Oct
7
Study Contradicts Conventional Wisdom on Best Time to Close an Auction
Filed Under Sellers' Insights
A common question among auction sellers is, “When is the best time to close an eBay auction?”
A recent report by a team of economics researchers in Germany dispels the conventional wisdom that evenings and weekends are the best time to end an eBay auction. In their paper, “The Effects of Reputation on Selling Prices in Auctions,” Professors Oliver Gurtler (University of Bonn) and Christian Grund (Aachen University) found that selling prices for popular DVD’s were actually significantly (in the statistical sense) higher for those auctions that ended during the day compared to those that closed in the evening. Ending an auction on the weekend made no difference in closing price compared to auctions ending during the work week.
As many of of may also be, the study’s authors were surprised at this finding. Conventional wisdom would conclude that the majority of the bidding activity (read demand) occurs in the evening hours and on weekends when most people have leisure time available to spend surfing the auctions on eBay. This is true , however the majority of auction sellers are trying to capitalize on the “demand effect.” Thus supply outstrips demand in the evenings and on weekends as most auctions are scheduled to close during these times. Auctions closing during the day are subject to less competition, therefore demand (bidders) actually dominates supply (sellers).
The paper analyzed the sales of six popular DVD’s sold on eBay Germany during November and December of 2005. The movie titles included Star Wars, Madagascar, Fantastic Four, The War of the Worlds, Kingdom of Heaven, and Batman Begins.
This is an interesting insight that is worth exploring. One of the remarkable advantages of selling on eBay is the opportunity to experiment with relatively minimal risk. The study’s conclusions should suggest that you might want to test the waters with alternate closing times if you’ve (myself included) limited yourself to the conventional evening and weekend auction closing times. Always consider who your audience is though. If your products’ typical bidders are teenagers for example, closing your auctions during school hours might not be the best idea. Then again, considering today’s teenagers, it might be brilliant…
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