Watchers

[odc_61]

Hi! This is a question to more experienced sellers than me.  When you see a "watcher" in your listing, does it mean that there is somebody interested in your item to buy or just to see if it sells? I have several items with multiple watchers and time comes by and items are relisted for another month and no reaction from the watchers. Is this normal? are they really buyers? or people that have similar items and also sellers?  I would appreciate very much your feedback on this issue.

[animal-house-8]

I have found most watchers are your competitors, a few are people generally interested and waiting for you to send them a 90% off offer.

[odc_61]

Thank you!

[ebooksdiva]

I tend to disregard watchers. 99.9% of the time they are just competitors looking or they watch with no real interest or intent to purchase. I like to call them stalkers because that's basically what they are lol 😂 

[dhbookds]

Nobody can tell why watchers watch...........

[turtles-trading-post · Accepted solution]

It depends on what you are selling...

First, buyers have learned that if they watch your item they are likely to get an offer. eBay bases the seller's ability to "Send Offer" to people who have looked at your item, watched it or have it in their cart.   

Second,  for those of us in hobby markets, like stamps or sports cards, buyers will purchase multiple items per order.  I sell First Day Covers to stamp collectors and as I look at my 8200 listings, a lot of them have watchers on them.  It's either that they are looking at my listings and watching items to build up a good size order, or they're keeping them collected hoping I'll kick off  one of my periodic sales.  

I recently had a regular buyer drop me a note asking when my next sale would be.  I responded with a coupon I keep active for 15% off and he responded by purchasing 22 items.  

[odc_61]

Thank you for your feedback, I am becoming wiser at these things in E-Bay.

[chevymontecarlo88]

A lot of times they are other dealers/sellers of like items but can be someone that is interested. Many sellers here have had some success with sending offers to watchers. 

I will send offers on items that i have had listed for some time. (90 days)

Usually right before i lower the price. (week before)

[dogofwar777]

I usually watch an item if I'm interested in buying, but don't have the money yet. Once I get the money, if the item is still available, I'll buy it.

[odc_61]

Ok. That is a good way of reminding you that you have  pending thing to do.  Thank you!

[tarotfindsandmore]

Watchers watch for all kinds of reasons.  Having watchers on your items is good thing regardless of the reason, even if it's a bit annoying when they don't take the plunge and buy.  The reason is simple.  Having watchers lets others know there is interest in your item for some (usually unknown) reason, and encourages traffic.  I currently have watchers on at least a third of my listings, most of those watchers probably won't be the buyers in the end, but that little heart with a number next to it does tell other lookieloos "hey, you might want to pull the trigger, you're not the only one that knows this item is here."

[chapeau-noir]

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@dogofwar777 wrote:

I usually watch an item if I'm interested in buying, but don't have the money yet. Once I get the money, if the item is still available, I'll buy it.

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Looking at the behaviour of my watchers over time, I think this is also the case with mine. It's also why I watch.

[albertabrightalberta]

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@ebooksdiva wrote:

 I like to call them stalkers because that's basically what they are lol

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I guess I'm a stalker! 

[turtles-trading-post]

When I priced my inventory I built in 20% so that I could offer sales and discounts.

I don't care how old the inventory is, it's all for sale and needs to go!   I'm concentrating on volume, not the prices on individual items. eBay will allow me to send anywhere from 10-50 (usually 10-20)  Send Offers every day.   I don't care if the items are newly listed (which they are in many cases) or have been in my store forever.  I take advantage of every one!  

One thing I do though, is I wait a day on sending offers to give the people a chance to buy the item at full price.  Part of my morning routine is to check messages, look at the sales the elves did overnight, and then I Send Offers for all that I'm allowed!   So they are a day old at that point.  For instance, I sent 22 this morning, but I now have another 6 I could send. Those now wait until tomorrow.  And I'll see that some of them have sold by morning. 

I look at Send Offers as introducing my store to new customers,  I can see what has sold via this, because the sales start coming in right after I send.  And I can see the prices look different from my retail prices which all end with .49 or .99.  and I get a sale price ending .26 I know it's from an offer.

[sltom6]

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@animal-house-8 wrote:

I have found most watchers are your competitors, a few are people generally interested and waiting for you to send them a 90% off offer.

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How would know who your watchers are and the reasons for their interest?