Zero view, but there's watcher

[lgonzalez28]

Zero views on an item, but one watcher 

Is this further proof that watchers mean nothing for sales?

Couldn't be bothered to open the listing? Or is my view counter broken? (Please say it's broken because my views stink 😆) 

[aquajoe07011 · Accepted solution]

If you go to seller's other items, you can watch an item without viewing it.  That is probably what happened.

[clothescloseouts4u]

When items are relisted or whatever, Ebay does not seem to be zeroing out the Watchers.  I have never had so many Watchers!!  LOL!

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

You can put an item on your watchlist from the search results. I usually don’t when I’m shopping and go back later, especially if it’s an auction.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@clothescloseouts4u wrote:

When items are relisted or whatever, Ebay does not seem to be zeroing out the Watchers....

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When a fixed price listing rolls over, that's not a new listing.  So the watchers are carried over just as the number of Sold items does.

[carbonart0]

It's more likely another glitch in Ebay's system.

When I used to sell items, the view counter would go from 0 to 1 (sometimes 2 or 3) before the item was even published. 

And in my vast experience as a small seller on Ebay, watchers mean nothing.  Most of the time, watchers are just other sellers who have a similar item and want to see if your item sells, and if it sells, then for how much.

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

Views and watches are not the same thing. Immediate views are probably bots trying to index and validate the listing. I’ve never seen any indication in 20 years on eBay and the boards that there are fake watchers. Watchers must actively add an item to their watchlist and as shown there are several ways to do that without viewing the item first.

Furthermore there is no research AFAIK about who watches. I put things on my watchlist I may buy. Anywhere from 50-300 items at any given time. I’m not a seller watching what things sell for, I’m a powerbuyer.

Any comment on who is watching your item is an assumption and you know what they say about those.

[carbonart0]

''Any comment on who is watching your item is an assumption and you know what they say about those"

Not any comment.  Within the markets I follow closely, it's easy to determine when other sellers make up the bulk (if not all) the watchers watching any given item I have for sale.  

Many of these seller/watchers will list their items before my listing ends (or shortly afterward - especially if I managed to get a good price), and they will effectively cut and paste my listing titles as well as all the text in the body of the listing.

I also managed to get an Ebay rep to acknowledge that the watchers of some of my items were sellers who sell the same kinds of items.