Timing Is Everything In Auction Sales! : eBay Guides

Whether you're trying to sell an Aardvark collar or a Zyglometer, many people don't realize how TIMING affects their listings, and hence, their potential to maximize their sales. Have you taken into account what time your auction closes? How about when it starts? Have you even considered the DAY and/or TIME at all when you placed that listing? 

First, the time zone you are in may not be the same as eBay time, set in Pacific Daylight Time (PDT). Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) is 3 hours ahead of this. There are MILLIONS of people who may not be able to bid on your item at all if you place your listing so that it ends when they're not near their computer. Not everyone places a bid early on in an auction and lets it go at that. Many, many people will bid at the last minute- let's say you end your auction at 8am EDT. That's not going to help you, because it's only 5am on the west coast- there's nearly one half of the country in bed fast asleep. When these people are asleep, you're potentially losing sales and money.

So, how do you set this up where you can be assured that people are going to be up and around when your auction ends? Simple! Ebay has a really neat feature when you're listing an item that lets you select the day and time your auction begins, as well as for how long you want it to run (you don't want it to go on too long, because  buyers will find another auction where they can get it sooner).

If you're selling musical instruments, for example, you don't want to list these items to end on a Friday or Saturday night. Why? Most musicians are WORKING then. Ending an auction for a guitar amplifier or a keyboard on a Friday night at 10pm won't get you the response you're hoping for, because nobody's home! An identical item may have been selling for a very nice price in other auctions, but your auction ended for much less than that; and, unless you put a reserve on it, you're legally bound to sell it- possibly at a huge loss. If you placed a reserve on it, you now have to relist the item...but if you list it the same way as before, you won't get any better results.

The same holds true if you were to sell a mechanic's tool box. If you end your auction during a weekday at 2pm EDT, everyone who would want this is at work! If you ended this auction at 8pm instead, your buyers will be at home waiting by their computer, ready to bid as time runs out. And YOU reap the benefit here.

The DAY you list is important, too. Many people get paid only on  Thursday or Friday. Nobody can bid on your items if they don't have any money. Ending your items on Saturday or a Sunday (preferably in the afternoon or early evening) is usually a safe time to do it; most people are off work as well as have already been paid for the week, and they've paid their bills by then. If they have money to spend, you need to make your items available when they're shopping for them.

Time after time I see people end auctions when nobody is going to be available. I look for these in particular, because most eBayers will look other places for the same goods. Not me. I WANT those items because they're going to save me money! I'll wait up for that Zircon encrusted set of tweezers that ends at 1am on Wednesday night, because nobody else will. They're all going to bid on the same item that ends at 8pm instead. They'll pay more than I will instead of waiting just a couple of hours more.

Smart placement, time and day-wise, will make your item more available AND make you more money. Research your market a bit and find out when your buyers are available to purchase your goods. In the end, it'll make your life easier, make you more money and save you time, extra work and aggravation (by not having to relist items that didn't sell).

Giving your customers the merchandise they want, when they want to buy it, is not just smart business- it's good business!