How long should an eBay auction run?

If you sell on eBay you know that if you conduct an auction your choices are pretty much 3, 5, 7 10 (if I recall correctly), but if you do a straight buy it now you can list an item for 30 days or even have it run indefinitely.

So which choice...auction or buy it now...and what length for the auction?

For me it depends on the item, after research if it is a popular item that has had several bidding wars, 7 or 10 day auction to get maximum exposure start bid low and let the bid war begin. If same or similar items have ended with 1 or no bids or there are a lot of other buy it nows, if I have the margin, I price it about $5-$10 lower and let it ride the buy it now train until it sells.

I stopped doing auctions and basically do only buy it now these days. As a buyer I hate auctions. I see a 7 day auction and want the item on day 1. I have to wait 6 days to maybe win this item. If at the last minute someone outbids me I'm either starting from scratch or just give up and go get a buyitnow which I could have had 7 days sooner. I really only buy auctions if I'm looking for a deal and hoping the price will stay low.

As for how long to run auctions. Btw, htey offer 1 day auctions as well. You offer 1 day or 3 day adn you dont get the maximum number of views and attention but you run 7 days and people lose interest waiting a week for an item to end.

Yeah the majority of what I sell is "Buy It Now", if I have no clue what the price should be I'll do it as an auction and start it with a high starting bid and hope for the best.

I got a surplus of old magazines which I cut the ads out of and listed some of them (50 or so) on Ebay as a buy it now option. Always listed 30 days. I do auctions as well for most of my other items, which are mainly collectibles. if I start the auction on a Monday or Tuesday, I list for 5 days so that it ends on Sat./Sun. If I list on Sat./Sun. I run for 7 days..

I always list auction with buy it now option when they give away those 7 bazillion listings free for 3 days.