Reserve fee

[seatoome0]

I was charged $127 for a reserve fee, had I know the amount of the fee I wouldn't have put a reserve. Is there a way to reverse this?  Get my money back?

[evelyb30]

Bluntly, no.  It's why most of us don't do reserves; eBay likes them because they get paid either way, but they're actually a hinderance.  Buyers loathe reserve auctions and mostly don't bid, or if they do they bid what they're willing to pay and always under the cap.   Those who use a Reserve once mostly don't make that mistake again. 

[lakefor94]

Nope. Just a costly lesson. 

[kensgiftshop]

No, all you can do is hope the item sells.

[luckythewinner]

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@seatoome0 wrote:

I was charged $127 for a reserve fee, had I know the amount of the fee I wouldn't have put a reserve. 

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Are you saying that eBay lied to you about what the fees would be? 

Or are you saying they showed you the fee, but you simply did not pay attention? 

[dirk12955]

It's been a long time since I ran an auction and even longer since I used 

a reserve.

When making the listing,  Isn't the buyer shown the associated fees before he hits submit?

I know that I do on BIN listings.   

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@dirk12955 wrote:

 Isn't the buyer shown the associated fees before he hits submit?

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Yes

[pjcdn2005]

Customer service may give you an one time courtesy refund if you contact them but that isn't guaranteed.

[soh.maryl]

Yes, the seller is shown the associated fees before he hits "submit".  

[theteamsetguy]

@seatoome0 ,

Why would anyone want to put a reserve on a item. As a bidder I absolutely do everything I can to avoid them. 

A seller offering auctions with reserves tells me that they aren't serious about selling their item. There is nothing worse than bidding a auction and waiting only to find the seller has a unrealistic reserve price.

I've actioned off multiple 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan PSA 8 cards on ebay and started ALL of them at 99 cents with no reserve. All of them sold for 5 figures. There is a reason why sellers like Probstein123 and 4Sharpcorners don't use reserve auctions

[adkhighker]

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@theteamsetguy wrote:

@seatoome0 ,

Why would anyone want to put a reserve on a item. As a bidder I absolutely do everything I can to avoid them. 

A seller offering auctions with reserves tells me that they aren't serious about selling their item. There is nothing worse than bidding a auction and waiting only to find the seller has a unrealistic reserve price.

I've actioned off multiple 1986 Fleer Michael Jordan PSA 8 cards on ebay and started ALL of them at 99 cents with no reserve. All of them sold for 5 figures. There is a reason why sellers like Probstein123 and 4Sharpcorners don't use reserve auctions

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"Why would anyone want to put a reserve on a item. As a bidder I absolutely do everything I can to avoid them."

One reason some people do it is to get what they think is a cheap appraisal.  They'll list their auction with a reserve that's more than what they think it's worth, see how high a price their item reaches without meeting the reserve, and then sell it to their neighbor down the street for that price or much more. 

Other sellers using an over-inflated reserve where the auction doesn't meet the reserve will relist it again as subsequent auction with no reserve.  Only this time they'll start out their "non-reserve-auction" at the highest price they received in their previous "reserve price auction" with hopes someone will bid at least once.  I think auctions with no reserve where the starting price is set at the highest price the seller thinks it's worth are are in reality the same thing as reserve price auctions. 

Like you, I start most of my auctions at 99 cents which creates more bids and more interest.  The good stuff always takes care of itself in the end.

[janet9988]

eBay DOES show you the costs in 2 places...

Once when you input the $$$ amount of the reserve price...see screenshot here...

And again the amount is shown right above the list item  you must click to activate your listing........it is very easy to see.

[slippinjimmy]

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@evelyb30 wrote:

Bluntly, no.  It's why most of us don't do reserves; eBay likes them because they get paid either way, but they're actually a hinderance.  Buyers loathe reserve auctions and mostly don't bid, or if they do they bid what they're willing to pay and always under the cap.   Those who use a Reserve once mostly don't make that mistake again. 

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Actually I don't think eBay like reserves either, probably most of the time no sale results so no fvf's for eBay, while the reserve fee is a bonus. The reserve fee was originally a reasonable flat rate amount,  I think eBay went to the excessively high percentage fee with the hope that it would discourage use, they could have eliminated it entirely but just as they did with the other listing option they made the fee so high that almost nobody uses them.

In the OP case it makes no sense to start an auction at $1200 with a $1700 reserve,  might as well start it at $1700 with no reserve or if you really want the reserve start it at $10 and try to get some bidding action to get the ball rolling.

[doug_5857]

I wont even bid on reserve items either. Waste of time cuz the Reserve is outrageously way overpriced.