Best Way to Close Shop?

[prescilaschina]

We haven’t made a final decision yet but we are considering closing our Etsy and eBay stores for good but we have a considerable inventory to unload.

We are considering ways to close December 2026 and would ponder your opinions.

Our first thought would be to announce right away that we will be closing December 2026 and will start October 2025 by offering a 20% sale on all items and increase that by 5% each month to a maximum of 70% off until December 15, 2026. 70% off is about our break even point.

Our 2nd thought is to announce January 2026 that we will be closing December 2026 and offer 40% off January to April 2026, 50% off to October then increase that to 70% October to December 15, 2026

Our 3rd option is to just try to clear out less popular items at a 50% off clearance sale and not mention closing until June 2026, then offer a closing out discount of 70% off everything until December 15, 2026.

Any remaining items would be sold through eBay’s 7 day unreserved auction or taken to a charity thrift shop.

I’m not sure that international trade will ever recover fully but in addition to the tariff fiasco and the EU making it more difficult to sell there I am approaching 71, have chronic pain issues and running these shops just isn’t as much fun anymore, and I have bins of inventory as well as boxes, rolls of bubble wrap, and more crowding our small home, (been buying from local auctions and selling online since 2002). My wife and I will do some travelling when she retires in 2027.

[busybeas_books]

I'm in a similar situation, looking to retire/wind things down in a year or so.  

3 kinds of eBay buyers (for bricks&mortar stores, Facebook marketplace and garage sales too):

type 1, Wants/needs it, not concerned about price.

type 2, Wants it, maybe if I can get it cheaper.

type 3, Will buy anything if it is at a good enough bargain.

Ignore the type 3 until close to closing/give- it-away time.

I'd go for your scenario #1. It keeps the price up  to catch the type 1 buyer but offers a bit of a discount for the type 2.  

Type 2s might not buy near the end of the month, waiting until next month, when it goes a little cheaper. On the last (or second last) week of the month send your watchers an aditional 5% discount.

[dobo5250]

You presented a well-thought-out way to follow a plan to reduce your store inventory, but in my experience with ebay buyers, unless you give stuff away at 50 % off what you thought was afair price, you are not getting sales. people what things cheap and want free shipping to boot, even when you are offering new items at way below wholesale prices they still want still more discounts  the time of reasonable good buyers who aprrecaite you as a seller is over and gone, its dog eat dog  people, now i am afraid and scammers are on the increase with me three this last month, if you are making any profit even 5 %  you are doing good  so give hats off to you to get out and leave this horriable business behind,  good luck and enjoy your remainning years

[prescilaschina]

I still have over 200 items to list, over 300 if I decide to sell my coin collection. I think I’ll hold off an announcement until mid 2026

Thanks for all your input.

[femmefan1946 · Accepted solution]

You don't have customers.

EBay has customers.

There is no point in telling customers that you will be closing over a year from now. 

Either they are buying NOW or they are windowshopping and will never buy. 

So don't get fancy.

Run sales, and keep reducing prices.

But

If you tell customers your strategy, at worst they will decide to wait, won't buy while they are interested, and then lose interest.

The sale is lost. 

A discount sale should be time limited and make the customer feel the need to BUY RIGHT NOW!!!

Our 3rd option is to just try to clear out less popular items at a 50% off clearance sale and not mention closing until June 2026, then offer a closing out discount of 70% off everything until December 15, 2026.

That would be my choice.

But don't mention any dates.

You might have a few customers who are regular buyers or who have made you a favourite. But the second doesn't mean anything.

And we don't have a list of who our regular buyers are-- unless we have been keeping notes ourselves from our Orders.

Any remaining items would be sold through eBay’s 7 day unreserved auction or taken to a charity thrift shop

The thrift shop is probably the most efficient, since the remainders had been unsold for over a year, and there is your labour involved in setting up and running auctions 

[femmefan1946]

For the coin collection, once you factor in labour, you may be best just to sell it back to the dealers you bought from.

You will have purchased at retail, and will be selling at wholesale, but if the catalogue value of the coins has risen, you may break even.

That's for real heritage type coins.

If your collection is like the pretty medallions the Royal Mint turns out, you will not get a premium, and most will be purchased for a discount from the spot price for silver or gold bullion.

https://www.mint.ca/en?rcmeid=Agency_PBM_SEM_71700000024754315_58700002709384870_p80839999202&gclsrc...

Anything produced to be sold as a collectible will not increase in value. That goes for "coins", decorator plates, Beanie Babie, Labubu, and Disney Princess Barbie.