posted on April 13, 2002 06:35:41 AM new
I've used Personal Offer four times and it has worked 100% so far. Considering the success rate, it seems Personal Offer should be part of my selling strategy. Do you have any recommendations for using Personal Offer?
posted on April 13, 2002 08:18:54 AM new
Twinsoft,
I've been using Personal Offer for the last few weeks, and have been very happy with it as well! Here's how my selling strategy works. I usually have 75-100 auctions end each week.
1) The first thing I do, is contact the high bidders with my EOA notice.
2) Then, I look through my list of items to find items that I have duplicates that have received multiple bids. If the item is one that I have a readily availible resupply source, then I will offer it to the next high bidder even if it is a small profit (20% or so). If it is a rarer item, but I still have a duplicate, I will only offer it if the profit percentage is much higher (usually 100-200%). It all comes down to what you are willing to sell the item for.
3) Next, I look at the list of under-bidders on the auctions I have selected as potential "personal offers". I do a bidder search on those bidders to find out if they were already a high bidder on one or more of my items that week. If they were, I do NOT contact them with the personal offer. I do this for several reasons. First, I have already sent an EOA notice, and don't want to confuse them. Secondly, I don't want them to think that they may have been offered a lower price on the items they DID win if they had been outbid.
4) Finally, I send out the Personal Offers to all the bidders who did not win auctions from me that week on the items that I feel I can best profit from.
Hope that helps! If anyone else has more tips, I'd love to hear them too!
posted on April 13, 2002 10:55:18 AM new
Thanks, EAM. WWTraders, when an auction ends successfully, and there are multiple bidders, a "Make A Personal Offer" link appears at the top of the auction page, right below the link to relist the auction.
If the seller clicks on Make A Personal Offer, seller has the option to offer the item to underbidders. You can do this either if the high bidder backs out, or if you have multiple items to sell (even if this wasn't a Dutch auction format).
When you Make A Personal Offer, eBay sends a notice to an underbidder of your choice, offering the item to the bidder at their high bid. The auction is reposted but is only available to the underbidder. Underbidder has the option to "Buy It Now." There is no listing fee for the seller, but eBay will take a final value fee if the underbidder accepts the personal offer.
"Make A Personal Offer" has worked pretty well for me. I was thinking maybe I should start the bidding out lower just to encourage multiple bidders. I often have a large quantity of identical items to sell.
MAPO gives the benefits of a Dutch auction (better in fact because each winner pays his maximum bid) without the extra listing fees.
posted on April 13, 2002 03:12:01 PM new
I've used it maybe 10 times, and have a perfect 100% success rate with it so far. I am very happy with this feature. When I have a batch closing, I look at the prices items are going for, and make the personal offer. It's a great idea...
