posted on April 27, 2006 09:38:18 PM
Has anyone ever tried listing an auction for 5 days rather than 7? I have been trying to decide if a 5 day auction is better than 7. I sometimes sit with over 50% of my auctions not getting bids until the very last hours.
Do you think the bidders will start bidding earlier if they know your auctions will only be on 5 days?
posted on April 27, 2006 11:13:38 PM
I have tried 5,7 and more recently 10 days.
It didn't seem to make any difference..I think most buyers are now holding off until closer to the end of auctions.
If you did 5 days then at least you have 2 days less to wonder why they are not getting bids!
[ edited by otteropp on Apr 27, 2006 11:14 PM ]
posted on April 27, 2006 11:15:19 PM
I personally list all my auctions at 5 days only. I used to do 7 days but found that people lose interest. But either one , most people these days seem to wait until the last 12 hrs to bid anyway.
posted on April 28, 2006 12:46:38 AM
Libra, I'm probably not the best to offer advice on this. It's what works for you, and the type of items you offer.
We (folks) operate on a 7 day week and a lot of people like a certain amount of regularity in their lives, daily/weekly, etc., like looking forward to your favorite tv program. Then there's a bunch out there who want their items yesterday, even before they've paid for it someimes (lol). For them ebay just came out with ebay Express.
I sell a variety of things, antiques/collectibles, and almost always use a 7 day listing, if not the store listing cycle. There are cases that call for longer or shorter durations: maybe having your item end before some competitor's does, the longer exposure of a 10 day listing for that great item you want to maximize the bids on, etc.
Best just to experiment for awhile and see what happens.
posted on April 28, 2006 05:06:28 AM
I did a 3 day listing,,,,I got the notice from e bay it was now Showing 24 Hours AFTER I listed it, I got NO bids for a highly fought over item! I BELIVE it Never hit the internet for the FIRST 24 hours and when I DID get that e bay notice is EXACTLY When it did hit the air. No more 3 day ones for me.
posted on April 28, 2006 05:39:32 AM
We list everything 3 and 5 day auctions, unless it's a really exceptional piece. It's been working really well for us in our category...which doesn't have a huge amount of listings (generally 600 - 700) for our main keyword.
I try to list two auctions every night - 1 3-day and 1 5-day. That keeps us on the the front page for both newly listed and ending soon.
This system may not work as well in other categories though.
posted on April 28, 2006 05:57:00 AM
I run about 3 searches for the main items I bid on every day, sometimes more than once a day. There is a second tier of searches that bring up a lot of items that I run less frequently. It is much more likely that I will find your item if it is on for 7 days. I will put it on watch (yes the most hated feature for sellers) and snipe it on the last day. That is the only way I bid, and trust me my proxy if very hight if it is something I really want.
As a buyer I think 7 days is best. -----o----o----o----o----o----o----o----o
“The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as of the pen.”
Maholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, 1947
posted on April 28, 2006 07:42:40 AM
I like 7 day & 5 day with most everything ending on Thursday night. What I typically do is list until I can't do any more for Thursday to Thursday. Friday I get back to listing and do 5 days starting Saturday and ending Thursday. I can't tell any difference in the time - it all depends on the item.
posted on April 28, 2006 09:01:24 AM
Some excellent points of view here and strategies that I hadn't thought of but will certainly try.
We run mostly 7 day auctions ending on Saturday evenings with just a few for Sunday nights. I think we have tried almost every day of the week and every length of auction. The 10 day ones we tried recently were a total disaster....I will NEVER spend extra money for 10 days again!
posted on April 28, 2006 09:40:39 AMThe 10 day ones we tried recently were a total disaster....I will NEVER spend extra money for 10 days again!
otteropp - I have to agree with you on that one. Every time I've listed for 10 days, the bidding would be pretty good up until about day 6 or 7. Then it would just stagnate and do nothing.
posted on April 28, 2006 09:46:31 AM
As a regular buyer in one of my categories, I use snipe exclusively. I'm suspecting that a lot of buyers are using the same technique. My snipes can run for a full week with no competition, then get blown away in the last few minutes. (Yes, I set a max I will pay to keep my profit margin stable.)
The nice thing about snipeing is that I have a record of the "current going price" (in items "lost" of many of my category items -- what the highest/lowest bid was, etc. A simple way, for me, to track the current market. And that 'current market value' seems to fluctuate quite a bit -- day-to-day and week-to-week.
I rarely list in auctions. My store does well enough for this small-scale seller. When I can pick up a nice item for a few cents and turn around and sell it a few weeks from now through the store at 3-4-5Xs the price, I'm content... Less work! More fun! The 'challenge-of-the-hunt' sort of thing.
To answer your question directly, Libra, I believe the current trend is toward snipeing. Don't know that it matters a whole lot, any more, as to what day, time or length of the listing. The only trend I've observed with non-snipers is that they wait until close to end-of-listing, then place a HIGH proxy on the item. Low-count feedback buyers tend to proxy early. High-count feedback buyers tend to proxy late.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. - Albert Einstein
of many of my category items -- what the highest/lowest bid was, etc. A simple way, for me, to track the current market. And that 'current market value' seems to fluctuate quite a bit -- day-to-day and week-to-week.