Buyer thinking when they add an item to their watch list

[naeem]

I am selling a few items for a friend. We are disagreeing on what a new watcher may mean. I know it means a prospective buyer has added it to their watch list. Does Ebay send them periodic alerts that the item is still there for them to buy? As time goes buy does it mean the chances of them buying the item decreases? We had 5 watchers on an item and sent 3 of them, against my advice a $2 discount through Ebay's make them an offer which was about a 9.75% discount. I felt it was closer to an insult then a reasonable discount. None of the three accepted the offer and we have since lowered the price to a level below the offer level and those same three watchers are still there. I'm thinking the longer that a watcher stays there the greater the chance that they are gone - long gone.

Why be a watcher instead of buy it now? We have a new watcher today on an item and there are only two of these items for sale on item. Ours is priced $33 lower than the other one. Why did our watcher just decide to watch and not buy. If Ebay does not send them alerts then they may be gone too. I think buyers know sellers can see them as watchers and think it causes us to lower the price. True?

[dhbookds]

Some think (no one KNOWS),that some watchers are sellers who have the same item and want to know what it sells for......  Others think buyers just leave it there as a reminder, forget about it, etc.    Not stressing about watchers is one of the first things you have to learn as a seller.  Send them offers if you want/have the margin......but don't be surprised if there are no purchases.  Also, when someone buys, there no guarantee it was a watcher.

Ebay does send messages out when you lower the price......but how often the "watchers" check their mail, look at the times on the watch list to buy something is unknown.....

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · Accepted solution]

I don't know how many buyers know that sellers can see the watch count. When the watchlist was created for buyers it was hidden from sellers.

I think most buyers put things on their watchlists because they're not ready to buy the thing for some reason. Some may be other sellers who want to see if yours sells.

Some reason buyers may watch off the top of my head

• theyre waiting to see if they can flip your widget to another buyer
• they're worried it won't go with a widget they already have
• they're waiting for payday
• they want to show someone else 
• they're buying it to go with another widget they haven't bought yet
• they want to ask questions before they decide
• they're waiting to see if any other widgets come up for sale
• they need to check local stores to see if they have it there for cheaper OR have a thing it will go with
• they don't buy things on their phone
• they're drunk and don't want to make a bad buying decision
• they're trying to figure out if it is the right size
• it's Tuesday

Watchers really mean nothing. People are different and watch for many different reasons. There is no guideline as to what watchers means. You should probably ignore the count.

[fuzzface50]

"Ours is priced $33 lower than the other one. Why did our watcher just decide to watch and not buy"

They might be the other seller seeing if you sell yours or not.  

[parkersparrow]

I think you are over analyzing things. Sometimes people just add things to their watch list. I myself have hundreds of items on mine. It could be other sellers watching to see it sells and for what price. It could be a potential buyer doing comparison shopping. It could be someone liked it and then just forgot about it. It could be so many other reasons. 

[pburn]

There are dozens of reasons people put items on a watch list. Speaking for myself, I put items on there that I would like to consider buying at some point. Maybe when there's an eBay Bucks special, or when I have bucks to spend. Maybe if I receive a discount coupon (although I think they've done away with those). Maybe when I feel like I have some extra cash. Maybe when I've done my research and confirmed it's the best price I can find. Maybe when I get closer to actually "needing" the item (in the case of an upcoming holiday, for example).

I never expect to see a seller lower the price for an item on my watch list, because my experience has been I very rarely, if ever, do.

Some sellers will put items on their watch lists if they have the same or a similar item so they can track what it sells for. It helps them price their own item when they list it for sale.

Those are just a few ideas. I'm sure other posters will provide more.

ETA: Gees! I cross-posted with four other members. I knew I shouldn't have gotten up to get that second cup of coffee!

[earlyant-77]

Could be they just want to remember who a seller is and what they sell.

Sometimes I do that - since I don't 'follow' anyone or anything.

I'm a leader, NOT a follower.

[pvcliff]

I watch things all the time because search is so weird that my Watch List is the only way I can ever find them again!