[meteorite-list] 3 Day eBay Auctions

From: Sterling K. Webb <kelly_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat May 21 20:59:28 2005
Message-ID: <428FD94D.30F7948E_at_bhil.com>

Hi,

    Selling, not meteorites but guitars, on eBay, I find that three day
eBay auctions in general are losers. Far fewer people view them (says
my counter). The items bring lower prices, and frequently fail to meet
the reserve. I have had to list things over, which almost never happens
with 7-day auctions. Of course, perhaps guitars are too different from
meteorites for comparisons, but I think sales are sales, whatever the
item.
    Moreover, the prime time to sell anything on eBay is Sunday
afternoon and evening, with more bidders and higher final prices. This
because there are more people at home and able to get to their computers
on Sunday afternoon and evening, between two pm and eight pm, than at
any other time in the week.
    Saturday is second best to Sunday, and on a weekday, the seven pm to
nine pm time slot is most active. Of course, one must allow for a few
hours variance in the time zone of US buyers, and the point about
European buyers is well taken.
    The bidding delay in longer auctions is because of the prevalence of
sniping, of course, but sniping is a big part of the eBay sport! With
an atomic clock for reference, I can usually manage to hit the 2 to 5
second-before-auction-close slot reliably. That quiet time is all the
snipers hunkered down in the grass around the waterhole, waiting to
pounce on the thirsty warthog.
    I have seen items that sit with NO bids for seven days get hit with
5 or more bids in that last 30 seconds. I would never bid on an unbid
item I intend to snipe on, because that would alert other snipers (who
all foolishly hope to be the only sniper) that there are other snipers
in the grass with them, which would encourage them to snipe higher.
    The point of sniping is to prevent another bidder from responding to
your bid. Some snipers are not determined to have the item at any cost,
but only hope for a bargain -- they snipe at just above the last bid.
The snipers who are determined to have the item at any cost will snipe
at two or three times the last bid but hope they don't have to go that
high! The last thing you want is to bid and have someone answer your bid
and have to bid higher, and so on...
    It is not uncommon at "live" auctions to watch two fools contending
with each other drive the price of some trivial item to the skies as
they glare at each other and bid and outbid... It's not pretty.
Buying, like all economic activities, is an art form.


Sterling K. Webb
------------------------------------------
Dave Schultz wrote:

> Sorry Bob. I usually run my auctions for 7 days,
> from Sat. to Sat. or Sun. to Sun. on the reasoning
> that it is hard for me to sometimes start them during
> the week due to working schedules. I also like to run
> them then, because it gives our European collector
> friends a better chance at bidding on something during
> a better time frame. I also try to list them in the
> afternoon here, so that they are still able to bid at
> a reasonable hour over there, and not just place a bid
> before going to sleep, hoping that they have a winning
> bid!
> Dave
>
>
>
> > I find it a pain in the rear to wait for a 7 day
> > auction to end. I know that
> > sellers want to get plenty of exposure, but, it
> > seems like there are a few
> > initial bids and then the auction goes into a freeze
> > until the last day of
> > the auction. So, we just sit back and wait.
> > The way I look at it auctions that are of shorter
> > duration could possibly
> > double a sellers sales in any time frame.Sure its
> > more work. But, $10k/
> > month is better than $5k/ right?
> > Just a suggestion to all of the larger ( volume )
> > dealers . Mike , Hupe ,
> > etc.
> >
> > Just a suggestion,
> > Bob
> >
> >
Received on Sat 21 May 2005 08:58:53 PM PDT