Time Your Auction for Maximum Exposure

The day and time you choose to end an auction can dramatically effect the outcome. The majority of bids come in during the final minutes of an auction, so it becomes very important to position your auction for the maximum number of views during that period.

• The auction ending time is a factor to consider. If you plan to end your auction at 7:30pm in New York it will only be 4:30pm in Los Angeles. People are not yet home for work. Inversely, a west coast auction ending at 9pm will be seen on the east coast at 12am. Many potential bidders will likely be in bed.
• Weekends and evenings are statistically the highest traffic periods for Ebay and many consider Sunday evening the optimal time to end auctions. There are however definite exceptions. If the Sunday falls in the middle of a 3 day holiday weekend, is Easter Sunday, or Super Bowl Sunday then this is obviously not the best day.
• Try and consider outside events on a given day which would impact Ebay traffic. Example would be a presidential debate or the World Series. Depending on your target market a very popular TV show may also have an inverse impact on traffic.
• Consider your market. If you are selling office equipment or industrial items, your buyers will generally be looking during working hours.