# Maximizing Ebay profit: Auction + BIN or BIN+Best offer? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 13, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximizing-ebay-profit-auction-bin-or-bin-best-offer/599480 "2011-10-13T01:21:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximizing-ebay-profit-auction-bin-or-bin-best-offer/599480/1 "2011-10-13T01:21:31Z")
All things being otherwise equal, what is the Dope opinion on which type of listing is most likely to get the best price on a given item. The options are: [ul] [li]Auction with low opening bid combined with Buy It Now option for the high price you really want or[/li] [li]Buy it Now at the high price desired with option for Best Offers[/li][/ul] The BIN + Best Offer is kind of a private auction, which is why it attracts me. I never use reserve because I know how much people hate it, but when it comes to items of real value I get freaked out at the possibility of the item going for too low a price at auction, so BIN + Best Offer protects against that happening and therefore is my preference. But I wonder if that leads generally to much lower prices than in a straight auction. So what’s the word from the Doper Ebay experts? ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maximizing-ebay-profit-auction-bin-or-bin-best-offer/599480/2 "2011-10-13T01:24:34Z")
Oh, and obviously this assumes that it doesn’t sell for the Buy it Now price, der.