Auctions

[Anonymous]

As a seller (any seller here), do you list items as auctions with a hidden reserve, with best price winning at the deadline? I am here asking because there have been recent discussions on the 'best offer' option used by some sellers in their listings. There seems to be several pros and cons of this option.

Isn't the best offer made to a seller the same thing as an auction with a reserve price? In other words, just keep making offers until you reach the magic number.

Is a 'bid' on an auction the same thing as an offer?

Thanks much.

[wastingtime101]

Reserves are a nonrefundable auction upgrade, charged at the time you list regardless of whether the item sells, and they are expensive. There are relevant times to use them, but most of the time it's not appropriate, particularly if the item isn't high value. Not only that, but auction format is often not relevant when sellers use it. Most items sell fixed price because they have a relatively fixed market value. Depends on the product.

Bids are not the same as offers.

Reserves are not the same as offers.

Seems you would benefit from brushing up on some auction basics. I suggest reviewing these help pages and come back if you have more questions.

Selling with auctions

Selling with offers

[christworks]

Why are you using auctions to sell items? Unless the item has an unknown market value or there is something special about it, low supply, and high demand, auctions do not make any sense. They don't suddenly cause higher demand. They do result in other resellers like me scooping up things that I flip and make more money on because I list it as a Buy It Now. 

I will answer your questions though.

With a reserve price, you are setting the minimum price you are willing to accept. Let's say you set a reserve price of $20. Maybe you start the auction at $9.99. Until someone bids $20, bidders will be met with a message informing them the reserve has not been met. I really see little point in reserves for 99% of auctions, unless you just like giving eBay more money. By adding a reserve, you have lured a buyer in with a lower starting price, then ticked them off when they see the reserve has not been met. Why tick off your buyer? If you are dead set on running auctions, just start the auction with the minimum amount you are willing to accept for the item. 

With a Best Offer, you allow buyers to bypass your reserve and the whole auction process, including bidders. You can set up the Best Offer so that there is a minimum offer you are willing to accept, so you could put your reserve price in that if you want. I do not believe you have to do that even if you have a separate reserve. 

This is 2025. Buyers like to be able to just buy what they want. They generally do not want to wait 5 days or 7 days or even 10 days to know whether they are winning something.  My advice is to reconsider the auctions. You're likely leaving money on the table. 

[Anonymous]

Firstly, I am not a seller but I get your point.

I'm just curious as to why sellers don't use auctions with reserves, but would rather argue and complain about the best offer option that can be included in their listings.

Your last point about delays in the final sale of an auction item, I hadn't thought about that. That would be an issue with auctions for those buyers who can't wait a week to watch the latest episode of a TV series. Thanks for that.

Does eBay actually charge you extra for an auction with reserve?

With ANY offer, you only accept what you are willing to accept, so that point is meaningless.

wrt 'luring', the only thing that lures me is the item. When I see an auction for an item that I want, I place my bid at the very beginning of the auction in the highest amount I am willing to pay (ie: my 'best offer'j. Then I sit back and forget about it until it closes.  I did this on my one and only American purchase and lucked out. My landed cost (my best bid) was quite a bit cheaper than the same item offered by others.

Other than eBay extra charges for reserve auctions (if true) and possible delays for anxious buyers, I really can't see any major differences.

I have purchased many 'buy-it-now' items ... that's my preferred method of purchasing.

Thanks for your detailed reply.

[evelyb30]

Does eBay charge extra for an auction with a reserve?  They do, and it's never worth the money now.   You pay the reserve fee whether the item sells or not and the price tag is high.   The Reserve costs more than it's worth unless it's a very valuable piece.  With the way things are, sensible sellers won't list items in that price range on eBay; it's too risky.   

[kensgiftshop]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

Does eBay actually charge you extra for an auction with reserve?

---

Yes, and you have to pay the fee even if the item doesn't sell.

[stephenmorgan]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

I'm just curious as to why sellers don't use auctions with reserves, but would rather argue and complain about the best offer option that can be included in their listings.

Does eBay actually charge you extra for an auction with reserve?

---

I would use Auctions with Reserves every time if it was not for the extra 7.5% Fee that is charged if the reserve is met or not.

If someone was close to my Reserve then I would consider a Second Chance Offer to the High Bidder or tell them the Reserve and see if they want the item.  This worked well years ago but is no longer a viable option due to the extra fees.

[bashort]

I have bid on and bought hundreds of items on ebay auctions over the past 25 years and I have never one time ever bid on a auction with a reserve, to me it is a sign that says keep on moving

[mudshark61369]

@Anonymous ,

Since you seemingly buy only on ebay you may not understand how eBay's auctions are created and the various options sellers have to make decisions about. 

You've been told that having a reserve price costs sellers more in fees. Some sellers will list with a reserve and state what the price is in the listing, or if asked will reveal the price to a buyer. They'd be better off saving money and adding a Buy It Now option. 

eBay's New seller info suggests "Starting auctions at a low price, to encourage bidding". That often does not work well for new or inexperienced sellers, and they want to cancel the sale if they only get a few bids.  Later on in the new seller articles it says to start auctions at the lowest price a seller is willing to accept if there's only one bid. Even further on It tells them how to search completed listings to see what the item has sold for so they get an idea of an item's trending price. In both the Auction and Buy It Now formats, together or separately. 

Many new or inexperienced sellers use ebay's standard listing tool which places Best Offer on all listing formats, whether or not the seller wants to accept them. That often results in sellers ignoring offers, which bothers some buyers. 

  When ebay allowed sellers to add the Best Offer option to auctions, many tried it out.  They did not do that for long because of the low ball offers that came in, often in the first few hours of an item being listed. Seller's who listed auctions with best offer added, hoped the offers would be for more than their starting bid price, but rarely did that happen. 

"Isn't the best offer made to a seller the same thing as an auction with a reserve price? In other words, just keep making offers until you reach the magic number... Is a 'bid' on an auction the same thing as an offer?

Buyers only get to make 5 offers on an item, and sellers can set up automatic accept and decline prices. They can also ignore what they consider to be very low offers, and let them lapse after 24 hours. The buyer can try sending 4 more offers, but they may find that a seller has blocked them or just ignores them because of the first offer. 

Best Offer on fixed price and auction listings are only good for 24 hours.  Until an offer is accepted and paid for, other buyers have a chance to bid on an auction or use Buy It Now or send their own offer which may be accepted if it's high enough. 

There is no limit on the number of bids a buyer can place, on the other hand. Though if they bid one or two increments at a time they have little chance of winning auctions, especially in the last minutes when experienced bidders place their maximum bids often well above the current auction price at the time.