eBay’s Seasonal Slumps and What a few Months of Buying Taught Me that 30 Years of Selling Never Did

After selling on eBay for nearly 30 years, you’d think I would have figured it all out. I’ve ridden the waves of hot markets, adapted to shifting algorithms, and survived more policy changes than I care to count. But it turns out that after all that time, I still had something new to learn:

How to be a buyer.

For most of my eBay life, I was a seller first and only. I might have bought a thing or two here or there, but I never really put myself in the shoes of the people browsing my listings. That changed recently when I started actively buying—and it opened my eyes to just how different (and frustrating) the buyer experience can be.

Pair that with some time-tested truths I’ve learned about the seasonal sales cycle, and I thought it might be helpful to put it all together in one place—for longtime sellers, new eBay users, or even eBay itself.

Because some of this stuff really shouldn’t still be this confusing in 2025.

The Predictable Sales Roller Coaster

Let’s start with something I’ve known forever, but still manage to forget every year: eBay has two dead zones every year where sales drop.

The first slowdown happens from about late July into mid-September, and the second hits from after Thanksgiving through Christmas Day.

The stamp business has a similar curve to the typical retail sales curve found at https://smallenterprisemag.com/2025/06/16/how-to-handle-seasonal-sales-fluctuations/

Every year, without fail, I’m taken off guard by the August slump—even though I should see it coming. Sales that were trucking along at a decent pace suddenly vanish. Offers dry up. Bidders disappear. It’s like someone downshifted my store.

It’s not because your listings are broken or your items are suddenly undesirable. It’s because your buyers are distracted. In August, people have kids at home, vacations to take, grandkids to entertain, and late-summer chaos to manage. Even people without kids are often caught up in that ripple effect. That slight dip in eBay traffic is enough to noticeably slow your sales—especially if you’re in a niche market like stamps, post cards, or other collectibles where every buyer counts.

Then, by mid-September, things start to bounce back. Kids go back to school. Routines return. People start scrolling eBay again in the evenings.

The second dip is a little more expected: December. After Thanksgiving, people shift into gift-buying mode, and if your stuff isn’t gift-oriented, you’re probably going to see things slow down. For me, December has become my unofficial break from selling—not just because sales taper off, but because I hate the post office that time of year. Standing in line for over an hour among the huge crowd of stressed people trying to juggling shipments to arrive in time for Christmas? No thank you.

Instead, I use December to prep for what’s next...

The Post-Christmas Surge

If August and December are the valleys, the week after Christmas is the peak.

This is when you want to be ready. The surge usually kicks in around December 26 and runs through mid-January. Everyone’s home, relaxed, a little bored, and often armed with leftover Christmas money or a gift card they didn’t know what to do with. This is followed by the January to February stamp buying season when there are more shows and auctions in the first part of the year than there are in other parts of the year which dramatically increases the amount of inventory sellers have access to.

It’s a golden window where people stop buying for others and start buying for themselves. It’s when collectors, especially, go back to hunting for treasures. I’ve seen more spontaneous purchases in this stretch than any other time of the year.

So while December might be slow, it’s also a great time to clean up listings, organize inventory, and get everything ready to go live the moment that post-Christmas energy kicks in. That one week alone can make up for a good chunk of the December lull.

Finally Learning the Other Side: Buying

Now here’s where things get interesting. After decades of being a seller, I finally became an active eBay buyer in the past few months—and wow, was I unprepared.

I assumed buying would be easy. Search, find, click, done. But that’s not how it works, especially for niche or collectible items. I ran into three major frustrations immediately:

Lesson #1: Search Is Way Harder Than I Thought

As a seller, I always figured buyers just type in what they want and find it. But what I didn’t realize is how many great items never show up—due to eBays search algorithm or because sellers don’t use the right keywords.

When I search for specific stamps, I’d find some right away—but I also knew there had to be more out there. I’d stumble onto amazing items by accident, just because the seller used different phrasing, abbreviations, or even had a typo in the title.

That meant I had to start running multiple keyword variations, trying every possible combination to unearth buried listings. It’s exhausting.

So this drove home a lesson that I have forgotten: accurate, complete titles matter more than I gave them credit for. If your listing doesn’t include the key terms someone would search, it might as well not exist.

That includes catalog numbers (Scott, Brookman, etc.), certificate information, country of origin, or whatever someone might reasonably type into the search bar.

Lesson #2: The eBay Offer System is Broken (and Spammy)

As a seller, I loved sending offers. It felt like smart marketing. “Hey, here’s a little discount if you’re interested.” What buyer wouldn’t like that?

Well… me, now.

eBay has a system where if someone views your item—even if they don’t watch it—you can still send them an offer. Sounds good in theory. But in practice? It becomes a flood of unwanted alerts and emails.

Most of the time, I looked at an item and decided not to buy it. Maybe the photos weren’t clear. Maybe I saw a flaw only mentioned in the description. But now eBay keeps notifying me about that same item over and over with discounts I don’t care about. The worst part, I can’t even delete these spam offers for a full week.

These unwanted offers clog up my inbox and notifications. It’s not just annoying—it actively slows down my browsing because I have to sift through a bunch of stuff I already said “no thanks” to.

The worst part? Sellers often don’t even know they’re spamming. They send out one offer, and eBay blasts it to every future viewer automatically.

eBay, if you’re listening: Let us filter the offers we want to receive. If I could toggle it to only get offers on items in my watchlist or cart, I’d probably buy a lot more.

Lesson #3: Customer Service Still Matters

Now that I’ve been on the buying side, I’ve felt that wave of disappointment when a stamp arrives with a hidden fault. A crease that wasn’t mentioned. A thin that wasn’t obvious from the photo or stamps that appear to be better centered then they really are in person. We’ve all been there.

The item may not have cost much, but the letdown is real. In my head, I’ve already placed that stamp in my collection. So when it arrives flawed, it feels personal—like something was taken away.

And here’s the thing: returns don’t always solve that feeling. But you know what does?

A quick and generous response.

As a seller, I used to believe that offering an easy return policy was sufficient, but I have learned that more is needed. If I accidentally send something with an undisclosed flaw and the buyer reaches out, I’ve found that if the cost of the item isn’t too much, letting them keep it and issuing a refund is one of the best moves you can make. When the customer is already frustrated with their purchase, the last thing they need is to be told they need to go back to the post office to return their disappointment.

This doesn’t “fix” the problem—but it does shift the tone. Suddenly the buyer sees you as a decent human being, not just another anonymous seller. That gesture, even if it’s small, goes a long way toward preventing negative feedback and building goodwill.

It’s a lesson straight out of Robert Cialdini’s Influence—even a small gift can drastically change how someone perceives a relationship. That unexpected kindness makes buyers more likely to reciprocate. Maybe with a kind message. Maybe with five star positive feedback. Maybe with a return visit.

Final Thoughts: What Buying Taught Me About Selling

Buying on eBay after decades of selling has been one of the best things I’ve done for my business. It reminded me that behind every sale is a real person with real expectations—and sometimes, real frustrations.

It put my into a buyers perspective to realize clear communication, generosity, and a little empathy can turn even a mistake into a positive experience.

If you’re a longtime seller who hasn’t dipped into buying much, I’d strongly encourage it. Not just to pick up something for your own collection, but to see your own listings through fresh eyes.

And if you’re a buyer who’s been burned before? I get it now. Truly. I'm still learning. But hopefully, I’m a better seller because of it.