auction duration which is better?

[cristian3_6]

I put up a lot of auctions and my question is, is it better to put it up for 3 days? For 7 days or 10 days?
Thank you very much

[kensgiftshop]

I don't do auctions but I don't think 3 days would be very good.

[oaklandmaryland]

I never do 1 or 3 day auctions because there is a $1.00 fee for each of them. 7 day listings are perfect. With 10  days a potential buyer might forget they are interested or potential buyers don't have patience to wait that long. Overall though most buyers prefer buy it now.

[monroe67]

You've had 97 sales in the last three months, approximately.  
I think my selling ID has had five sales in that same time. 
Without studying all of your sales, it looks like most were auctions.  

Whatever you're doing, I think it's the right thing(s).  I'd suggest continuing doing what you're doing.  

You might try one of your items as a 7-day or 10-day auction, as an experiment. 
But be aware that a longer auction duration doesn't necessarily mean the bidding prices will go higher.  

[cristian3_6]

and what do you think of 5 days

[selsa84]

5 days... 7 is to long unless it's very rare and 3 is too short to get watchers 

[pls-consignments]

Years ago, when auctions were a "thing", I learned that the sweet-spot for me was 10-Days + BIN + end on Sat or Sun evening. Much like an auction house, the more bidders, the higher the bids.

Keep in mind, eBay will not allow even a potential bidder to "forget" about an auction they are either bidding on or watching. They will get numerous reminders. Plus, a 10-Day auction encourages proxy bids, which, in my experience in the collectibles category,  are usually higher. Hope this helps 😉

[fashunu4eeuh]

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@cristian3_6 wrote:

I put up a lot of auctions and my question is, is it better to put it up for 3 days? For 7 days or 10 days?
Thank you very much

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Hi @cristian3_6 

It depends.

If i have a really scarce, special item with wide demand, or avid collector base, i’d consider a 10-day auction and position it to run over two weekends (to maximize my sales potential).

7-day auctions are the more widely accepted choice, the workhorse of auctions. I normally end those on a Sunday evening.

I found 3-day auctions worked well for my designer luxury goods, where interest is (nearly always) universally high.

Now i prefer the fixed-price format with Immediate Payment Required (and no Best Offer).

Best wishes to you, for happy outcomes in all your listings.

[cristian3_6]

Thanks for the answer
Yes, but buy now could mean you lose money because the bid might go up to more than what you are asking for at auction. The best option would be to go for an auction and choose the option to buy now by setting a price.

[a_c_green]

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@cristian3_6 wrote:

Thanks for the answer
Yes, but buy now could mean you lose money because the bid might go up to more than what you are asking for at auction. The best option would be to go for an auction and choose the option to buy now by setting a price.

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A couple of thoughts: 

1. I don't do 3-day or 1-day auctions at all, partly because it makes no sense to pay extra in order to get a shorter time span, but mainly because I want the auction to be found by potential buyers who don't log in to eBay every day.
    
   I usually go for 7-day auctions in order to reach buyers who only log in once a week, regardless of which day that might be. Once in a blue moon I might choose a 10-day auction if I have a very rare item that I know will draw an audience, though as a buyer, I usually roll my eyes when I find something interesting, only to discover that the auction doesn't end for nine more days. 🙄
    
2. I usually don't add a BuyItNow price to an auction because, as you said, the bidding could go higher than that. (In most categories, the BuyItNow option goes away anyway once bids are received.) The only time I do add a BIN to an auction is when there is some chance that someone with deep pockets might snatch the BIN price, even though my own experience tells me that bidding will not go that high. 

[sextons-sweet-deals]

do the max of 10 days

[tobaccocardyahoo]

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@cristian3_6 wrote:

Yes, but buy now could mean you lose money because the bid might go up to more than what you are asking for at auction. The best option would be to go for an auction and choose the option to buy now by setting a price.

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Once upon a time that would have been a major concern.

Although your results for the past 90 days are admirable, the number of auctions which sold on only 1 bid would more than likely suggest that not all of your auctions should be auctions. Interest is not great enough to get a buyer to come back to the listing - buy it now means making a sale now.

I did not check how many of your auctions got zero bids because no one visited or cared enough during the duration.

You should be learning how to use Buy It Now not only on your auctions but adding fixed price sales as well.

Way back in the hey day of Ebay auctions, the bulk of all auctions ended on Sunday night. 1 day, 3 day, 7 day or 10 day all were set to end at the same point for most sellers. But almost every buyer was using Auction Sniper to bid. Does Auction Sniper still exist?

[simba6]

If you want to use the auction format, the standard seven day is best.    The ten day listings never seem to end and many wait to bid so as not to be tied down.  They then are forgotten about and they never bid.  The three day listings may not be up long enough for all to find.

Buy it now is the most popular way to list anymore.  Buyers want it yesterday and don't want to wait for any length listing to end.

[kensgiftshop · Accepted solution]

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@cristian3_6 wrote:

Thanks for the answer
Yes, but buy now could mean you lose money because the bid might go up to more than what you are asking for at auction. The best option would be to go for an auction and choose the option to buy now by setting a price.

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Not if you price it at the price you want, you won't loose anything.

If it doesn't sell at that price after awhile, drop the price a little.