posted on October 10, 2005 12:01:23 PM
I think I'm going to regret this but it seems to work for some people. I have a half a dozen items that just were not selling and should have been so I relisted at 99 cents. I did NOT raise my shipping and now I wonder if I made a mistake. I don't really want to spend packing time for items listed at a lost. I'd rather donate it and take the write off.
I am getting more lookers & watcher but if I don't have a bid on day 3 or 4 - I'm thinking I should just pull them.
Does anyone list this way with good results????
Thanks
[ edited by ladyjewels2000 on Oct 10, 2005 12:02 PM ]
posted on October 10, 2005 12:22:24 PM
why dont you follow up with MY EBAY to see if there are many watchers?
They could all be bidded up in the last hour.
-sig file -------
Eat grass,kick ass,never go belly up!
posted on October 10, 2005 12:44:07 PM
I used to list a lot of items at 99 cents and still do occaisionally. Sometimes I get more for them then listing at a normal price, but sometimes I get only one bid (not too often). That's the chance you take.
But, I find a lot of sniping goes on with my automotive items, so maybe it depends on what you're selling. Unless there's a Buy It Now, most of my bids come in last minute or two of the auction, if not the last few seconds, especially when there's a low starting bid.
posted on October 10, 2005 12:53:45 PM
Truly the only way to find out if it works is to let them run.I haven't gotten brave enough to try it yet lol (just call me chicken)...I guess you should weigh the "whats the worst thing that can happen" thing , and then think of "whats the best thing that could happen" thing and decide if its worth the outcome.Are you a true gambler at heart ?
posted on October 10, 2005 02:00:10 PM
I've been starting everything lately at $9.99 no reserve - it is very frightening, especially when you have $100-$150 in costs for an item.
It has worked out well so far - I get alot of watchers who seem to just sit back and make sure nothing goes too cheap.
I have had a few losses and a couple break evens, but it really drives the traffic through my auctions and store.
I did have a bad week this week though - I usually do $1,000 a week in sales but only managed $750 this week, so I'm doing a few of the higher end listings this week with reserves.
I like the no reserve format in that it takes the guesswork out of setting reserves and opening bids. I don't like the $0.99 no reserve format as much if it is an item worth over $15 - the bid increments are so small that I think the bids tend to be less.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Caroline
posted on October 10, 2005 04:03:22 PM
I just had some .99 cents auctions end.
Here is the breakdown when the aution ends with one bid at .99 cents: 25 cents to list on eBay. 5 cents fvf and 70 cents fee to me for the buyer to pay through paypal. I made nothing.
I charge actual shipping plus 1.00. I live 20 miles from the post office so in reality after packing materials and time I lost money.
Its a chance you take and as Caroline said, it drives people to your store. My store sales have increased. I think people are tired of the "auction" format and want instant gratification.
posted on October 10, 2005 05:48:58 PM
I know that it costs a nickel more, but after a brief stint using $0.99, I went back to my $1.00 openings with no reserve on many items, and things worked out again.
Please don't ask me to explain it, it has something to do with alkjas;et. Or maybe jaslkjsjs. As they say in NY, "go figure."
posted on October 11, 2005 06:45:01 AM
Most of the time when I list automotive items, they're sniped at the last second, literally. Sometimes a few bids come in during the last few hours, or maybe the last day or two. Gone are the days when the bids would go up each day for the entire duration of the auction. I've been doing well with Buy It Now when I have a large quantity of identical items that I know the value of.
I heard that the optimal lowest price to sell something for on eBay was just under $20 (something like $19.77). That way you cover your eBay and PayPal fees and still clear a decent profit to make it worth your while. That number stuck in my head, so I always strive to list items that should sell for over $20. Lately I've had a few high ticket items which was nice. But I still have a few $5 and $10 items to get rid of somehow. I'll try listing a few at 99 cents and a few at $1.00 and see if it makes a difference. Can't wait to clear those cheaper items out. Been burned a few times when I only got one bid and had to sell for 99 cents plus actual shipping cost, but I make up for it with other items that sell for more than I expected.
[ edited by powerwebmedia on Oct 11, 2005 06:46 AM ]
posted on October 14, 2005 03:01:33 AM
I have a few more days to go and it's looks OK. 2 or 3 of my items started at .99 are getting multi bids. One is up to $30.00 and the other is up to $15.00. A couple of the others are sitting at .99 with bids and one poor little item has nothing - not even a watcher. Except for that one item - everything has watchers - some have 9 or 10.
Thanks for everyone's input and I'll post the amazing results when they end.
So we shall see!!!
posted on October 17, 2005 07:17:09 PM
All my 99 cent sales ended last night and I was fairly please.
One item which I had listed twice for $49.95 ended up at $62.00.
Some others did not do as well - selling for an average of $8.00 or so.
But what really made my day was one auction that I had listed ended up with a nice final price and the winner wrote me the following:
"I AM SO HAPPY THAT I WON YOUR AUCTION. THE REASON THAT I WANTED THE BOWL IS THAT THE ARTIST WAS MY GRANDFATHER, "xxxxxxx". HE WAS A WOOD CARVER AND DULCIMER MAKER. I WAS WONDERING WHERE YOU GOT THE BOWL AND LADLE? DO YOU HAVE ANY MORE ITEMS THAT ARE MADE BY HIM? PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU DO. THANKS SO MUCH."
I wrote back with what I knew which wasn't much and give them a nice discount. It really made my day. This is why I love working with antique and collectibles - you just never know who you can reach.
posted on October 19, 2005 01:50:55 AM
This sounds crazy but from my experience in the brick & mortar world - try raising your prices if they don't sell on the low end.
posted on October 19, 2005 09:00:20 AM
As I said in a different area post, I seldom buy on line, outside of books.
However, I have a passion for WIDE, unique (at least 3+ inches wide, and normally in black) cinch belts and do bid on some of these. I bid if it is an item I really, really want; if the pictures are good enough for me to see the belt details, if the price, and shipping are reasonable and I ALWAYS check the seller's feed back.
Having been on eBay for 10+ years, I have enough sense to know not to bid on an item, early as that will start running the price.
IF, I happen to find something that I really, really, want, I put in a "snip" through my snipe program, and forget it.
My bid will not show up until 7 to 20 seconds prior to the close of the item. I always put in my maximum bid, and then leave it alone - which stops last minute bidding wars, which, I will admit in my early years I did allow myself to be caught up in bidding wars over items and actually overpaid on a number of them. So now, I just use a snip program and forget it.
Regarding $.99 starting prices, they don't get my attention anymore than a normal priced item. If they don't have a gallery picture, I don't look at them at all.
~"It does not matter what I think, it does not matter what you think. The only thing which matters is: What is the TRUTH!"~
[ edited by jwpc on Oct 19, 2005 09:03 AM ]
[ edited by jwpc on Oct 19, 2005 09:14 AM ]
Caroline