Certainly there's no easy answer, different things work best for different people. However, generally speaking the most bidding seems to happen at night (when most people are home). Taking into account the 3 hour time difference between the coasts, you don't want it to end too late on the East Coast, or too early, while people are still returning from work, on the West Coast. Find the middle ground. Probably 7 or 8 PM Pacific is the best. As for which day of the week, that completely varies. Some people say that weekends are best, in which case, ten day auctions that cover two weekends will offer most exposure, but other people experience things differently. Experiment, and see what works for you. In my case, for example, Friday nights seem the best night for bidding and Monday nights are the worst.
As for programs, I use a good one called http://www.auctionsubmit.com. I believe Auction Watch itself offers something similar that many people here use and love.
[ edited by jamesoblivion on Oct 10, 2000 12:57 PM ]
posted on October 10, 2000 01:16:35 PM
When shopping, I notice there is more competition on a Sunday night between 7:00 and 11:00 p.m. CST. Let's see, that would be between 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. PST--so I would think that would be a good time if you were selling items I buy--such as gardening supplies, writing implements and books.
On the other hand. I have gotten some of my best bargains on week days around 3:00 p.m. CST--12:00 noon PST-which would lead me to believe that not many other people are shopping at that time.
It probably depends on what you are selling as to when would be the best day and time to end an auction in order to accomodate the largest audience and hopefully get the highest bid.
cybercat
--
What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
posted on October 10, 2000 03:38:26 PM
I recently had a few auctions end on Friday and Saturday night (8p-10p Pacific). The average price I get for these items were a lot less than say on a Sunday evening, or other evenings.
I use Auction Manager Pro to schedule auction items that I like to submit at specific times. The program also provides an easy copy and paste ability if you have identical items you would like to submit at different times.
posted on October 10, 2000 08:40:52 PM
I usually end my auctions on Sunday or Thursday night between 6-8 PST. As everyone is saying, there are a lot of bidders out on Sunday night. But as a bidder, I don't care when they are ending anymore, I usually use e-snipe to bid, so I can snipe at the last second.
posted on October 11, 2000 08:14:16 AM
We have noticed that sat and sun nights are awful. But sunday and generally any week night are pretty good. We sell childrens clothing and Monday nights during the game is good. Not to be making a generalization, but footbal widows go online.
posted on October 12, 2000 11:25:38 AM
Thanks for all the opinions and advice. I'm continuing to experiment but seem to have really good luck with auctions that close on Saturday night. The funny thing is that most of the initial bids are coming during the days in the middle of the week. I wouldn't think this would be true but it's happened with quite a few of my auctions.
This will be my first holiday season for auctioning so I look forward to increasing my sales.
posted on October 12, 2000 03:02:25 PM
Think about it. What nights are you most likely to be home in front of your computer. Who is home to bid on Fri/Sat nights (err, unless your customers are bidding on Beanie Babies...)?
But seriously, I close my auctions (after a 10-day run) on Sun/Mon/Tues evenings. That is when most people are home. People do not bid unless they are home (could be risky at the office bidding on that leather face mask as seen in "Pulp Fiction".
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