This is a question I get nearly every week in my eBay classes. "How long should my listings run on
eBay?" eBay offers auction-style and fixed-priced format listings in the 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10-day durations. If you are selling in an eBay Store, you can list for 30 days at a time for less up front cost, with the option to automatically relist that item every 30 days till it sells or is canceled. The fact is there is no single right duration for everyone. You can determine what's right for you though by considering several factors.
Are you selling "Hot" merchandise?
If you are selling the hottest "widget" in town and they're selling for a great price every time you list one on eBay, that's great. If you use a 7-day duration you'll sell one per week, or 4 per month. Your competitor however may be selling the same item for the same price using a 1-day duration, selling 7 per week or 28 in four weeks. If you make a profit of $5 on each item, you're making $20 compared to your competitor's $140 in the same four weeks. See the difference?
This all works if you're selling a product that is really hot. Most of us sell average things that don't sell every time. Listing fees eat away at our profits, so we figure if we list less often we save money. The example above shows that depends on how well our item sells.
If you list an average selling item as a 1-day listing every day for a week, you're probably going to lose money on listing fees. If it's an average item it takes more eyeballs to see it before you'll get a sale. Common sense. Longer duration. But should you choose 7-day or 5-day listings? Or pay even more and get a 10-day listing? I'll get to the 10-day durations in a bit, but first...
5-day vs. 7-day Durations
Seven day durations are the most popular. It fits the listing nicely into our selling schedule. People have told me "I list every Sunday night, and my auctions close every Sunday night because that's when the most people are on eBay." Well, that's nice for you - but what if your best customers are on eBay Tuesday afternoon? Sellers have to appeal to their buyers, not what is convenient.
Hammertap.com creators of the Deep Analysis research tool has an excellent article that shows 5-day listings have a higher ASR (average success rate) than other durations with the exception of the 10-day listing. Their report suggests that irregularity causes buyers to feel a higher sense of urgency. Read their full report. (Adobe Reader required) 5-day listings also vary the time you end your listings, so you actually catch different people through the month rather than the predictable Sunday night crowd.
10-day Durations
In HammerTap's report 10-day listings had the best overall ASR. This is good information, but for an extra $.40 per listing it's not practical for large numbers of listings. If however you have a one of a kind, truly rare or unique item - you'll have hardly any competition on that item. That being the case, use a 10-day duration and stretch your listing over two weekends to get the greatest benefit and highest final selling price.
No Blanket Rule
There is no blanket rule for durations. It's more of a balancing act. You have to watch costs of starting lots of short listings, but you want to sell as many as possible. It boils down to what you're selling and what your success rate is. In any case, you should vary your selling days and times until you find a "sweet spot." Just like fishing though, that spot will get "fished out" and you'll need to move again. I personally think the 5-day duration does that for you. The key is research, research, research. For active sellers a tool like HammerTap's Deep Analysis, Terapeak, or eBay's Marketplace Research is vital to in-depth sales research.
