Auction Watchers: How Many People Are Watching Each Lot

What is an auction watcher?

A watcher is a bidder who has saved a lot to keep an eye on it. On Auktia, a signed-in bidder taps the bookmark on any item card or item page. The item then rides along at the bottom of every page with its clock, and shows on My bids under Watching.

Watching isn't bidding. A watcher has nothing on the lot until they place a bid, but a watch is a clear sign of interest, often from someone still deciding how high to go. Bidders can read more on the watch list page.

What do auction houses see about watchers?

The seller sees watcher numbers at two levels: per item, and as a total across the auction. Both are counts only. Auktia never shows a seller which bidders are watching, and the seller's own team doesn't count, so staff checking items don't inflate the numbers.

• Per item: how many people are watching each item.
• Across the auction: "X watching Y items", the people watching and how many of your items they're watching.
• On the Live board: a watchers number for every item, and a Most watched sort that puts the most-watched items first.

What do bidders see?

Bidders see "N watching" on an item once it has 2 or more watchers, and only while the item is open. An item with a single watcher shows no count to bidders.

For a bidder, "N watching" is a hint about competition. An item with several watchers may draw late bids, and extended bidding (soft close) handles that by resetting the item's clock when a bid comes in during its closing window. See how extended bidding works.

How do I see which lots are most watched?

Watch counts sit on your auction's Live board, which every published auction has.

1. Open My auctions and choose a published auction.
2. Tap the Live board tab, next to Items, Auction settings, Bidders and Invoices.
3. Sort with Most watched to bring the most-watched items to the top.
4. Read each item's watchers beside its high bid, number of bids, minimum price (reserve) status and clock.
5. Switch to Closing first as the auction nears its end to follow items in the order they close.

How can an auction house use watcher counts?

Watcher counts show you where interest is before the bids do. Used well, they help you set expectations, decide what to promote and choose what to feature.

Say the auction shows 60 watching 120 items, and one item has 12 watchers but only 2 bids with a day to go. Interest like that often turns into bids near the close, so a low price at that point isn't a reason to worry, or to tell the consignor it will go cheap.

• Set expectations: judge a heavily watched item by its watchers as well as its current bid until the close.
• Promote what's working: when you share the auction with Copy auction link, name the most-watched items in the post. See sharing your auction.
• Feature the right items: use the most-watched items as the photos and headlines for posts and invitations.
• Fix what's ignored: an item with no watchers late in the auction may need a clearer title or better photos the next time you list something like it.
• Plan future auctions: kinds of items that draw watchers auction after auction are worth sourcing more of.