pixiamom
|
posted on June 9, 2006 09:26:53 AM new
12 watchers and not one snipe! Phooey!
|
pat1959
|
posted on June 9, 2006 09:43:13 AM new
On vacation!
The kids are out of school and the buyers are busy planting their gardens, doing their spring cleaning or out enjoying the spring weather.
Your "watchers" are probably other sellers, wondering if they should even bother listing during the summer months...
|
upriver
|
posted on June 9, 2006 12:04:31 PM new
Didn't you know you're supposed to end your auction when they're home?
|
mamachia
|
posted on June 9, 2006 01:07:47 PM new
I HATE the watchers. I had an item last week where I had 28 watchers and only 3 bidders where it didn't bring me in the same money as the last one that sold.
mama
|
stonecold613
|
posted on June 11, 2006 11:53:07 AM new
12 watchers and not one snipe
Time and time again I am proved right that the watch system only hurts sellers. It needs to go away forever.
|
irked
|
posted on June 11, 2006 12:10:09 PM new
29 watchers and 3 bidders--strange
**************
I married my wife for her looks...but not the
ones she's been giving me lately!
|
paloma91
|
posted on June 11, 2006 05:41:01 PM new
6 watchers and 1 bid here
|
photosensitive
|
posted on June 11, 2006 07:09:58 PM new
Stonecold, I think you are wrong. Before the watch list I bookmarked items till I could decide if I wanted to bid. They tended to get lost in my bookmark list and sometimes I found them too late. With the watch list as my home page I am reminded of the items I am considering each time I start the computer so I am not likely to forget.
You may wish that bidders would bid as soon as they find the item but that is not the way I (and I expect a lot of bidders) choose to play the game.
I know that the watch list has meant more and higher bids for the sellers on my list.
-----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
|
stonecold613
|
posted on June 11, 2006 07:35:56 PM new
Before the watch list I bookmarked items till I could decide if I wanted to bid.
Same thing except you bookmark them on ebay now instead of your own computer. Before the watch list, bidders would bid instead of trying to bookmark them. Now they put you on a watch list only to pass on it later.
Also to prove the point even further. I run many FP items. I get watchers all the time on those. There is no legite reason for a FP item to ever be on a watch list. No need to see what it does. The first and only bid wins. Even when you look at the posts within this topic, it proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the watch system clearly hurts sellers.
|
twig125silver
|
posted on June 12, 2006 03:55:05 AM new
8 watchers, no bids.
What was up last week?
|
Damariscotta
|
posted on June 12, 2006 04:40:05 AM new
I don't know if these posters are looking for information, opinions, or sympathy. Since no clue is provided as to what the merchandise is, the assumption simply has to be that there are no snipe (or other bids) because, well, no one wants that particular item at this time. Due to the marvels of internet technology, bids can be placed automatically for people while they are mowing the lawn, going on vacation, or passed out drunk on the living room floor.
|
pixiamom
|
posted on June 12, 2006 04:53:36 AM new
Not sure what your point is but your assumptions are wrong. The item had 7 bids. In the past, 12 watchers generally included one or 2 snipers and one could anticipate some exciting action at the end. I haven't seen this for a while. Is any one else getting snipes?
[ edited by pixiamom on Jun 12, 2006 05:07 AM ]
|
Damariscotta
|
posted on June 12, 2006 08:09:04 AM new
My point is just that no matter what the bidding means - whether starting with a high proxy bid or sniping the item, a lack of activity still comes down to a low demand for that item at that time. And assuming the item is not unique, once a buyer gets one, they may take themselves out of the market. But again, since we have no real data to work with, short of finding that eBay has removed the ability to bid near the end of an auction, anything you find here is anecdotal, at best.
|
NEGLUS
|
posted on June 12, 2006 08:59:32 AM new
I think that there are a lot of factors that could come in to play besides people not being interested in an item and not sniping. For on thing, Ebay technical glitches seem to be rampant lately.
Another scenario I haven't seen discussed but might have some bearing: There were mechanical bids placed on thousands of items from hi-jacked accounts last week. Could ebay have put a block on this type of activity which resulted in blocking REAL snipes as well?
One question to ask users here about buying activity: Did you have problems getting YOUR snipe bids placed?
I often hear from buyers who missed bidding on auctions that sold without buyers because of technical problems but I never hear from buyers who were out-sniped (I don't think a seller WOULD hear about that problem).
-------------------------------------
http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards?refid=store
|
hwahwa
|
posted on June 12, 2006 09:03:39 AM new
Dont they have to pay to use the sniping service??
/ lets all stop whining !! /
|
pixiamom
|
posted on June 12, 2006 09:17:12 AM new
One thing's for sure - if there is an eBay problem, we won't hear about it from eBay!
|
classicrock000
|
posted on June 12, 2006 09:41:03 AM new
where have all the snipers gone
long time passing...
where have all the snipers gone,
long long time ago..
where have all the snipers gone,
gone to graveyards.. everyone.
when will they ever learn,when will they ever learn?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you dont want to hear the truth....dont ask the question.
|
Damariscotta
|
posted on June 12, 2006 09:52:02 AM new
...Dont they have to pay to use the sniping service??...
The one I use has a minimal charge; there may also still be some free ones out there.
I usually use a sniping service (auctionsniper) since I am on the road a lot, and don't get a chance to log in. I also watch a number of items, often not because of interest in that item per se, but because it reminds me that the seller tends to have items I am interested in, and for me, seems easier than going to the "favorites" section of my eBay (which I am too lazy to customize).
|
LtRay
|
posted on June 12, 2006 10:37:34 AM new
I'm with Darma. I use the watch function to watch sellers who tend to sell items I like. Much easier than using favorite sellers. My favorite sellers list is at the bottom My Ebay page and I seldom scroll down that far. Now that's Lazy 
As for snipes. I've had plenty of snipes on my auctions this week. Guess it depends upon the category. My guy stuff is doing great. The stuff that usually attracts female bidders is moderate to slow. Guess they are all out working on their summer tans.
|
TnErnie
|
posted on June 13, 2006 03:38:41 PM new
pixiamom - We've been noticing the same thing. High number of watchers, but no snipers at the end. One that ended last night had 18 watchers, but never got a single bid at the end of the auction. It did sell, but with that many watchers I would have expected at least one snipe (based on previous auctions).
[ edited by TnErnie on Jun 13, 2006 03:40 PM ]
|
pixiamom
|
posted on June 13, 2006 04:18:46 PM new
I woke up this morning to a nice snipe from Malaya - just when I thought nobody cared!
|
twig125silver
|
posted on June 13, 2006 04:30:45 PM new
Right now I have one with 14 watchers and no bids yet.....I do hope someone steps up to the plate!
btw- I sell antiques and collectibles. I rarely have more than one of any item to sell. I also list my share of "crap". You know the kind....it'll speak to someone...or it'll sit there...but it rarely has "watchers". Sometimes I list some of Mark's pieces, but eBay is not the best venue for his work.
|
TnErnie
|
posted on June 13, 2006 09:02:32 PM new
Well...just had one that went off for opening bid (placed yesterday) and it had 14 watchers. 
|
roadsmith
|
posted on June 13, 2006 09:11:11 PM new
Stone: I snipe without using a sniping service. It's easy, if I'm home. I just wait until the last 3 minutes, prepare my proxy bid, and snipe in the last 20 seconds. I almost always get the item, and I'm buying for our museum and for a couple of friends, so it's not even my money!
Someone above said we bookmark into eBay's watch list. Not true. I bookmark RATHER THAN saving on eBay's watch list because the bookmarks are easier for me to work with.
|
stonecold613
|
posted on June 13, 2006 09:36:56 PM new
It's easy, if I'm home.
Enough said on that.
One other thing. Sniping, when ebay was still in it's infant stage was very common and happened quite regularly. But with the growth of Ebay and the flooding of the markets, is also being needed less and less. With only one bid placed on most items, the snipe becomes a mute point. Yes, in some cases where you have a rare or hot item, it makes sense, but those are becoming far and few between.
|
pixiamom
|
posted on June 13, 2006 11:40:29 PM new
I've been buying on eBay since early 1996. There was no sniping in the infancy. I can't remember ANY sniping for at least 5 years past that...
|
stonecold613
|
posted on June 15, 2006 07:29:54 AM new
I meant sniping infancy, not ebay's.
|
