Ebay watchers.

K

Knife Outlet

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It's a serious question. I've put some items on Ebay using the "buy it now" method. They have acquired a group of "watchers." These listings aren't auctions. They are just items for sale. Nothing will change until somebody buys one. Then that item will be gone. What are the watchers watching?
 
In my case, probably t see if anyone actually pays the price asked. Probably three out of four times I watch an auction, I have no intention of purchasing the knife. I just want to note the final price in order to keep track of the market.

Without reference to your auctions because I don't know that I've ever seen one, I generally find that people who list these fixed-price sales have the item way over-priced so I generally want to A) validate my judgement that it's overpriced, and B) make sure no fool comes along and actually buys it.
 
Interesting. I guess I pay less attention to the "market" than others even though it is my business and my living. My experience with Ebay as a seller has been poor over the years. I have used it only to reduce inventory. I find that it is almost impossible to recover dealer cost on a knife sold at auction. I assume the general level of discounting is the reason.

However, I find that I do just fine with "buy it now." The products seem to sell just fine and I can make a small margin on the sales - a better way of reducing inventory than selling at a loss. I think there are some buyers (like me) that just don't want to go through the hassle of the auction and bidding. They see something they like. The price is fair. A few clicks and they can complete the transaction quickly. Bingo.
 
I've done that. "Watching" it just puts it into your ebay summary page so you can easily find it again.

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I've been watching auctions,on Ebay. I had a Case slipjiont up for sale here,on BF,for $35,no bites.Same knife ,on a recent auction on Ebay,$73,go figure?
 
I think that is not unusual. The higher prices on Ebay auctions come from rare products or products that are no longer available. Last year I cleared out some of my bulging Spyderco collection. Most of the knives were made prior to the millenium. They got what would have been near list prices back in 1998 or 1999. When you get to currently available products, price seems to be the only consideration in Ebay auctions.
 
I watch many auctions looking for a good deal. I will ocasionally watch a buy it now item to use as a referance. I've seen many auctions go for more then an identical item w the BIN feature.
 
I might be wrong, but I think some watchers already have the same item and are considering selling theirs depending on whether your item sells.
 
I like to see what things sell for. Like Slatts said, sometimes I watch things that are like what I have, just to sense what the market is for them.
 
Absolutely agree - it's nice to have a barometer for what we mave have stashed in the closet or toy chest and determine if the market will bear what we may ask at selling time.

Ebay used to have a function which allowed a user to search older transactions - this appears to be gone, so the only way to save auctions is to put them on a watch list or to bid on the auctions.
 
Yep, lots of legit reasons to watch a "Buy it Now" item. With the millions of items for sale, it can be nearly impossible to re-find a specific auction later.

-Bob
 
Usually the Buy it Nows that I watch get bought within a day or two. I was just watching a 690BT-BLK #8/100 and someone bought it like 2 hours later.

Shao
 
Parker said:
Absolutely agree - it's nice to have a barometer for what we mave have stashed in the closet or toy chest and determine if the market will bear what we may ask at selling time.

Ebay used to have a function which allowed a user to search older transactions - this appears to be gone, so the only way to save auctions is to put them on a watch list or to bid on the auctions.
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Parker,

You can still find this feature under the SELL function as "search completed transactions" I believe.

I as well will put "Buy it Now" items in my watched item's list. I may want to do a little research first to see if it is a good price.

Tom
 
Thanks Tom!

I've never sold anything on Ebay. I remember they used to have a Search Priors function available in the open. I'll check under sell in the next week or so - i've got a few neat pieces I expect to pay off the mortgage...or at least piss off the wife I spent that much on knives....:D
 
Mr. Knife Outlet, that's nothing.
I really wonder why I get so many people looking at my Want To Buy ads sometimes. I make it clear in the title what I'm looking for, and either they have it or they don't. :confused:
 
Let me give you a "For INSTANCE". I have a model of Spyderco knife that I am toying with the idea of maybe listing it on Ebay. I am now trying to get a comparison of prices of what other dealers are getting for the same model. I have used that as a tool before to set prices and get the biggest amount of money for it. I also might find an item on Ebay that I don't have the money for at the moment but maybe in a couple of days I might come up with it and then it is a lot easier to find when I am ready. I also watch Buy IT NOW listings to see if indeed a particular knife model is fetching a certain price. That's why I do it. :)
 
Walking Man said:
I really wonder why I get so many people looking at my Want To Buy ads sometimes. I make it clear in the title what I'm looking for, and either they have it or they don't. :confused:
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Walking Man, I'm confused...if you want to buy an item...why would you not want many people to look at what you want to buy???? Do you get alot of replys that don't meet your specs?


I've also looked at WTBs to see what people are looking for in relation to what I have and might want to sell, although I've never sold on the bay. Then there are times that I'm just stumbling(searching) around on the bay and happen upon an item. Preston
 
I will watch times to see what the finnal price is but mostly just so I can find them again.Makes it easier if I find them on a search that I will not remember the keyword for.
 
pjsjr said:
Walking Man, I'm confused...if you want to buy an item...why would you not want many people to look at what you want to buy???? Do you get alot of replys that don't meet your specs?
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There's no real reason that I do want anyone to not look at what I want to buy, but when it's extremely clear what I want to buy in the title, I don't understand why anyone would take another minute to read my post.
For example: Busse Terror Monkey Natural Outlaw.
There is not room for ambiguity there. Either you have it or you don't.
It really just bugs me that so many people have looked at my post and not one response. Why even bother looking if you don't have it?
 
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