Topic: General eBay observation.

[nickjtc]

One of the nice things about being a seller is that get to see the number of 'watchers' looking at your items for sale. What I don't understand is why they don't bid until the last few hours of the auction......it's only a 49 cent item!!

I could understand the whole sniping concept if it was something really desirable and there was a chance of getting a stonking deal.....but for something going for less than a dollar...

[Gordon]

Sniping isn't so much about getting something for cheap, it's about not giving someone else the chance to reactively bid against you.  Many ebayers don't know how to determine what something is worth to them until somebody else bids.  If you put your bid in at the last second, they don't have a chance to bite at it and you have a better chance of winning, regardless of the overall price.  Even if something is a very inexpensive item, if I need it, I need it and I don't want someone else using my bid to determine how much they want to bid. 

Besides, it's only at 49 cents right now because nobody (or at least no more than one person) has bid on it yet.  Wait until the end and it will jump up if more than one person wants it. 

As an occasional seller myself, I turned off the function that shows me how many people are watching my items.  It makes no difference to me how many are watching, and I soon discovered that the number of watchers usually has no bearing on how many bids an item will get.  It was only a source of frustration seeing twelve people watching my auction only to end up with one or two bidders on it.   

[nickjtc]

As an occasional seller myself, I turned off the function that shows me how many people are watching my items.

That's a good idea.

[DammitDan]

Sniping isn't so much about getting something for cheap, it's about not giving someone else the chance to reactively bid against you.  Many ebayers don't know how to determine what something is worth to them until somebody else bids.  If you put your bid in at the last second, they don't have a chance to bite at it and you have a better chance of winning, regardless of the overall price.  Even if something is a very inexpensive item, if I need it, I need it and I don't want someone else using my bid to determine how much they want to bid. 

Besides, it's only at 49 cents right now because nobody (or at least no more than one person) has bid on it yet.  Wait until the end and it will jump up if more than one person wants it. 

As an occasional seller myself, I turned off the function that shows me how many people are watching my items.  It makes no difference to me how many are watching, and I soon discovered that the number of watchers usually has no bearing on how many bids an item will get.  It was only a source of frustration seeing twelve people watching my auction only to end up with one or two bidders on it.   

Gordon is exactly right.  I don't want people te be paying attention to it when I'm getting ready to bid at the end of the auction.  I myself have several times had things stolen right out from under me because I bid on it a few days before the auction ended, then simply forgot to pay attention when the auction came due and the winning bidder outbid me by $1.  Ooh that burns me when that happens...

So basically I don't bid until the last 20 seconds to (a) keep others from knowing I'm interested in the hopes that they won't be paying attention when the auction ends, and (b) to keep me on my toes and remind me that the auction is ending soon

[UnCrash]

I always watch items so I'm reminded that I'm interested and bid at the last minute.

There are way too many scammers, scalpers, and shill bidding sellers out there.  This is one of the few actions a buyer can take to have a small (but vauge) advantgage in the ebay bidding process.

Cheers,
Ben 

[Raul CB750K1]

I use to watch items but usually bid on the last day. Due to the time difference between Spain and the US, I don't like to wake up at night to place my bids. I bid the last day and place a honest bid. If I win, good, and if not, I'll wait for another opportunity.

The counter for the number of watchers helps me to place my bid. If the article has been seen by, say, 80 people, by pure statistics I can think there would be at least 10 genuine interested bidders, so if I want it badly I better be ready to bid high. If it has been watches by only 8 or 10 people, then I have many chances to be the only bidder. I don't bid too high even in those cases to avoid being scammed by self-bids -or bids placed by the seller's friends-.

As a seller, I usually leave the watchers counter. I don't mind if a potential buyer realize there has only been five watchers. I usually don't sell collector items, just things I want to get rid of. To avoid selling by a ridiculous price, I set a honest starting price in such a way that if there is only one bidder somebody can get something cheap and I make enough money to justify the annoyance of making pictures, writing descriptions, packing things, traveling to the Post Office and paying the fees. Most of the things I've sold have had only one bid, but I'm OK with that. In a couple of occasions there has been a bidding war to my advantage, but I don't look for it. If it happens, good for me. I don't think that setting a 99cent starting price will encourage more bidders. For me it makes no difference to buy something for 1 or 5 bucks; I won't stay late at night to save four bucks. I don't think either that anybody with a few eBay transactions will believe he can win a watch, camera or motorcycle auction at the starting price of one dollar.


Raul

[Gordon]

I myself have several times had things stolen right out from under me because I bid on it a few days before the auction ended, then simply forgot to pay attention when the auction came due and the winning bidder outbid me by $1.  Ooh that burns me when that happens...

If the current bid increment is only $1, then that's the most you'll be able to lose by if you're the second highest bidder.  You have no way of knowing the maximum bid the winner put in because it will only show his bid as one increment over yours.  He could have bid hundreds more than that, or just a few cents, but you'd never know unless he told you. 

Raul,  what you're talking about is the page view counter, which is visible to anybody looking at the auction page.  Nick is talking about the feature that lets only the seller see how many people have actually put the item in their "Watch" list on their "my ebay" page

[tbone]

I tend to be a watch and wait bidder also when I do bid on something. Most times though, if I can find it with a "B.I.N." at a fair price I'd much rather go that way. I had bid on some N.O.S. fork tubes and the high bidder paid more than I did for new ones from Cycle Exchange! (mine were seals and boots included too)

My main eBay rule I try to follow is, "don't buy from sellers with feedback ratings lower than the normal human body temperature (98.6)"! Every time I didn't follow that general rule, in one way or another, I got HOSED !

[Uncle Ernie]

I watch a lot of things but don't bid.  It's another source of information for me.  My Indian had an incredible number of watchers and it didn't get one single bid.  OK, part of that was my stinky description, but I would have assumed it was still a deal.  ( got some folks come by today about it who saw it on eBay.  It's sold either way, though)  (way cheap if you ask me)

[bill440cars]

          I can fully identify with the subject of late bidding. On more than one occasion, i put in a bid on something I really wanted and needed, only to be blown out with in the last 10-15 seconds! A good example is a set of rearsets, in two different listings. I had both of them going my way, with very little attention from anyone else and BOOM!, int eh last 10 seconds or less, both of them were picked off!
I'll have to admit that I have purposely run the bid up some, on something that I really wanted and someone comes in on at he last bit, and backed off because I didn't want to give as much as the other person would. There have also been some occasions that I have taken the bidding up more than I actually wanted to give, in hopes of jarring the other guy loose and never seems to work.

           Like tbone, if I can find a part with a B.I.N., that's not too badly priced, I'll go for it and save the hassle. First off though, I'll check the forums items to see if I can get it that way.

                                                         Later on, Bill  

[tsflstb]

I'll offer a pro-sniper post...they can save you from yourself sometimes.

One night in a stupor, I thought my living room needed some art.  I bid $100 on a stuffed armadillo posed like it was drinking a bottle of Lone Star.  I will find a way to attach a breathalyzer to my ebay login soon.

So I check my email the next day and look in amazement at the "bid confirmed" message.  For two days, I watched that auction constantly, refreshing the screen looking at the pictures and hoping someone wanted that gnarly looking thing more than me.  I swear it was staring at me through the monitor and laughing.  Christmas and my birthday came in the last 30 seconds as a flurry of bids hit.  Somebody out there has a $107.53 conversation piece and my eternal gratitude.

[Raul CB750K1]

I'll offer a pro-sniper post...they can save you from yourself sometimes.

One night in a stupor, I thought my living room needed some art.  I bid $100 on a stuffed armadillo posed like it was drinking a bottle of Lone Star.  I will find a way to attach a breathalyzer to my ebay login soon.

So I check my email the next day and look in amazement at the "bid confirmed" message.  For two days, I watched that auction constantly, refreshing the screen looking at the pictures and hoping someone wanted that gnarly looking thing more than me.  I swear it was staring at me through the monitor and laughing.  Christmas and my birthday came in the last 30 seconds as a flurry of bids hit.  Somebody out there has a $107.53 conversation piece and my eternal gratitude.

ROTFLMAO, thanks for making my day!!!!

[SteveD CB500F]

I watch every 500 on eBay UK because I'm interested in them and how much tey go for.  So if you're selling one right now, one of the watchers is me!

As a seller, I've found that the ratio is about 10:1 Watchers:Bidders  (ie one bidder for every 10 watchers)

[74cb750]

Well Steve,
I don't know about your averages bkz I have 15 watchers on my Indian and
no bidders.

Seems to be lots and lots of people watch but never bid.
A new trend?

peace,
michel