The problem with rotating out your items.

[jason_incognito]

A seller over last summer had an item listed. It went away without selling. I didn't buy it. I, like most Americans did not feel comfortable spending money that day, and needed to budget it out. I could have used a credit card, but it wasn't anything that was going to change my life, so as a want and not a need it went to the back burner.

It was not relisted for a few months, and being a one off item nobody else listed it. 

I had some extra spending money around Christmas and I went and bought it elsewhere. 

Today that seller has finally gotten around to relisting it. I am no longer in the market and have moved on. It is still listed. Had that item stayed listed, I would have bought it around Christmas from them instead of elsewhere. If it had already sold by them, oh well. My loss. 

These things aren't so rare and one of a kind that only a seller on eBay has it, and if that is the case, you cannot sell it if nobody knows you have it.

I currently have maybe 50 items on my watch list and when I feel comfortable with spending money I review those and spend some cash. If eBay popped up a coupon I might buy a few hundred dollars worth of stuff off my watch list. Otherwise it sits there.

eBay is a different market. It's not about the urgency to but it right now. It has become more a long game and you gotta look at it that way.

[uncseniorsportsfan]

As a seller that tries to keep a 40-60 balance between newly listed items and relists - it is not reasonable to continually relist an item until that one buyer comes along with enough money in his pocket to buy the item.   Add to that - some items are of a more seasonal nature than others so rotating unsold items makes the most sense.  If that causes me to miss the occasional sale - so be it.  

[krys888]

As sellers, we get X number of free listings each month. When we have more items than the limit, rather than pay a listing fee every month on an item, some of us will rotate different items in order to keep some variety but still keep within the limit. I do that for sure. But a lot of my sales are from repeat buyers, followers, so I like to freshen it up every week or so. I relist some, rotate some, and tried to add something new each week. I’m letting them time out now because I’m leaving ebay, but that system of relist, rotate, and new worked really well for me. I appreciate you taking time to post your thoughts on it, buyer feedback is soooo important!

[trixee001]

But your theory is balanced by the many items sold because the buyer DID see an ending time. Maybe more than the one purchase you didn't make.

[castlemagicmemories]

I've had the same issue, but item had been listed many times when the seller decided to not relist.  I found it on another platform, by the same seller, but did not choose to buy there.  Eventually the item was relisted here, and then I bought.  But I realize it is like everything else, you have a choice, and if you snooze, you may lose as it may not be around when you are eventually ready to buy it.  Just like in B & Ms, items may just not hang around to accommodate your time table.  It's your choice when to buy, and the seller's when to list.

However, I don't agree that everything is the long market or parked to sit by buyers, or even that everything is not so rare that it won't be relisted by another buyer.  Duration can drive purchase, IMO, and make it less prone to get Watch Listed.

It's understandable that items will be rotated~and maybe that in and of itself lends a sense of urgency to purchase.  Any listing may be gone at any time, even those with long durations parked in the Watch List.  A long duration does not necessarily mean the listing will still be there when the buyer is ready to buy it.  

[jason_incognito]

If I bought everything that caught my eye I'd really be in trouble. There is only so much that can fit in my house. I'm almost certain that if that one item isn't available, I can find a good use for my money elsewhere.

I can't be impulsive anymore, and the "urgency" of buy it now or never see it again has been proven false by the fact that so many of the exact same items are always listed.

[ozarkjoe]

I rotate inventory because I am at two different locations throughout the year.  

[castlemagicmemories]

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@jason_incognito wrote:

If I bought everything that caught my eye I'd really be in trouble. There is only so much that can fit in my house. I'm almost certain that if that one item isn't available, I can find a good use for my money elsewhere.

I can't be impulsive anymore, and the "urgency" of buy it now or never see it again has been proven false by the fact that so many of the exact same items are always listed.

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I understand!  Space is finite and so are our budgets.

If you mainly buy common items, then you won't feel that sense of urgency.  If the item comes up regularly, well, it's like waiting for the next train or bus.  You know one will be along again soon. 

Most things I buy are not common, you get it when you see it or you don't get it at all~it might a long time before one is ever listed again, if ever.  Things that are common, or that I don't feel a pressing need to buy at the moment due to other buying priorities at the time, or that I simply want to think about, can go to the Watch List, either to be bought later or simply as a reminder to look for that item again, if I care to.  I find I put anything I am vaguely interested in, in my Watch List, because I may not be able to find it again, even if still listed.  Then I go back and weed out what I have definitively decided I am not interested in.

[mountainmommie]

I'm a GenX-er with 1 Millennial, 4 GenZs, and 2 Alphas for children .... my entire life looks like an EKG between long ball & instant gratification.