Watching watchers

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The auction for the BBQ Sauce Jar + (Slate Contest Winner) Matthew J. Wells Story ends today. Right at the moment the bidding is at $54, which is impressive.

Interestingly, the S.O. shop account tells me that 26 eBayers are “watching” this auction. That’s an unusually high number — in general our auctions have only a handful of “watchers.” The Flip-Flop Frame + Merrill Markoe Story has 8, also higher than normal.

Never having been a very active eBay person prior to this project, it’s not clear to me what motivates “watchers.” Does having a lot of them suggest a lot of potential last-minute bids? Or just curiosity?

About

Rob Walker is the author of Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are, and writes the Consumed column for The New York Times Magazine.

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