Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
I am probably way off, as all items with a "Buy it Now" that sold are probably off the list I look at. Just curious, as it may influence my decision to list items in Auctions in the future, and how to list them.
rrr...
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rrraphy
The figures you are looking for are easily worked out. You will find the data under Auction, Sellers, Reports.
May I suggest that you work out the numbers over a period of time so that comparisons and trends are a wee bit more accurate than one or two months in isolation.
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What I should have said in my previous post.
DO NOT include the Topicals category in any of your calculations as they are mostly duplication of other catagories and will skew any conclusions one makes.
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Thanks Ian. Interesting information. Is it my imagination, or are we seing a trend to lower and lower percentages of sold items throughout 2022?
rrr...
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04:12:48pm
I know that some newer material does sell, sometimes I'm amazed how much. But could the reduced sales have anything to do with the decreased amount of classic material being offered? Just a thought, I haven't checked any stats to see what percentage of material offered is before a certain date and how much is after. I consider classic to be before 1955 purely because that's my usual cut off date. Is there an accepted date?
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The Classic Period is traditionally considered to be 1840 to 1940. Scott has amended that by including the full reign of King George VI in the British-area listings (1952).
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One of the reasons I do not buy so much at auction is the lack of genuine used stamps. So much is mint or mnh, or where cancelled is off a fdc, which probably never saw a post box.
I do check my interest countries most days, but apart from some French art stamps have not bought much of late. I would like to purchase the more recent (post 1970) pre cancel French stamps but they only ever appear as mint, someone must use them on mail. Yes I know I could purchase mint and soak the gum off, but used should be cheaper.
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" Is it my imagination, or are we seeing a trend to lower and lower percentages of sold items throughout 2022?"
In the Auctions I have the same impression.
(Further comment in Sellers Corner Topic)
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Auctions I find down across all places I sell. The reason I stopped here was that I could not even get half a dozen bids of a penny out of 40 auctions. Too much time wasted for no return. Elsewhere, I have stopped auctions on Hip and have been converting old recycled auctions on ebay to permanent status in my store for the same reason. lack of bids. On ebay I am running them for one last time and then taking the ended listings and more than doubling the price and putting them into my store - where they sell. Makes no sense other than there are two different groups of people auction and store (or approvals here) and rarely have I seen people buy from both when I was doing both for a n umber of years here. The US auctions I do here now as BIN are for stamps for someone else as I have never been a US dealer other than a year or so when I was selling dated docs (reds) via a Linns want list classified.
Greg
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I have always thought that auctions are only appropriate for higher priced items. If you are purchasing less expensive stamps, as a buyer you would want some assurance that you are buying enough from a single seller to justify the shipping cost. If you bid on a dozen items at $.50 each and you only win one, you will spend $1 or more for shipping for your $.50 purchase. If you are purchasing under a fixed price arrangement, you will know whether your total purchase justifies the shipping cost. If you buy from a "store" where a seller's offering stay on the shelf instead of being removed after 2 weeks, you have more stock to choose from to make a decent sized order.
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When I do buy, which is becoming far less often as the material I am after seldom gets offered, whether buying from approvals or in the auction I always look at both outlets for what the seller is offering. This is because I have to build in the postage cost which is usually the international rate. Higher priced auction items are usually easier to justify.
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"I have always thought that auctions are only appropriate for higher priced items. If you are purchasing less expensive stamps, as a buyer you would want some assurance that you are buying enough from a single seller to justify the shipping cost. If you bid on a dozen items at $.50 each and you only win one, you will spend $1 or more for shipping for your $.50 purchase"
I understand and agree... but since I started selling on eBay I've stopped putting my own values on others. I sell covers that are listed from $1-2 mainly and am amazed at the folks who buy one cover a week.. every week. So now that $2 cover is now $3 with the $1 postage charge. I also have people who will buy three $2 covers as separate transactions. If they bought them as one transaction, the system would only charge $1 postage... but now they've incurred $3 postage charges and don't seem to care!
Condition and such? At first I was rather particular as the to covers I offered for sale. Then I found people would buy the ones I thought would never sell! I'll have three of the same first day cover at the same price, and someone will buy the one where the address collides with the postmark! Go figger! I've stopped worrying about it!
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Approvals
In Auctions, I usually look at New Items and bid my intended maximum at the time. So I seldom monitor what percentage of listed items have a bid, as seen when looking at Auction items closing within 24 hours. I did so today, and was surprised to see only around 10% of items with a bid! Comparing it to Approvals, which seem to average around 50% (more or less...don't quote me), I find these numbers on the low side. Any clue about it, and Ian who gathers and analyzes statistics, what is the more accurate number for Auction bids percentages, or sold percentages?
I am probably way off, as all items with a "Buy it Now" that sold are probably off the list I look at. Just curious, as it may influence my decision to list items in Auctions in the future, and how to list them.
rrr...
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03:03:14pm
Auctions - Approvals
re: What Percentage of Auction items have a bid
rrraphy
The figures you are looking for are easily worked out. You will find the data under Auction, Sellers, Reports.
May I suggest that you work out the numbers over a period of time so that comparisons and trends are a wee bit more accurate than one or two months in isolation.
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03:06:56pm
Auctions - Approvals
re: What Percentage of Auction items have a bid
What I should have said in my previous post.
DO NOT include the Topicals category in any of your calculations as they are mostly duplication of other catagories and will skew any conclusions one makes.
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Approvals
re: What Percentage of Auction items have a bid
Thanks Ian. Interesting information. Is it my imagination, or are we seing a trend to lower and lower percentages of sold items throughout 2022?
rrr...
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This is my diabetic cat OBI! I think, therefore I am - I think! Descartes, sort of!
31 Oct 2022
04:12:48pm
re: What Percentage of Auction items have a bid
I know that some newer material does sell, sometimes I'm amazed how much. But could the reduced sales have anything to do with the decreased amount of classic material being offered? Just a thought, I haven't checked any stats to see what percentage of material offered is before a certain date and how much is after. I consider classic to be before 1955 purely because that's my usual cut off date. Is there an accepted date?
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04:50:23pm
re: What Percentage of Auction items have a bid
The Classic Period is traditionally considered to be 1840 to 1940. Scott has amended that by including the full reign of King George VI in the British-area listings (1952).
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Approvals
re: What Percentage of Auction items have a bid
One of the reasons I do not buy so much at auction is the lack of genuine used stamps. So much is mint or mnh, or where cancelled is off a fdc, which probably never saw a post box.
I do check my interest countries most days, but apart from some French art stamps have not bought much of late. I would like to purchase the more recent (post 1970) pre cancel French stamps but they only ever appear as mint, someone must use them on mail. Yes I know I could purchase mint and soak the gum off, but used should be cheaper.
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07:32:04pm
Auctions - Approvals
re: What Percentage of Auction items have a bid
" Is it my imagination, or are we seeing a trend to lower and lower percentages of sold items throughout 2022?"
In the Auctions I have the same impression.
(Further comment in Sellers Corner Topic)
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this post
Auctions - Approvals
re: What Percentage of Auction items have a bid
Auctions I find down across all places I sell. The reason I stopped here was that I could not even get half a dozen bids of a penny out of 40 auctions. Too much time wasted for no return. Elsewhere, I have stopped auctions on Hip and have been converting old recycled auctions on ebay to permanent status in my store for the same reason. lack of bids. On ebay I am running them for one last time and then taking the ended listings and more than doubling the price and putting them into my store - where they sell. Makes no sense other than there are two different groups of people auction and store (or approvals here) and rarely have I seen people buy from both when I was doing both for a n umber of years here. The US auctions I do here now as BIN are for stamps for someone else as I have never been a US dealer other than a year or so when I was selling dated docs (reds) via a Linns want list classified.
Greg
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this post
re: What Percentage of Auction items have a bid
I have always thought that auctions are only appropriate for higher priced items. If you are purchasing less expensive stamps, as a buyer you would want some assurance that you are buying enough from a single seller to justify the shipping cost. If you bid on a dozen items at $.50 each and you only win one, you will spend $1 or more for shipping for your $.50 purchase. If you are purchasing under a fixed price arrangement, you will know whether your total purchase justifies the shipping cost. If you buy from a "store" where a seller's offering stay on the shelf instead of being removed after 2 weeks, you have more stock to choose from to make a decent sized order.
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re: What Percentage of Auction items have a bid
When I do buy, which is becoming far less often as the material I am after seldom gets offered, whether buying from approvals or in the auction I always look at both outlets for what the seller is offering. This is because I have to build in the postage cost which is usually the international rate. Higher priced auction items are usually easier to justify.
Login to Like
this post
re: What Percentage of Auction items have a bid
"I have always thought that auctions are only appropriate for higher priced items. If you are purchasing less expensive stamps, as a buyer you would want some assurance that you are buying enough from a single seller to justify the shipping cost. If you bid on a dozen items at $.50 each and you only win one, you will spend $1 or more for shipping for your $.50 purchase"
I understand and agree... but since I started selling on eBay I've stopped putting my own values on others. I sell covers that are listed from $1-2 mainly and am amazed at the folks who buy one cover a week.. every week. So now that $2 cover is now $3 with the $1 postage charge. I also have people who will buy three $2 covers as separate transactions. If they bought them as one transaction, the system would only charge $1 postage... but now they've incurred $3 postage charges and don't seem to care!
Condition and such? At first I was rather particular as the to covers I offered for sale. Then I found people would buy the ones I thought would never sell! I'll have three of the same first day cover at the same price, and someone will buy the one where the address collides with the postmark! Go figger! I've stopped worrying about it!
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