4 watchers but no bidders!

[debbiemomto4]

I don't like this new My Ebay I see the watchers but not the bidders. Where are the bidders ? I would love to post JUST BID!
Thanks for letting me vent!
Debbie

 

[ksoehrlein]

Hang in there. How much time is left on your auction? These 4 watchers are probably all seasoned eBayers who won't bid early but who might get into a bidding war at the very last minute. At least they're interested enough to watch, which is more encouraging than just seeing the number of people who have clicked on your item.

Good luck!

 

[MommyBoo!]

Yep, hang in there! I snipe everything.

On the flip side, I have an item with 12 watchers, have had 6 ask a seller emails about it (4 of them about shipping costs for international) and it has 3 bids. It is currently sitting at $2.25 (I started it at .99). Any bets on if it makes it over $3.00?

 

[tinaluis]

I know what you mean. It is very frustrating to see so many people watching and none bidding. A while back I had some Disney movies up for auction and I started them at $.79. On Snow White I had 9 people watching, no bids and the auction end was about 2 hours away. You know what I did, I ended the auction early stating that the item was no longer available for sale. Then I got about 5 emails from "watchers" asking what happened, didn't I want to sell the movie, did I have another copy, etc. I know I lost out on the $.30 listing fee, but I felt triumphant after I ended the auction (stupid, I know, but come on, people, what is $.79???). I think it was better before when you didn't know how many people were watching your auctions. Good luck to you on your auctions!

 

[Lollipop Mom]

I had a stroller listed a few weeks ago that one person had bid on to get rid of my buy it now. By the end of it there were 11 people watching it so I was sure it would go up in the last hour or two. Turns out it got one other bid at the last second and it sold for 50 cents over my opening bid amount.

At least it sold and is no longer taking up space in my basement! :lol

 

[mamalle]

Id rather have some watchers than none at all.

I have nine things listed right now and almost all have bids and watchers except for 2 that have no bids and no watchers

 

[StephMK]

As a buyer, sometimes I will just watch an auction out of curiousity to see how it sells w/o ever intending to buy. Or I have something similar to sell & want to see how it does. Sorry for any sellers that have phantom watchers w/no bids!

 

[Figaro]

I always use auction sniper for my bids, and have it set to bid in the last 30 seconds. So, I will often watch an auction to see if the bid is going up over what I have told auction sniper and if it does, then I decide whether to increase my bid or not. I never bid by myself anymore, and would never bid on an item that has no bids, since I don't want to draw attention to the item. That might be what your watchers are doing, too(smile).

 

[lkohawaii]

I had a Minnie Mouse costume up for bid. For the fist 6 days there was one bid for $12 and 4 watchers. During the last 5 seconds it went up to $30 something. Be patient I was worried too. Obviously those 2 bidders were using a snipper.

 

[SamSam]

With High Speed Internet, sniping has become much more prevalent. I always assume that if there's several watchers, that at least some of them will try to get a last minute bid in. I think that seller's profited better before high speed was so prevalent, but that's the way it is.

 

[vettechick99]

Where do you find this sniper software?

 

[liznboys]

I didn't know you could tell when your item was being watched! I watch things all the time that I am cosidering buying, but most of the time don't! Sorry all you sellers, didn't mean to tease you I swear!! LOL

 

[ValerieK]

Originally posted by StephMK
As a buyer, sometimes I will just watch an auction out of curiousity to see how it sells w/o ever intending to buy. Or I have something similar to sell & want to see how it does. Sorry for any sellers that have phantom watchers w/no bids!

I do this too. I'm sorry also, but sometimes I just want to see how much it went for. I once watched front row seats for a concert that I was attending. I had already bought tickets off ebay, but wanted to know how much the front row seats went for. Wish I could have gotten them, but couldn't afford the $900.

 

[Lollipop Mom]

As a buyer, sometimes I will just watch an auction out of curiousity to see how it sells w/o ever intending to buy. Or I have something similar to sell & want to see how it does.

I sell more than I buy on ebay but I do this a lot too. I never expect that everyone watching will place a bid. I was just thinking with the stroller I had on that with 11 watchers I would at least get 2 or 3 more bids! I never list anything for less than I know I'd be OK parting with it for so I was just happy it sold. Would have been nice to get more for it but as it was it will cover dinner at Ohana for DS and I and it is no longer taking up space in my basement.

 

[LisaZoe]

I'm very new to eBay and hope someone can tell me what it means when someone says they "snipe" an auction? I've also seen someone post about using a "sniper". Is this something that can do your bidding for you during the last few seconds of an auction? If so, where can I find this tool?

BTW - Since I'm new, I often "watch" an auction I don't plan to bid on. This way I can see how much something sold for and if it was a last minute bid or the bid went up early to the winning amount. I've gotten lucky on a couple of auctions and won at the last moment but have lost more so I'm still working out the best approach to the bidding process. In doing so, I noticed many users who have bid in the last minute or so had not bid before then so I think a lot of "saavy" bidders wait until the last minute to see if us newbies raise the price beyond what is reasonable

Since most of what I'm looking for is often listed multiple times by different sellers, I'm also interested in seeing why one will go up so much more than another. I 'm considering trying to sell some things and can already see that how something is listed can impact how well it does in the auction. I have to be honest and say that the ones with multiple misspellings and bad grammar are a "turn off" as I have to wonder if the person doing the selling might be as careless in shipping, etc. as he/she was in listing the item in the first place. Of course, I'm more understanding of bad grammar for sellers in non-English speaking countries.

Thanks

 

[ceecee]

I had 13 watchers and the item ended without a bid!!!

 

[DMRick]

A while back I had some Disney movies up for auction and I started them at $.79.
{{snip}}
but I felt triumphant after I ended the auction (stupid, I know, but come on, people, what is $.79???).

I have to say, that if you did that to me, (start an auction low and then pull it because the bids weren't high enough) you would go on my list (and a list 1400 other members of an eBay list) of people to not ever bid on again.

IMO you should put an item up for the amount you are willing to take. It is called an auction and if you pull them and get reported enough, ebay will suspend you.

I just hate when I'm watching something and it gets pulled for whatever reason the people make up..and it's really (as most of us know) that the seller didn't want to pay high fees, listed low, and wasn't happy with what was appearing to be the final price. No way you can know the final price, until the last three - nine seconds. I actually had a bid on something, and because I wasted my time with the item I bid on, I lost out on another same item I could have been bidding on. I'll never bid from that person again.

 

[Robinrs]

I use www.auctionstealer.com as a snipe software. Works great and three snipes a week at 10secs, MORE than I'll ever need, is free.

tinaluis, I once started an auction at .99 that had not ONE bid until the last 30s secs then sold for $20. Smart eBay buyers know to wait until the last minute. Pulling the item is like cutting off your nose to spite your face...sorry, old Mama saying!

 

[Cindy B]

Thanks Robin. I might use that for a book I am bidding on.

I would never end an auction due to no bids. They do come! I've listed things, and had no bids, and by the end larger bids.