To Have or Not To Have a Bid Column

[bykimbo]

I voted yes because the LAST time I had a bidding war on ebid was when ebid at least showed a bid column in our stores. Once they took that feature away I've never had any bidding wars. To me that's a good indicator that a bid column generates bids.

Out of interest, have you listed similar items since?

[florida33549]

Out of interest, have you listed similar items since?

Yes.

[bykimbo]

Yes.

Thank you, first actual evidence it might work that anybody has offered! I tend to reject "what everybody knows" but one empirical example is worth a ton of speculation.

[Gothicina]

i voted yes for the bid column , anything to bring sales cant hurt , mabe it wont work for everyone but if one seller sells anything on here thats a improvment and any new options available to sellers is a step forward

The reason it was removed last time was because
It Did Hurt Sales


I just wish the thread that had Gazza's post giving the reasons was still available to quote.

They certainly didn't remove it on a whim,
or because they wanted to create this debate ad infinitum
on the forums.
They reviewed the statistics at that time & saw it wasn't helping the site.
Why would they make more work for themselves,
when the to do list is long enough already?

[bykimbo]

The reason it was removed last time was because
It Did Hurt Sales

I think a lot of people have convinced themselves that didn't happen.

I just wish the thread that had Gazza's post giving the reasons was still available to quote.

They certainly didn't remove it on a whim,
or because they wanted to create this debate ad infinitum
on the forums.
They reviewed the statistics at that time & saw it wasn't helping the site.
Why would they make more work for themselves,
when the to do list is long enough already?

We have one person's example of how one of their sales seems to have benefited. Against that we have the boys' assurance that sales over-all dropped. And no reason to disbelieve either. Following on from that we have some people's *hopes* that since the site is now busier it would work better if installed now. My impression is that while sellers' and listings have increased,the proportion of listings getting bids is not significantly different, so I can't see any reason to expect different results. I certainly can't see enough reason to justify the tech guys spending precious time on trying a failed experiment again, when we're still waiting on more important things like the API.

[adruml]

Reading through this thread it would appear folks coming over want it but old timers claim it hurts. Only thing that would hurt the site is if there were very few bidders/watchers making newbies runaway quickly. After the length of time eBid has been around and minimal views, watchers/bids are something afraid to be shown. Dontcha think something is wrong?

[bykimbo]

Reading through this thread it would appear folks coming over want it but old timers claim it hurts. Only thing that would hurt the site is if there were very few bidders/watchers making newbies runaway quickly. After the length of time eBid has been around and minimal views, watchers/bids are something afraid to be shown. Dontcha think something is wrong?

I find it depressing that I still think a bid column would be a mistake, but wishing it were otherwise will not change reality.

[suesjools]

Reading through this thread it would appear folks coming over want it but old timers claim it hurts. Only thing that would hurt the site is if there were very few bidders/watchers making newbies runaway quickly. After the length of time eBid has been around and minimal views, watchers/bids are something afraid to be shown. Dontcha think something is wrong?

Good question. I haven't been around long enough to answer for eBid, (and I wouldn't presume to even if I had), but I personally have done better sales-wise on eBid than anywhere else I've ever listed, (that includes Feepay, many moons ago). OK, I don't sell a lot, but the sales I make are a refreshing change from other venues. It could be the items I offer, but as others are also doing well, IMHO the answer might just be that this site works better for some than others, as I suspect is true of any online venue. I'm not sure whether or not a bid column would help or hurt sales, probably because I haven't done much research in this area and also because it's not something I care about all that much; for what it's worth I tend to take the advice of the veteran members who have built the site and made it work to date. I do wish more U.S. based sellers/buyers knew about eBid, but that's what networking is all about.

Best wishes for many sales to all,

[adruml]

I find it depressing that I still think a bid column would be a mistake, but wishing it were otherwise will not change reality.

Point Blank. What is this reality you speak of and why skirt around the reality? It is what it is bring it out in the open.

[JanetB]

The reason it was removed last time was because
It Did Hurt Sales

I just wish the thread that had Gazza's post giving the reasons was still available to quote.

They certainly didn't remove it on a whim,
or because they wanted to create this debate ad infinitum
on the forums.
They reviewed the statistics at that time & saw it wasn't helping the site.
Why would they make more work for themselves,
when the to do list is long enough already?

How long ago was this?
I never saw any bid columns when I joined up in February 2008