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IS DELCAMPE MORE DEAD THAN EVER?

  • richnoddystamps
    Closed account
    PRO free

    232 messages

    United Kingdom

    I have reduced my store to a free shop, with 1000 items, changing my stock at the end of each month. October seemed to be successful, but November has yet again fallen off a cliff, with barely 50 quid for my troubles. The saving on fees is being invested in google adwords to direct to my own site, with spectacular results (300% increase in sales month on month).

    It is worth noting that the majority of my sales on my site own during November are part of my November 1000 offering on Delcampe.

    I conclude from this that the stamp market is still extremely strong, but buyers have left Delcampe as they are unwilling to pay the portal costs.

    Is this reflective of other sellers?
  • wycombe1
    wycombe1 100% (87043x)
    premium

    1914 messages

    United Kingdom

    'Is this reflective of other sellers?'

    In short - yes.

    Initially my sales were great due to listing stocks I obtained on my African travels but then sales fell of a cliff. Some of my regular 'big' buyers told me that the fees turned them off and they have moved elsewhere despite offering a substantial discount on potential invoice totals. It seems the concept of 'buyers fees is anathema to very many - not just the few!

    Anyway I'm off back to East Africa to get new stock as well as have a break for a week or to so I will look with interest at any tweaks Delcampe make in alleviating the devastating impact this new fee structure has had on sales when I return.
  • martinezsmith
    martinezsmith 100% (42006x)
    PRO advanced

    61 messages

    Spain

    Is this reflective of other sellers? Absolutely.

    We’ve already pulled back from investing further time and effort into the site, as the current commission and fee structure has made it unfeasible to keep uploading new items.

    Any listings we may still upload will likely be priced uncompetitively due to the added buyer fees. These listings serve a different purpose now, as Delcampe is no longer our primary marketplace for the future, though it held that role as recently as early 2023.

    Additionally, there has been a noticeable lack of responses from administrators to questions raised in the forums, which is frustrating for sellers trying to directly address these pressing concerns.

    We don’t have high hopes for the mid-November meeting, especially in light of recent changes announes as "good news", like the reduction in fees for relistings items with the new tag —a feature we’ve never relied on in over a decade on the platform.
  • sammlerkalle
    Closed account
    PRO free

    881 messages

    Germany

    A platform that charges sellers fixed costs has no incentive to increase sales for the benefit of sellers. They still get their money. You can see that here too. Delcampe is not doing anything to bring the drastically reduced sales figures back to at least the 2023 level. They simply collect the subscription fees and that's it. I will therefore leave Delcampe on December 1st and concentrate on platforms with no fixed costs and with sales figures that have not fallen.
  • richnoddystamps
    Closed account
    PRO free

    232 messages

    United Kingdom

    Since my last message I have sold a stamp on Delcampe! Was it worth the effort?….. no.

    I too now use the site as secondary (or thirdly, if that’s a word), as I am not prepared to reduce my prices if stock is selling extremely well on my own site. I will persist with the free store until the new year then review. I am not hopeful as there is little hope of a Delcampe u-turn.
  • boldozoi
    boldozoi 25% (33x)

    2 messages

    Romania

    Honestly, what can a buyer get from the new platform? There are no new items - or very few.

    The majority of sellers are reducing their stocks here and new items are listed on other sites.
    If I were to buy something I would search for something new. These items - that are still left on the platform - I have already seen and filtered - therefore no interest.

    The greatest danger for the platform is the lack of new content. If buyers don't find anything new they will search in other places.
    The system of grouping items in lots does not work for the us, the buyers. Why should I acquire a bunch of items that I'm not interested into just for one of two pieces? We pay more for an item that we desire and get unnecessary extras.To make up for the extras we would need to also sell some items.
    If storage space is the issue... for sure they could find additional measures. Only a brainstorm on the forum would generate some very good ideas.

    I am more interested now in the conversation on the forum than on the items on the platform.
    Even if they will roll back all changes this would not completely guaranty the return of sales at the previous levels since, us, the buyers have found alternative sites in the meantime.

    Old items in a store are interesting only with the option of group offers. Still they limited the offering to only 30%. I agree that for some items would be too low, however, for some would reflect more realistic prices. As I notices buyers are not reviewing their item prices very frequently. The possibility for a seller to set this limit would be much better.

    Anyway, I follow closely the changes just for curiosity. I don't make my living from this platform. It is just a hobby for me :)
  • stevehillstamps
    stevehillstamps 100% (14576x)
    PRO standard

    223 messages

    United Kingdom

    Yes delcampe seems to be deader than ever.

    It's gone from my preferred platform to sell on to a place with very few sales. It now acts as a store for items not listed elsewhere yet (or are too lower value to do so). I now take more items off Delcampe to sell elsewhere each month than I get in sales.

    If you add in the accounting issues caused by the buyer fees (Buyer fees are entering the sellers paypal account and being taken out afterwards Link (https) and customs issues (buyer fees need to be declared on UK CN22's but this can take them over the IOSS limit causing buyer to pay twice Link (https) it just makes selling here even harder.

    With next to no sales its easy to see why I'm reducing my stock here as well.
  • Picturepostcardsonline
    Picturepostcardsonline 100% (1650x)
    PRO free

    36 messages

    United Kingdom

    I stopped selling completely on Delcampe.
    Reading through this thread I'm astounded there is no interaction from Delcampe. The posts are placed by long standing Delcampe members with very high feedback numbers. The backbone of the site I would have thought? It's not looking good.
  • stampmall
    stampmall 100% (14606x)
    free

    31 messages

    Australia

    Since I stopped selling on Delcampe my sales are up 166% on the same month as last year, using Paypal data as the comparison.

    No Mangopay.
    No stupid low ball offers.
    Can use my Own ID's without extra cost..
    I pay the fees, not the Buyers.
    Bulk Uploader free.
    Multiple sales a day.
    Best move I made in a long time :applause: :applause: :applause:
  • Roterosen
    Closed account
    free

    123 messages

    Thailand

    I still wonder why DC is not communicating ANY data supporting the benefit of all the changes and I wonder why? DC's main argument is legal challenges, which is only partly true. A new payment system and shifting fees to buyers has nothing to do with legal issues...
  • jacobbrothers
    jacobbrothers 100% (1014x)
    free

    12 messages

    United States

    Since I stopped selling on Delcampe my sales are up 166% on the same month as last year, using Paypal data as the comparison.

    No Mangopay.
    No stupid low ball offers.
    Can use my Own ID's without extra cost..
    I pay the fees, not the Buyers.
    Bulk Uploader free.
    Multiple sales a day.
    Best move I made in a long time :applause: :applause: :applause:
    • Created on Nov 15, 2024 at 6:48 PM
    • #1824186
    Your sales are up... so where are you selling? I'm pretty desperate to find a place to move my extra stamps that's not going to make me mail out my stamps to just get pennies.
  • stampmall
    stampmall 100% (14606x)
    free

    31 messages

    Australia

    Your sales are up... so where are you selling? I'm pretty desperate to find a place to move my extra stamps that's not going to make me mail out my stamps to just get pennies.
    • Created on Jan 4, 2025 at 10:46 PM
    • #1847655
    Look for a Moustache
    board
  • moonstone
    moonstone 100% (54752x)
    advanced

    1023 messages

    United Kingdom

    It will be interesting to see whether Delcampe's January only 'offer' to reduce platform fees on items selling for less than €5 will have any positive effect, or is it too little, too late?
  • sammlerkalle
    Closed account
    PRO free

    881 messages

    Germany

    It will be interesting to see whether Delcampe's January only 'offer' to reduce platform fees on items selling for less than €5 will have any positive effect, or is it too little, too late?
    • Created on Jan 5, 2025 at 7:39 AM
    • #1847793
    I don't think that will have a major impact. The announcement is currently only hidden in a blog post and an associated email - hardly any of the buyers will notice. In addition, an item costing 1 euro still costs 1.25 euros. That's 25% purchase fees, which is far too much. And finally, the customer not only has to pay these 25 percent extra, but also the seller's subscription fees, which the sellers have incorporated into their sales prices. So Delcampe is still far too expensive for one-euro items.
  • moonstone
    moonstone 100% (54752x)
    advanced

    1023 messages

    United Kingdom

    I don't think that will have a major impact. The announcement is currently only hidden in a blog post and an associated email - hardly any of the buyers will notice. In addition, an item costing 1 euro still costs 1.25 euros. That's 25% purchase fees, which is far too much. And finally, the customer not only has to pay these 25 percent extra, but also the seller's subscription fees, which the sellers have incorporated into their sales prices. So Delcampe is still far too expensive for one-euro items.
    • Created on Jan 5, 2025 at 10:05 AM
    • #1847856
    Could be worse though! - selling a 1 euro item on eBay from next month is going to cost 1.75 + 4% from many sellers! - don't know if it is coincidental that Delcampe came out with that the day after eBay announced their changes.
    eBay seem to be having a policy of driving out the small private seller, perhaps if Delcampe thought about that, a permanent reduction might encourage some of the people back who left for eBay when the charges were imposed.
    Who knows!
  • jacobbrothers
    jacobbrothers 100% (1014x)
    free

    12 messages

    United States

    Look for a Moustache
    • Created on Jan 4, 2025 at 11:33 PM
    • #1847661
    Yeah, I found the 'stache. The idea that I have to pay a subscription to sell was a turnoff, especially when followed by 9% fees on the total.
    It would be astounding for someone to have a selling site that did not involve such high fees. It can't be that expensive to run a site - even if they got a nickel per transaction they'd be raking in money
  • Little_Art_Treasures
    Little_Art_Treasures 100% (1x)
    free

    13 messages

    United States

    Is this reflective of other sellers? Absolutely.

    We’ve already pulled back from investing further time and effort into the site, as the current commission and fee structure has made it unfeasible to keep uploading new items.

    Any listings we may still upload will likely be priced uncompetitively due to the added buyer fees. These listings serve a different purpose now, as Delcampe is no longer our primary marketplace for the future, though it held that role as recently as early 2023.

    Additionally, there has been a noticeable lack of responses from administrators to questions raised in the forums, which is frustrating for sellers trying to directly address these pressing concerns.

    We don’t have high hopes for the mid-November meeting, especially in light of recent changes announes as "good news", like the reduction in fees for relistings items with the new tag —a feature we’ve never relied on in over a decade on the platform.
    • Created on Nov 14, 2024 at 6:26 AM
    • #1823298
    Happy New Year everyone!
    While we are really excited to return to this, global venue in addition to our eBay, Hipstamp and Etsy platforms, we are still waiting for our first Delcampe sale.
    We were a seller here about 12 years ago but lack of sales then made the decision to close our store for us. Our hope was that conditions have changed here on Delcampe.
    We listed a wide variety of 450 assorted stamp, coin and art offerings, even some cigar band listings, but after a full month, and a new year, while we had three sales yesterday on eBay and Etsy, nothing on here, not even a message or offer.
    After reading some of the forum posts about 'poor sales' we are relieved that our lack of sales on Delcampe are probably not the fault of our listings. In reviewing some of the other sellers, there are sales happening, so, a general lack of traffic doesn't appear to be the issue. Although, admittedly, there are a lot of low priced sales.
    We are surprised at the lack of interest and visits to our many U.S. and Canada items which generally sell well on eBay and Hipstamp. Obviously, things take time, so time will tell. Hopefully, we will receive a little interest.
    We would be happy to hear from other sellers about these issues.
  • moonstone
    moonstone 100% (54752x)
    advanced

    1023 messages

    United Kingdom

    Happy New Year everyone!
    While we are really excited to return to this, global venue in addition to our eBay, Hipstamp and Etsy platforms, we are still waiting for our first Delcampe sale.
    We were a seller here about 12 years ago but lack of sales then made the decision to close our store for us. Our hope was that conditions have changed here on Delcampe.
    We listed a wide variety of 450 assorted stamp, coin and art offerings, even some cigar band listings, but after a full month, and a new year, while we had three sales yesterday on eBay and Etsy, nothing on here, not even a message or offer.
    After reading some of the forum posts about 'poor sales' we are relieved that our lack of sales on Delcampe are probably not the fault of our listings. In reviewing some of the other sellers, there are sales happening, so, a general lack of traffic doesn't appear to be the issue. Although, admittedly, there are a lot of low priced sales.
    We are surprised at the lack of interest and visits to our many U.S. and Canada items which generally sell well on eBay and Hipstamp. Obviously, things take time, so time will tell. Hopefully, we will receive a little interest.
    We would be happy to hear from other sellers about these issues.
    • Created on Jan 5, 2025 at 10:38 AM
    • #1847877
    You have to remember when making comparisons that eBay and Hipstamp are both US centric sites, whereas Delcampe is European, primarily Francophile. It’s not that US and Canada doesn’t sell, it does , but don’t expect the interest levels to be as high as on your other listing sites.
  • worldphila
    worldphila 100% (1801x)
    standard

    368 messages

    Israel

    Happy New Year everyone!
    While we are really excited to return to this, global venue in addition to our eBay, Hipstamp and Etsy platforms, we are still waiting for our first Delcampe sale.
    We were a seller here about 12 years ago but lack of sales then made the decision to close our store for us. Our hope was that conditions have changed here on Delcampe.
    We listed a wide variety of 450 assorted stamp, coin and art offerings, even some cigar band listings, but after a full month, and a new year, while we had three sales yesterday on eBay and Etsy, nothing on here, not even a message or offer.
    After reading some of the forum posts about 'poor sales' we are relieved that our lack of sales on Delcampe are probably not the fault of our listings. In reviewing some of the other sellers, there are sales happening, so, a general lack of traffic doesn't appear to be the issue. Although, admittedly, there are a lot of low priced sales.
    We are surprised at the lack of interest and visits to our many U.S. and Canada items which generally sell well on eBay and Hipstamp. Obviously, things take time, so time will tell. Hopefully, we will receive a little interest.
    We would be happy to hear from other sellers about these issues.
    • Created on Jan 5, 2025 at 10:38 AM
    • #1847877
    As seen all your offers are high value items.
    Most Delcampe members are looking for less expensive items.
    And you are still without any FB's.
    Wish you a successful New Year on Delcampe.
  • Little_Art_Treasures
    Little_Art_Treasures 100% (1x)
    free

    13 messages

    United States

    You have to remember when making comparisons that eBay and Hipstamp are both US centric sites, whereas Delcampe is European, primarily Francophile. It’s not that US and Canada doesn’t sell, it does , but don’t expect the interest levels to be as high as on your other listing sites.
    • Created on Jan 5, 2025 at 11:21 AM
    • #1847895
    Hi, thanks for the post. Yes, you are correct, eBay and Hipstamp are U.S. sites however nearly half of all our stamp sales have always been shipped to other countries. You would be surprised how many Canadian buyers purchase Canadian lots from us. We recently sold a Mexico EFO to a buyer in Duderstadt, Germany and a lovely GB KGVI MNH lot was sold to a buyer in West Midlands, United Kingdom.
    Happy New Year
  • Little_Art_Treasures
    Little_Art_Treasures 100% (1x)
    free

    13 messages

    United States

    As seen all your offers are high value items.
    Most Delcampe members are looking for less expensive items.
    And you are still without any FB's.
    Wish you a successful New Year on Delcampe.
    • Created on Jan 5, 2025 at 12:05 PM
    • #1847928
    Thanks for the comment, but If I search the stamp listings, highest price first, there are hundreds of higher priced items in the $1,000s of dollars.
  • tris_nerima
    tris_nerima 97% (58198x)
    advanced

    449 messages

    Canada

    Thanks for the comment, but If I search the stamp listings, highest price first, there are hundreds of higher priced items in the $1,000s of dollars.
    • Created on Jan 5, 2025 at 1:11 PM
    • #1847964
    I wonder if you are promoting your store on other sites? What the f--k?
  • stampmall
    stampmall 100% (14606x)
    free

    31 messages

    Australia

    Yeah, I found the 'stache. The idea that I have to pay a subscription to sell was a turnoff, especially when followed by 9% fees on the total.
    It would be astounding for someone to have a selling site that did not involve such high fees. It can't be that expensive to run a site - even if they got a nickel per transaction they'd be raking in money
    • Created on Jan 5, 2025 at 10:29 AM
    • #1847871
    Plus the Paypal fee.

    There is no free Lunch available if you wish to sell.

    The big difference is Sellers pay the Fees, Buyers DO NOT want to pay the fees, especially on small items.
    I do not believe it will change until that decision is reversed. Fair enough that there are many Thousands of Junk listings that will never sell, they are a liability to the image of a Site, ebay, Delcampe and Hipstamp all suffer from Junk listings.
    Make the Sellers pay !! NOT the Buyers.

    The ebay changes I believe are only on the UK site and not the .com site, so are probably a test.

    The market place is fluid, so Commerce will adjust itself in the end, Delcampe HAS admitted their error by reducing the fees for a few weeks, but it will not recover until the Sellers again pay all the fees.

    Buyers have given Delcampe the Middle Finger for the "Bread & Butter" listings, which make this Hobby a success.
  • crazyrebel
    crazyrebel 100% (10413x)
    standard

    57 messages

    United Kingdom

    Yeah, I found the 'stache. The idea that I have to pay a subscription to sell was a turnoff, especially when followed by 9% fees on the total.
    It would be astounding for someone to have a selling site that did not involve such high fees. It can't be that expensive to run a site - even if they got a nickel per transaction they'd be raking in money
    • Created on Jan 5, 2025 at 10:29 AM
    • #1847871
    dont know who the stache is, need more of a clue if you can
  • martinezsmith
    martinezsmith 100% (42006x)
    PRO advanced

    61 messages

    Spain

    dont know who the stache is, need more of a clue if you can
    • Created on Feb 5, 2025 at 10:55 PM
    • #1863148
    @Crazyrebel, the answer is in the post right before yours.

    Read it carefully and double-check everything it mentions. If you're unsure about anything, try a quick Google search—you'll eventually find the 'stache.

    Have a nice day!

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