usual afternoon thunderstorms to cool our evenings down and make the night air very comfortable for traveling about the town. today was no exception. i shall sleep very good with my windows open tonight with the fans on. no need for air conditioning.

amities,
cajunsr.

So is it good or bad to be hot ? I'm confused.

Rogermo

bonjour rogermo,
if you are too hot, you may suffer heat exhaustion or heat stroke, and that is bad. but cajun is used to the heat if he stays in his house with the fans running. our weather has had some rain and clouds this week so the tempuratures are reduced. and much more comfortable.

amities,
cajunsr.

So what are you trying to do when you entice people from Northern Europe with your "the white sands of florida await you. and it surely is hot here." ?

I hope your white sands aren't covered with bodies quite as systematically as Italian beaches are divided up for the Germans.

Rogermo

bonsoir rogermo,
our coastline is just as long as italy, but i think we have many more beaches, so the crowing is not so bad. and the heat should not be as bad with a cooling seabreeze and waters nearby. but please, no dogs on some of the beaches.

amities,
cajunsr.

There's plenty of room really. Just some people like ugly crowded beaches, and these particular ones in Italy are so regimented.

It could be worse, though .....

bonsoir rogermo et tout,

well for those who do go to the hot beaches, here is a link that might save you or your child's life, please read it and use this good advice.:

Link (http)

and if you should come to florida, i recommend this beach near tampa, one of our best. i have been there many times and it is beautiful. :

Link (http)

Link (http)

Link (http)

amities,
cajunsr.

Hi,

Some thoughts on mine. Agree or disagree.

I think the basic issue of sales is a need for more marketing by both Delcampe and individual sellers to the USA Market to push buyers to the Delcampe websites.

SELLERS

Face it. Most sellers are lazy when it comes to marketing themselves online. We would like to sit back and let the sales come in. Let the Website worry about marketing. All we sellers really want is an easy way to sell...dream on.

Sellers need to be more proactive in getting past customers to buy from them again.

For SCVIEW July is always our best selling month! On both Ebay & Delcampe. We do this by using basic sales marketing principles and by inviting past customers to buy again.

We use all the customer emails from past buyers who have used Paypal to pay us. [ Info is from the Paypal web site. (Go to history, make a search by month and year, pull emails out of transaction history)]

You can go directly into your past history of sales (We go all the way back to 2003, before we were on Delcampe) and send personal emails to all your customers on a regular basis (Every 3 or 4 months).

Shameless self promotion seems to work best to create sales.

We also keep an email list of all customers on Delcampe & Ebay who have left us positive feedback. They always get a special notice whenever we do a sale, buy a new collection, or have items of interest to them specifically.

You can get a past list of such people on Delcampe/Ebay from your feedback/transaction history records on Delcampe (Ebay now also but not for much longer)

The Net result? 30-50 sales a day for us in JULY on Delcampe ($300-500 USD a day).

DELCAMPE

You guys are still missing the boat on promoting to the USA collecting market. Relying on just dealers to promote you is no longer enough. See above. Dealers are lazy in marketing.

Possible solutions:

1) ADS need to be placed in Postcard Collector, Paper Collector, Antique Trader, Stamp publications, Coin Magazines and Barr's Postcard News Magazines on a reoccurring basis. ( I have previously sent you mailing & web site addresses for these)

2) Letters need to be sent to the USA postcard , coin & stamp clubs introducing Delcampe to them. Many will put your info into their monthly club magazines at no cost to you as a service to their members. (i can provide a list for postcard clubs)

3) Letters need to be sent to the IFPD dealers (International Federation Postcard Dealers) introducing Delcampe as a selling option instead of Ebay. (I can provide you with a list)

4) Delcampe needs to post regular updates on the Auctionbytes website for online collectible sellers promoting itself on a reoccuing basis.

5) Paypal needs to be MUCH more fully integrated as a paying option on Delcampe much as Moneybookers is. We get emails EVERY day asking how to pay for a Delcampe item via Paypal. See Playe postcard website to see how to make both Moneybookers & Paypal be EASY payment options for buyers. This would GREATLY increase sales and also reduce nonpaying bidders.

6) Moneybookers needs to trade recipical links with other collecting websites in order to increase it's page ranking on Google, which in turn would increase traffic to Delcampe.

I, and many other USA dealers would be glad to help you promote Delcampe in a more professional manner to the USA market.

Delcampe is no longer just a great site for buyers. It is now one of the premir selling options for selling professionals. It's marketing plan needs to become more priofessional as well.

Your Fort de Soto reminds me of Weymouth, popular with George III .

Rogermo

bonjour rogermo,
yes, it is quite popular with the children. i can't wait to take my grandkids and the bicycles. and a nice picnic lunch. no worries for bears at this park.

amities,
cajunsr.



"bummmmmer"

uh, i think that was yogi bear replying. here yogi, found you a big picnic basket.