Ebay auction listing duration question...

[markophonic]

I have a few guitars I plan on putting up on ebay soon and I'm wondering how long i should "run" the auction? how many days...shorter, longer? Is it better to keep them long and drawn out or short and sweet??

I think i've run some for 5 days in the past???

I know the snipers wait for the last minute...will they lose interest if they wait to long...i know i sometimes do!

[TeleGeir]

Not sure if this question has a scientific answer...

My view, as a buyer:

Long auctions serves to keep the "ad" up longer, and should in theory catch more of the occasional eBay visitors. How many of those that are potential buyers is another matter. If you are in the market to buy a guitar on eBay, you will probably look a bit more often.

For people like myself who check eBay out regularly, it doesn't matter much, unless I am out travelling and don't have eBay access that is.

Personally I will wait a long auction out. I save the links to those that interest me, and visit them to see how they progress. But if it was say a 9 days auction, I'd leave it alone for the 5 first days...

Most people probably do not follow it as systematic as me, and may indeed forget about an auction if it lasts too long. So maybe you loose as many as you win...

Also, a long auction works better if you get a bit of action early to draw attention to it. A 9 day auction with no bidders at all after 6 days, has only advertised peoples lack of interest.

Finally I'd say "smaller items short, bigger items longer". No point in a 9 day on a MIM standard. Before your auction ends at least 20 identical ones will have been up and sold... But for that one of a kind Custom Shop or vintage guitar the exposure will be good.

Geir :)

[Kevin]

A short answer....

I follow what I'm interested in, and search everyday for new stuff. Most people won't bid until the last day or so, anyway -- with the final bids often coming in the last few seconds....

As a buyer, I hate to wait a week on something I want, unless it's a fantastic deal -- most eBay items aren't, BTW. As a seller, I've noticed no difference in selling in five days vs. seven. Some people will bid in the first two days; the others wait until the end....

I think 10 days is ridiculous; it only serves to let eBay increase the fees under the illusion that more people will bid.

[Silverface]

This is something that's been discussed at length on the eBay discussion boards and elsewhere.

The recommended "high-dollar sales" method is to run the auction 7 days...but more important is the start/stop time:

It's considered best to start the auction (and end it, obviously) mid-afternoon on Sunday, Pacific time. There are more "hits" during this period than any othertime dsuring the week; you have a limited number of people handcuffed by work restraints; and folks on both coasts are awake and generally have "freee time" to search for goodies.

Trust me, it works. I do it whenever possible and on camera items I was selling I saw a significant jump in sales return.

It doesn't afect international buyers, but in my case it's a moot point as I only ship inside the US anyway.

Hope that helps!

[TeleGeir]

Originally Posted by Silverface

It's considered best to start the auction (and end it, obviously) mid-afternoon on Sunday, Pacific time.
Snip...
It doesn't afect international buyers, but in my case it's a moot point as I only ship inside the US anyway.

Now - for the benefit of anyone who does ship internationally - just let me point out that Norway is GMT+1, so we are 9 hours ahead of PST, as is the rest of Western Europe ('cept the UK.) Do the maths if you want our bids :D .

Though I have been seen to snipe an auction at 3:15 AM Norwegian time.

Geir :)