Okay, I haven’t sold anything on Ebay for years. But I have a GPS unit I’m trying to get rid of, so decided I’d try my luck on Ebay. So I’ve got the listing ready to go, and have already set the “Starting Bid” price, but I see no option to set a hidden minimum, which I recall it being a feature I’ve used before.
You see, I want to start the bidding at $288, but I don’t want to let the item go until it reaches at least $500. Can I still do this?
Yes, look for an option to set a “reserve price.”
ETA: You might be hobbling yourself here, though; lots of people (including me) won’t bid on reserve auctions.
Thanks, I just found it underneath some convoluted menu structure. This feature used to be a main box – why the hell has Ebay’s design gotten worse over the years?
And fair enough regarding the Reserve Auctions, but I don’t want to take the risk of losing hundreds of potential dollars on this.
I’ve found that if you put your starting bid at what you would normally have as a reserve price (or a bit lower), but with no reserve price, your item will sell for more than if you had a reserve price.
Yes. I never saw the point of a reserve price. If there’s a lowest price you’re willing to accept, start the bidding there.
(Yes, I know you might want to start it lower to jump start the bidding, but what’s the point? If a person underbids your reserve price, what are you accomplishing?)
It’s purely psychological, and it does work.
The point of a reserve is to get several bidders in on the auction at the beginning, so they become emotionally attached to it. Tis will often result is a higher final price than just starting the auction at your minimum acceptable price (where you may get no bidders at all).
Right. I usually won’t bother with “reserve auctions” they too often mean “my price is too damn high but maybe I’ll lure a few suckers into a bidding war”. Or: “I want some eBay buyers to give me a free estimate on how much this is worth, thanks for wasting your time!” :mad:
If you have a hot item, then even listing it at $9 (in this case) should be safe, the market will protect you.
From what I understand, fees are at least partially based on the starting price.
Auctions with a reserve get considerably less bids and interest than those without them unless the object is something of excessive rarity. Often because people that set reserves are the ones that typically have an inflated sense of what their stuff is worth. It’s usually a lot better to start something off at a penny and let the public bid it up. I’m with Q. E. D. when he says that he won’t bid on reserve auctions, I won’t either, because it’s no fun having to play games with the other bidders AND the seller.
If you don’t sell a lot, just start the price at a penny. Most people do not bid till the end when they snipe. So you probably won’t get many (if any at all) till the auction is over.
If you don’t get your price, simply tell the winnner, it broke. You’ll lose your listing fee and it’s unethical but so what? If you’re selling on eBay as a business, you need ethics, but if you only sell once in a blue moon you don’t need them.
I have had many seller, simply say “the item isn’t available” that’s one reason why I stopped doing shopping on eBay. Of course now they can’t leave you retalitory feedback.
But then again, if you’re worried open a new account and start a new seller ID.
Remember the goal is to get a GOOD price, not feedback
If you want to see if you’re realistic in the price you expect, put a free listing on Craigslist and see what kind of response you get. Maybe you can sell it there.
It’s people like you that have made ebay what it is today.
I buy and sell a lot on ebay, and I tend to avoid sellers with low feedback - just to avoid dishonest sellers like yourself.
I have a standing rule to never bid on auctions with reserved prices. Sometimes if the item is of particular interest to me I would ask the seller for the reserved price. If it’s not offered, that’s the end of my interest. If you have a minimum price, just put it out there. Why be cutesy about it? I interpret a reserved price as a seller who’s afraid to scare away bids because he/she has an exaggerated minimum price.
Do you bid on items whose reserve is met?