Watchers?

[tgillan01332]

Got a feeling that most of the watchers on my items for sale aren't real. Does eBay display watchers on items so you keep them on the site in the hope they sell so they can have their slice of the pie? I say this as I've had the same amount of watchers on an item I have for sale 3 times, but yet don't get a bid. You should be able to view who's watching so you know that they're real and be able to weed the idiots out before they bid with no intention of paying.

[patrickbegood]

On the topic of why people watch without buying soon after, or after receiving an offer:

Some things I watch because they're outside my budget for that type of item, or I feel they're slightly overpriced but the seller looks good, or there's something extra special about the item, so if I ever get some mad money, I'll be straight there buying it. That's probably the most common reason.

Sometimes they're a good example of a type of item I like and might want later, but I don't have the time/energy to pursue that project right now. My health's not great, so that happens a lot.

My Saved Sellers is full, so I have a few things on long-term Watch because I like the look of the seller and the items they list. Even if the item sells, Watch keeps the seller's details. I always forget to backup bookmarks, so I use Watch for the important things.

Occasionally the item is just so beautiful, hideous, weird, or interesting, that I'm curious about it and want to be able to find it again.

None of this has sinister intent, it's not even intended to prompt the seller to make me an offer. BUT, all items I watch are a quantum leap more likely to end up being bought by me, than things I remember seeing but can't be bothered to hunt up again.

There's one more thing  @tgillan01332  - if I'm on the fence on an item and I see it has Watchers, I am that bit more likely to buy, because I'll assume the sharks are circling, maybe getting offers from the seller, maybe about to get paid and lay down the money, and it does indicate an item's getting a lot of interest, so that might force my hand.

Last year I overpaid by almost 100% (comparing like for like) on something specifically because it was a really attractive example and had a ton of Watchers, I figured a lot of them had the same issue with the price that I had, but, it was a really NICE thing... someone was going to have to cough up the extra and I decided it was going to be me. Not a moment's regret, and I love it! If it had no interest, I might have delayed because of the price, and eventually lost interest.

So even Watchers who don't buy nor intend to can have a positive effect in motivating a sale! 😉

[crashdivabugs]

I watch items because eBay doesn't have wish list option (as far as I'm aware). 

I put something on my watch list if it's something I want but, I'm waiting for payday,  or I like it, but I'm not sure yet. I usually end up buying the things I watch, but I would think watching an item you're not quite sure about or can't afford yet would be better than a bid you won't be able to pay for, or might end up not wanting after all.

[papers-mate-420]

Why worry about watchers as most watchers are not customers it is just numbers to me & my only interests is selling on ebay and selling away from ebay to friends of friends etc, keeping tabs on numbers of watchers is a waiste of time and really boring.

[papers-mate-420]

Only window watchers not customers just relist like i do.

[schumacher_porsche]

I've noticed my listing shows say 11 watchers, but when I go to send an offer it only sends 4.  Making me think only 4 are genuine?

I've seen people say they turn off messaging, but why? Surely if you're watching an item you'd want be offered a discount, and be notified about the offer too. Puzzling

[eastern-lights]

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@schumacher_porsche wrote:

I've noticed my listing shows say 11 watchers, but when I go to send an offer it only sends 4.  Making me think only 4 are genuine?

I've seen people say they turn off messaging, but why? Surely if you're watching an item you'd want be offered a discount, and be notified about the offer too. Puzzling

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If your item has been relisted, it is possible that you have already sent offers to the other 7. (One of the benefits of "Sell Similar" is that it wipes the slate and all your watchers are recent, whereas "Re-list" carries over old watchers and so is stale.)

[schumacher_porsche]

Thanks, but I never use re list. Listings are started fresh or using sell similar, some times weeks apart from when the original ended.

[gapol_21]

This comment gives an insight to the mentality of Ebay buyers. 

In my opinion they're skinflints who, as often as not, seek something for virtually nothing.

This person crowed about saving a paltry £4.

I started to sell some unwanted items on Ebay in November 2023 but between the skinflints and misers,  the drunken bidders who don't pay or cancel orders and Ebay's own outrageous, unfathomable and unfair charging policies I am slowly, but surely changing to other platforms.

I have had a few smashing buyers who were a pleasure to deal with, but overall the whole selling process on Ebay seems a tawdry affair and leaves a figurative bad taste in my mouth.

As for the so-called watchers, we'll, they're just voyeurs.

[*knight-rider*]

Firstly, i don't 'seek' something for nothing, i spend alot of money on this site, but i'm not an idiot either, if i get a chance to save money, like anyone, i'll take it and its not about crowing over £4, because its £4 on one item, £2 on another, £10 on another, which all adds up. For the record, these sellers send the buyers the offers because they want to sell the item, so you can't then blame them and call them skinflints. If 'make an offer' or 'send offer' didn't work, they wouldn't be used and would be gone.

If the taste in your mouth is that bad, dont sell on here, its not mandatory!

[keeptheroof]

Watchers mean nothing I've found, just as views mean very little as I don't think that count works at all well. The only thing that matters is buyers and they'll arrive at any time. I've found being proactive is best, changing the title, adjusting the price or postage but mainly including keywords that people search on.  Some changes might be picked up by ebay and sent to those viewers in email as free promotion.

[gapol_21]

One has to accept that Ebay buyers are rather miserly. They frequently want something for nothing. If one were to list for a pound, or a dollar someone would want the item for less.

Similarly, many, many Ebay members merely watch without ever buying or intending  to buy. It's like window shopping for agoraphobics. These people should actually be labeled 'lurkers'.

Then there are watchers who list similar items as you might have listed and just can't mind their own business.

I think watchers are just grubby little voyeurs, and certainly not a harbinger of a sale.

All in all, this is Ebay, which is tantamount to a car boot sale as a private seller, and not a business.

[roger_roger_over_and_nowt]

"So I think genuine watchers are relevant."

"Genuine" & "watchers" are 2 words that don't compute on planet earth but have an input on planet Ebay..

Watchers are just watchers.Bidders who win are only bidders/buyers who win/buy until they actually pay.

[*devils.advocate*]

These people should actually be labelled 'lurkers'.

Lurkers is the description used on these Boards for those who only view the posts/threads but don’t participate.

Isn’t that the same thing?

[theelench]

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@gapol_21 wrote:

One has to accept that Ebay buyers are rather miserly. They frequently want something for nothing. If one were to list for a pound, or a dollar someone would want the item for less.

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I call them "Waiters"  as they're only waiting for a lower price offer.

All Watchers are best ignored, most never buy anything.

[theelench]

Realised this is quite an old thread that's just re-surfaced, so re-read it all.

Isn't it true to say that no-one knows if ebay manipulates the Watchers number.  They denied manipulating the 'Views' figures, but then reduced them by removing all the bot views to make them more accurate  --  or so they said.  We still don't know for sure whether ebay manipulates any of the figures it produces.

All I can say for sure about Watchers is this.

I used to have more live ads. on ebay, perhaps an average of 20.  I thought I was lucky if (say) 5 had any Watchers at all, but back then a few Watchers did mostly indicate real interest and an increased likelihood of a sale. 

Now almost every item I list will get a few Watchers, probably the same Watchers on all my items.  But my sales have fallen.  I've concluded they are mostly re-sellers in the same niche as I'm selling in.  They go through the "Newly Listed" items each day, click the 'Like' button on all of them and don't even look at the item details until they get an offer from the seller.

They never do get an offer from me, so never buy.  I stopped looking at Views and Watcher numbers, as they mostly indicate nothing apart from someone clicked a 'like' button.  I don't worry about whether ebay is manipulating the numbers or not,  no point if they mean nothing and as I don't look at them ebay has no chance of influencing me to go in whatever direction it thinks I should go.

[kempseykate]

I have never understood the obsession with watchers. It doesn't necessarily mean they are a potential buyer. They could be checking to see what price it goes for, having got a similar item to sell. It could be someone who is shadowing you to see what you sell. It could be someone who has come across your listing, seen the price and thinks, 'You're 'avin' a larff!'. Could be someone who has reported you and is waiting to see if the listing gets removed. Could be someone from the boards. who having seen a rant about watchers, watches every item of that seller.

If I am watching an item that I am interested in, I don't 'watch' it anyway, I bookmark it. So now all those who get annoyed about the amount of watchers, can worry a bit more about whether they have any bogus bookmarkers!

Having said that, as a private seller who just wants rid of stuff, I tend to add Best Offer to most items (automatically refusing offers below a certain amount). I do also send out offers to watchers, and do get a fairly good take up rate. Yes, I get items with lots of watchers and no one takes up the offer, but that's fine, it doesn't lose me any sleep or raise my blood pressure. My last item that had lots of watchers, none of whom took up the offer I sent out, sold shortly after for the full price.

[papers-mate-420]

I agree most watchers are mostly skint flints lurkers window watchers etc.

[insidethe93]

I mainly Watch as a wishlist, corralling items I want to buy or would like to buy in the next few hours or over a weekend.

If I'm having a spree I don't like to do many small transactions, as distinct from one or two larger ones, ever since my payment provider gave their security features a makeover over a year ago and, for a while, blocked payments (elsewhere though, not eBay), unblocking them only when I rang them = time on phone hold, time spent explaining. Annoyingly, they refused to tell me what the daily maximum transactions was!

I used to put everything in my Basket (on another platform) then sort, but once I accidentally bought all in one go before I'd fully sorted (luckily I did really want them all). No risk of that with the Watchlist.

[papers-mate-420]

I agree 9 times out of 10 they never buy even when u send them offers they just ignor these offers so why keep watching if u not going to buy is it coz i take amazing photos lol 🙂

[*vyolla*]

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@papers-mate-420 wrote:

I agree 9 times out of 10 they never buy even when u send them offers they just ignor these offers so why keep watching if u not going to buy is it coz i take amazing photos lol 🙂

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More likely HMRC because you're not trading correctly on a business account. 😃

Just a heads up because you may be heading for grief with HMRC as you appear to be unaware of this.

A private seller is one who is just selling off their own personal items such as clothes from their wardrobe, bits from their loft/garage etc.

A Business seller is someone who buys or makes items to sell on.  They need to be registered as a business to meet the requirements of UK law. They need to declare income to HMRC once they reach £1,000 worth of sales (eBay will be providing HMRC with your details anyway so it's vital to keep correct accounts for your tax return). You can obviously offset more expenses as a business seller, but can't offset any at all as a private one.  

To correctly register as a business seller simply go to your Personal Information in your account and to the right of Account Type, which will be showing as 'Individual'  you'll see an Edit option.

https://accountsettings.ebay.co.uk/profile

This doesn't affect your feedback profile or any current listings, it merely upgrades your account so that you're legally compliant.