Forget calling it an auction site.

[sakic92710]

Seldom do I post auctions here but now it will be 'never again.'   7 day auction for an item without any competition.  About 170 views / 10 watchers.  4 lousy bids.  Barely doubled from my opening bid.   I won't waste my time.  Buy it now or offer.  That is, until MP comes my way.  Glad it has been a slow process in doing so.   🙂    Stay safe.

[coolections]

Those pins you sold at auction have a very low demand. I am surprised you would expect tons of bidders. The cassette player sold for $43.50 which was a great price for a seller and I doubt highly you would have received more than that even with a BIN.

[mam98031]

In most categories auctions died off years ago.  For me it was about 2014.  During this pandemic when I run auctions I saw a little pick up but still not enough to warrant running them any longer.  Now I only run them when there is a free promotion for them.  I had them all stored in TurboLister.  But now that we no longer have TL it isn't likely I will run auctions ever again.

Ebay hasn't been primarily an auction site for many years.  BINs took over years ago as buyers prefer them.  I believe Bins have been about 80% of the Ebay listings for a few years now.

[pburn]

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@sakic92710 wrote:

Forget calling it an auction site.

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Someone still calls eBay "an auction site?"  😂

[oz_in_ohio]

If a seller places items up at 99c and gets no bid, then how is it possible to receive a sale at a higher price??

On to of that bidders expect free shipping and get the item for next to nothing????  Whats happening to it all???

I have tried selling books now to see how that goes but then again, i had to find a cheap way of sending the items and  media mail is the only way as buyers only care about the price of shipping and not how the usps takes care of packages... Have decided to sell off my library of books to see how it goes...i guess the worst thing is i have spent a bit of time picturing them...

[7606dennis]

Not all items are good candidates to be sold at auction.  Even live auctions require an item to have people interested enough to make the sale by auction a viable option.  

[mr_lincoln]

@sakic92710   You are approaching Auctions on eBay all wrong then ... I price my Auctions the same way I would a Fixed Priced listing, meaning 1 bid and I make a profit ... more bids and more profit.  In my mind there is no difference between an Auction that ends with 1 bid in 7 days OR a GTC Fixed Price listings that sells on day 7 after listing it.  Many of my Auctions end with 1 bid which is fine but a % end with more than one bid so that's the advantage of Auctions ...

[shhboom]

I think you did right using an auction. You had an item that no one had exactly so you didn't know how much it's worth. Next time, if you're impatient, try a one or three day auction, or if you're unsure, try an auction with a Buy It Now.

[wrong66]

It all depends on the kind of items you sell. 

[american-photography]

You need to research what you're selling in order to determine what they are worth.  You can do this by going into SELLER HUB and click on RESEARCH.  Also you can check what items have sold for in the last 90 days.

If you're worried about a low ending bid, then put a RESERVE on it or start your auction higher next time.

Just because you have 10 watchers doesn't mean everyone of them will bid.  Your auction ends in the time zone your watchers reside and not everyone of them may be awake (half way around the world).

Auctions are better when you don't know the value of your item and it could be valuable.  BIN's are better for more common items that aren't worth as much.  It is always better to start with an auction to see if it sells and if it doesn't, then make it a BIN.

[mam98031]

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@wrong66 wrote:

It all depends on the kind of items you sell. 

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And what the market for that type of item wants.  You have to do your research.  Some products are great candidates for an auction, others not so much.  Research is the key.

[yuzuha]

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@mam98031 wrote:

In most categories auctions died off years ago.  For me it was about 2014.  During this pandemic when I run auctions I saw a little pick up but still not enough to warrant running them any longer.  Now I only run them when there is a free promotion for them.  I had them all stored in TurboLister.  But now that we no longer have TL it isn't likely I will run auctions ever again.

Ebay hasn't been primarily an auction site for many years.  BINs took over years ago as buyers prefer them.  I believe Bins have been about 80% of the Ebay listings for a few years now.

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It's not an eBay exclusive thing, either. Yahoo!Japan Auctions started shifting towards BIN years ago as well. These days, it's a lot of BIN and some auctions with BIN prices.

[sakic92710]

It didn't sell for $43.50.  Try 20.50.

[sakic92710]

What pins?  I only had 1 auction going.

[3eyedfishcatcher]

Well it was a cassette player/ recorder for a outdated computer from the 80's you are luck to have gotten that much attention from those buyers.