posted on January 12, 2002 08:22:00 AM new
hey people,
i was just wondering as a buyer does seeing a reserve price make you turn away and not bid? i thought by setting a bid @ 1.00 and putting a reserve would increase my chances of getting bids. id appreciate any responses. look at my auctions and tell me wheteher or not putting a reserve is better than just putting an amount id be willing to sell for.
my storefront is:
http://shop.auctionwatch.com/YasserRahal
my ebay auctions are:
http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewListedItems&userid=eng.yasser&include=0&since=-1&sort=2&rows=25
*thanx in advance
-Yasser
posted on January 12, 2002 08:46:18 AM new
some folks are trigger happy,they will bid at 1.00 since they know they will never get the item at one dollar,or they are bookmarking the item to come back later if they are using my ebay to track their activities.
these days i see many items ended without reaching their reserves,seller then emailed highbidder and stated what the reserve is and if they would meet reserve or make a best offer.
some sellers will accept offer below reserve,result is item got sold without paying ebay final value fee.it happens every day on ebay/
posted on January 12, 2002 09:32:31 AM new
I don't bid on reserve auctions either. I have made exceptions, if the reserve price is listed in the auction and if it is both reasonable and attainable. Of course, if the reserve price is already met, I don't mind bidding but this most certainly means it was both reasonable and attainable.
I just yesterday emailed a seller that listed an item at $1.00 with a reserve to inquire what the reserve price was and to ask if they would consider adding a BUY IT NOW price. (This item retails for a whopping $29.99.)
Their reply was that the reserve was none of my business and if I wanted the item I could go to the auction and bid on it to win.
posted on January 12, 2002 09:59:54 AM new
ebay charges one dollar for listing a reserve item,if reserve is met,it is refunded.
wonder why reserve a 29.99 item??
posted on January 12, 2002 10:02:19 AM new
i have seen seller listing estate jewelry lot and start the bidding at 1 with reserve.
it gets the bidding fever going and it usually get bidded up ,no one expects to win a lot of jewelry for one dollar so they will bid higher.
it works in certain categories .
posted on January 12, 2002 10:03:44 AM newYasser-There are probably as many opinions on this as there are sellers.
I have tried just about every combination I have seen or read about on this board.
My personal experiences are all I can offer.
$1 starts with reserves and $1 starts without reserves do not work for me or what I sell.
You will probably just have to experiment for yourself. Look at auctions of other sellers in your category. See what they do. You can do a search "by seller" enter a seller's ID and check the box for "ALL" and see what they have currently listed as well as what they had listed for the past 30 days. See how many closed with a winner and what the start and end prices were.
I notice you are relatively "new" as a seller and you an "International" seller. This could be more of problem for you than what your start price is. Until you have established yourself as someone who sells quality items and has excellent service, you may find your sales slow.
There may be a nitch for you. Buyers who want to purchase things from sellers around the world. Your best bet may be promoting your auctions as a chance to "shop Egypt" without leaving home!!! Perhaps you could incorporate into your titles "Direct from Egypt-" or "A touch of Egypt" or something similar. You might want to focus on selling items that are unique to Egypt or that Egypt is know for around the world. Their cotton products come to mind.
Opra once said on her show that one of her indulgences was Egyptian cotton sheets and those who had never experienced them just didn't know what they were missing....I believe she commented she paid $1000+ for the priviledge!
There is just one more thing I would like to mention...
It's about that word RARE.....if what you are selling is not really rare (meaning not many around anywhere) perhaps you should use something like UNUSUAL or UNCOMMON or DIFFICULT TO FIND.
posted on January 12, 2002 10:05:28 AM new
I have one reserve auction up now as a test case and it is getting no action, as expected. For collectibles, there are probably cases where reserves are appropriate, but I suspect not many.
I think reserve auctions are good for dealers who really don't mind the higher listing fees and don't particularly care one way or the other if an item sells. I'm still trying to explain to my business partner why we can't set the purchase cost as the reserve on every auction. No, the idea is to create an incentive to bid, not to scare bidders away by guaranteeing the seller's investment.
Unless you're the one doing the bidding, it's not readily apparent to others why reserves are perceived as a waste of time. I think they are far less cost-effective to sellers than they first appear. That said, think back to the times you've been to live auctions and the auctioneer announced there was a reserve on an item. Did you bid? I never .
Bottom line: eBay is a flea market, a huge second hand store, not a high-end antique mall. Price accordingly: bidders want bargains and have no interest in what you paid for an item. You have to apply strategy, and it's really tough to do well.
posted on January 12, 2002 11:38:39 AM new
Thanx alot for the feedback. you really helped me. i wish to you all the best
-yasser
http://shop.auctionwatch.com/yasserrahal/home.html
posted on January 12, 2002 12:12:55 PM new
I rarely use a reserve, but I also like to start my items under $9.99 to save on listing costs. I haven't tried the $1 starts because I just don't trust that the bidding will end up where it should.
Once in awhile, I will start an expensive item at $9.99 to raise interest, put a reasonable reserve on it, and let it go. It usually works, and I'm also happy to tell people who email me what the reserve is. It's only to protect my investment, not to make a fortune.
posted on January 12, 2002 02:40:42 PM new
I have been buying and selling for about 2 years and I never use a reserve price-to me the whole idea of a reserve price is stupid.If you want a certain amount for an article just have that amount as the starting price-why keep people in the dark of what you want??I really get turned off by a reserve price and I NEVER bid on them.I see this in mostly high tech equipment(vcrs computers etc.I remember looking at a vcr I wanted to bid on-the starting price was $1.00 I emailed the guy and asked what the reserve was and he told me it was $450.00!!
So whats the point??Why not have the starting price at $450.00 and at least let people know what you want for the item,and you still dont have to sell it for less then that.Do you people think its fun to keep your bidders in the dark of what you want?Well it irrates people to know end to have them guessing what you want and keeping them in the "dark"To me a reserve price is stupid and they should abandoned it,and if you come back tomorrow,I tell you how I really feel
posted on January 12, 2002 04:50:18 PM new
Reserve are Stupid!!Did I miss somthing many live Auction have Reserves,They just are not Reveled untill the end.Which is somthing E-bay should do,have an Blind Reserve to stop people from being silly,scared that they may never win an item they relly want.Just bid your max you can afford and you might be surpized you have Won!Reserves protect investments.No one wants to lose $100.00 items for $20.Bucks.Also Outages can cause alot of grief.A reserve is auction insurance nothing more or less,or would rather have a shill push your amount up?.
posted on January 13, 2002 12:16:24 AM new
I don't bid on auctions with a reserve. If you're going to have a reserve why not just start the bidding at that price cause you won't sell it for less anyways.
posted on January 13, 2002 03:10:33 AM new
As a buyer I would like to thank all the buyers who do not bid on reserve auctions. I have won many reserve auctions and maybe they helped.
As a seller I use reserve auctions very rarely but I have ran a lot of auctions with a $100 start that never got a bid. When I ran them the 2nd time I changed to a small start and a $100 reserve. Most all of the time then the item will sell for the $100 or more.
posted on January 13, 2002 03:32:35 AM newBottom line: eBay is a flea market, a huge second hand store, not a high-end antique mall.
Yes and no. There are higher-priced quality items available at eBay. Buyers of those items usually know and expect to pay higher prices. If a seller is truly protecting their investment, there's nothing wrong with a reserve price.
Problem is, many sellers abuse the reserve price feature. They set a ridiculously high reserve, with the expectation that bidders will email them after the auction with an offer.
