posted on July 1, 2002 08:48:18 PM
For what its worth - Over the last months bidders have been waiting till the last hours of my auctions to bid- Sometimes theres a flurry of activity and the items do well but mostley the items close with one or two bids at or near min bid. Few weeks ago I got disgusted when several of my best items sat 6 days with no bids - I bit my lip and ended every single no bid auction. within two hours I was swamped with email saying" hey I went to work and forgot to bid" or "I was just bidding and it ended" and please sell it to me" etc, etc, I refused each offer. I started ending key auctions that had no bids when they reached 3 days. It cost me some fees but guess what - On desirable items - I get bids as soon as they Index on ebay. I dont know if it will work for everyone but sure does it for me.
Luck to you .
Ky
posted on July 1, 2002 09:09:52 PM
I have been selling on Ebay for over 4 yrs. & it has always been the same. Don't get so down on bidders. A lot of bidders don't want to be the first one to bid. I go to auctions all the time(every weekend) & it is the same. One auctioneer whom I know really well, likes to see me as I will open the bidding even on items I have no intention of buying. OK: what have you gained by closing your auctions early? You have lost the chance to sell it & it cost you the listing fees. Duh???
posted on July 1, 2002 10:20:20 PM
Most of all bidding on eBay is on the last few hours. Consider the rest of the auction time as showcasing time for the item. A rare or semi-rare item might be worth the extra 3 days in a 10 day auction for extra showcasing to gather more bidders.
posted on July 1, 2002 10:52:47 PM
We had a very active poster in here at one time (I won't name names, as I'm not certain which of 2 it was) who only ran 3 day auctions.
I don't remember all the details as to how often he listed (more than once a week), but he only listed for 3 days. His theory was that most items get bids the first day and the last day, as that is when they are getting attention - and any days in between are "dead days". By listing for 3 days, his items were getting attention (and bids!) 2/3 of the time they were listed.
I've forgotten what his sell-through was, but it was tremendous! I think he sold new jewelry though, so he used a lot of the same auctions over and over. Also, even though I keep saying "he", I believe it was a husband-wife team - he's just the one who posted here. Most of us who list assorted merchandise and work alone can't consider 3 day auctions as a regular thing.
All I am saying is that it worked for him - and I always think of him when my items are in those "dead days".
posted on July 2, 2002 12:02:25 AM
The effectiveness of 3 days auctions versus 7 days or 10 days auction durations would be difficult to judge unless there was a counter on the auctions. It just makes sense that not everybody looks or bids in the last hours or day of the auction and the longer the better. I try to catch the newly listed auctions as much as possible and sometimes there are great BIN buys to be had that can only be gotten by the early bird shoppers.
posted on July 2, 2002 12:42:51 AM
If most bidders are finding your auctions through the "ending soon" search, then three-day auctions are very sensible. I used to run three-day auctions, and list the items three times a day. That allowed me to always have an item ending soon, and kept me under the "10 identical auctions" rule. Works great if you sell the same item over and over.
posted on July 2, 2002 10:39:59 AM
Some Very good points - I hadnt even thought about aiming for the going going gone listings but what a great ideal! Its getting harder to maintain your sales gross on ebay so it pays to be on the lookout for new tips and techniques. Thanks guys and gals.
Ok4
posted on July 3, 2002 12:53:42 PM
It seems as though some bidders don't learn. They miss an item, ask that it be relisted so they can bid again, then miss it the second time! I let people know that we are charged a non-refundable fee for each listing, and request that they ask a for a relist only if they are definite about bidding. Most do bid, but there are those few who never get their act together. The last minute game really hurts sellers when there is only one bid. It means that sellers have to work a lot harder to make less money. Bidders say that if they bid early, someone outbids them at the last minute. If we suggest that they bid higher than the minimum bid to prevent being outbid, they whine that they want the cheapest price. I think therein lies the real problem: a mindset which says that the cheapest price is the desirable goal, not the winning of the item. Quality is an afterthought. I think those who bid higher like the aspect of gambling posed by the online auction. These are the folks who will bid early, then get in that race at the end which is really exciting to watch as the price of what you are selling goes up and up. However, we find that a significant number of these folks turn out to be no pays after the auction, or slow pays that we have to end up phoning 2 or 3 times. 7 day auctions seem ideal as they give bidders in every conceivable time/work situation a day to find the auction. But what I am reading about the 3 day auctions seems pretty convincing. I may just try it, as BUY IT NOW has been a real dud for us, resulting in more fees and few results.
Cheers, Joan
posted on July 6, 2002 10:14:39 PM
If I have someone e-mail me stating that they missed the auction and can I relist it, I tell them lets do business right now. That way, if they really want the item, they get it and I keep all of the money. If they really don't want the item, I don't ever hear from them again. Then I relist when I normally would. More often than not, the person e-mails back and says, "lets make a deal" and we complete the sale through e-mail.
posted on July 7, 2002 12:42:21 PM
I create near duplicate bulk lists.
One ends on Sunday night roughly midnight EST
The duplicate list ends on Wednesday again midnight EST.
So I always have something ending in the next day or 2.
I notice people who missed out, forgot to come back sunday or got snipped at the last minute will have a bid on its twin brother for the Wednesday ending.......then they don't have to wait another entire week to try again. Quite often the last minute losers will place their Wednesday night ending bid within 1 hour after the Sunday closing.
On the rare occassion someone gets outbid I always email the last minute loser and use the personal offer feature and quite often they snatch it up within an hour as well.
It works well for me.....and for those who have a product line or many multiples of their items.
Nearly all of the high volume adult sellers do the same exact thing......
