posted on February 19, 2003 04:58:22 AM new
Reserve price auctions! Especially those that start at $1 with a BIN of $9.99! Why bother? Just list the darn thing at $9.99. If you want $150 for something, list it at that. Don't waste the time of bidders who have thousands of items to look through. If it's what I want and the condition is great, I may pay the $150. But, I'm not going to spend 20 minutes trying to figure out what the reserve is by placing bid after bid after . . .
It's cheaper to list the item at the higher cost anyway. No reserves on my auctions!
posted on February 19, 2003 05:32:45 AM new
Although your attitude makes some sense, in reality, there is a psychological rationale for RESERVE auctions!
Mainly, the battle is lost if folks don't even LOOK at your auctions. Many people just bypass higher-priced auctions.
That's where a RESERVE helps.
When I have a very valuable item up, I'll start it at 59.99 with a RESERVE of say: $300 -- but IN MY AUCTION LISTING, I state: "Low Reserve Price of $300" so folks don't have to do gymnastics trying to determine it.
I rarely use RESERVE auctions, but those times that I have done so, it was very successful!
Ralphie loves Mr Blonde:
"Are you gonna bark all day little doggie, or are you gonna bite?" http://tinyurl.com/5duz
posted on February 19, 2003 05:51:38 AM new...by placing bid after bid after . . .
THAT IS THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF RESERVE AUCTIONS TO GET BIDDING STARTED, BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE GET AUCTION FEVER AND WILL START BIDDING TO FIND THE PRICE OR JUST BID MORE THAN THEY INTENDED TO GET THE ITEM.
DOESN'T ALWAYS WORK, BUT IT HAS WORKED FOR ME IN THE PAST WITH GREAT SUCCESS.
posted on February 19, 2003 08:44:18 AM new
Blev - hate to tell you but as long as reserve auctions work for sellers they are going to keep using them. I had a poster that I recently listed at $75 opening bid... not a single bidder. I relisted it at $1 with a $75 reserve and sold it for $140.
Using rlow initial bids with reserves really does help.
posted on February 19, 2003 02:03:41 PM new
Hmmm, good points. I'll have to rethink this one! That's why I love this board. Makes you think! Now for a question. If I have an item that I would normally sell for $79.99, is it better to start it at just $1 or $ with a reserve or just list for $79.99? I like the idea of putting the reserve amount in the description. Makes sense. Wish more sellers did that. My problem is that as a seller I have all the patience in the world, but as a bidder. . .
posted on February 19, 2003 03:01:17 PM new
When I use a reserve (which is rare) I usually start the item at about 30-50 percent of the reserve, and set the reserve at the lower end of what I'm willing to take. People will still look at a high-end item if it's starting that low.
What I don't understand are these "buy it now" prices that are 20 percent higher than retail ... with exorbitant shipping costs to boot ...
posted on February 19, 2003 03:07:29 PM new
CBlev - it was me - I would start the item at $1.00 with the reserve. From my experiences, you hae a better chance of making the sale in the long run.
