August Sales Report

I told you I hate August.  Over and over again, I told you.  And you looked at me with bog, blank eyes and asked "What has August ever done to you?"

Well, here's my answer:  THE LOWEST SALES MONTH OF THE FRIKKIN' YEAR!!!

It's not like it was unexpected.  After doing this re-sale thing for a while, you get the hang of how the months tend to run.  It is still just a tad frustrating, though.  I mean you still work as hard during the slow months, even if the payback is lower.  Things still get messy and need to be tidied.  Some things still sell and need to be replaced.  The hunt for good merch is eternal.

When I say that August is weak, I don't mean that sales pretty much stop on the first and don't pick back up until the 31st.  There are still some good days amidst the doldrums.  The week and a half or so at the beginning of the month before school starts can be okay.  The problem is that, once things fall off during that first week of school, at some point they've got to really bounce back to make up for the lag.  In August, that doesn't happen right away, because the start of school is followed shortly by the State Fair, which lasts a week and half and covers two weekends.  After that, there isn't enough month left to allow for sufficient bounce back.  Them's the breaks, as they say.

Bounce back is hard to achieve under the best of circumstances.  When you have a few days with a sales lag, the next few days need to not only be at their normal strong sales level to maintain your course for the month, they need to be extra strong to make up for the weak days.  You don't always get that extra boost.

I will say this, however, about the month just ended:  It could have been a lot worse.  I had very strong weekends at both sites throughout the fair, which was a very nice surprise.  Plus, I had a super end of month bounce at YesterNook that left me wishing for one or two more days in the month to keep it going.  Alas, that was not to be.  Sigh.

In the end,  it was a typical August--lowest sales month of the year.  I did come out ahead at the end of things, though.  In that regard, I can't complain too much, although that's never stopped me before.

The good thing about slow months is that they eventually come to en end.  August has gone, and the much stronger fall sales months have begun.  I'll see you next month, with a much better report.