Libra63
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posted on February 15, 2008 07:33:09 AM new
before the end? Right now I have a lot of auctions on. Hits are really high and watchers are many. Few of my items have over 50 hits. I know someone is waiting until the end to bid so they can get it for practically nothing. My prices are not high and the items should go, but I doubt they will, higher than my starting price. I feel like ending them and swallowing the listing fees. I am so sick of this with these buyers but I guess that is the way they are going to play.
Has anyone ever done that?
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birgittaw
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posted on February 15, 2008 07:46:32 AM new
On occasion I'll have a fit of pique and pull one. Usually only when I get cranky though, and no one is bidding on something which I think is "better than that" but for whatever reason is not attracting interest. I won't do it if it has a bid, though.
Waiting to get it for nothing? Absolutely. And in the real world too. "So sick of this" is having a piece with a $75 tag at a show, and someone tells you they'll give you ten...
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pixiamom
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posted on February 15, 2008 07:47:35 AM new
I try not to list things at lower than I'm willing to sell them for. There have been a few times when I put up an item with a caveat in the listing that I would end the auction if no bids were received within 24 or 48 hours of auction end.
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neglus
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posted on February 15, 2008 07:54:43 AM new
I think Fluffy posted that she was going to do this. I am not sure if she did but it was an interesting idea. I think it would only have impact if you have auction followers who always do this last minute bottom feeding thing.
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http://stores.ebay.com/Moody-Mommys-Marvelous-Postcards?refid=store
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on February 15, 2008 08:07:18 AM new
I did do it, the summer of 2004. Business was appallingly slow. People were looking but not bidding. If anything sold, it was for 99 cents. Not good.
I put up one last bunch of auctions, then we took off for a trade show in Las Vegas. I remember sitting in a motel room in Barstow on the way back, ending dozens of auctions early. I stopped listing for a couple of weeks and when I resumed, sales were much improved. Call it my own personal strike.
fLufF
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P.S. I'm sitting in the endoscopy room at El Camino Hospital while the love of my life is having his colonoscopy done. If you're over 50 and haven't had one, won't you please call your doctor today?
Who are those batty old women and why are they wearing silly hats?.
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Libra63
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posted on February 15, 2008 08:30:31 AM new
Your right Fluffy. I had my 1st one 3 yrs ago and as we all think there is nothing wrong with me. Well------They removed 4 polyps. Not cancerous though thank goodness. This year I go back for my follow-up one. I know this second one will be better than the first because I know what will happen. It wasn't the test that I had a problem with it was the Preparation. It was like a bomb exploded.
Well I still have a couple of days to think about this. I honestly doubt if I will relist them again on eBay but I can list Vintage Jewelry on www.ETSY.com and I have sold pieces over there. It is a fixed price site so I can put what on I want. Listing fees are only 20 cents with a FVF of 3.5. and the listing lasts for 4 months.
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[ edited by Libra63 on Feb 15, 2008 08:31 AM ]
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zippy2dah
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posted on February 15, 2008 08:50:20 AM new
Libra, did you hear about the upcoming changes to the Etsy search as it applies to the Vintage and Supplies categories?
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zippy2dah
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posted on February 15, 2008 08:58:09 AM new
In case you haven't, or in case anyone else is interested, here it is.
http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/etsyNews/article/focusing-on-handmade/1146/
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Damariscotta
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posted on February 15, 2008 09:06:18 AM new
Sure. Ebay allows you to end it, and one of the reasons to check is "error in listing". My feeling is sure, it was an error to list that item. Well, seriously, I feel that the category, description, whatever may not be appealing enough. I am sure eBay would rather have a higher FVF, anyway. I am not sure that announcing this in advance is legit, however. I do wish eBay would allow this as an option to be set by seller: No bids within specified time period = auction is cancelled (with his time period not visible to bidders). This would put some spark back into auctions.
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niel35
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posted on February 15, 2008 09:29:44 AM new
Great idea, Damariscotta. Bid or Bye Bye!!
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deichen
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posted on February 15, 2008 09:37:11 AM new
I don't list something where I would lose money, I did that a few times and usually I lost! My items aren't high traffic items to begin with.
At what age should one have a colonoscopy? My husband has had one but he is several years older than me.
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fluffythewondercat
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posted on February 15, 2008 09:58:31 AM new
You should schedule one as soon as you turn 50. Prevalence of colorectal cancer is highest in people 50 and older.
As I've posted before, a friend died December 1 from colon cancer. Her husband tells the story:
When Nancy turned 50, she got a card from her doctor saying it was time for a colonoscopy. Nancy decided it wasn't important and didn't do it. A year and a half later she was really constipated and in a lot of pain and nothing worked. Specialist after specialist couldn't figure it out until they gave her a colonscopy. Then they found a huge tumor in her colon. They said, judging by the size, that it had been growing for about 18 months--about the same amount of time that she procrastinated.
I'm nagging everyone I know to get one. Even that may not help; I put mine off for four years. I was lucky. Nancy wasn't.
My love is sleeping off the effects of the sedative a few feet away. I look at his peaceful face and try to imagine how I could ever cope without him.
fLufF
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Who are those batty old women and why are they wearing silly hats?.
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pixiamom
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posted on February 15, 2008 09:58:51 AM new
Deichen, a lot depends on family history. My family has a higher likelihood of getting colon cancer than most, so my brother and sister had colonoscopies in their forties.
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Libra63
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posted on February 15, 2008 10:26:36 AM new
zippy I understand what they are doing and I am one that agrees that using tags is important. I have voiced my opinion throughout those forums that using improper tags is wrong. I to don't want vintage things with my handicraft items. Tags are the main thing of Etsy. Supplies are important and so is vintage. Vintage includes many things so if I use the proper tags to tag my items they will find them. I also do handicrafts.
If you search through Etsy you will notice that many people repurpose and the vintage section is important to them.
Books related to making handicrafts is also important to Etsy. If the seller tags it properly they will find them. If not they won't. i.e. Supplies, pattern, book, crochet and they should get in their search all crochet patterns and books and nothing else. It is not like eBay where you put something in the search and get all kinds of crap. Maybe eBay needs to take a lesson from them. It is a site run by I think 10 - 20 people. Problems yes but people that make handicrafts know about problems.
Search Jeans and you will find a pair of jeans that uses Ties. So where else to buy ties is on ETSY not on eBay.
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zippy2dah
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posted on February 15, 2008 10:32:39 AM new
I agree with what they are doing too. I've been selling supplies and some vintage over there and I think it's high time they made a better distinction between the handmade and the rest.
I've seen some pretty blatant tag abuse by other sellers though. And the crap from China sold as "handmade" seems to be getting worse by the day.
In general I believe they are on the right track and I have good feelings about the future of Etsy.
I love, love, love the low fees!
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photosensitive
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posted on February 15, 2008 10:44:40 AM new
My 2 cents on the original post...
You no doubt know your items and your bidders better than I do but in some areas where I bid none of the bidders bid except to snipe. That does not mean that the items sell for the opening bid, far from it. The item only needs two bidders who enter a high snipe bid. I have put a snipe of several hundred dollars on an item with no bids and lost it to an even higher snipe.
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“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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Libra63
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posted on February 15, 2008 10:55:50 AM new
Thanks photo I understand that. I guess I will leave them and see what happens.
Zippy how long have you been there? I have been there a year but just lately I have been active. It took a while for me to get use to it. My problem is that I need to find out what to do before I dive into something. I read the forums every day, I look through listings. I am very careful that I put tags on that go along with my item, and I am very vocal about improper tags.
What etsy needs to do when someone signs up is have a popup about their tags and how to use them. If they sign and then abuse them out they should go. I also understand that it is an international site and some people don't understand tags but that is what the forums are for. The administration is active in the forums also and I am sure someone reads them everyday.
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ewora
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posted on February 15, 2008 11:00:58 AM new
Libra...could you just change your auctions without bids to fixed priced?
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zippy2dah
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posted on February 15, 2008 11:52:02 AM new
Libra, I've been there since last summer, I think? lol Something like that. It took me a while to figure things out too. It's very different than eBay or other sites I have sold on.
I like your idea about the pop-up. I'm constantly astounded at the number of new sellers who don't even bother to read the rules before they start listing. Then they go to the forums and complain about things that are easily explained, if they had only bothered to read first. A pop-up might cure some of the laziness. Or maybe not.
I am also very careful with my tags. I know there will always be people who complain about the supplies and vintage being out of place but until the admins tell me to leave, I'm staying.
Good luck with your sales!
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kcproduc
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posted on February 17, 2008 06:40:05 PM new
I have but I admittedly couldn't decide whether I'd listed it right or not. I had an item that I set a starting price of $199 and a buy it now for $699. I had lots of watchers, over 40, on the item but no bids so, a day before the auction would have ended, I got worried that it was going to sell for about $205 and I pulled it. I wouldn't have listed that way again. Actually, I've come to believe that starting an item at $199 if if its worth more just isn't a good idea.
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max40
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posted on February 17, 2008 06:51:53 PM new
Libra63
I know your anxieties. I've thought of pulling an auction or two also. But when you have the hits and watchers, a better idea is to raise the starting bid. I've done it several times with the desired result.
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bregmanl
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posted on February 18, 2008 03:49:16 AM new
Sure I have pulled items that that they do not bid 13 hours before end of auction.
There all bottom feeders!!! Low! Low! Low!
I would rather take these items to the Flea Market in the Spring and get the the money there. Thou if your item is quality you will still make your money on ebay. Its the junk that is hard to sell.
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Damariscotta
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posted on February 18, 2008 04:26:57 AM new
I like to have my items at 9.95/no reserve.
There are certain items I sell where they will always do very well, and I feel comfortable listing this way, especially when I see the number of watchers. In my last batch of listings, several of these items went well over 200.00.
What I have learned, however, if you don't have enough track record with the item, and your gut feeling about the prospects after a few days of no bid, pull the item. When I have had this feeling and not pulled it, I have regretted it. Pull it, and you have options to relist, sell elsewhere, or maybe find out it isn't worth selling.
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