I have an item or two for sale right now and I just noticed a new format that shows bidders the number of watchers on an item. The number of watchers is not shown on a fixed price auction, but it does show up on a buy-it-now best offer auction. I was wondering how you guys felt about this. If you are selling a low demand item, don't you think it really compromises the seller's potential to maximize the price if the item shows very few watchers and the bidders have that information? I can't decide if having the number of watchers published is a bad thing or a good thing for a seller! Maybe it can work both ways depending on the circumstances.

Off the cuff, I'd have to say that having bidders be able to see the number of watchers is a bad idea. of course in the end it probably makes no difference, as it only takes one other determined bidder to push a price upwards!

Joe

The # of watchers is a good early indication of the liklihood of an auction item selling at a favorable price, because it shows interest. For a fixed price item, it means nothing but curiosity. If the price is fixed, and a person wanted to buy it, why watch? It's not like the price is going to change. 99.9% of watchers of a fixed price item just want to see if it sells. or flames out.

Auction items get watchers that are curious or looking to buy, and the more there are, the better the odds of buyers competing.

Fixed price items either sell or they don't. It's not like the watchers are waiting to see if the price stays low.

I have things on my watch list that are fixed price that I don't want in my cart. Fixed price items break down into three categories: (1) projects I haven't started yet, but I want to get a feel of the price, (2) things I might need for projects, but I'm not sure if I do, and (3) things I would buy on an impulse, but my impulse isn't there now. I do this instead of using my wishlist because it keeps them on my dashboard.

+1 on RobbieTunes comment: it's the 2 or 3 buyers who really want the item that matter. Every now and then, something comes up that has more bidders than that. I had four bidding on a frame near what it sold for two weeks ago, but I'd say four bidders is uncommon.

The things I want at a low price, I do not watch. I simply set up a snipe. I don't want the ebay function "Look what others are watching" to show the item I'm bidding on.

How does one see how many watchers there are? I know if I am selling something I can see the number of watchers.

If buyers can see the # of watchers, that's a good thing. I used to edit my title with the # of watchers, to try to get some earlier bids. Ebay now does not allow that editing on active auctions.

+1 I watch a lot of items to track activity on items I am planning to sell. Rarely do I watch items that I will be bidding on.