postcardman
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posted on October 1, 2007 09:44:24 PM new
I am guessing I am not the only one to notice that more and more bidders are waiting until the very last second to place their bids. I think (but do not know) that the result of this is that some late bids are not making it in before the deadline. I know when I go to real life auctions this happens all the time. In real life the bidders will complain to the auctioneer who didn't see or catch their bid and he says "once I've said sold it's sold! That is the the law!" In eBay life I think it is somewhat worse in that the auction ends at a specific point in time regardless of how many bidders are waving their bid cards and yelling at the auctioneer. Once the time is up that is it. So has any one found a postitive approach to this problem? Eg a way of encouraging bidders to bid early and often so that they don't lose out by trying to wait to the last possible second? I know that one ebayer appends a message to his listings that basically says any items that do not have bids 24 hours prior to auction end will be cancelled and never listed on ebay ever again nor otherwise be made available. I have seen other ebay sellers append their listing to state how many viewers and the count in their watch list on the item with a note explaining that if you think you are going to win this at the minimum bid 5 seconds before the end fo the auction think again. But I really don't like the tone of these approaches and think they may turn off some bidders. So what do you folks think? Any positive approaches to this? Right now I have an item that I listed with a $9.99 opening bid. This is a pretty rare item that based on past sales data should bring between $150 and $300 by auction end. THe listing has had about 250 viewers and is watch listed by more than 30 people yet with less than 48 hours to go has barely moved off the opening bid. I generally don't like reserve price auctions especially in real life and pretty much the same on eBay so I'd rather not go that way it if can be avoided. Suggestions?
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pixiamom
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posted on October 2, 2007 02:43:27 AM new
I've listed once before with a warning that the listing will end early if no bids are received within 24 hours of auction end. In that case, an identical item sold for $75 two weeks prior, yet I only got $17 for the same card in better condition the second time around. The top bidder on the first auction already had the card, the second highest bidder was spooked by the snipers on the first card. I don't think I've ever had 30 watchers on an item.
Is this a postcard? EBay has been so flaky lately, with many listings selling at opening bid. I now start a listing at the lowest price I am willing to part with it.
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CBlev65252
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posted on October 2, 2007 05:01:59 AM new
Many people, myself included, use sniping programs for bidding. I simply don't have the time to sit around counting down the minutes left on an auction and I don't want to get caught up in a bidding war. It's as simple as that. I've ended up getting great deals on items that way. As a seller, too, I know that people are buying on eBay to get the ultimate deal and more often than not, waiting until the last minute to bid yields that result.
If you want a certain price for an item and aren't sure if you'll get it, either start it at the price you want or put a reserve on it. It's been my experience that the number of watchers on your item means very little. You have other sellers watching your item and people who put it on watch and then forget about it or find it at BIN (or cheaper) somewhere else. Personally as a seller, I hate the "watch" feature.
Cheryl
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alldings
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posted on October 2, 2007 05:02:14 AM new
Perhaps the only way to encourage early bidding is run shorter auctions. I think the auction format for many items is dieing or dead. Customers just want to pay the price and get the thingy in a few days. I find what little buying I do is more toward the BIN auctions or I use the ending soonest option. Starting an item at 9.99 that is valued at a few hundred dollars is too risky for me! I would pay the extra listing fees and set the opening bid closer to the items value. This also weeds out bargain hunters who think they can actually buy a 300 buck thingy for 19.95.
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on October 2, 2007 05:29:59 AM new
eBay auctions are generally about 6 days, 23 hours and 45 minutes too long.
Yes, I've become enamored of Bidz live jewelry auctions. They're very exciting. Many of them are only 15 minutes long and auctions are ending continually, so if you miss out on one there's always something else to bid on.
Registration took 12 seconds. eBay, on the other hand, wants your first-born offspring, three credit card numbers and asks you to type in Alex Trebek's middle name. Then you wait - wait - wait until eBay gets around to sending a verification email, because you can't do diddly until you click on it.
It's refreshing. As a bidder you know if you've won before you finish your coffee.
fLufF
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NEW free jewelry offers at clearanceclarence.com
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neglus
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posted on October 2, 2007 06:20:54 AM new
LOL Fluff - would that be Alex Trebek's REAL middle name? (just had to Google to see what it was):
George Alexander Trebek (born as Giorgi Suka-Alex Trebek
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http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards?refid=store
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photosensitive
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posted on October 2, 2007 06:48:26 AM new
I would say it depends on what you are selling. If it is an item that is available in large numbers just do a "buy it now" for the price you want. If it rare I think you are cutting off one body part to spite another by pulling it early. I appreciate the newbies who bid items up in 25 cent increments because it gives the sellers some hope and makes them less likely to pull the item.
I put a snipe on a rare item for over $100 only to see the seller end the auction and do a quick "buy it now" for under $20. With a little patience he would have made much more.
-----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
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on October 2, 2007 07:39:20 AM new
Bidz doesn't have increments less than a dollar.
I think that eBay is losing eyeball share because by now pretty much everyone has been there, done that and is now tired of it.
fLufF
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NEW free jewelry offers at clearanceclarence.com
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London4
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posted on October 2, 2007 11:04:14 AM new
Remember the days of Yahoo auctions? That format worked well for sellers and snipe bidding didn't work.
Any bids placed within 10 min. of the end of the auction extended the end of the auction for another 10 min. The auction would end when 10 min. passed with no bids. Never have understood ebay's resistance to that format.
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bjboswell
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posted on October 3, 2007 07:02:39 AM new
Fluffy Thanks for BIDZ what a fun website and SOOOO easy. I think I'm in love!
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dejapooh
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posted on October 3, 2007 09:29:45 AM new
I agree with London. The only thing I can think of is if that format were Proprietary.
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sthoemke
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posted on October 3, 2007 05:23:40 PM new
Offer discounted shipping (or a bonus item) for people who bid during the first day of the auction.
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