OT: Watchers on the 'Bay

[f/stopblues]

I hardly ever sell things on that dirty auction site, but I have a lens up there right now. I'm a bit nervous about it cause I'm hoping a get a decent price out of it. I've had a few bids so it makes me feel better, but I noticed there's a thing that tells me how many watchers I have. How many do you think is a typical amount for something photographic? Can I expect something like 1/4 of them to bid? Less? More? Help calm my nerves! :bang:

Thanks!
Chris

 

[Al Patterson]

Unknown, but...

Unknown, but...

I may watch 10 or 20 items on that site before I bid. I'd be more worried if the winner had a low number of feedback points.

 

[saxshooter]

How many people watch and if they will bid depends on a lot of things. People clicking to "watch" is almost like bookmarking. They are probably watching other similar items also. They will compare current bid price, shipping price, etc. But more importantly, for you the seller, is what time your auction ends. A lot of times a watcher's intention is to bid at the end of the auction, but let's say your auction ends at an inconvenient time, let say midnight on a Sunday night, or 7pm Thanksgiving dinner (that's how I got a great deal on a baritone saxophone -- excused myself from the dinner table and got that winning bid in), that potential bidder may not be around to bid. Your auction will end exactly 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, or 10 days (your auction duration) after you listed the item. Ebay time is PST.

Remember: the most convenient time for you to list something on ebay may not be a great time for someone to get those last minute bids in when the auction closes.

 

[Dan Chang]

I hardly ever sell things on that dirty auction site, but I have a lens up there right now. I'm a bit nervous about it cause I'm hoping a get a decent price out of it. I've had a few bids so it makes me feel better, but I noticed there's a thing that tells me how many watchers I have. How many do you think is a typical amount for something photographic? Can I expect something like 1/4 of them to bid? Less? More? Help calm my nerves! :bang:

Thanks!
Chris

You should sell to Crick's instead of ebay, if you worry about to much, non-hot item will bring an average market value, hot item final price? only god knows

 

[JoeFriday]

sax is right.. along with a good description, keywords, and photos.. it mostly comes down to the ending time.. I always have my auctions end on Sunday evening.. usually around 6pm PST.. that is about when most people are likely to be able to get in that last minute bid

there is a feature to assign a specific start time, which of course determines your ending time.. so it's not necessarily when you post the item that decides that.. the start time feature costs a dime to add, and it's definitely worth it

 

[JoeFriday]

incidentally, for Leica gear, it's not at all unusual to see the price jump $100-300 in the final 15 minutes, depending on the merchandise.. it's just really hard, as the seller, to sit there watching your auction do nothing for days.. I don't pay much attention to my own auctions.. altho it's very important to respond to any questions that people ask.. I, as a buyer, refuse to bid on any item if the seller ignores an email from me

as for how many watchers equate into bidders? hard to say.. it depends on the rarity of the item, I think.. but I'd probably say 1 out of 6, for my auctions.. if I have 20 watchers, I'll probably end up with 3 people going after it at the end.. but your mileage may vary

 

[f/stopblues]

Dan are you in Kansas City? I have asked Crick about a couple things in the past (a lens and a body on separate occasions) and they've always been really low. The buying price at KEH was always much higher, but as a seller, the market price is much more appealing! I suppose in the end I'm just concerned about the final price as it's going to cover some RF gear!

I think my auction is ending a little later than what is ideal (10:50pm CST). Hopefully some people will stay up and bid! I tried to cover my bases as far as having a complete description and decent pictures with fair shipping. As of right now I have 31 watchers with 3 days to go.

 

[saxshooter]

f/stopblues: I don't know what you are selling, but also worth taking a look at items similar to yours that are currently listed and how much they're going for. When I used to sell a lot on ebay I'd do a search to see how many other items like mine are currently up for auction. Sometimes I like to do 5 day auctions because let's face it, some people don't like to wait a week. Three day auctions are too short, in my opinion, unless you have a high demand item that a lot of people are looking for.

Three days to go and 31 watchers... seems like you're still in good shape. Good luck!

 

[jlw]

Dan are you in Kansas City? I have asked Crick about a couple things in the past (a lens and a body on separate occasions) and they've always been really low.

Hey, since we seem to have veered onto the subject of Kansas City, let me ask you guys a question: Where IS Crick nowadays, anyway?

I usually get down to Kansas City a few times a year, and when they were in Brookside I always tried to stop in -- but since they've moved up north, I haven't been able to find the dratted place!

Also speaking of Kansas City, have you ever succeeded in going to Ben's Camera Exchange when they were actually open? That also used to be a good place to stop in -- I bought a Canon 7s and 50mm f/1.4 Canon there -- but for the past several years, whenever I've tried to go there the store was closed. You can see a wild variety of stuff inside and sometimes the lights are on, but they never seem to be actually "open for business." Maybe they just do camera shows now and use the store strictly as a warehouse...?

(Example: Ben's is where, years ago when the old guy was still running it, he once pulled out an old cardboard egg carton, opened it, and showed me that its dozen compartments contained every late-model Canon brightline auxiliary viewfinder, all in mint condition. He told me he figured that if he waited long enough, he could retire on the proceeds of that egg carton...)

 

[dmr]

Possibly stupid question, does it tell the identity, like the Ebay ID, of those who are watching?

 

[saxshooter]

dmr: it only tells you the number of people watching, no ID. Adding a counter at the bottom of your listing helps too. Shows number of unique hits on your auction.

 

[Little Prince]

I doubt that number of watches really indicates much. Of course having a lot is good and having 1 or 2 may not be. But many people may just casually add something to their watchlist. That's what I do. I add something I have a remote interest in even if I absolutely know I won't bid on it. Just out of curiosity to see what it sold for. Maybe something I'd like to buy on some later day.

 

[Stanton]

I watch a large number of items. I only bid in the last few minutes. An earlier bid is generally useless.

 

[Kat]

Ditto for what little prince said. I also watch a lot, even ask questions, but offiicially, I've never bought anything. I've bought only a few items, but through my sibling's account coz I don't have paypal. I just use my account for watching and inquiring. Please be nice to people with few or little feedback, though, I once had a seller who was rather rude to me because I had zero feedback, needless to say I didn't buy from him, with my account or anyone else's for that matter.

 

[f/stopblues]

They're actually not all that far from their old Brookside location. It's at about 77th and State Line, which is about two blocks west of Brookside Blvd and 14 blocks south. It's a much nicer space than the old one, but they still have a ton of stuff crammed in there! They don't do any wet darkroom printing anymore and their darkroom supply corner is dwindling. If I need something and don't want to do mail order, that's where I go. I haven't been out to Ben's but I've heard of it. I don't make it to the Northland too much. A couple of the other shops keep odd hours too. There's a place I have print for me occasionally in Overland Park that is closed on the weekends, closes at 5 during the week, and only open til 12:30 on Friday. It's tough to get there!

BTW, I lost a couple watchers! I'm down to 28 now. Darnit..

Hey, since we seem to have veered onto the subject of Kansas City, let me ask you guys a question: Where IS Crick nowadays, anyway?

I usually get down to Kansas City a few times a year, and when they were in Brookside I always tried to stop in -- but since they've moved up north, I haven't been able to find the dratted place!

Also speaking of Kansas City, have you ever succeeded in going to Ben's Camera Exchange when they were actually open? That also used to be a good place to stop in -- I bought a Canon 7s and 50mm f/1.4 Canon there -- but for the past several years, whenever I've tried to go there the store was closed. You can see a wild variety of stuff inside and sometimes the lights are on, but they never seem to be actually "open for business." Maybe they just do camera shows now and use the store strictly as a warehouse...?

(Example: Ben's is where, years ago when the old guy was still running it, he once pulled out an old cardboard egg carton, opened it, and showed me that its dozen compartments contained every late-model Canon brightline auxiliary viewfinder, all in mint condition. He told me he figured that if he waited long enough, he could retire on the proceeds of that egg carton...)