eBay

maybeenot50 · ‎08-28-2017

there is something odd going on......i post an item 4 sale......after a few days of nothing all of a sudden i have multiple watchers......weeks go by.....the number of watchers doesnt change and the item has not sold.....while the item is still active i go and and completely revise the first item to something TOTALLY different.....the number of watchers doesnt change.......finally the item ends without selling and i leave it in my not sold page.....weeks go by......the number of watchers doesnt change.......IS EBAY POSTING FAKE WATCHER NUMBERS to make it look like they have more customers than they really do? as nothing else makes any sense

nightsky4me · ‎08-28-2017

I know how you feel. I have many listings end with watchers and no sale. I think many of my watchers are other sellers with the same item. And they are watching if my item sells before theirs.

View Best Answer in original post

nightsky4me · ‎08-28-2017

I know how you feel. I have many listings end with watchers and no sale. I think many of my watchers are other sellers with the same item. And they are watching if my item sells before theirs.

div_style · ‎08-28-2017

Seems Trump's "Fake News" narrative has penetrated the eBay experience.

List more, sell more. Goodwill that other, uh, stuff.

Feeling sleepy? There's an app for that.

dhbookds · ‎08-28-2017

I don't worry about watchers...... because I've left stuff on my watch list for months/never taken off or looked at again........

smashedbanana · ‎08-28-2017

I buy as much as I sell.

I watch many things for different reasons. Sometimes I need to wait to have the cash to purchase, sometimes to remind me of a thing I need, sometimes it was a hard item to search out and I don't want to go through hunting, and of course I may have a similiar Item and I liked the description, and/or want to know the final selling price.

All good reasons for me. But I'm sure for a seller it's annoying.

a_c_green · ‎08-28-2017

@nightsky4me wrote:
I know how you feel. I have many listings end with watchers and no sale. I think many of my watchers are other sellers with the same item. And they are watching if my item sells before theirs.

Ayup, that's definitely possible.

Watched items stay on watch lists even after the item has expired, although you cannot add an expired item to your watch list. If you relist or do a Sell Similar on an item with watchers, those watchers will get a heads-up notification from eBay that you have done so.

As for sudden upticks in a watch count, that can happen if some special-interest group or email list notices your listing and circulates a link to it. I'm always happy to see a watch count go up. If I've got zero bids and zero watchers near the end of the listing, then I'll be concerned.

sodelight · ‎08-28-2017

Unfortunately, the majority of watchers are competitors with same or similar items. Babysitting watchers is a waste of time. I often sell items with zero watchers, and fail to sell those with 20! The number is meaningless to me, I think ebay implementing watchers was a waste of time. It only gives sellers false hope.

The only items I have on my watch list are those that are a seller's staple, I know they always sell it and I can quickly find it when I'm ready to purchase or re-purchase. Otherwise, I don't watch an item, I buy it!

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎08-28-2017

It's none of the seller's business why you are watching. If it annoys them then they need to grow up. The watchlist was created for buyers. I think it was a bad decision for Ebay to allow sellers to even see the watch count. We've had endless complaints on the boards ever since.

I have things on my watchlist that stay there for months. Mostly I'm waiting to see if I can find something better or waiting to have free cash.

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎08-28-2017

With all due respect, nobody knows who the majority of watchers are. I've never seen any kind of research so anything anyone says about that is purely guesswork and assumptions.

When I'm buying for my store and clothing my family I often hit the maximum watch count of 300. I think there are likely a lot of buyers out there like me.

lex-talon · ‎08-28-2017

@maybeenot50 wrote:
there is something odd going on......i post an item 4 sale......after a few days of nothing all of a sudden i have multiple watchers......weeks go by.....the number of watchers doesnt change and the item has not sold.....while the item is still active i go and and completely revise the first item to something TOTALLY different.....the number of watchers doesnt change.......finally the item ends without selling and i leave it in my not sold page.....weeks go by......the number of watchers doesnt change.......IS EBAY POSTING FAKE WATCHER NUMBERS to make it look like they have more customers than they really do? as nothing else makes any sense

No, I don't think so. Buyers can "watch" an item for many reasons. The main reason why I do is to compare prices and gives me time to research the product if I choose to buy it.

margarenisa_0 · ‎08-28-2017

@maybeenot50 wrote:
there is something odd going on......i post an item 4 sale......after a few days of nothing all of a sudden i have multiple watchers......weeks go by.....the number of watchers doesnt change and the item has not sold.....while the item is still active i go and and completely revise the first item to something TOTALLY different.....the number of watchers doesnt change.......finally the item ends without selling and i leave it in my not sold page.....weeks go by......the number of watchers doesnt change.......IS EBAY POSTING FAKE WATCHER NUMBERS to make it look like they have more customers than they really do? as nothing else makes any sense

I have always thought that eBay did this.

I've selling since 2000 and I've seen eBay "massage" quite a few of their stats.

grilled · ‎08-28-2017

@maybeenot50 wrote:
there is something odd going on......i post an item 4 sale......after a few days of nothing all of a sudden i have multiple watchers......weeks go by.....the number of watchers doesnt change and the item has not sold.....while the item is still active i go and and completely revise the first item to something TOTALLY different.....the number of watchers doesnt change.......finally the item ends without selling and i leave it in my not sold page.....weeks go by......the number of watchers doesnt change.......IS EBAY POSTING FAKE WATCHER NUMBERS to make it look like they have more customers than they really do? as nothing else makes any sense

no

sodelight · ‎08-28-2017

@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:
With all due respect, nobody knows who the majority of watchers are. I've never seen any kind of research so anything anyone says about that is purely guesswork and assumptions.

When I'm buying for my store and clothing my family I often hit the maximum watch count of 300. I think there are likely a lot of buyers out there like me.

Well, if they were legit Buyers the item would have sold!!

Your right, there are alot like you, they simply fill up their watch lists with apparently no intention of buying. Until then they're simply window shoppers. Saying you have 300 items on your watch list pretty much proves my point, as you haven't bought them. So does the fact that you state you'd be buying for your store, sounds like a seller (competitor) to me!

I'm done.