watchers vs bidders

[mugsisme]

In the past, when I have had one or two watchers, I assumed it was mostly other sellers. When I had a lot of watchers, like over 10, I assume it's people who want it. The past few weeks I have items with as many as 13 watchers close with no bidders.

Tonight I checked, and one of my items has 21 watchers and two bidders. Do you think I should get excited? It's a bracelet priced about $25 over scrap. I know I can just wait until tomorrow, but I don't want to get my hopes up if people are just looking this summer and not buying.

I decided not to add to many new listings until late Aug. Maybe just one or two a week.

 

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[Ocean7]

well two people bidding at least mean they both want the item. Watchers are just that in my book like lurkers on any site. I hope you get your price. people have pulled their belts in and just look at gas - it's going down in price. Summer's no where near over - people are not just taking drives etc.

 

[Joe777Cool]

I have learned that the number of watchers an item has means next to nothing.

 

[Keppy]

I have learned that the number of watchers an item has means next to nothing.

Your right …For sometimes i have 40 or 50 items i am watching but i am not planning to buy any of them …. I do it to see how much they might sell for …Or even if they sell..

 

[diggummup]

Yeah, watching is just that, watching. My watch list is always full. Mostly I watch things i'm interested in the value on or like items that I have and may list in the near future.

 

[Oregon Viking]

Yeah, watching is just that, watching. My watch list is always full. Mostly I watch things i'm interested in the value on or like items that I have and may list in the near future.

Yep....^This^
I also view the sold listings of items I want to buy on the bay, then sell...on the bay.

 

[mugsisme]

I ended up with a bidding war on the anklet and it went for $255.00!!! happy dance! The guy paid right away, so I gave him priority shipping.

I have a ton of stuff that I watch for a variety of reasons. My problem is that I never remember to go back and buy them. LOL.

 

[diggummup]

I was going to add... if you have a bunch of watchers on an item up for auction and you are getting bids in the first few days of listing, chances are good that none of those initial bidders will be the winner of that auction. I've seen it time and time again. Two people bidding over and over and the last second some new bidder blows them all out of the water.

 

[huntsman53]

I think that many folks that buy or sell on eBay, underestimate the significance of Watchers vs Viewers not Bids but at the same time, you must count the Bidders in with the Watcher count as when you bid on an item on eBay, it automatically puts the item on your' Watch List! The volume Sellers and eBay know that the percentage of Watchers which includes the Bidders to the amount of Views is somewhat key to successful sales and that is why that sometimes when you move the cursor over an Auction from a search list or bring up an Auction, that a little popup window shows and states how many folks are watching the Auction per hour. There is also times when another little popup window will show up and states how many folks are viewing an Auction. While I like to see Bids on my' items, especially early which is a good sign, I don't rely on this too much as I know that most folks have become savy to buying stuff on eBay and snagging the items at the last few seconds. I know that I do this and I very seldom bid on an item at all until the last few seconds. First, I don't want other Bidders to know of my interest in an item and second, I don't want other Bidders to know that I am lurking in the shadows per see to snag the item from their grasp at the last 3 seconds of the Auction and they get that other little window to popup and state that they were outbid. To some, this may sound mean to do but 95% of the real Buyers (folks that purchase items off eBay all the time, not the occasional Buyer) do the very same thing that I do and some are even worse as they have programs running on their' computer that monitors the Auctions that they watch and/or want to bid on and it places the bid for them and these programs submit the bid in the last 1 to 2 seconds of the Auction so that other Bidders will never be able to enter another bid once they have been informed that they were outbid.

I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the final bid price on my' Bronze on Marble base "Yellowstone Bound" Sculpture by Kitty Cantrell! Many sculptures are usually hard sells on eBay and I was worried that the bids on the sculpture would never meet the low $400 "Reserve" Price on it. However, it actually met the $400 "Reserve" Price just a little after halfway through the auction and in the last few seconds of the auction, it went to $819.99 and had me doing the fiunny dance. I can't remember the exact number of Watchers and Bidders there were on the item vs the 103 Views but I do know that it is in the percentages that you really like to see!


Frank

 

[diggummup]

you must count the Bidders in with the Watcher count as when you bid on an item on eBay, it automatically puts the item on your' Watch List!
Frank

As a bidder, I have never had an item automatically added to my watch list just because I bid on it.

 

[JustinNH]

Recently, I had 3 auctions each ending near each other, each with over 10 watchers. Prices were very reasonable. Not rare items, but not a lot listed at the same time as mine.
1 got the opening bid and that was it.
1 didn't get any bids.
1 Had a small bidding war between 3 people and got another 30-35% in bids.

So I like seeing the watchers as it means people are at least seeing my items, but I no longer get overly excited.

 

[huntsman53]

As a bidder, I have never had an item automatically added to my watch list just because I bid on it.

When showing items under "Activity" of your' Watch List, the first section under "Summary" gives the following list links to click on: Bids/Offers, Didn't Win and Deleted

If you bid on an item, the item should show up in the list at the "Bids/Offers" link. If not, then you may have that feature turned off.


Frank

 

[packerbacker]

The window on ebay items says, "Viewers/Watchers". Does that mean that if someone just happens to "Look" at the item, it increases that number? Heck, I LOOK at a LOT of stuff that I have no interest in buying. Sems that the number, to be more meaningful, would only score those that put it on their watch list. I know a lot of folks watch stuff just to see what it sells for but to score someone that just looked at an item is meaning less. Am I making sense here?

 

[huntsman53]

The window on ebay items says, "Viewers/Watchers". Does that mean that if someone just happens to "Look" at the item, it increases that number? Heck, I LOOK at a LOT of stuff that I have no interest in buying. Sems that the number, to be more meaningful, would only score those that put it on their watch list. I know a lot of folks watch stuff just to see what it sells for but to score someone that just looked at an item is meaning less. Am I making sense here?

If you click on an Auction item in eBay and open up the Auction Listing to view the item, it adds to the "Views" count. The "Watcher" count only goes up if someone clicks on the "Add to watch list" link on the right side of an Auction Listing page which adds the item (Auction) to their Watch List.


Frank

 

[packerbacker]

I have an item listed now and there is a 10 under the "Viewers/Watchers" column. It appears that viewers and watchers are the same. How can you tell if someone added it to their watch list as opposed to have just viewed it? They are combined apparently.

 

[Oregon Viking]

I have an item listed now and there is a 10 under the "Viewers/Watchers" column. It appears that viewers and watchers are the same. How can you tell if someone added it to their watch list as opposed to have just viewed it? They are combined apparently.

Top number, views. Bottom number, watchers. I can't fiqure out how to do a screen shot or I would show you my page.

 

[packerbacker]

Must be mine doesn't have any watchers, just viewers. I see what you mean. Thanks

 

[diggummup]

When showing items under "Activity" of your' Watch List, the first section under "Summary" gives the following list links to click on: Bids/Offers, Didn't Win and Deleted

If you bid on an item, the item should show up in the list at the "Bids/Offers" link. If not, then you may have that feature turned off.


Frank

I understand, yes when you bid on an item, that item will be added to your "bids/offers" list.

You stated "you must count the Bidders in with the Watcher count as when you bid on an item on eBay, it automatically puts the item on your' Watch List"

Your watch list and your bids/offers list are two different things entirely, so in effect that statement holds no merit. In other words, just because I placed a bid on an item, doesn't mean that item is on my watch list. Bids/offers list yes, watch list no.

Somebody, anybody can bid on an item all day long, it doesn't mean that the item they are bidding on is on their watch list. That's all I'm trying to say.