subject: Successfully Building An Ebay Auction [print this page] Online auctions are rising in popularity as rare items can be purchased for great prices. In addition, great profits can be made online.
As the online auctions can benefit both the consumers and the buyers, online auctions sites are only going to continue rising in popularity. Every auction site is run differently with its own set of rules, time limits, and method of sale.
One of the most popular online auction sites is eBay. EBay chooses to run its auction through letting the auctioneer select the specific duration that the product is available for before the close of the auction.
Right now, eBay only offers auction duration lengths in odd numbers. The current options are only 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 days.
As an auctioneer, it can be difficult to know which duration length of days would be the best for you and the item you are selling. What is best for you can vary depending how much money you need and if there is a deadline for obtaining that money.
In general, it makes logical sense that the longer your item is available, the more time buyers will have to bid. This will help raise the selling price of your item significantly.
EBay sees the value in this and charges an extra charge for the 10 day period of $0.20. While this is true, you can still sell your item for a significant price with a shorter auction duration time if your item is a fairly popular one.
Another instance when a shorter auction duration may be more ideal is when you want to sell several of the same item. One of the most critical parts of boosting your selling price is considering the ending time of your auction very carefully.
In general the most popular days to surf the Internet and look for great deals is by far Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday. In fact, almost 50 percent of the viewers on eBay look for great deals on the weekend.
Be sure to take advantage of this occurrence by timing your auction to take place during the peak viewing times over the weekend. This could help your item be viewed more often, which means you could have more potential bidders.
The best time to end an auction is Sunday night. Many bidders wait until the last minute to bid.
If you are not familiar with auctions, there is generally a rush at the last minute to purchase good deals. Sunday night generally has the highest last minute rush because it is the last night before the beginning of a new work week to bid.
Many savvy auctioneers realized this and time their auctions to end that night. This enhances the excitement and increases the last minute rush.
Take advantage of this increased last minute rush by timing your auction to end Sunday night. However, group specific items may benefit from a different closing date.
For example, if your item would be mainly useful to businesses or small companies you will want to target you auction to end while people are still at work and look for that type of item. In this case instead of running your auction over the weekend, you will want to run it during the week.
Studies and surveys have shown that office supplies sell particularly well in the morning. There may be other exceptions to the weekend and end Sunday rule as well.
It will also be very important to know how popular your item actually is. Getting a feel for which items are popular will take some time and experience.
If your item is very popular and you know that it will sell for more than your asking price consistently, you may be able to get away with a shorter auction duration period. This means that you will should be able to sell more items in a much short time period.
It can also be very helpful to know how eBay's search function works. In order for people to find your auction, they are going to use specific wordings and key phrases.
You will want to take this into consideration as you decide what to name your auction. You will want the name of your auction to contain the key words to make it easy to find.
The easier it is to find, the more people will see what you are auctioning and the more people who could be will know about your project. By keeping these things in mind, you will become a successful auctioneer.
