Auction Timer Start After First Bid

[elch-4370]

Not sure if this has been brought up before and possibly a naïve question, but is there a way to have the auction time countdown start after the first person bids on it? It just seems silly to me that if buyers want, they can just wait until the last second hoping no one else bids on it and then buy it at the last second for the bid starting price. I feel like the point of auctioning is to have it sell at a higher price than the starting bid price. This just makes it seem like there's no real point in putting anything up for auction and just putting a fixed price. Yes, sometimes people do start bidding earlier, but a lot of the time they don't, especially if it's a fairly niche product.

I guess the answer to this would just be don't auction something unless you know there's going to be high demand and people willing to bid over it. But still, it just seems silly to me that the auction starts counting down even if no one's bid on it. I'd even be fine with having one person bid on it and having no one else end up bidding on it, but at least that would give other people a chance to see it and decide if they want to bid as well.

I'm pretty new to selling on eBay and could just be very naïve about all this and just not understand the point of auctions vs buy it now... but thanks for taking any time to enlighten me. 

[earthdreamer · Accepted solution]

You have really answered your own query. 

Many times an auction will only have a single bidder, mostly right at the end. In that case, it may as well have been a BIN listing.

However, while that may be so, I have found that if I list an item as an auction, it has a lot more views and watchers than if the same item is listed as BIN for the identical price. With more views, the auction item has a better chance of selling, though this may only hold for collectibles and niche items. 

[eburtonlab]

There are many possible ways to hold an online auction, and eBay seems to be fairly convinced that the way eBay does it now is the best way for eBay to do it.

It just seems silly to me that if buyers want, they can just wait until the last second hoping no one else bids on it and then buy it at the last second for the bid starting price.

That only works if no one else bids. If there is only one bidder, a no-reserve auction on eBay will always sell for the starting price. Auction prices are set by the second highest bidder's amount, so if only one bidder bids, the opening price will be the ending price.

I feel like the point of auctioning is to have it sell at a higher price than the starting bid price.

That may be the seller's intent; bidders may prefer to get the lowest price possible.

I guess the answer to this would just be don't auction something unless you know there's going to be high demand and people willing to bid over it.

Most others would likely agree with this conclusion. Without competition among bidders, a seven day auction is reduced to a seven day delay to purchase an item at the starting bid price.

[janet9988]

......, but at least that would give other people a chance to see it and decide if they want to bid as well.......

Any one searching for an item on ebay has the exact same chance to see the item.

[shop*my*closet]

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@elch-4370 wrote:

I guess the answer to this would just be don't auction something unless you know there's going to be high demand and people willing to bid over it. But still, it just seems silly to me that the auction starts counting down even if no one's bid on it. I'd even be fine with having one person bid on it and having no one else end up bidding on it, but at least that would give other people a chance to see it and decide if they want to bid as well.

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Others do have a chance to see it - during the entire week the item is listed for sale. But then, indexing on eBay can take up to 24 hours. Indexing on external search engines can take even longer.

The type of item you're selling typically has a set value, so auctions waste everybody's time. Fixed price is a better format unless you know the item is actively in high-demand and it's listed at a low enough starting price to get bid up.

[eunster1313]

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@elch-4370 wrote:

Not sure if this has been brought up before and possibly a naïve question, but is there a way to have the auction time countdown start after the first person bids on it? It just seems silly to me that if buyers want, they can just wait until the last second hoping no one else bids on it and then buy it at the last second for the bid starting price. I feel like the point of auctioning is to have it sell at a higher price than the starting bid price. This just makes it seem like there's no real point in putting anything up for auction and just putting a fixed price. Yes, sometimes people do start bidding earlier, but a lot of the time they don't, especially if it's a fairly niche product.

I guess the answer to this would just be don't auction something unless you know there's going to be high demand and people willing to bid over it. But still, it just seems silly to me that the auction starts counting down even if no one's bid on it. I'd even be fine with having one person bid on it and having no one else end up bidding on it, but at least that would give other people a chance to see it and decide if they want to bid as well.

I'm pretty new to selling on eBay and could just be very naïve about all this and just not understand the point of auctions vs buy it now... but thanks for taking any time to enlighten me. 

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There is no way to have the clock start only when you get the first bid.

I just set the starting bid at the lowest price I would be happy to sell it at and that way I can't loose no matter what happens

[redmodelt]

Auctions go live as soon as they post to the listings and run for the number of day that seller picks from the drop down or defaulting to 7 days. Some shorter auctions come with extra fees that are charged each time the listing is renewed. 

[soh.maryl]

Everyone has the exact same amount of time to see a listing, so I don't understand " . . .at least that would give other people a chance . . ." 

[kensgiftshop]

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@elch-4370 wrote:

I guess the answer to this would just be don't auction something unless you know there's going to be high demand and people willing to bid over it.

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Ya, auctions are pretty much worthless for your every day items.

If you had something rare and valuable, then auctions are good.