u/Icy_Age2054

Ok so small business owner here and I need to know if this is just me or if it's happening to everyone.

Up until last year I was doing pretty good...llike 30-40% of the people who messaged me actually turned into paying customers. Now it's dropped to like 2-4%. Nothing on my end has changed. I haven't touched my prices, I still reply fast.. product's the same.

But the way people message me now is so different. Out of every 100 messages, about 50 just ask "how much?" and then disappear. The other half almost always try to negotiate, and when I tell them I can't discount because I think my prices are already fair.. they just leave me on read. Not even a "no thanks"

So out of 100 inquiries I'm lucky if 2-3 actually buy. It's honestly draining.. I spend time replying, sometimes putting together custom quotes.. and then just get ghosted the moment I don't lower the price.

Is this happening to other small business owners too right now? Are people just way more price-sensitive/negotiate-happy than before? Or could this be something I'm doing wrong? Genuinely want to know how others are dealing with this.

so i make and sell custom earrings and necklaces and it's just me running everything. so i'm constantly trying to stay consistent on tiktok, ig, youtube, facebook and linkedin all by myself. ( business really picks up around valentine's and christmas )

i've been trying to find a scheduler that doesn't cost a lot and after a ton of research i've shortlisted a few (metricool, publer, recurpost, meetedgar) budget-friendly options but i genuinely can't figure out which direction to go. everyone online either sounds like they're sponsored or just lists features i don't fully understand yet.

what do you guys actually use to manage posting across multiple platforms? anything that's worked for a one-person setup?TIA!