To Have or Not To Have a Bid Column

[astral276]

If you don't mind me asking...are you waiting for the bid column so you can add some listings?...or is it that I can't see what you have for sale because I am in the UK?

He's taken his toys home with him.

[JanetB]

Last time eBid tried this it did harm sales, many of us saw Gazza's post giving the reason for removal of this feature, although it was on a thread later deleted, so cannot be quoted now, more is the pity.

Are of those who want it so much get it reinstated prepared for the fallout, if it again decreases sales, & subsequently listing take a big drop, or will they just blame it on the site?

Will those whose sales it damaged last time bother to keep listing if this "experiment" is repeated & fails again, every year or so, or each time the new round of demands for this feature starts?

Maybe we should be thinking outside the box instead.

At the moment as part of the frontpage we have popular auctions,
IF that feature of the site was sorted out properly,
ie ONLY showed items that had at least 1 bid on them,(get rid of the multiple item BuyNows)
& those pages DID show the number of bids,
could that be a starting point?

Then when Gazza & Mark, who after all have the figures, feel the time is right, they can reinstate the bid column site wide.

That is an interesting idea.

[Juliebabe25]

Yes I think that is a great idea also

[FBNeNotes]

A Bid Column is Just a figure of speech....
The Bids are supposed to show in the Price column.. when you scrool all sub-cats here.
(examples)with or w/o bids

Price

Bid
8.00
Buy
9.00

Bid
13.00
2 Bids

Bid
$25.00
Buy
$27.00

Bid
$32.00

Bid
$21.00

Bid
$44.00
3 Bids

When no bids have yet to of been placed.. nothing is shown, it does Not say 0 Bids

[FBNeNotes]

That is professional and makes any Public Online Auction Site look as such... what do you all think made feebay so very popular in 1997-2002 time period, it was Action in Auctions with Bids showing... geesh. Auctioning 101... Bids Showing attract more lookers which in turn more bids.... This is assumimg your offering is worth bidding on and there is presently some demand for it. Action, not knocking, which holding this site down is not good.

[DZAMBO]

That is professional and makes any Public Online Auction Site look as such... what do you all think made feebay so very popular in 1997-2002 time period, it was Action in Auctions with Bids showing... geesh. Auctioning 101... Bids Showing attract more lookers which in turn more bids.... This is assumimg your offering is worth bidding on and there is presently some demand for it. Action, not knocking, which holding this site down is not good.

‘’Notes’’….just give up….
Action and the money are in other side of the ocean….
Where you going just to spend own personal time are in on other side of the ocean….
And now is only up to you make up your mind where you can go for ‘’swimming’’….
Just don’t bother anymore….....

[JaBek1]

I've given my opinions on why I think eBid should have bids showing and on what I think would be a good alternative for the site if there isn't enough interest in competitive bidding to fuel viable auction activity so there is no need to rehash them again in this thread. However, I disagree with the suggestion that all the "nay sayers" should leave eBid. In my opinion, that type of attitude makes useful discussion on the forums meaningless and puts the site at risk of getting the reputation of having their forums overrun by cheerleaders and bullies like the bay, that hideous site based in Oregon and, to some extent, the moon.

When it comes to the matter of limiting the "Popular Auctions" feature to only listings with one or more bids, that is something that has a potential to backfire. Actually, I would be very skeptical of listings touted as being "Popular" that only received one bid. Perhaps showing only the top 10% of auctions with bids might be appropriate. Or since some categories are not likely to see as much bidding, by their nature, as others, it might be that featuring the leading bid receiver in each category might even work better. Of course, that does do much for sellers that list strictly at fixed prices, so I suppose something else will have to be considered to promote their listings.

[Juliebabe25]

It is a shame that some people do not list because there is no bid column.

The thing is that things change.

Even if ebid do not bring it back now, they may it back next year, or the year after.

Nothing is ever set in concrete.

[astral276]

Nothing is ever set in concrete.

My ex-wife is. She's holding up a motorway bridge.

[Juliebabe25]

My ex-wife is. She's holding up a motorway bridge.

Yes I was waiting for the mafia jokes.