Why do buyers watch items?
Summary: Participants discussed reasons why buyers watch items on platforms like eBay. Some view it as a reminder for future purchases or to check prices, while others use it to receive discount offers. Concerns were raised about issues with sellers copying listings and automatic charges from simply watching items, highlighting a desire for better saving features without committing to purchase.
I've heard sellers ask this question here many times.
I found myself doing it just this morning so I thought I would share one of the reasons.
I was shirt shopping on ebay.
I ended up watching about 12 shirts.
Later when I have time, I will go back and "narrow them down" and figure out which ones I actually want to buy.
P.S. Within minutes of watching these shirts, I received 3 discount offers.
mam98031
·2 weeks agoFor me when I'm shopping for something, I throw stuff into my shopping cart that I find interesting so that I can later go back and review them all to see if any of them meet my requirements or needs instead of having to go and search for them all over again. It saves me time and safes me many times from making a mistake and purchasing something that isn't quite right for my needs.
I do this on all sites I shop on, not just Ebay.
busybee48
·2 weeks agoI think that if eBay would create a “saved” option would be so much better! When I’m shopping and I see something that I’m interested in but want to be able to find it again it would stop sellers from giving a discount and then if We the buyer doesn’t respond to it They automatically charge us! Unless we deny the discount. It’s confusing and seriously like a trick to force a sale on us! I got very mad upset and disappointed because last year I didn’t understand how it worked and Everything I put in my watch option., I got charged and all was sent to my house! All I did was look at an item and boom it showed up at my door step. It Robbed me of all my money. I didn’t know that the seller can automatically charge me for something I was only thinking about buying for later. It really irritates me because I could not afford to buy 20-30 items. I was shocked when every thing got changed & sent to me !! I love what eBay has to offer but please stop this auto sale just for looking. We need an option spot to save something that maybe later want an can’t find again. Does anyone else have that issue it’s horrible.
sin-n-dex
·1 month agoI started a thread a while back with a story like this... I was shopping for a few new dresses and started watching everything that interested me so I could narrow it down. I ended up with offers on everything within about 24 hours. The offers didn't make or break the sale, but I did take the offer if I wanted to buy that one, why not buy it a bit cheaper?
I have to pay $25 on shipping to send a dress to Canada so getting 10% off doesn't excite me very much when the dress is only $25.
jerzee908
·1 month agoThey sometimes watch a bunch of items that they intend on selling themselves to lazily copy your title and listing and then they'll unwatch said item. (ebay could fix this by putting up a warning saying "title is already in use". If I'm able to change my title after discovering someone copied it word-for-word, dash-for-dash, space-for-space, then the person copying my title can do the same.)
grann-4629
·1 month agoThat's why I put items on my watchlist instead of a cart ... I get discount offers on most of them.
meme6253
·1 month agoI constantly am watching some item or another, Sometimes it's just a reminder that I might want that item, & sometimes I am very interested, Sometimes I wait to see if the seller gets their price because I have the same item, There are many reasons.
jundedh2012
·1 month agobefore i buy i watch an item to check out later or a reminder to research it later
skate_man1000
·1 month agoSome people think it's social media. Watching is a like to them.
rugerskick
·8 months agoMore reasons than we probably can think of. But sellers watch items too.
jdbelt1960
·8 months agoWatched Items: Correct me if I am wrong but as a seller when someone watches your item it shows as "able to send offers". I have many of those but on items already at sale price so I ignore. I received a sale on one that was an after sale 50% Christmas special so I really made no money but wanted to let go.
As a buyer I just put an item to watch because I want get it to add to my inventory and I think it is a good price that I can resell for 25% more. I just need to think a bit more.
12345jamesstamps
·8 months agoI watch auctions to see what the price the item goes for.
And I watch my competitors...maybe one of their item's...to see what they sold the day before.
I also get offers...5% off an item is kinda funny😄
kandf_vintage_finds
·8 months agoSame here
Shopping for "Pufalumps" ever hear of them?
My son had a specific one when he was a toddler.
We still have the piece of fabric that remains.
Even though it was flat and lost all the filling He wouldn't go to bed without it for about 10 years.
He will soon be a dad and I've found the same one...watching a few....
Waiting to hear back on an offer I put in.
He will get a kick out of this when I give it to my grandbaby.
adamcartwright
·1 month agoThat's really sweet.
kibble-net
·8 months agoAs a buyer - I watch items that I'm thinking about buying later, or to see what an auction goes for after it ends. Sometimes I find an auction for a large collection of video games and I want to see what the winning bid is later on.
As a seller - I have ceased sending out offers for 2 reasons. (1) because less than 2% of people take the offer, and (2) to counteract the extra fees I'll be paying because of ebay's new promoted listing attribution rules. (My handling fee is also going up a tad - probably 25 cents - to help cover this cost)
ccomic
·8 months agoI watch auction items I intend to bid on towards the end of the auction, but mostly things I am just curious about. It is a heart icon to activate watch, which I think is appropriate because it means I like it and am interested in it, even if I don't intend to purchase it.
roccotacodad54
·8 months agoI put items on my watchlist for the same reasons you describe.
Except for auctions usually. I bookmark them on my browser so as to not show on eBay that I'm watching. If I see a bunch of watchers on an auction I kind of expect alot of last minute bids driving the price up...........................
tobaccocardyahoo
·8 months agoOnce upon a time, I had the same expectation. I have it less often nowadays, when I have weekly auctions again.
jewelbiz
·8 months agoInstead of sending an offer to a few watchers, I simply lower the selling eBay price! So the watchers will see that I am willing to take a lower price but every other person will see that lower price too!
evry1nositswindy
·8 months agoI put numerous listings of the same or similar item on my watch list so that I can go back later and compare them on the same screen. It takes time to see where the seller is located, FB score, etc, and I can keep track of all the ones I was interested in in one place.
As a seller, I don't really send out offers to watchers because my prices are already low. I have never had much luck with sending out offers, but I have accepted offers from other sellers.
luckythewinner
·8 months agoWithin minutes of watching these shirts, I received 3 discount offers.
When shopping for something that is not urgent, here's what I often do:
For some reason, this method seems to result in better deals than counter-offers do.
soh.maryl
·8 months agoMy shopping method is exactly the same as yours. Am a sucker for vintage children's clothing patterns, especially now that new ones are outrageously priced at stores.
Have quite often kept as many as 15 or so on my watch list. Am I going to actually buy 15? Of course not. But it gives me plenty to think about when I try to narrow my list down to a reasonable level.
stainlessenginecovers
·8 months agoI watch for the same reason you did/do probably 80% of the time.
Watching to 'save' until I see a better price combined with feedback number. (I will pay upwards of 20% more for an established seller vs. someone with an 8 by their name selling cheaper)
Some for the biz of items I must buy (boxes, envelopes, alcohol swabs, 3M tape)
..and some for me (shirts, NFL stuff, car parts etc.)
I also watch 'competing' (but different item) to see if it sells and therefore, if worth mocking it up to sell (I can buy a master cylinder for a 2004 Mustang and then mock it up, for instance).
tobaccocardyahoo
·8 months agoI watch items when I am considering making a purchase but not sure I really want to.
I usually choose the best choice available at the time and only watch that.
I do not watch competitor's products.
I do not watch looking for price reductions and offers to come.
My rules for watching on Ebay are different from my rules on the live auction sites, where I am more likely to buy for resale.
chapeau-noir
·8 months agoI put things on my watch list and then 90% of the time forget that I did.
jdbelt1960
·8 months agoI do the same. I put an item on watchers list because I don't want to make an impulse buy. I usually like the price + shipping and feel the item is good. But then I never go back to it.
funfactorychannel
·8 months agoYou get offers if seller sets the rule to auto send offers to watchers.
I watch waiting for this for those with no make an offer. 😄
Other than that I watch competitor prices.
Those are the only two reasons I use watchlist on ebay
my-cottage-books-and-antiques
·8 months ago@inhawaii ebay's Griff always advised sellers to send offers ASAP---the theory being that the longer you wait, the less likely the buyer will still be interested by the time you send him the offer.
I send offers, usually pretty quickly, but not always, but have very little success with them. But since it takes only seconds to send an offer, I'm OK with the rare sale I do get. And there is also a theory that sending offers constitutes "activity", and activity supposedly boosts search placement. Whether that is true or not, I don't know, but again, the time spent to send offers is minimal, and there's no additional fee.
meme6253
·8 months agoDoesn't ebay ask you to send offers when someone watches your items, Because they do with me?