Does eBay get saturated with listings on free listing weekends?

[IwishIwasmoreorganised]

Is there a huge influx of listings over free listing weekends do you think?

If I am happy to start my auctions at 99p am I better off avoiding adding my listings on free listing weekends in order to have less 'competition'?

Yes and yes - though there's a huge influx of 99p listings on other days too, so bear in mind even with 2 bidders you'll likely only get £1.04...

yes lots of stuff at silly prices relisted every two-three weeks

That's the trouble I suppose with 99p starts - even with a few bids the end prie can still be disappointingly low.

What are the best tactics then do you think (I'm quite a novice at all this!)? Is it best to have a start price that I would be happy to sell the item for (a realistic price having watched similar items) and then add it on a free listing weekend with the mountains of other listings?

That is what I do, put the minimum I want to get for it, but I do base this on ther selling prices. Some thingsi am happy to relistor wait to sell again though :),

If I'm listing on a FL weekend I list items for 10 days so that they end mid-week and aren't ending on the usual Sunday evening.

If I think things might only get one or two bids then I start them higher than 99p. Listing fees are only 15p (I'm not sure how high the start price can be) for things up to at least 4.99.

I've also listed a few things on fixed price listings recently and that has been quite successful. Listing fee is 40p but you can list it for up to 30 days and I'm not sure if there is an upper limit in the 40p fee but I've just listed a buggy for £220 for 30 days and it still only cost 40p.

I didn't know Sundays were particularly usual time to end auctions. Friday night gets better prices, I reckon. You could do a 5 day listing on a Sunday evening to make sure it finishes on a Friday eve.

Personally I only list for 99p if I can stomach selling for 99p. Otherwise FLWs because listing fees can take a huge chunk of my profits otherwise.
Main thing is to end auctions in evenings UK time (or evenings wherever you want to sell, like I sell quite a few things to US buyers, so 3-5am finish in UK makes sense).

I don't think Sunday is the best time to end auctions either - I find Mon or Tues better - about 8.30pm onwards.

I tend to end midweek too, and always after the bedtimes of young children. As for the starting price, I think that if you're going to ebay, you have to accept alot of things will go for a low price. We all love it when we win something for 99p, don't we? Anything that I really want a higher price for I put one on, and items that could fetch a high price and I pretty much know will sell, I put on for 10 days. This last could well be an old Fergoose tip.

Checking completed listings prices can also make you more realistic and give you an idea of where to pitch things. It's on the left hand navigation.

it does depend on what you are selling, obviously ending sales of childrens clothes at 3pm or 5-7pm is a bit silly

however if selling things for craft market or collectors or car parts ending 5-7pm when folks home from work might be a good idea

Perhaps I've been a bit deluded about always ending my listings at about 9pm on Sundays.

I think I'll perhaps relax a bit about that, but start things at more than 99p if I'd really be gutted if they sold for that.

I've been quite lucky this week, have never sold on eBay before, listed 9 things last weekend, the 7 of the auctions that have finished have all sold for prices I am more than happy with and I really don't mind either way about the two items ending tomorrow as I've done so well this week (expected £50ish, am over £100 so far!). Beginners luck maybe?!