posted on January 2, 2001 03:46:33 PM new
I'll ditto Barry on this one!
When I use a reserve, I put in the auction "Active Bidders Please feel Free to Email for the Reserve Amount." Why not bid what they're willing to pay and see what happens? Then, if they think .. hmmm, I guess I'd pay a little more .. fine, email me.
I'm tired of getting emails asking for reserve and then getting replies, after I respond, that read something like:
"Thanks for your reply. It is a beautiful item and certainly worth your reserve but it is simply out of my price range."
I just lost a bid .. maybe not a winning bid, but a bid. Each bid placed on a reserve auction shows active bidders that others are interested so they may not walk away with it as easily as they think. Perhaps they would stop thinking that I'd be thrilled to accept their 'insultingly low' offer because "my item didn't meet reserve and had so few bids." Any new bid also reveals a higher amount of the high bidders actual bid vs. bid showing.
Potential bidders would like to know my reserve amount? Well, I'd like to know what they really bid .. not just what's showing. But, that's not the way it works!
I think it all comes down to perspective, and neither view is 'wrong.' It's individual preferences. Personally, I would never email a seller and ask their reserve amount if I hadn't placed any bid at all.
________
I have a memory like a steel trap .. unfortunately it's rusted shut!
[ edited by tuition44years on Jan 2, 2001 03:48 PM ]
posted on January 2, 2001 06:09:08 PM new
I think tuition44years summed up the only reason I can think of not to disclose a reserve price.
TO GET MORE BIDS.
Sellers seem to be under the impression that bidders are more interested in auctions with lots of bids, as a buyer, I don't even bother to look if it has more then two or three bids already.
I, as a buyer, am not here to add to the number of bids on a sellers auction without knowing if I have a chance of winning. I am here to get something at the best possible price I can. If that means sending email to ask the reserve, then that is what I will do. I am not going to bid if I am not going to buy.
posted on January 2, 2001 07:21:33 PM new
Just a few extra things I wanted to point out....
First, although I am obviously a seller who uses reserves, please keep in mind that I am also a bidder. In fact, I tend to bid much more often than I sell stuff, especially lately. So I'd like to think I can speak from a bidder's perspective as well as a sellers.
Second, I really, truly, don't mind bidding on reserve auctions and have always had trouble understanding why some bidders get so upset about them. Maybe it's the area of merchandise I am bidding in, but to me a reserve is usually a sign that the item is worth bidding on. The broken pieces of crap or brand new retail stuff don't usually have reserves, only the quality items.
Third, and perhaps most important, as a bidder I can honestly say that the more bids an item has, the more likely I am to look at it, if for no other reason than to find out what all the excitement is about. I collect antique pocket watches, and so many listings are simply titled "antique watch" or "old waltham pocket watch" or the like, and I know that probably 90% of those auctions are low-end pieces of crap I am not interested in. And if I see an auction with such a title that has no bids after 5 days, I pretty much know that I can just ignore it, since it must not be anything special. But if it has 2 or 3 or 10 bids, I know there might just be something worth bidding on! Now, sure, with all those other bidders I may not get a great "steal" of a deal, but I'm looking for rare and unusual items to add to my collection and money is not always the number one factor for me. The number one factor is simply FINDING the item amidst all the clutter that fills every category on eBay these days, and looking for items with multiple bids is a good way to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Now, I realize that not everybody bids like me. There are plenty of people who are ONLY looking for bargains, and their main goal is to find that "hidden" treasure that no other bidders have discovered. And that's just fine. But I also have to believe that I am not the ONLY bidder who bids the way I do. And these are the bidders I hope to attract by using a reserve and [hopefully] getting a lot of early bids as a result. I sell quality items, but they are not always all that hard to find [especially on eBay]. And sometimes the only way to have my items stand out in the listings is to have more bids than anybody else, thereby indicating to potential bidders that there's something special about my item. Sure, I do my darndest to have a detailed, descriptive listing with plenty of pictures, but all that only helps if the bidders actually click on the listing in the first place.
Barry
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The opinions expressed above are for comparison purposes only. Your mileage may vary....
posted on January 2, 2001 07:46:54 PM new
As with violetta the only time I have ever inquired on a reserve auction is on seeing an item which I was very interested in, but had little idea what a fair market value might be. In that case the seller did respond and revealed the reserve. I was still interested but failed to return and bid, the item failed to meet the reserve; I have not seen it again and would buy today at the reserve.
On shopping ebaY I get the impression that on strongly desirable items whether sellers use a reserve or not usually makes little difference in the final result. On more mundane items reserves usually suppress bidding. Many auctions can be summarily dismissed (recognized) as almost certain to have overly high reserves, clicking through these is a major buyer's irritant.
Sometimes however bargains can be found where sellers have suppressed bidders' interest by having a reserve, but offered a bargain with a low reserve. I sometimes place low bids on such items of only marginal interest. If the reserve is met I may get a good deal, but more often will be outbid as the reserve is no longer turning people away. If the reserve is not met, it usually won't be. A couple times on such cases the seller has then written, offering the item at a very reasonable reserve, which was a little more than I wanted to pay, but very likely to sell as an opening and I have replied with the recommendation that they repost that way.
posted on January 4, 2001 06:28:37 PM new
Real life got in the way and I wasn't able to get back to this thread...it's kind of old now. I have just two additional comments to make.
I recall the warnings about "serious bids only" -- in my mind, to place a bid when I haven't a reasonable idea that I could win it, is not a serious bid. Therefore it's a "no-no." As I mentioned, I have only asked once about the seller's reserve and that was a case where I had no idea what the value of the item was. If I have an idea of what a reasonable price for it is, then I go ahead and bid (if I haven't found one like it in a non-reserve auction).
Reddeer -- I appreciate your comment. You strike me as a seller who I'd be comfortable buying from. (And don't worry, I wouldn't bother you with questions about your reserve unless it was REALLY important to me.) In hindsight I am thinking that I should have told the seller that I was completely unfamiliar with that type of product but that I really liked it, and could they give me a ballpark idea of what it was worth so that I'd know whether I could afford it? If they had responded to that query, I'd have felt more comfortable bidding even without knowing the reserve.
Violetta
(Not known by this nickname anywhere but here.)
posted on January 4, 2001 07:19:01 PM newin my mind, to place a bid when I haven't a reasonable idea that I could win it, is not a serious bid.
I guess maybe it's just a matter of opinion, then. To me, I never have a "reasonable idea" if I can win an item or not as long as there are other bidders involved. A serious bid, in my mind, is simply whenever I bid what I think an item is worth to me -- regardless of whether I think I will actually win -- and not trying to bid the least amount possible necessary to win.
Can you imagine e-mailing the current high bidder in an auction and asking them what their maximum bid is, just so you can have a reasonable idea that you could win the auction if you placed a bid? If not, then anytime you are bidding on an auction where there is already a high bidder you are not placing a "serious bid" according to your definition.
Auctions are about uncertainty. You never know if you will win an auction until the auction is over. Whether there is a resere or not may change from auction to auction, but there is always the chance that another bidder will show up [perhaps at the very last second] and outbid you. And if there already is a bidder, you don't know what that person's maximum bid is. Until you actually place a bid, of course.
Regards,
Barry
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The opinions expressed above are for comparison purposes only. Your mileage may vary....
posted on January 4, 2001 07:53:04 PM new
You know, if you truly have no idea what an item is worth, then how do you benefit by asking the SELLER? If you THINK that an item is worth $50 to you, then if the seller tells you their reserve is $100, are you going to change your mind and bid more? Sure, take the seller's word for it, they have nothing to gain by inflating the value(hmm.......) You must have some idea how much your maximum bid will be, and I say go ahead and BID the $50.
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.If you really have no idea, wouldn't it be a better idea to research elsewhere? And if it's one of those esoteric items that can't be easily evaluated, then your own BID is your value, and other's will bid their value. The eBay market will determine the eBay value. That's why it's called an auction.
posted on January 4, 2001 08:38:20 PM new
Barry -- I guess I usually have a "reasonable idea that I can win" because I usually win them. I understand that you can place bids and not worry about whether you'll win or not, but for me, if I'm going to place a bid, I really want to win it. I would guess that I win about 80% of the time. (And I don't often overbid either.) Usually when I bid I know approximately what the going rate is for that item. So I know what my parameters are.
Pointy -- I did research it -- I searched completed auctions and turned up nothing like it. And there were only a few days left of the auction when I found it so there wasn't much time for research. If it was worth around $50, I'd have bid. But if it was worth $1500 I didn't want to even waste my time on it. Why should I bid on something that's way out of my price range?
Violetta
(Not known by this nickname anywhere but here.)
posted on January 4, 2001 09:04:37 PM new
First, I just wanted to thank everyone for their advice - even though, as a bidder, I hate reserves, I will probably use one on the book. I will probably also state that I will reveal the reserve to interested parties.
I can't say why I don't like reserve auctions - but if I have a choice of two like items, I will almost always choose the non-reserve item. The only time that I bid on a reserve auction, it did not hit the reserve and I got it for my max bid anyway, so I can't say that I've had any bad experience.
There's just something that I can't pinpoint. (Totally irrational, I know!)
I understand that you can place bids and not worry about whether you'll win or not, but for me, if I'm going to place a bid, I really want to win it. I would guess that I win about 80% of the time. (And I don't often overbid either.) Usually when I bid I know approximately what the going rate is for that item. So I know what my parameters are.