I’ve tried the help site on e-bay but couldn’t find any awnser to my question:
When there is a “buy it now” option, is the price of the buy it now the same as the reserve price or is it generally higher? In other words, would it be possible to buy the item at a lower price through regular bidding?
They can be different and are set by the seller. I don’t know if a BIN price can be set lower then a reserve but the seller is unlikely to do that anyway.
Get rid of that 60 second time limit - double post still happens
Have you ever seen an item that can be purchased with a “Buy It Now” option AND has a reserve price? It seems the seller would be silly to offer an item using both options. I would think that the “Buy It Now” price would be the same as the reserve price, because both would indicate the least amount of money the seller is willing to take for the item.
what 60 seconds limit??
Well my logic is the following:
If someone puts a “Buy it Now” option at the same price as the reserve price, it makes no sense for anyone to actually make a real bid on it because you won’t be able to buy it anyway until you reach th e Buy it now price. However if you put your buy it now price higher than your reserve price; then someone that would be very interested in the item would be willing to pay more for it if he can be assured to have it. Putting reserve price higher than BIN price makes no sense though.
What it think is that BIN price should be higher than reserve price, but I wanted to confirm this because I really am not certain of nothing. What I know for sure is that when the reserve price is met the BIN sign disapears; does that mean that both prices are the same or not…I don’t know, but from what k2dave says, it seems both are different…
Also, if it is the case that BIN price is higher than reserve price, usually how much higher is it??
There is no usually on eBay, I have seen it $10, $50, even $100 higher than the reserve. It is all up to the seller, it is the buyer’s option to bid what he/she will pay for it.
The 60 second time limit the SDMB puts in to prevent us from posting multiple posts less then 1 minute apart.
Back to the OP, When I sell (not often) I usually don’t use a reserve but have on occation. I put the reserve at the min price I am willing to sell it for and the BIN price at what I think I can reasonably get for it.
I have never made a BIN price lower then the reserve and it doesn’t make sense to. the reserve if not met means that neither seller or buyer is obligated to go through with the transaction (even though it still can go through if both agree).
I don’t know if ebay will allow a BIN price lower then a reserve but it may be possible to do.
Well, using the two prices the way you described it now makes sense to me.
So we’ve got that going for us. 
I should add in regards to the OP - it is possible for you to buy the item at lower than the BIN (buy it now) price, but remember if the reserve is not met (The BIN option goes away when the reserve price is met) someone can come along and use BIN - and you will lose out on the item. If the item has a BIN and no reserve, you may get it at a lower price, but someone can still snatch it using BIN.
I remember one case when the BIN was $50, bidding started at $40 or so. I watched it, and at the end it went over $50, ending at $65 or so. The seller must have set a $45 reserve, when it hit $45 the BIN disappeared and bidding went higher. Clear as mud, right?
Ok, it’s all very clear now!
Also anyone knows how much ebay charges? is it a % of the sold item or how much does it charge in $ for buyer and seller??
It’s all here.
Clarification - If there is no reserve then any bid = to or > opening price will kill the BIN option. There even is a term for bidders who use this to get rid of a BIN “BIN stompers”. They will usually just meet the opening bid and then check close to closing to place their real bid.
Yeah, BIN stompers, sigh. Be sure to set your min bid next to the BIN price otherwise youll get
stomped. e.g.
You need $50 for an item at least.
Set the BIN at $60
Set the min bid at $50
Forget the reserve idea…
That way you get your $50 at least & BIN stompers won’t keep you from getting that.
I was just thinking that a reserve might be a good anti BIN stomper tactic.
Before BIN I tried a reserve but found it only increases the fees that you have to pay to ebay (for the most part) and ebay is pretty much a pure supply and demand. I find for most items that are not junk and have some real value I can set the opening bid at something like $1 and trust market forces to take it to what it is really worth. It’s a little scary selling a $200 item for $1 opening bid but I have done it and it closed pretty close to what I was hoping for.
I usually ignore reserve auctions. But if I do use one I write the person & find out
what the reserve is…