eBay

pierrelebel · ‎06-05-2015

Now that eBay has changed its policies and fee structure for auction listing duration, if and when you list using the "auction" format, what do you do?

Still list for one or three days and pay the higher fee?

Continue to list for five or seven days?

Take advantage of the extended ten day duration at no extra cost?

pierrelebel · ‎06-05-2015

ALL my auction listings now use the ten day duration.

73rhc · ‎06-05-2015

As a seller, I still find that seven day is enough time to get the right amount of exposure. As a buyer, I find that a ten day auction is too long to wait. I lose interest and look elsewhere.

photosalp · ‎06-05-2015

I'm using ten days for now. Might try seven days for a month or two to see if there's any difference.

ricarmic · ‎06-05-2015

When I run auctions, I am doing so to pull traffic to my store BIN items, so I would use the 10 day duration because it costs no more now which is good for me.

I sometimes used to use it anyway when it did cost money because of the additional exposure.

The only thing that's a pain about the 10 day is the "calendar math" required to make sure the auctions close on the right day! I have specific days and times that I want auctions to close.

pierrelebel · ‎06-05-2015

"to make sure the auctions close on the right day!"

Does it really make a difference in your business? I know it does not for mine. Bidders interested in the listing come when they see the listing.

ricarmic · ‎06-05-2015

Hi Pierre! Well we are in the same business, although we generally sell different stuff in the same field I guess.

I haven't run "experiments" in the last couple years, but with my style material, closing on the right day made a significant positive difference in the final price.

Having said this, the "last minute" bidders are not as prolific as they were in days gone by, but for my stuff at least I'm sticking with my "good" days/times.

I do watch other sellers and for certain there is a difference downward when they close on "bad" days, and these are recent observations. Again though, the sellers I watch sell stuff more like what I sell and not much like what you sell....

block36 · ‎06-05-2015

I very seldom sell something thru auctions, seems that we do not have so many enthusiastic buyers nowadays who are willing to watch the end of the auction.

But because of promotions and 100 free listing in collectible category for my type of store I use auctions and for 10 days only.

And my hope is to get the asking price only.

jt-libra · ‎06-05-2015

@73rhc wrote:
As a seller, I still find that seven day is enough time to get the right amount of exposure. As a buyer, I find that a ten day auction is too long to wait. I lose interest and look elsewhere.

I agree with that statement. So even when the 10-day option is free, I still stick to a maximum of 7. My experience has been that the added 3 days has not increased the number of bids. I suppose if you had an extremely unique, desirable item, 10 days would be advantageous in order to draw as many views as possible.

And, as a buyer, I don't want to wait 10 days for an auction to end. I too will look for an auction that is about to end or the same item at a fixed price.

pierrelebel · ‎06-05-2015

"the added 3 days has not increased the number of bids. "

That is correct but..... there is value in the extra exposure. It may bring a viewer to look at some other items you offer at fixed price (BIN) for immediate shipment.

"I too will look for an auction that is about to end"

Different buyers look at things differently. I have a listing listed three days ago - one week to go - with 18 bids already from only two bidders.

jt-libra · ‎06-05-2015

@pierrelebel wrote:
"the added 3 days has not increased the number of bids. "

That is correct but..... there is value in the extra exposure. It may bring a viewer to look at some other items you offer at fixed price (BIN) for immediate shipment.

"I too will look for an auction that is about to end"

Different buyers look at things differently. I have a listing listed three days ago - one week to go - with 18 bids already from only two bidders.

All good points, Pierre. Since you were polling sellers, I just wanted to offer my experience. Not only do different buyers look at things differently, the type of item being sold may also reflect the optimum duration.

triber · ‎06-05-2015

I don't use Auction listings too often, but I have listed several tonight and taken advantage of the 10 day duration. I figure the longer buyers have the opportunity to see the listings the better. I do find that very few of my items sell on Friday and Saturday, so I don't usually have them ending on those days.

cumos55 · ‎06-06-2015

When it was auctions only on eBay ... I used to run 7 day auctions.

Start 8:30 PM ... Monday.

When the auction ended on a Monday it was 10:30 PM on the east coast and 6:30 PM on the west coast... I am in Winnipeg at about the centre of Canada and North America.

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A 10-day auction is of interest..

Start the auction on Friday.... and 10 days later it would end on a Monday evening 8:30 PM. The auction would be visible over two weekends.

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What I have is inventory from the days before I sold books, only.

Much of it is art glass, pottery and a few other items that should do very well on eBay... It would be more to sell old inventory as opposed to getting the best possible dollar at a fixed price..... These would sell better on eBay than at a local auction

A lot of old inventory from 5 to 10 years ago has been sold through a local auction service... and that has progressed very well, with a good dollar value, over the last three years...

jt-libra · ‎06-06-2015

I forgot to mention one important reason why I like 7-day auctions as opposed to 10. Most of my sales come over the weekend -- Saturday night to Sunday night. So I like auctions to begin and end during the weekend.