Expert: Marvinator - 6/12/2006

Question
Hey I was wondering if you could tell me what times during the week (days/hours) have the highes traffic on EBAY... and statisticly when is the best time to end your auction to get the most potential bidders?

Answer
Obviously, nights and weekends will have the highest viewings.  However, you need to take into account your audience and it's habits.  

It's a widely known fact that people wait until the last minute to place a bid. There are two schools of thought on this. The first thought is that many people browse the currently ending listings when they are ready to bid.  The other school of thought is that people wait until the end so as to keep anyone from bidding against them.  In truth, both are correct.

When listing auctions, the good seller knows their audience even more than this.  As an example, a working mother may do her ebay surfing late at night.  During the school year, she may do it during the day.  Pinpointing the audience is important so that the auction ends when your audience is browsing listings.  

Take the time to research closed SUCCESSFUL auctions of similar items. When did they close?  Setting your auctions to close at the same time only makes sense.  In this way, you target your audience by knowing thier habits.  

Good luck!