If this item doesn't sell I'll be angry

[Gruntina]

I know. I see it over and over. Just drives me crazy every time. I often wish ebay wouldn't let sellers see the number of watchers. It really serves no purpose.

It may not serve a purpose to you as a seller, but to buyers, seeing how many watchers and wafting until the last minute to put in a bid somewhat helps keeps the cost down.

By keeping the cost down till the last minute to bid, there is a better chance one can afford it.

For example if I wanted an Item and I went ahead and put in a bid a day prior to the auction ending, there is a very high chance someone else is going to want to outbid me. This means I would have to bid again with a higher price going back and forth. Again this is what the seller's want but not what the buyers want. Buyers want to buy things at the lowest price they can get the item for. It just seems that everyone on watch has the same idea.

[GrimJack]

Steve, I am sure you are aware of the 'sniper' programs that watch auctions and only bid in the last second - sounds like this is what is happening.

[gamecock43]

I dont know about snipers keeping the costs down...now there are so many like items listed on ebay, I refuse to bid if there is already a bid on an item. i know there is already interest and i dont want to get into a bidding war. So I just wait for the next item and place a bid "to mark my territory" and dissuade potential bidders.

[SnoopyCool]

I think the economy is definitely reflected in eBay. For instance, in the past I have sold/purchased Hallmark Snoopy Christmas ornaments for a lot more than what bids are being placed these days. I think people are tightening their belts.

[disneysteve]

Ebay designed a great proxy bidding system, but nobody uses it. If each bidder would just enter the maximum amount he/she was willing to pay, the system would take it from there. Whoever entered the highest amount would win, plain and simple. There would be no bidding wars.

Ebay could (and many feel should) eliminate sniping by eliminating a fixed ending time to the auctions. Live auctions don't have a set end to bidding. Bidding ends when there are no more bids. Ebay could do the same. Instead of an auction ending precisely at 10:00pm, they could make it so that bidding ends at 10:00pm OR after 10:00pm when there have been no bids for 10 minutes. If someone puts in a last second bid, the 10-minute clock would start again.

[gamecock43]

honestly, ebay gets sellers so "up in arms" whenever they change ANYTHING- I dont think ebay needs to change anything. The community boards get worse than a hornets nest whenever ebay does anything at all.

[disneysteve]

Ebay does have a history of making changes that are very one-sided in favor of buyers. The feedback change had to be one of the worst. Sellers can no longer leave negative feedback for a buyer. What is the point of feedback if it can only be positive? Now, if a buyer doesn't pay me or otherwise causes problems, there is no way for me to warn others by leaving bad feedback. The scammer can go on scamming and sellers haven't a clue.

[gamecock43]

I have not had many bad buyers...less than a handful. It's the raising of the prices that irritates me. This is an internet site- I don't think it costs that much to run it!

[disneysteve]

Finally, a bidder. Auction ends in less than 4 hours. There is 1 bid and 15 watchers. The person who bid actually wrote to me a few days ago and asked if she could get the item as a Buy It Now. I nicely told her to bid just like everyone else. She's new (low feedback) so I'll be surprised if she ends up being the winner.

[biff]

I have an item on ebay that ends tomorrow. It has 13 watchers, definitely the most I've ever had on one of my auctions. I've already gotten 2 questions from bidders about this item. So far, it has ZERO bids. What are people waiting for?

I'm hoping for a nice bidding war but I'd like it to get started already. All week, I've been watching the number of watchers go higher and higher. I just wish someone would bid already.

I'll report back tomorrow night.

Steve,
I believe you can end the auction if there are no bids in the last 12 hours. You could always relist it, and not risk letting it go for 99 cents.

[disneysteve]

Steve,
I believe you can end the auction if there are no bids in the last 12 hours. You could always relist it, and not risk letting it go for 99 cents.

I didn't list for $.99. I listed for $14.99. It has 2 bids now. It may get more, but I'm happy either way.

[maat55]

I think e-bay is for people to lazy to go to the horse track.

[disneysteve]

I think e-bay is for people to lazy to go to the horse track.

Not quite sure what that's supposed to mean.

Anyway, auction is over. It ended up selling for $36.00. There were 16 bids (though a couple of bidders each posted multiple bids). I'm perfectly happy with that.

That brings my ebay sales total to $214.69 since 11/23/08. I have 6 active auctions and I'm not sure if I will list any more before year end. It is too late to list stuff for holiday gifts and I think buyers dry up around the holidays. I'll probably start up again in January.

[maat55]

Not quite sure what that's supposed to mean.

Anyway, auction is over. It ended up selling for $36.00. There were 16 bids (though a couple of bidders each posted multiple bids). I'm perfectly happy with that.

That brings my ebay sales total to $214.69 since 11/23/08. I have 6 active auctions and I'm not sure if I will list any more before year end. It is too late to list stuff for holiday gifts and I think buyers dry up around the holidays. I'll probably start up again in January.

My son-in-law sells on e-bay alot and in the last few minutes of a sale acts like someone at the track.

[disneysteve]

My son-in-law sells on e-bay alot and in the last few minutes of a sale acts like someone at the track.

Gotcha. Yes, auctions do get the adrenaline pumping. It's the thrill of the hunt, survival of the fittest kind of thing. Personally, I much prefer live auctions, but ebay can be exciting.