My Thought on Peeping Toms (Otherwise Known as Watchers)

Blogging from the road today - we're on our way to Charlottesville, VA, to spend the day with my little brother.

I've been keeping track of the eBay watcher phenomenon. I've recorded in an Excel document what the maximum number of watchers is for each auction, the number bidders, the number of bids, and the final selling price of the item, and I've found a relationship between the number of watchers and the final selling price of the item. This is especially true for the items I've listed for 99 cents and free shipping with no Buy It Now option.

Other sellers who blog like to say there is no correlation between watchers and bidders, but my records suggest otherwise. Is it POSSIBLE that an item with ten watchers won't sell? Sure! After all, almost nothing in life is 100 pct guaranteed, but what I've found is that the number of individual bidders you get is roughly equivalent to HALF of your watchers.

Do you want to test it out? I've got the perfect item to illustrate my point. Go to www.ebay.com and search for "Miss Milan black beaded evening gown" (I'd give you the direct link but I can't figure out how from my blackberry without losing this post). My eBay seller name is elisav. You'll see the auction ends tomorrow and the item has one bid for 99 cents. What you CAN'T see is that it's also got ten watchers, which tells me at least four people are waiting to the last minute to "snipe" the auction.

Watch this space! By tomorrow night, you'll know exactly how many bidders there were, either proving my theory or proving I'm a dumbass who just lost money on an auction!