Why are items with inflated prices getting so many watchers but then nobody buys?

[mistyo1]

Dear Community, 

   I have been selling on ebay for a few years now and I've noticed a trend that is really making it hard to determine what value an item has....I see items all of the time with highly inflated prices - lots of them and then some of those listings with the insane prices, get like 30 or 430 watchers on that listing...making it seem as though that price may be legit...only, if you keep following it, nobody really buys it for that price.  So, what is the deal?  How are they getting so many watchers on these items?  Are they getting people they know to go on and watch their items?  Or do they have 30 or 100's of accounts themselves?  Just wondering what thoughts you all may have on this topic and if you know if ebay plans on doing anything about this.  

                                                                                       Thanks so much,

                                                                                                    Misty

[wastingtime101]

People watch out of curiosity to see if it will sell at that price.

People watch and wait to see if the price is lowered or if offers are sent to watchers.

"that is really making it hard to determine what value an item has"

A better indicator of an item's value is researching sold prices. You have an eBay store - if it's Basic or above then you have access to Terapeak through the research tab in seller hub. That should help you narrow down a price range for many items.

[fab_finds4u]

Insane prices so high nobody will pay that  are place holders. When the seller has more to sell the price will go back to normal. The watchers are watching to see when it's back in stock and the price drops.

[714ricki]

Maybe they have one of a kind items or they are famous in their niche having rare or hard to find items. They probably have a big buyer following & many buyers have the seller in their watch list. Also, maybe the seller has a not in a big hurry sell business model & sets a price that they want......of course, there are buyers out there who want the price to be cut. It's part of the seller vs buyer game......who will blink first! Basically, you should set the price that you want for the profit that you need. 

Good luck!

[onefootflipper]

Whenever I get some rare item with no comps to price off of type of item I take a bunch of pictures and start it out at about triple what I actually expect to get and then I slowly lower the price over time. These items always gain an unusual amount of watchers for the item type and usually eventually outperform my expectations. 

This reminds me, time to lower the price of the Civil War mounted miniatures army I have listed again. 

[partfinds]

Other sellers are watching to see if you will sell the item. They may have similar item for sale and watching your steps on what you will do next so they can out compete you. They may be considering sale of similar item. Many sellers are watching item but they may generally watching your account all together - a way of bookmarking and stalking.

another thing, i put items in watchlist not to loose them when I am considering numerous similar items and then make a decision to buy. Sometime I like something put it in watchlist and then don’t buy and forget to remove it. Or i put item in watchlist to buy when I am running low at a later time. Or I need to research more about item before buying.

You can check by ending listing and selling simillar— you will see how many of those watchers will be back watching the listing.

[luckythewinner]

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@mistyo1 wrote:

So, what is the deal?  How are they getting so many watchers

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Being envious of watchers is a waste of your time and energy. 

After all, a watcher is someone who saw a listing and decided NOT to buy it.

[transamcc]

I am buyer ONLY. Sometimes I watch just to see if someone will actually give such an INSANE price for an item.  Usually it does not occur.

[fashunu4eeuh · Accepted solution]

“Just wondering what thoughts you all may have on this topic and if you know if ebay plans on doing anything about this.”

Watchers (and views) are not an indication of anything important except as evidence an item is being seen. It is no guarantee an item will sell. So making note of watchers on an item is not helpful information in a pricing strategy.

As a result, there is nothing that eBay needs to do about it.

Far more helpful when researching how to price is to examine completed and sold listings, as well as similar active listings, as a guide. Looking at completed unsold items can give you an idea of what won’t work. Terapeak is a good resource for information on historical pricing. I also look at other retail sites and collector’s groups online. Below is more info on eBay’s Help pages.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/selling/pricing-items?id=4133

[partfinds]

Please, don’t ask for more updates. Let them just finish what they did. Don’t complain and ask for improvements as this will disrupt sales.

[mistyo1]

Yes, I do watch the sold comps prices too....I just found it odd that inflated priced items were getting so many watchers, but what you said makes sense.  I've also noticed prices for some items like beanie babies that actually sold for crazy money and then there are other ones listed for almost no money and they seem to be identical with all the same tag errors and nobody even looks at the lower priced one.  Because I have a bunch of the "you can retire if you have one of these" beanie babies that people are still making videos and articles about - saying they are still really valuable.  But, they have tons of listings for cheap and nobody buys them.  So, are there even really any beanie babies that are actually worth alot?

[mistyo1]

Thank you so much for your response....that makes sense.

[coolections]

You are very confused. The higher over priced the item there will always me more watchers. Everyone is always looking for a fool. No one is going to buy their over priced stuff. Be happy, keep your prices reasonable and forget about the fools.

[mistyo1]

Yeah, I do some of those same things - putting it on a watch list while I'm basically window shopping, however, I never do it on an item that is higher than what I am willing to actually pay.  But, I can understand why other people would do so,  thank you for your insight.

[mistyo1]

So true.  Thank you...I think I needed to hear that.  That is going to be my new favorite quote....: )