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.

[*devils.advocate*]

Watchers are just that - watchers - an irrelevance.

I’ve often wondered if it’s better if people could watch an item but not show the number of watchers to the seller.

Watchers are an irrelevance - it’s bids and sales that matter.

[tgillan01332]

I agree that sales matter, but bids are no guarantee of a sale as it regularly happens. With being able to see who's watching can help you decide if you want to sell to that individual or not. So I think genuine watchers are relevant.

[four_mid_able]

Watchers are just watchers

Bidders are just bidders

Buyers are only buyers when they actually pay.....

[zoomingmouse]

Earlier this afternoon it said I had 4 watchers. When I checked myself I counted 5...

[tgillan01332]

Not quite sure what you mean? Just that I think it's eBay's way of  keeping your interest and leaving the items for sale rather than taking it off and going elsewhere. As for those who think it's irrelevant obviously don't sell on eBay.

[*knight-rider*]

Watchers can be good as a buyer and a seller. As a buyer, i`ve put loads of stuff on my watch list for various reasons and within a couple of days of doing so, i get an offer come through from the seller knocking £5 or even £10 off the price, in fact i bought an item yesterday listed at £12 and the seller sent an offer at £8, which i accepted, so saved £4. I had actually intended buying at the £12, but i`ve bought from this seller already and was going to wait because he was about to go on holiday.

As a seller they work as well, i`ve currently got nearly 500 listings going because i`m selling off a music collection and some vintage toys. Like others, loads of watchers, so every now and again i`ll send an offer out to them and they buy.

So whilst alot of watchers aren`t worth worrying about, alot are and like me, some buyers put items in their watch list hopeing they`ll get sent a lower offer. Some watch just to see what your item sells for, some watch because they maybe can`t afford it just now and hope it will still be there next week and various other reasons i suppose, but as others have said, it`s sales that are important, watchers are just that and not spending.

[iew-signed-books]

You may have a very valid point there. And why people watch a BIN item and yet never buy it has always mystified me.

[tgillan01332]

Don't believe it for a minute. You say you have nearly 500 items for sale! When I've looked at your items it says " items for sale 0"?  I'm more and more convinced that the figures are manipulated by eBay. Either hide all watchers or allow access to sellers to make sure that they are real and genuine.

[clutter-free-wannabe]

I'll watch a BIN so I don't go silly and overbid on an auction and maybe I don't want/need the item immediately but may soon. 

[lemon-p]

I have three watch lists, on my main one I have about 60 items on it both auctions and BIN's, I may not be interested in buying any of the items but I am interested in seeing what they sell for, watching items is a great source of information for research.

[tgillan01332]

Thanks for your interest in the question. 3 times in a row the same amount of watchers? I'll have to keep an eye on the views to see if they're the same.

[papso22]

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@tgillan01332 wrote:

Don't believe it for a minute. You say you have nearly 500 items for sale! When I've looked at your items it says " items for sale 0"? Your as fake as so called eBay watchers. Why send an offer when I'm selling most of my items for half price or less. I'm more and more convinced that the figures are manipulated by eBay. Either hide all watchers or allow access to sellers to make sure that they are real and genuine.

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Wow rudeness fuelled by ignorance!

Many regular posters on here have more than one account, and use one for posting on the boards.  They have another active selling account.

[tgillan01332]

Nothing wrong with that. With most people getting paid at the end of the month I can understand them saving it to their watch list in the hope that it's still available then. Most of the items I sell are brand new with a few exceptions. I do my homework by looking at what price others are selling at and sell for less than they do. But to have the same amount of watchers at the end of 30 days at BIN doesn't ring true to me.

[tgillan01332]

The truth is not ignorance. And please don't offer solutions you've not done your homework on. It's not helpful.

[zoomingmouse]

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@tgillan01332 wrote:

Not quite sure what you mean? Just that I think it's eBay's way of  keeping your interest and leaving the items for sale rather than taking it off and going elsewhere. As for those who think it's irrelevant obviously don't sell on eBay.

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What I am saying is if the watchers Ebay state I have do not match the watcher count given in the columns, then they may well not be real. The numbers should tally.

[lemon-p]

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@tgillan01332 wrote:

Don't believe it for a minute. You say you have nearly 500 items for sale! When I've looked at your items it says " items for sale 0"? Your as fake as so called eBay watchers. Why send an offer when I'm selling most of my items for half price or less. I'm more and more convinced that the figures are manipulated by eBay. Either hide all watchers or allow access to sellers to make sure that they are real and genuine.

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Might be a good idea to quit while you are ahead.

Watchers are good for buyers and sellers, for a seller having watchers can give an idea of the amount of interest in the items, and now that ebay have stopped the bots from manipulating the numbers you get a more accurate result.

Adding items to your watch list as a buyer buyer is also good, put items on your watch list and wait for the discounts, I have had as many as 500 items on my three lists at one time.

In the end watchers are just watchers and can't see why anyone would get upset about them, no different that window shoppers.

[1956glyn]

Ok lets bring this down a notch.

In relation to "Either hide all watchers or allow access to sellers to make sure that they are real and genuine."

In my opinion Ebay will not allow sellers to know who their watchers are for fear that some sellers may try and do an off Ebay deal with them.   Hiding them.  Maybe that would be a good option because Sellers would not be given false hope in relation to the interest in a listing.

On these boards responders often do not use their main selling account when responding.    They will either use their buying account or maybe just an account with zero activity.    The issue is that in the past posters have made malicious purchases from a responder just to try and trash their account because they do not like the response they were given....although that advice was 100% correct.

Yes Ebay do allow members to have as many accounts as they wish to so long as they follow the rules in relation to having multiple accounts.

A previous brilliant responder used to post on the boards using an account with like 5 feedback.......their proper account has over 50k feedback.    Its the quality and correctness of advice being given that counts and not the account that a responder is replying on.

The bottom line is watchers mean nothing.....its bids and payment that counts.

[kempseykate]

I don't use 'watch' I just bookmark, that way the seller doesn't need to get their knickers in a twist as to who I am and why I'm watching!

I bookmark/watch things for a variety of reasons and very rarely is it because I have any intention of buying.

Most frequently I watch because I have a similar item to sell and what to get some idea of selling price.

I watch things that are on at stupid beyond belief prices, sometimes I watch items of sellers that I have reported to see if anything is done (99.9% it's not), I will watch items when I'm looking for inspiration for something or that I want to show my OH the type of thing I am looking for. I have watched items I have sold that the seller has put back on at many times the cost they paid.

I have one book which every time I list (BIN) it gets an instant watcher, with a couple more coming in the next day. It's not expensive and I have even sent offers on it, but they are obviously watching for research. I can't see that it would do any good if I could see who they are - and I'm not really bothered who they are. I agree with the other sellers (even if they are posting with non-selling IDs!), the number of watchers is irrelevant - I'd rather sell an item with no watchers, than have an unsold item with 50 watchers.

[1956glyn]

Option B

List your items on Buy It Now with immediate payment required.

There you go headache resolved 🙂