If you sell fixed-priced or store items on eBay, the listing stays up in increments of 30 days. If you auction an item, the length of time is much shorter. Auctions default to run for seven days, or you can choose three, five or 10 days instead. Picking the best time to end your auction can result in more bidders seeing your item and driving up the winning bid.
Best Ending Time
Long-time eBay sellers maintain that the optimum time for ending an auction is between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. Eastern. This translates to between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Pacific time as shown on the auction listing, reflecting eBay's headquarters in San Jose, California. Select an end time that allows the most people to view your item. The optimum end time of 7 p.m. Pacific ensures that East Coast bidders are still up and awake, while those on the West Coast have arrived home from school and work. The time of day your auction starts is also the time the auction ends. You can pay an additional fee to control the time your auction starts.
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Best Ending Day
End your auction on Sunday to have the best chance of getting higher bids. More people are at home on Sundays, and buyers often have more time to study and bid on auctions than they do during the rest of the week. Polls taken by the online site AuctionBytes indicate that you should choose Monday if Sunday is not an option. While Saturday was once considered the second-best choice for ending an auction, sellers now feel that bidders are occupied with other things on Saturday and have less time to watch eBay auctions or make bids.
Length of Auction
The length of time you run your auction will determine the day that it will end. To have a seven-day auction end on Sunday, start the auction on the previous Sunday. Start a five-day auction on Tuesday and a three- or 10-day auction on Thursday to ensure the auction ends on Sunday.
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Holiday Ending Times
Avoid ending an auction on a holiday even if the holiday falls on a Sunday. Buyers do not typically pursue online auctions on holidays as they are preoccupied with the festivities. Avoid ending an auction on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving. During this holiday period, end your auction on the Monday after Thanksgiving to piggyback on Cyber Monday, a marketing gimmick designed to promote online shopping.
