Ebay Auction Watchers Vs. Anti-Watchers

[doug.goodman]

Oh well. I guess you should have sold it to him.

When I see an item that I want, I bid on it and put it on my watch list. When the item is about to end, if the price is still within my range, I bid again, this time a bit over my range, with a couple seconds remaining, so that if I lose it I'm not bummed that I didn't bid enough.

Half the items on my watch list at this moment are items I do not plan to bid on, certainly not at the prices listed, but if they send me an offer (which it seems most sellers do these days) I will possibly accept, and at least counter.

I have offered a current seller an amount for two his items that he has split in two different group auctions, that is higher than what the two auctions are going to sell for. I will win those two auctions, for many more items than I am interested in, for less money than I offered him for a small percentage of his total items, and I will them keep his other items that I have no interest in to use in the future in my own sales or trades.

And I will feel no remorse about doing so.

Doug

[Ray Van]

I wouldn't call it being an anti-watcher. Maybe a better delineation is active watcher vs passive watcher.

Me, I often hit the maximum of 400 items watched, but I'm likely only interested in bidding on 10-20% of these items:

1) Actively watching with intent to bid, likely using a snipe service. 10%
2) Actively watching a Buy It Now item that is currently listed too high but hoping the seller will send me an offer to buy for less. 5%
3) Actively watching an auction that is currently listed too high and if it doesn't sell for that price maybe the seller will relist at a lower price. 5%
4) Passively watching because I own a similar item and I'm curious what the current market value is. 40%
5) Passively watching because it's an interesting item and I want to see what it sells for. 40%

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Ray Van

I wouldn't call it being an anti-watcher. Maybe a better delineation is active watcher vs passive watcher.

Me, I often hit the maximum of 400 items watched, but I'm likely only interested in bidding on 10-20% of these items:

1) Actively watching with intent to bid, likely using a snipe service. 10%
2) Actively watching a Buy It Now item that is currently listed too high but hoping the seller will send me an offer to buy for less. 5%
3) Actively watching an auction that is currently listed too high and if it doesn't sell for that price maybe the seller will relist at a lower price. 5%
4) Passively watching because I own a similar item and I'm curious what the current market value is. 40%
5) Passively watching because it's an interesting item and I want to see what it sells for. 40%

For me it's :
1) Actively watching with intent to bid, I bid if nobody else has bid, then I snipe (myself, no service). 65%
2) Actively watching a Buy It Now item that is currently listed too high but hoping the seller will send me an offer to buy for less. 15%
3) Actively watching an auction that is currently listed too high and if it doesn't sell for that price maybe the seller will relist at a lower price. 15%
4) Passively watching because I own a similar item and I'm curious what the current market value is. zero %
5) Passively watching because it's an interesting item and I want to see what it sells for. 5%

[Casey2296]

My entire watch list is BIN, I've had offers which I countered at a fair price, literally $75 on a 2500 card. It's a tenouis game, as a seller once you lose "fish on" he's probably not coming back.

[JollyElm]

Some things I watch are just crazily priced, so the only reason I 'watch' them is to see if some lunatic out there will actually pay that price. Since these are usually cards that I myself own, I just want to see if there could be a decent payday in my future.

[bxb]

This has been going on for many years on eBay.

Most of the watchers are just that, watchers. The old phrase was tire-kickers.

No intention to bid unless the price comes way down.

[Republicaninmass]

It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-watcher

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

Some things I watch are just crazily priced, so the only reason I 'watch' them is to see if some lunatic out there will actually pay that price.

I call that "hitting the drunk-it-now button"

[judsonhamlin]

I think I’m about 50/50. About half of the items I watch I would or will purchase. The other half (and there are some in that half I’ve had in my watch list for over a year), just to judge price point and interest.

[mannequin1]

I started this thread about the intentions of "watchers" on AUCTIONS, not BIN.
Of course BIN's have mostly watchers with no intention of buying. Auctions are for a limited period of time and watchers should count more.

[JustinD]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

For me it's :
1) Actively watching with intent to bid, I bid if nobody else has bid, then I snipe (myself, no service). 65%
2) Actively watching a Buy It Now item that is currently listed too high but hoping the seller will send me an offer to buy for less. 15%
3) Actively watching an auction that is currently listed too high and if it doesn't sell for that price maybe the seller will relist at a lower price. 15%
4) Passively watching because I own a similar item and I'm curious what the current market value is. zero %
5) Passively watching because it's an interesting item and I want to see what it sells for. 5%

I feel like Doug is reading my brain on Ebay usage to an almost perfect copy, lol. This is down to percentage everything I do as well.