anyone phase out auctions, and why?
If you quit auctions what was your thought process?
My auction sales, which used to really add to my income, have become less successful due largely I think to lower-interest stuff. Could also be as sellers here say, buyers don't like to wait on auctions. I am also trying to cut back on the time I spend on work so quitting auctions should help. I sure have plenty of residue stuff to donate somewhere. I don't have much room to list "lots" in my store and store them until they sell.
15 comments
mam98031
·1 year agoI use to run about 500 auctions a week, twice a month. I stopped in the 2nd quarter of 2014 because that is when the faucet turned off for me. I've tested them off and on over the years. But they don't do well enough for me for the work involved in managing them and creating them.
simply-the-best-for-you
·1 year agoI haven't done auctions since a couple of years after FP came out. What was that, 15 years ago or so? Auctions were never great in my category & towards the end would only get 1 bid. Also I'd put up 100 auctions & sell 1 item, just not worth it. I changed to FP & never went back, well over a decade ago.
I may still consider an auction under the right circumstance, but certainly not on a regular basis. Also, that right circumstance would rarely include clothing. Something like that Pyrex that went so high recently.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoI use auctions solely for items that I am willing to wholesale to other resellers who have a following among collectors of those items. I can usually sell most of what I offer at auction only listing them once.
If they do not sell, I list as Buy It Now with a higher price, and wait for a retail customer.
I do not lot items which are too inexpensive to sell on their own, I donate or dispose of them.
meme6253
·1 year agoI gave up on auctions a few years ago, I never had very good results, Either there was not much interest or the item sold for below what I was hoping for, So I just do BIN & I do much better.
chapeau-noir
·1 year agoI've done a bunch of sold pricing on auctions v buy it now - the auctions sell for so much lower, many just failing with 0 bids, that I'll sometimes bid on them just to get cheap inventory. I used to be all auction.
Agree - auctions do have a definite purpose, but it's selective. My everyday items don't merit auctions, but I went round and round with DH, who works for me a bit, about a pair of old cycling shoes. I said "auction" due to their age, provenance and details, but he wanted a certain fixed price. I finally said "Fine, they're your shoes" and listed. They sold in a few days...to be flipped onto auction by the buyer and selling for almost three times the price. Since then, there have been no questions about listing format (but I've also had nothing else that merits an auction format).
inhawaii
·1 year agoPeople want their stuff sent NOW.
They don't want to wait for a auction to end.
monroe67
·1 year agoMy selling ID lists very few items as auctions anymore. Originally, ten-plus years ago, that's all she ever listed.
But I also research sold listings, their prices, and whether they were auctions or Good 'Til Cancelled (GTC) listings. I try to set any item's price at what I think will bring a sale. I've also become very patient with the GTC listings, because sometimes they will sell weeks later, with no rhyme or reason in the timing.
When I do list auctions these days, I always set a Buy-It-Now (BIN) price. eBay requires that the BIN price be at least 30% more than the auction's opening bid amount. This allows really interested and motivated buyers to kind of jump the auction line and, well, buy the item now, avoiding the anticipation, nerves, and possibly having to pay a higher ending price.
Just last Tuesday, April 8, I listed an item as a seven-day auction, with an opening bid around $22.00. I set the BIN at precisely the amount that eBay calculated, $29 and change. I was encouraged when, at the end of that first day, I had several views and one watcher. Then I was shocked when I woke up the next day, to see that a Buyer had paid that BIN price and it was time to ship the item! A quick dash to Walmart for more bubble wrap and packing tape, then an hour or so "double-bubble" wrapping the 78-year-old vintage item, and stuffing the box with crushed paper. I got it to the post office before 4:00 p.m., what with my other important obligations that day.
There are risks for sellers in selling on eBay in either format, auction or GTC. But it seems there are more risks to auctions. BUT I don't think I'll ever completely stop listing auctions.
chevymontecarlo88
·1 year agoAuctions can be great for buyers but selling with auctions tends to be a race to the bottom. There is so much involved that can change the outcome. (distractions buyers have to deal with) If you have an ultra-rare, must have item, you can make the case for using auctions if the demand is there and if others will know about it.
If you do want to continue with auctions. Maybe try to do bulk listed auctions that will help alleviate your inventory piles more quickly without the hassle of listing individually. It can be good for moving out items with little to no cost as long as you don't get burned on the shipping.
keziak
OP1 year agoI've always listed plenty of "lots". And I have the box collection to show for it. Sales of these have fallen off.
grand-and-glorious-purpose
·1 year agoI usually skip over auctions. I am not interested in bidding and waiting.
...unless the is less than 1 day left.
I have run maybe 4 auctions in the last 5 or 6 years. I don't see the point in them for 99% or more of the listed items on ebay.
Expecting the handful of people that would be interested in my weird item to all be online at the same time to even see my item for a few days is preposterous.
keziak
OP1 year agoI'm not sure most of my stuff is weird but I've been getting a lot of zero or very low views.
End of an era for me.
12345jamesstamps
·1 year agoI went from 20 auctions a week to no auctions and listing just buy it now.
The problem was buyers taking too long to pay plus that 7 days it was listed.
And I was getting too many International buyers rather than domestic buyers.
Those 'guest' account bidders can be real scary sometimes where a bidder has 2 accounts or more and then does retractions on one account in the last 12 hours to get a great buy and scaring other bidders with such a high bid(s).
Will I return to auctions...probably not.
I think auctions are good for not knowing what an item will go for.
Sometimes selling real cheap items might get potential repeat buyers who come back.
slippinjimmy
·1 year agoI gave up on 99% of Auctions 15 years ago, they were simply not working for me anymore and listing fees were getting out of hand.
The tip off was that most of my Auction listings where getting only 1 or 2 bids and in many cases requiring multiple relists to get any positive results.
Since then I only use the Auction format for truly rare items that are also in high demand from buyers willing to pay.
reallynicestamps
·1 year agoI decided that starting auctions at 99c was a mug's game.
And starting at a reasonable price just meant the buyer had to wait up to seven days to learn if they had won.
I list for DH, and since he ran a successful auction house for 30 years, he occasionally insists that I put certain "better" items up for auction, at an acceptable opening bid.(EG catalog is $500 , starting $250).
When they don't sell, and they never do , I relist them as Fixed Price usually with a higher asking, and they sell.
Not fast.
But they sell.
That's another problem with auctions.
If the potential buyer is not around during those specific seven days (or ten or Ghu Forbid three!) they never see the auction to bid on it. So it sells at opening bid to the only bidder.
keziak
OP1 year agoOccasionally someone messages me to say they weren't home to bid at the last minute, would I list it again? I put the item in my store and give them that URL. Sometimes I do relist and add Best Offer. But the whole enterprise has really declined. I spend hours on Sundays writing auction listings, it would be nice to have that time for listing single books or pursuing hobbies.