Watchers on eBay

Widelats

I have a lot of watchers on particular item i am selling but no bids, and it ends in like 5 hours. If there are plenty watching it does it usually mean i will likely get bids before the end? Or what?

freddysmith

It's nice to have lots of watchers but you just don't know until the auction has ended.
There are many reasons for people to watch and not buy.
It could be most of the watchers are just are not phyically there when it ends.
I quite often have 100 - 200 watchers on my multi variation listings, it really would be nice if everyone converted to a sale.
You just can't tell.

celestius

The more watchers you have the more likely there will be a bidding war at the end. I like to have about 30 on an auction as a sign that it will go well..

cattie

You just can never tell. Some watchers are just that, watchers & you can have loads but still either receive just one bid or no bids at all. The fun of ebaying is waiting til the end of the auction to see if it sold, if it did for how much for & to see just how many bids there had been on the item.

I always have loads of things in my watch list that I've no intention in ever bidding on. Sometimes I just want to be nosey, other times I might want to get an idea of how much something similar I have might fetch, & sometimes I'm just doing research on items I'm going to want or need to buy in the near future.

porto_bello

Yes, it's heart warming when you have a number of watchers. There's no guarantee that they'll be a bidding war in the last few seconds, but numerous watchers certainly makes it more likely.

Besides, you only need just 2 competing bidders to make the price fly! :T

This_Year

Some people watch items that they also sell to keep an eye on the competition.

scheming_gypsy

I prefer to call them ambulance chasers.

watchers have nothing to do with the amount of bids you're likely to get. Some will watch because:
they're interested in buying it and are going to bid
They're interested in buying it but the bidding is more than they wanted to pay so they're seeing what it ends at
They just want to see how much it ends at
They're selling one similar and want to see how much they're going for.
They're thinking of selling one and want to see how much they can get for them

pinkshoes

celestius wrote: »

The more watchers you have the more likely there will be a bidding war at the end. I like to have about 30 on an auction as a sign that it will go well..

Or alternatively you're selling junk so people are watching to see if junk actually sells, and if yes, how much for!

pikachu_bumface

I can have 50 watchers on one of my items, and it sells for a few quid, 5 watchers and it sells for twice what I'd hoped, go figure.
I do get really excited when there are a lot of watchers though, it's human nature!

porto_bello

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

I prefer to call them ambulance chasers.

watchers have nothing to do with the amount of bids you're likely to get.

This isn't necessarily true. I usually find that lots of watchers usually results in multiple bidders, although there are obviously no guarantees.

If your item(s) are picking up lots of watchers, it shows there is a keen interest in them. Some may watch out of curiosity and some may forget to bid but if you are easily picking up bidders, it's an indication that your item is receiving lots of hits and interest, so you've probably made a decent job of the photos and description and/or you've listed at an attractive price. However you look at it, it's good news!

scheming_gypsy

porto_bello wrote: »

This isn't necessarily true. I usually find that lots of watchers usually results in multiple bidders, although there are obviously no guarantees.

you're probably selling things more desirable than I am. I had an auction that ended last night, only had two watchers but no bids. Both myself and a mate have the same problem with watchers, numerous watchers but might get one or two bids... Even on BIN I can have numerous watchers and it'll end unsold.