Each time I list an item on eBay that I’m selling, the ‘Buy It Now’ option disappears after the first bid. This is not a big problem, but I noticed when looking at items listed by other sellers, the ‘Buy It Now’ option remains after bids are placed.
When I start a new listing to sell a new item, I don’t see any way to change my settings so that the ‘Buy It Now’ option sticks around.
Any help? Any similar experiences out there in Doperland?
If the reserve price is not met, the Buy It Now option remains available.
This is Yet Another Thing eBay Does To Tick Off Sellers. E.g., I put a thing on sale for initial bid of $1 with a Buy It Now of $300. Someone bids $1. It goes away. Putting a reserve on it kills bidding. Setting a high starting bid kills bidding.
It should be left up until the bidding reaches nearly the Buy It Now Price.
(And I have seen bidding exceed the original Buy It Now price!)
Hybrid auction/BIN listings are pretty pointless on anything other than fast-selling items such as popular electronic gadgets and DVDs, for exactly the reason’s stated in the OP.
Unless a brisk pattern of bidding can be reasonably anticipated for the item, it’s just a method of paying ebay extra for a service that isn’t going to do anything.
This answers my question, thank you. As a semi-frequent seller on eBay, I have failed to see any real advantage to having a reserve price rather than a minimum bid price of the same value.
I have seen this as well…gotta love it as a seller 
In fact it can be a serious DIS advantage. In one case I was bidding on a motorcycle worth over $XXX. I knew what it was worth, and was willing to go to a fair price. The fellow had some reserve, probably at the low end of book value. Unfortunatly, he had a low starting bid, and nobody was making serious bids against me. Even though I was probably willing (and entered appropriate proxy bid) to go his reserve, his reserve was never met.
As a buyer, the BIN price tells me a lot about the seller’s expectations, which is useful since the reserve price is concealed. No point in bidding at all if the BIN price is WAY more than I’m willing to pay.