I'd like to know if anyone's watching my auctions.

[DawnsCollectables]

Hi

On another well known auction site it is possible to see if you have anyone watching your auctions.

Views are good to know, but is it possible to see if anyone is watching?


Dawn

[astral276]

On another well known auction site it is possible to see if you have anyone watching your auctions.

Views are good to know, but is it possible to see if anyone is watching?

As far as I am aware the answer is 'No'. Though a few people have asked for it. It is way down on my list of things that need fixing here.

I don't think it gives any useful information anyway as watchers do not necessarily translate into bidders. My last auction over there had 56 watchers but only two people actually placed bids.

Many watchers are people looking to sell a similar item and want to see what yours goes for so they know where to pitch their asking price, or someone who has bought the same item and want to see if someone else gets it cheaper from you.

[DawnsCollectables]

Fair point - but as a newbie I don't know of any glitches to be fixed yet as I haven't sold anything !!

Having been on eB*y for ages, I suppose I am used to some of the features over there. I know that most watchers don't bid, but to be fair, don't many of us check out other listings to see what we should charge/pay for things - I know I do.

Selling collectables myself, to be able to see if anyone is watching my auctions, for any reason, would be good to know, at least that way I know that a particular item is of interest, whether it sells for a high price or not.

As you say, not eveyone's priority but I find it 'comforting'

Dawn

[astral276]

As you say, not eveyone's priority but I find it 'comforting'

Far be it from me to snatch away your security blanket..

...to be able to see if anyone is watching my auctions, for any reason, would be good to know, at least that way I know that a particular item is of interest

But if that interest does not turn into bids then is it any sort of real interest that you can base selling decisions on?

My personal experience of the number of people watching items is that it tells you nothing. You have an auction with a couple of bids on it and 40 people watching. You sit back and wait expectantly for the bidding war to break out in the last minutes of the auction - just to watch it fizzle out with no further bids being made. Those watchers were not interested in buying the item - they were watching for reasons of their own removed from buying.

The above and my previous are just my opinion. I perfectly accept you are entitled to your own. It wouldn't bother me if the facility was introduce - I just wouldn't make use of it.

[Gayukshop]

Not saying watched items are good or bad I'v used ebaaa for years buying and selling and I use to watch items a lot for two reason first if I'm looking for a item I want and searching I would pick out the best and watch how they progress then decide which one to buy if there are loads in the catagory you may forget one previosly that was better, Also I watched to see what price it reaches if it goes over my price range then I would not buy. And in the event of item starting low and no one else bids you have a bargain I'v picked a few up on ebaaa where seller started at 0.01 and no other bidders. It's a shame thats happens I had it happen to me. Ken

[cruellady]

I can understand what you mean Dawn, but as others have said, it's not really a useful tool for sellers. If you have a poke around eBid and settle in, you'll find the whole structure better thought-out, and features you don't get elsewhere. Plus the management actually listen to the users - worth a ton of widgets! :-)

Cru
x

[burgyeb]

I watch items for a multitude of reasons. I watch for reasons of pricing research, gaging interest of buyers, listing strategy research, SOME TIMES TO BUY@ A GOOD PRICE. I don't get excited about watchers because they often times do not buy. But sometimes they do. I just take them with a grain of salt; figuring if they buy they buy and if they don't they don't. Views mean much less to me than watchers- don't seem to correlate at all to making a sale; little more than a distraction, sometimes even aggravating. Only bids and sales really count, views and watching count after they have evolved into a bid or a sale.

[crazymama]

It's nice to know that people are looking at your auction items and yes bidding too. Keep listing and you'll see that more of your items will end up selling says crazymama.

[experimentalist]

Hi

On another well known auction site it is possible to see if you have anyone watching your auctions.

Views are good to know, but is it possible to see if anyone is watching?


Dawn

sure this feature use to be on ebid years ago.

[sdk]

Having the ability to see 'watchers' is just another reason/excuse to encourage eyeballs to the site (and increase the addiction factor).

The only people for whom it serves a real purpose is the owners of a website. IMO.

My personal experience of the number of people watching items is that it tells you nothing. You have an auction with a couple of bids on it and 40 people watching. You sit back and wait expectantly for the bidding war to break out in the last minutes of the auction - just to watch it fizzle out with no further bids being made. Those watchers were not interested in buying the item - they were watching for reasons of their own removed from buying.

Worth repeating.