Do eBay Auction Ending Times Really Matter Anymore?

The eBay Seller's News, August, 2009, Volume 9, No. 12

Tips, Tools, News and Resources for eBay, Amazon and independent Online Sellers
by: Skip McGrath

In This Issue:

Musings from eBay and beyond

1. Do eBay Auction Ending Times Really Matter Anymore?
2. ArtFire: Trying to Change the Landscape for Selling Handcrafted Goods Online
3. Niche of the Month: Coupons Are Back
4. eBay Wholesale Sources for August 2009

"If at first you don’t succeed, you’re running about average." ~ M.H. Alderson

Musings for Mid-August 2009

This is probably the worst summer slowdown on eBay I have experienced in years. August is always slow, but this one has been terrible –at least for us and our product categories. I love the weather and the slowdown has allowed us to take some time off but as far as our business goes I can’t wait for Labor Day.

I have also been using the slow period to do some writing. This week we have three free eBooks for our readers, two are new and one is an update of the book I released on Twitter a few weeks ago.

In the last newsletter I covered the new eBay policy announcement that outlines changes that will take place in October. This week I just finished writing an eBook that outlines all of the changes and discusses strategies for taking advantage of them.  The book is called eBay 2009 and you can download your free copy by clicking here.

I have also finished another free eBook called the eBay Secrets Mini Course. I created this 30-page eBook as a new promotion for my newsletter and to use as a bonus item for my Complete eBay Marketing System.  But I thought it was a little unfair that my current subscribers couldn’t get it, so I am offering it up to all of you through September 15^th, 2009.  After that the only way to get it will be by subscribing to the newsletter or purchasing one of my books Click Here to download your copy of the eBay Secrets Mini Course.

I am still having a lot of success with using Twitter to drive traffic to my auctions. In June I wrote a short eBook about my experience using Twitter. Since then I have learned some more techniques and have updated the book with the new information. You can click here

August Articles:

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1. Do eBay Auction Ending Times Really Matter Anymore?

Could the advent of TiVo, Cable and Satellite DVRs and iPhones affect when people are on eBay?

This weekend I was reading an article in the San Francisco Examiner Online about auction ending times and it got me to thinking –and doing some research. Although my research is highly anecdotal I think it does create some room for thought.  Maybe someone out there who is a real numbers guru could take on a project. Of course it would help if eBay would share their data, but that is unlikely to happen. (They do share some data through their API with firms like HammerTap, Vendio and Terapeak, but there is no way to look at the data in totality).

If you are wondering why this is an important topic, let me explain. eBay gives auction-style listings their most exposure in the 1-2 hour period right before the listing ends. When a buyer performs a search for an item on eBay, the single biggest factor after matching the search term is Time Ending Soonest.

When eBay’s search engine is in the default Best Match mode, it always ranks the listings ending the soonest at the top of the page. Therefore you want your auctions to get this exposure on a day and time when the most number of people are on eBay.  At least that’s the theory.

Conventional wisdom is that Sunday and Monday evenings are they best time to end an auction. But, that may no longer be true. There are several factors at work today that were not present a few years ago.

I usually end most of my auctions on Sunday and Monday evenings and I must admit that they do pretty well on those days.  But just to be sure I have started listing items on different days to see what happens. I also spent some time with the HammerTap research software to see what they came up with.

I sell in several product niches:  Here are a few of the products I sell with the ASP in parentheses:

• Outdoor Patio Firepit Grills ($225)
• Graviti Automatic Pepper Mills ($25)
• Vinturi Wine Aerator ($39)
• EZ Cube Digital Photo Light Tents ($200)

As I mentioned above, I used to list them so they would end on Sunday or Monday evening, but lately I have been trying them at different days and experimenting with the ending time. (Remember eBay time is Pacific Time zone).

I combined my data with HammerTaps’ and found some surprising  results.  (Note: the hyperlinks go to the listing on eBay if you want to see the product. If you are reading this after August and these links are not working it’s because they expired. Here is a link where you can see all my listings: http://shop.ebay.com/mcgrrrrr/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg

1. Outdoor Patio Firepit Grills ($225) – This one was a shocker. According to HammerTap, Sunday and Monday had the highest number of listings and were responsible for 18% and 32% of the listings sold. But, although Tuesday had the lowest number of listings, 62% of them sold and the average selling price was the second highest of any day of the week. Even more surprising, the conventional wisdom is that Saturday is a poor day to end auctions, but on Saturday 53% of all listings closed successfully and at a pretty good ASP.  When I looked at my sales, I also had a good success rate on Tuesday and Saturday. Monday was still my best day, but Saturday brought me the highest prices.

2. Graviti Automatic Pepper Mills ($25) – there were also some surprises with this product. According to HammerTap, Monday was the best day to end a listing, but the second best day was Friday and the listings that ended on Friday achieved a higher price. My experience was slightly different. I had my best sales on Monday but my highest price came on Saturday afternoon.

3. Vinturi Wine Aerator ($39) – This product produced the biggest surprise. There were no bad days. Wednesday and Friday were the poorest days, but they were still good days and Friday and Monday achieved the highest prices. As an interesting side note, I also sell this product on Amazon and Friday and Saturday are also the best days for sales of this product.

4. EZ Cube Digital Photo Light Tents ($200) – This one was really interesting in two ways. Not only was Sunday the worst day, with Tuesday being the second worst, but the time of day was also a surprise. Sales between 6-9 AM came in strong on weekdays. Thursday turned out to be the best day. I checked my results against HammerTap and they were pretty close with Monday the best day and Thursdays before 11AM as the second best day and time. This is completely counter-intuitive, but you can’t argue with results.

The other constant that I saw across all of the product categories (except for the light tents) was that auctions ending later in the evening did better than conventional wisdom dictates. You would think that by 9PM Pacific Time (midnight Eastern Time) that auctions would be doing poorly as most people are watching their favorite TV programs. But that is not the case. It turns out that auction listing success rate peaks at 4PM, but is also very high from 8PM to 9PM on most products I looked at. My Vinturi Wine Aerators did especially well late at night –selling well past 9PM Pacific Time. (Perhaps this is when people are well into their wine?)

So what has changed?  There are two theories. One is that more and more people have TiVo or Cable and Satellite DVRs. So they are taping shows to watch them later.  There is also the summer factor when most TV shows are re-runs.  So I plan to revisit this in the Fall to see if the results hold up.

I think another factor is simply competition.  Since so many eBay sellers follow the conventional wisdom, there are fewer listings on the so-called poor days. This means your listing has less competition and a greater ability to stand out. This also explains why I often saw the highest selling prices on those off days when there were very few listings ending.  You may get fewer eyeballs on a Saturday, but you have a much greater chance of your listing being found in search than on a day when you have many more competing listings.

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2. ArtFire: Trying to Change the Landscape for Selling Handcrafted Goods Online

ArtFire may be the fastest growing online site for selling hand-crafted items.  Since starting up ten months ago, they have grown to more than 30,000 members and more than 300,000 items currently listed for sale. That is a lot smaller than Etsy, but still pretty impressive growth for a start-up.

Somewhat similar to Etsy, Artfire is a marketplace where artists from all over the world can list and sell their handcrafted items.

Members can set up a virtual and fully customizable storefront where they can list items for sale with absolutely no fees.  No insertion fees, no final valuation fees, no picture fees.  No fees.

ArtFire has two levels of membership and a basic account is completely free.  You can list up to 12 items at a time in a custom shop with your own sub-domain and sell as many items as you like for free.  Sell one, list another, take one down, list another;  just not more than 12 at a time.  The Pro account costs $12/month flat subscription with no contract.  That has unlimited listings and a great many more features and customization.

An interesting comparison to eBay is that Artfire does not ban, block, mute, or close listings.   Founded by an eBay Titanium PowerSeller, Artfire allows sellers to link to other sites including your Etsy store, eBay or your own website. You can even place widgets in your listings. So if you sell any kind of handcrafted goods, you may want to take a look at ArtFire.

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3. Niche of the Month: Coupons Are Back

There have always been coupons for sale on eBay.  I did a search today and found over 29,000 current listings for the term “coupon.”  The problem is that not all of the listings are actual coupons.  eBay usually goes after keyword spammers, but they seem to be ignoring it in this category.  A lot of sellers who sell gift cards are using the word “coupon” in their title to get more hits.  I even saw several sellers with titles such as Lowes Gift Card – not a coupon.  That word “not” is a real no-no on eBay and will usually get your listing cancelled.

Nevertheless there are tons of real coupons selling on eBay and sellers are making money with them. Take a look at some recently completed auctions for coupons.

Not all the coupons are this pricy. Here are some lower priced coupons that sold.

As you can see baby products coupons are quite popular.

The first step to selling coupons is to read eBay’s rules for selling coupons:

• Expired Coupons: The sale of recently expired coupons is not permitted on eBay, as such coupons serve no valid purpose and could be used in a fraudulent manner. Collectible coupons that clearly cannot be redeemed may be permitted but you must state they are expired and sold as a vintage or collectible item
• Electronic “scanned” coupons: All coupons sold through eBay must be physically delivered (i.e. you have to mail them to the buyer) to the buyer, and may not be delivered by electronic means for home printing. Further, to reduce the potential for coupon abuse, eBay asks that sellers refrain from placing clear, unaltered scans of coupons in their listings that could be copied, printed and redeemed in stores. The sale of scanned or photocopied coupons may violate federal copyright laws, and sellers of such unlawful items could face prosecution under federal law. eBay will not tolerate such transactions through its site.
• Bulk coupon sales: Bulk coupon listings are defined as listings that contain more than 20 coupons for the same item, or more than 100 total coupons. If it is unclear how many coupons are offered, the listing will be considered in violation. Coupon inserts (packets of coupons typically found in newspapers) are limited to a maximum of 5 per listing, unless the seller indicates in the listing that the quantity of coupons for sale is under 100 total coupons.
• Coupons for “free” products: Coupons for free products, with no purchase required, are limited to two per listing. Internet home printed coupons are also limited to 2 per listing.

Coupons are very easy to find. You can find them in magazines, your local paper and even at one of the many free coupon sites on the internet.  Yes –you can even scan a coupon from the internet and sell it on eBay as long as you mail the physical coupon.

Now this isn’t a business that will make you wealthy, but it is a good way to raise extra cash in slow times.  When the economy slows down, coupon sales usually go up.

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4. Wholesale Sources for August 2009

Although not really a wholesale source, let me give you some links to sites where you can download free coupons:

http://www.shopathome.com

www.coupons.com

http://www.couponmom.com/

A lot of people are washing and detailing their own cars.  The Chemical Guys sell Auto detail supplies from car wax to car polish and full auto detailing kits. Wholesale car care products for mobile auto detailing professionals, detail shops and car enthusiasts.

Mimousa is a manufacturer and distributor (incl. Wholesale DropShip) of aftermarket car parts and accessories like Dash Trim Kits, HID kits, Floor Mats, Fenders, Hoods, Body Kits, Eyelids and Pillars.

New Age Imports is an importer, manufacture, and wholesale distributor of Incense, Incense Burners, Wooden Carved Boxes, Statues, Mortar & Pestles, Henna Products, Aroma Lamps, Jewelry, Tapestries, and much more.

Ajoka Micro Surveillance Solutions sells professional Security camera spy gadgets hidden camera investigation equipments micro DVR Professional Wholesale Dropship Manufacturer China Factory

Gamla Enterprises is a wholesale distributors of Digital Cameras, TV’s, Media Players, Photographic and Electronic Equipment. They carry Digital Cameras, APS Cameras, 35mm equipment, Lenses, Binoculars, Flashes, Tripods, Cases and a whole lot more.

That’s it for this month. As the old song says:  See you in September!

Skip McGrath
The eBay Seller's News

P.S. If you missed the last issue, click here to read it.

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