Best Listing End Day/Time on Trade Me Revealed!!

If you have been searching for the answer to the best listing ending day/time as if it were the secret to TradeMe fame and fortune, look no further!

While Auctionitis provides both simple (windows scheduler) and comprehensive (built in Auctionitis Scheduler) scheduling abilities we question the need for every auction to end in a ’small window of sales opportunity’.  On a daily basis we discuss the ‘myth of the scheduled end time’ with Trade Me sellers – the fixation that everything MUST end between 7pm and 10pm on Sunday/Monday evenings because ‘that’s when the most people are on Trade Me’.

While the “most people” might indeed be on TradeMe – what exactly are they doing?  They’re wading through hundreds of pages of auctions all scheduled to close at the same time!  This can be overwhelming for the Trade Me Buyer and a waste of time for the Trade Me Seller. 

This can also perpetuate the myth that Trade Me is ‘flooded’ with useless new junk and drive down prices even further.

The more auctions ending at the same time, the less exposure your item will have in the ‘closing soon’ section of it’s Trade Me category.  It’s time to bust all those myths out there about the best ending day/time and give you a straight answer. 

The best day and time to close a listing on TradeMe is… (dramatic pause – drumroll – sharp intake of breath)

Well, it depends! Not a straight answer I know, but read on we’ll reveal some secrets to help you find the ’secret to TradeMe fame and fortune’ for your products.

The Myth:  ”Sunday/Monday evenings are the overall best day to end a listing on Trade Me”

This myth came from TradeMe’s ’site statistics’ page and that little box in the ’sell form’ encouraging you to use a scheduled end time stating that the highest traffic on the site is on Sunday/Monday. Trade Me caters to this myth by charging people to schedule auctions.  With over 50000 people on Trade Me at any one time more often than not during even remotely sociable hours are that extra 20-30000 on during the night for an hour or so  the only ones with their credit cards handy?

Since then, the myth that these two days are the best ending times has spread throughout the discussion boards and across the planet.  Personally, I think the end day/time debate is perpetrated by people who know very little about statistics or are too scared to try something different.  

Although savvy Auctionitis users don’t need to pay that fee – they just use the Auctionitis scheduler to manage when their auctions start/end saving them .25cents a listing!

But highest website traffic doesn’t mean that everyone is making a purchase on that day. Perhaps some people are browsing for items that they will purchase later in the week.  While it may be difficult to swallow, I am here to tell you that Sunday/Monday evenings are not the best rule of thumb to follow in selecting the “best” listing end time.

The Best Ending Day Depends Upon Two Things

What defines the best ending day?  The days when you get the most bids or sell the most items or get the higest sale prices?

It seems obvious also that if you line up all your items to end in these time frames then naturally you’re going to get the most activity at that period – most bidding (if there is any – many items sell  by Buy Now or Fixed Price Offer) happens at the end of the auction.  So the myth becomes self perpetuating.

It pays to remember that the best time for one sellers sales may not be the best for anothers.  What works for one seller and their product may not work for you and yours. 

Essentially, the best ending time relates to two factors:

Your selling strategy and your product.

Your Selling Strategy

As I pointed out earlier, what does the best end day even mean? What is best for one seller isn’t always best for another, because each seller has a different strategy. Essentially, all selling strategies are founded upon one of two options: High Volume, Low Profit or Low Volume, High Profit.  Your selling strategy ultimately will determine your “best” ending day.

High Volume, Low Profit

This strategy is used when you have a very large inventory of the same product. You most likely bought in bulk, which means you got a low cost for each individual item. This means you are more concerned with selling all of your products at a lower price, just to make sure you are not stuck with a left-over inventory.

Many of TradeMe’s bigger sellers ‘feedbackwise’ follow this model – a look through their feedback can show an average selling price of $15 or less per item – far less than the TradeMe average of $56 per item.

So, if you are a high-volume, low-profit per item seller, then you want to select the ending day that increases your listing success rate. This allows you to sell more products and re-list fewer.

Doing some analysis of your sold items from TradeMe will help you determine the best end time/day for particular products.  If you’d like us to help you understand and do this contact us today. Your sales data should tell you what products sold and when – helping you make this decison.

Low Volume, High Profit

Use this strategy when you have a smaller inventory of the same product, or a large inventory of several different products. Doing this allows you to focus on maximizing your sales price, thus increasing money in your pocket.

For example, if you only had 10 or so Fishing Rods, you would want to ensure you sold each one at the highest price possible. You’re less worried about getting stuck with left-over inventory because you only have 10 of them to start with.

You want to select the end day that brings you a higher sale price than the average.  So, you can see that the best ending day is determined according to your sales strategy. Now let’s look at the other factor. 

Your Product

Now let’s see how different products perform differently across Trade Me.  Unfortunately Trade Me do not provide sellers any sales statistics or analysis so it’s up to you as a seller to do your own analysis or contact us to provide a statistical analysis for you. 

IF there is a best day and time to end your auction it depends entirely on the item being sold. For example, if you sell items to new mothers or parents of school kids ending your auctions in the late afternoon when parents are out collecting their kids from school and indulging in after school activities would be a silly idea.  Think about ‘who’ buys your product and ‘when’ your target market might be on TradeMe and aim your auctions to begin and end at these times. 

The Bottom Line

When it comes to the “best” ending day, there is no general rule of thumb. And not just because it depends upon your selling strategy and your product.

In case you haven’t noticed, TradeMe is a very fluctuating market. What works one month may not work the next. When I first started selling on TradeMe I found that Thursday was the best day to end to increase my sales price. A few months later, it had changed and continues to change rapidly.  If you are finding it harder and harder to sell on TradeMe it could be because you are using outdated sales techniques.

So, the bottom line, is to remove the guesswork and rules of thumb and rely upon the facts not myths!

Anecdotal Research

Our own anecdotal research shows that there is a definite trading/sales spike around 10am and again around 1pm week days – do you have any auctions closing then?