Reserve price
I must be doing something wrong when I affix a reserve price on items that I sell on eBay. On a few occasions I had to sell items for the opening bid just at the end of the sale. It makes me nervous now to list more expensive items. Not sure what I am doing wrong and the correct steps to make sure that this doesn’t happen again. Thank You for any advice.
11 comments
carolynnq
·3 years agoI see you used a reserve on your auctions for the Sony HD 24.5 Mega Pixel Handycam + Fuji finepix. One auction went to $180+ and didn't meet the reserve. Instead try listing it as a Buy It Now (not an auction) at the price you would like to get. If it doesn't sell after a couple of months, you can always lower the price.
house*of*paws
·3 years agoHi @dennisglacier
I didn't see that you purchased a Reserve on any of the items you sold through auction last year.
Perhaps you used the 'Buy It Now' option ... thinking it worked the same as a Reserve. [It doesn't. It only gives the first buyer the opportunity to purchase the item outright ... instead of placing a bid. The BIN goes away once the first bid is placed.]
I agree with the others that told you to start the bidding at the lowest price you are willing to accept for the item. Purchasing a Reserve is a waste of money. Many buyers avoid auctions that have a Reserve.
You also can consider listing items as Buy It Now ... with a Best Offer option ... instead of auctions. Most buyers prefer not to bother with auctions at all.
janet9988
·3 years agoI do not see that you used the reserve price option on the binoculars, Ruby, carnival masks, watch, or flute/stand.
I DO see you used the reserve price option on the handy cam.
You do know that if the item ends with a winner you are required to ship even if you do not like the ending bid amount.
1tuna
·3 years agothe two items that you sold on Nov 25 it looks like you knew what to do
I am talking about the binoculars and the ruby stuff
reserves are very unpopular. just start the items for auction at what you want and then there are no guessing games.
if you wanted more money for those two items then you need to ask more for them at the start ,its free or only a quarter to make a listing for an auction
reserve prices on an auction have very high fees
@dennisglacier
monroe67
·3 years ago"I must be doing something wrong when I affix a reserve price on items that I sell on eBay."
Lots of experienced sellers would tell you that "affix[ing] a reserve price" is precisely what you are doing that is wrong.
Are you aware that you will be charged an extra fee by eBay simply for adding a reserve price to an auction? Meaning you will be charged a fee when the auction ends. Yes, even if the item does not sell.
Are you aware of what eBay's fee for adding a reserve price to an auction is?
It is the greater of (a) $5.00 OR (b) 7.5% of the reserve price that you set, whether the item sells or doesn't sell.
That can be a lot of money.
And it is in addition to eBay's final value fee which is generally 12.9% of the total amount of the sale, plus 30 cents.
My advice is NOT to use reserve pricing on any eBay auction.
nobody*s_perfect
·3 years agoeBay charges a ridiculously high fee for the option of adding a Reserve to an auction. Don't waste money on reserves; just start the bidding at the lowest price that you'd be willing to sell for.
Pay no attention to eBay's suggested starting bid, especially if they suggest 99 cents.
If you end up selling something for the opening bid, then that auction didn't have a Reserve. Are you sure that you understand the difference between setting a Reserve versus adding a "Buy it now" (BIN) option? A BIN is not a reserve or a minimum price; it's an optimistic fixed price that's available only to the first person who makes a choice between bidding vs paying the full BIN price. If they choose to bid, then the BIN disappears (except in 4 categories where it remains available until the bidding reaches 50% of the BIN price). Then the auction proceeds as if the BIN had never been there at all.
a_c_green
·3 years agoYes, what you're doing wrong is using a Reserve (and paying extra for it) instead of just setting the opening price to be whatever you would genuinely accept to sell it for if you only ever got one bid, and then all the bids after that are gravy.
The Reserve had a practical purpose way back, years ago, when the listing fee depended partly on what the opening price was. (e.g. An auction starting at $25.00 cost more than an auction starting at $24.99, because the higher opening price put the listing into the next-highest price range.) That's no longer the case, and the Reserve fee is significantly higher now than it was in the past, so just dump it.
Also consider whether an auction is the best way to sell your item. Unless it's rare or highly sought-after, you might be better off just listing it as Fixed Price instead.
ms.rodriguez*
·3 years agoDon't use reserve auctions. If you want at least 50 dollars for the item, start the auction at 49.99 or 50.oo. I stopped using reserve prices a long time ago my 2 selling accounts. A waste of money. IT annoys buyers too. So start the ad at the lowest price that you are willing to take. Also start your auctions at night so that they end at night when there are more bidders home ready to bid.
s.scharmu0
·3 years agoHi!
Start with the lowest price you will take.
simply-the-best-for-you
·3 years agoIDK what you are doing, but are you aware that almost no one uses Reserve Prices anymore? And that the fee for using a Reserve is quite high?
dennisglacier
OP3 years agoThank you all. My concerns is for items like jewelry and watches that I don’t want to sell too inexpensively. Thank you all for your suggestions and for responding so quickly.