Watching Items

Though I can only speak for myself, I will attempt to explain why I watch items, from my perspective as a buyer and possibly other buyers in the eBay community. I must say that it is never my intention to annoy or insult a seller by watching a particular item. Sometimes I may bid on or buy the item and sometimes I end up taking no action at all. I am aware that sellers can see how many people are watching their item(s) but they cannot see the usernames. What I would like to explain is that I may be interested in a certain item that is being listed by multiple sellers. There are many factors to consider, especially if the buyer is very responsible and cares about each transaction he or she makes.

First and foremost, I have to say and admit that I use it to "bookmark" an item that may have caught my eye and I want to examine more closely. Possibly at a later time. I am a busy person, as I'm sure we all are. Perhaps the auction is ending at a time when I will be present at auction end, which of course is ideal, unless you use a sniping program. I also monitor bidding activity, for example, on an auction that has no BIN option. I will concentrate on an auction with the fewest amount of bidders if I don't feel like competing with a lot of other bidders. Now if there are multiple auctions running for an item I am interested in, since I monitor the bidding activity, I need some way of keeping track of the auctions. So I watch the items. The same item on four different auctions being run by four different sellers. Look at it that way. You are not the only one. It's the item we are interested in. Just as you might go to two or more actual stores that has the same item you are looking for. You might be bargain hunting or doing other comparisons. It is the same concept here. 

If you are a seller who has bidders nibbling away at the current bid price just to take the lead even though there is still three days until the auction ends, I will probably avoid that auction. This process lasts the duration of the auction, so I have to watch it to see who, on which auctions, are doing this so I can avoid it. I think people constantly trying to take the lead, even though the end of the auction is nowhere near, is ridiculous. I feel even that buyers could be possibly winning items a bit cheaper if they would just leave it alone until near the end of the auction. Then enter a proxy or start bidding.

Yes, the price comparisons as mentioned earlier. But I take into consideration the S/H charges as well. I read the auction page thoroughly. I am not just out to find the cheapest/best deal on a particular item that I might be watching. Reading the auction page gives me an idea of what kind of seller I might be dealing with. Then I read the sellers FB. Not just received, but left for other as well. 

I will probably pick the seller with the best FB rating. I don't think I am out of line for doing that. I will pick the seller with a better reputation and FB rating even if the item is more expensive on that particular auction. Now if the seller has a lot of negs, I look further to see if it was newbies that left the negs instead of contacting the seller first if he or she had a question or was unhappy with the transaction or just used it as retaliation against the seller. In that case, I will know that the seller is good, but just had some bad/DB bidders. 

It may take me a while to look over and consider all this information, which I might be doing while the item is on the watched list. Not to mention that I know once I place a bid or BIN, I have entered into a contract with the seller. This might vary from person to person, but I am careful and cautions of what I do before I do it. I don't mean discredit to the seller, but I am looking out for my own benefit and best interest. I don't proceed unless I know I really want the item, and of course, can pay for it.

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