How to run a successful auction? What is your secret?

[memphiskansasgirl123]

How to run a successful auction? What is your secret?

I struggle with when to start them, when to end then, how to draw attention to my auctions, etc, etc. etc.   In my 10+ years here on eBay, my auction history has been horrible. 

[simply-the-best-for-you]

I haven't done an auction in over a decade.  In my category, people aren't interested in waiting a week to see if they 'won' an item.  They want to buy it & be done.   I know some categories are more suited to auctions still. 

That first reply makes no sense.  Almost like it was written by AI.  AI that doesn't realize we're not talking about live auctions LOL.  

[sakic92710]

Unless you have items that are limited & popular, auctions are not worth the time & energy on eBay.  Last time I tried auctions, I posted 65 items.  In the end, I sold about 6 of them for $22. Never again.  Best of luck to you.   🙂

[fashunu4eeuh]

Not every item is suitable for the auction format, so i would say the first step in a successful auction is to have the right merch. Rare, one-of-a-kind, highly coveted with low availability, unique, collectible, in demand goods, all are appropriate to the format. Auctions also are useful for  something difficult to set a value/price on and you simply wish to bring the market to bear on it. 

Most of my items these days are fixed price with Immediate Payment Required. But for those special items as discussed above, i prefer 7-day auctions, running from Sunday night to Sunday night. That way i ensure the full weekend is covered in the final crucial hours of the sale when many folks are free to shop.

Keeping in mind the different time zones from east coast to west, i usually set the auction to end after dinner at 9:30pm ET on the east which is 6:30pm PT in the west and 8:30pm Central Time.  

Best of luck to you with your efforts on building your auction sales.

[guzama-1]

Engage with potential buyers through the auction platform or social media to answer any questions they may have.

[duncanvr]

Secret is having an audience (lot of followers) and being in a nitch where your audience wants the items. Being prepaired to start low at 99c and let the followers bid away. I have over 700 following now and run 20 auctions a day. All of the 99c auctions sell out. And some do well. Saying that auctions would likely go poor if you have no following for your items. Unless its rare and you start it cheap but you have to be prepared to let it go for peanuts.

[frommichel]

Go to the categories of each type of item you want to sell. Narrow down the list to match yours as best as you can. Click to see only the sold items. See if the majority of them sold via auction or BIN. Go with the majority to match buyer expectation.

Like the other responders here, I don't do auctions except very rarely. I sell rare earth-mined gemstones, mostly. This category is not usually sold via auction. But, when I list something outside of this category, I follow the advise I gave you. I hope this helps!

[slati_2013]

The secret to a great auction is really just having a very sought item that two or more people want. It all comes down to the item itself. If it is not sought after, you are not going to make much on it which means your starting bid should be the lowest amount that you are willing to accept for the item. 

[pennysdream]

Hi,  About 50% of my sales are auctions.  

What I do...  Is the same for ALL my listings.  I don't write different for auctions. 

Put your key points in your title.  FULLY describe your item in the descriptions.  Be honest about the issues. 

Take LOTS of photos.  

I will never start anything at 99c. That is a money pit.  If I have stuff to get rid of, I bundle it together and make it a junk drawer box or donated to Goodwill.  I waist enuf time on stuff that never sells. 

Just because it looks awesome to you, does not mean it really is.  

Make a policy so that non-paying bidders can't bid on your stuff.  I don't remember where that was. 

Add new stuff all the time.  If my buyers want the item, they will bid on it the first time around.  After that the odds that the item will be sold go down.  The item is just riding the merry-go-round. 

Auctions are great for high priced items, the bidder sets the market value.  They are great for last chance items. The stuff your are going to make go away.  Auctions are great for middle of the road items.  May sell, may not. Not worth keeping forever.  They are great for new to you items.  You can use them to test the waters.  

Some people only buy auctions, some people only buy BIN.  Why limit yourself to one group of people?

Auction have their place.  

That is just my two cents

Penny

[dbfolks166mt]

     Not many sellers use auctions these days but I tend to prefer them for a couple of reasons the first being time management. This is not a full time activity for me so I start my auctions on Sunday around noon eastern time and run the auction for 7 days with no OBO or BIN on the listing. That leaves me free during the week to do whatever I wish without having to check eBay everyday to see if I have made a sale and handle the packing and shipping of the items on a daily basis. I can visit family, help friends with projects, go to the beach, hiking in the mountains, fishing.......... for several days away from home anytime during the week and not worry about dealing with eBay. Sure I could use the time away option if I was using BIN on my items but that has some nuances to it that I would rather just not deal with. 

     Auctions of course have a few con's. You have the occasional non-payer and bid retractions which I would much rather have than having to deal with a return because the buyer changed their mind or found it cheaper elsewhere. Most of the bids I get happen the last two days of the auction either because buyers don't want to get into a bidding war or maybe the buyers were watching my item and shopping around for the best price, so in that respect the auction is not unlike a BIN listing. 

[luckythewinner]

How to run a successful auction? What is your secret?
My secret is to only auction items with very strong demand and almost no supply.

In my 10+ years here on eBay, my auction history has been horrible.

Can you explain what you mean by "horrible". Is it horrible because of nonpayment? Not enough bids? Low prices? Returns?

[antverpiastamps]

You need to have an established name with good reputation, enough followers and a product suited for auctions (meaning something in demand). We do between 3500 and 4000 auctions each week, everything starting at 0.99$ and have been doing this succesfully for years. The 0.99$ is important as auctions are also a contest between bidders, this aspect can drive the price just as well as the item itself can. You also have to be prepared that some items will not bring what you want while others will do better, that's how it goes with auctions. Learn that the individual result does not count, only the total. A big bonus to auctions is that you may not always get top dollar but your inventory turnover rate is far higher than with BIN meaning that your money is not tied to your stocks pending a sale but it's almost continously available for new purchases and investments.  

[rileydone]

I do mostly auctions, that start on Sundays and run for 7 days.

Have between 24 to 30 items every week. Lucky to have a lot of followers/ repeat buyers.

Auctions start at $2.99 with no reserve. Try to take good pictures with good descriptions.

Most of the auctions are rubber stamps and I include a greeting card as part of the auction.

Very few returns or cancellations in this market.

[redlinear]

BIN is my secret.

Used to average 800 auctions per week, 5 day auctions, all starting at $9.99... 
90% would be gone by 4 relists.  The remaining 10% went into storage. 

Things have changed here on eBay though.  If I want something and it's an auction, I keep scrolling. 
Too much competition and nobody wants to wait.  

[showmecurrency4u]

i have sold over 100,000 items by auctions. most of the items i start at 1 cent. i have a very small numner that bring less than $1. the shipping label may cost over $3 so i loose money.  but over all i have made money.  i start and end the auction on friday between  6 and 10 am pacific time because i have until monday to ship out the items. when the last item ends on friday i send invoices as fast as possible and then start packing as fast as possible. for many years i was selling 100-300  items  every friday. dont put any of this off to  to the last day. power goes off, internet out,printer fails etc.  had the older computer and printer on standby. if this does not work find another part time job. ebay should only have auctions.   i think iam about done selling online because of no seller protection, unjust returns, a few scammers, people who dont read or cant read, buyers who buy using a phone, extra work listing by having to put imformation that bidders dont look at pictures or read . dont ship overseas. the number of honest buyers hase gone down over the last few years. in 22 years i have returned 1 item  l purchased. seller sent very large bubble mailers i could not use. i still buy from the seller-over 100 boxes of bubble mailers. most of the problems have been over the last 5 years. ebay has raised fees with a decline in  safety for the sellers with very little customer service. i wish everone good luck in the future. anyone who wants to work seven days a week and about 100 hrs can make a profit lf ebay will a secure plase to sell.