How Much are Fake Watchers Holding Up the Market?

[SaveMeTheGum]

Originally Posted by Blazed

Oh, and anyone who buys a card based on the number of watchers is dumb asf

Or worse, anyone that doesn't buy something they want based on the number of watchers...

[BlowoutBuzz]

I just want to know what a TRUE watcher is ...



(I hate "true" ... )

[BoSoxFan1999]

Originally Posted by asymmetricalbet

I really think there are a number of larger accounts using fake watchers to make cards appear more desirable than they actually are. I've noticed some instances over the past year where a card may have say, 30-40 watchers. It is purchased and then another copy of the card becomes available from someone else. When it does, the watcher count remains stuck at like 5 for months. I know there are places online where people can buy watchers for an insignificant fee.

How much do you believe this is affecting pricing on various cards and the market overall?

Reminds me of the time someone on reddit posted a link to a BIN listing for a card that was grossly priced at $1M (probably was actually worth less than $20).

A bunch of people in the thread agreed to add the card in their eBay cart so when the seller checked the listing the next day, he'd crap his pants seeing that over 100 people added the card to their cart and someone might actually buy it. Of course no one bought it though. LOL

[Bosoxfan5990]

Originally Posted by BlowoutBuzz

I just want to know what a TRUE watcher is ...



(I hate "true" ... )

This is fantastic.

[Gidtheson]

Purchasing: zero effect, if I like a card and its at the right price I could care less how many people are watching. Personally it does not instill any kind of FOMO to see a nice card with lots of watchers.

Selling: It is just one data point among several, minimal effect.

[PuddleMonkey]

Originally Posted by Blazed

No one likes to talk about shilling because it keeps the market propped up and makes their collection look good

The only time they complain about shilling is when they win an auction and think they got shilled or when they lose out on a PC card and think it was shilled

Nobody wants to talk about it because half of the people or more on this forum probably do it.

[Big35Hurt]

Like others have said, the number of watchers doesn't influence my buying decisions. If I want the card, I will set a price in my mind and go with it. If I win, great, and if I don't that's ok. I am not going to get into a bidding war just because a card I am interested in has double digit watchers.

[fabiani12333]

A card listing with a lot of watchers typically means a card has been on eBay for a long time, racking up a lot of dead watchers, or the card is in-demand but priced too high to sell at Buy It Now.

[Maverik]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Watch count isn't really an indication of liquidity. In fact, the disparity of watch counts can easily be explained without fake watchers involved. Watch count (as well as sale price, etc...) is directly related to views. And there are a lot of factors that go into views. When a person lists, how they list, what keywords are used, who the account is that lists, are they paying to advertise the listing, etc... All things ebay uses to push more popular items out to potential customers. So I could sell the same card from my account, don't pay for the sponsored listing, and give it a generic title, and receive a significantly lower hammer price than if PSA's account lists the card with a better title and pays to have the listing sponsored. They will get more views, more watchers, and a higher price.

I say all that to say that if you are using watch count to indicate liquidity, don't. It doesn't mean that. Even using sale price as a comp is frought with peril as not all comps are equal.

This answer is entirely too thoughtful for a simple idea and entirely too technical for the same reason. Do watch counts impact how SOME people think about the perceived desirability of a card? Yes. Are certain ebay users inflating their watch counts? It appears so.

"Frought with peril" was a completely uncalled for phrasing when "not always accurate" would have done just fine.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by Maverik

This answer is entirely too thoughtful for a simple idea and entirely too technical for the same reason. Do watch counts impact how SOME people think about the perceived desirability of a card? Yes. Are certain ebay users inflating their watch counts? It appears so.



"Frought with peril" was a completely uncalled for phrasing when "not always accurate" would have done just fine.

Thanks for the critique. It was oh so useful.

However, nothing I said was incorrect. So I stand by it.

I'm glad you chimed in to provide such deep insight into the thread.

[BoSoxFan1999]

How many fake watchers are TRUE COLLECTORS though?

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by BoSoxFan1999

How many fake watchers are TRUE COLLECTORS though?

Less than zero, you fool.

[Maverik]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Thanks for the critique. It was oh so useful.

However, nothing I said was incorrect. So I stand by it.

I'm glad you chimed in to provide such deep insight into the thread.

Neato mosquito!

[cipriano]

Could be that those watchers are owners of the same card and just watching a buy it now or action to see if and how much it sells for. I have watched items with no intention of buyi g it just to see how much it might sell for so I can gauge the price i should list it at. I'm sure I'm not the only one that does that. don't know if anyone is actually buying watchers seems like a waste of money unless you have some really high end stuff.

Sent from my SM-S928U1 using Tapatalk

[dwillard]

I watch high end cards of my PC guy just to see what they sell for even though i will never be in the market for them. I watch PC cards I already have just to see what they are going for especially if it’s one you don’t see all that often. Had one on my watchlist a while back that i already had to see what it sold for. It was bin/obo and had been listed quite a while then all of a sudden it sold. Couple weeks later my wife gives me my birthday gift and guess what it was. Yep the watchlist card i already had. So only thing to do was pretend I didn’t and say thank you babe.

[VinnyH]

As a seller I see watchers who never buy or respond to offers and I figure they have the card and are watching to feel good about already owning one. Nowadays I disregard 30% of watchers on my items. If there are 6 or more, I think there’s a shot my card will sell.
As a buyer I never put any weight on my choice to bid or buy by watcher numbers.
Best to All,
Vinny