Should I Have Set My Minimum Auction Bid Higher, Or Is It Okay To Let It Grow From $.01 ?

[choicecards2021]

So, I created a 10-day auction listing for a sports card that is worth about $80.00, with an initial bid at $.01, but I'm thinking I should have made the initial bid about half of what I'd like to get for the item, around $70.00. I can't go back in and change it, because I already have two bids, making the current auction up to only $1.25. But, I have 11 watchers and five days left. So, I'm hoping that eventually, as the it gets closer to Tuesday, they'll start bidding up to around the price that I think it's worth.

Should I be worried or am I just being impatient?

Thanks for any advice! 🙂

[ten_o_nine]

it's great that you have 11 watchers and five days left, which indicates interest in the item.  Initializing the bid at $0.01 was a good strategy to attract early bidders and create momentum. While starting at $70 would have been closer to your desired price, it might have deterred some potential bidders.

Since the current bid is only $1.25, it's likely that bidders are waiting to place their bids closer to the auction's end, a common phenomenon known as "sniping."

Be patient and let the auction play out. With five days left, it's likely that bidding will intensify as the deadline approaches. the goal is to let the market determine the item's value.

[golfingaddict]

Have you researched the card prior to listing?  Does it actually sell for $80 or is that a value collector's have put on the item?

It's very risky to list an item at such a low price unless you have evidence that it will have a great run and bid up to a value you are willing to accept.

There really is not much you can do now, as it is listed and has bids.  

[choicecards2021]

Well, this card is rare, in that only ten have been printed with the player's autograph.

I've found an instance where the other version, without the autograph and a twenty-five print run, has sold for $30.00, two years ago, and there's a current listing asking $37.00 for that version.

So, I'm thinking that, with my version of the card being more than twice as rare and autographed, it should be worth about $80.00.

I hope the eleven watchers feel the same. I'm comforted by the the fact that there is interest in it, with five days left still. Maybe that's a sign that I'll get the bidding that I'm hoping for.

Like you said, not much I can do now. lol

Thanks for your reply. 🙂

[choicecards2021]

Thank you for your reply!

That is comforting.

I have read that posting a listing with a minimum bid that is too high does turn people off. So, maybe I did something right, as you suggested. I think I'm just anxious and not thinking positively. lol

As you said, the market shall decide. I've done some research and I really think the market value is somewhere around $80.00. I guess we'll see if my research is right! 🙂

Thanks again for your reply!

[12345jamesstamps]

A few pointers from when I did auctions.

I would have done a 7 day auction...with 10 days some watchers will forget about it.

The corners of the card are OK...not excellent...I would not use that word. Card collectors are real picky.

Keep an eye on your bidders every day...especially the last day...check their "retractions" and if they have "feedback" and eBay ID new or old and what country.

You are allowed to block a bidder(s) in your auctions.

As a new seller...you really got to be careful. No returns does not mean no returns...so if someone wants to return it let them. Otherwise, there are those wanting a refund and can keep card if you don't let them do a return and eBay steps in.

And if you haven't sold anything in 30 days...funds from the sale will usually be on hold for 30 days...but you must mail it out when you are suppose to.

I would not re-list for the opening bid. .01 auctions get the best attention...plus bidders will look at items for sale as well as your auction.

Good luck.

[umccars]

Good Luck!

[choicecards2021]

Thank you!

I understand your point about the condition and pickiness of card collectors. When I Googled the grading standards, the AI found a site that described "excellent" as follows:

"An excellent card, or ENM card, is a card that is similar to a 6.5 ENM+ card, but has 90/10 centering on the front, and may have 3 or 4 corners showing slight wear, some surface wear, or light scratches."

So, knowing that the term "slight wear" is subjective, and to be completely forthright, it was important to me that I include close-ups of the corners, so the bidders have the opportunity to make the determination for themselves. There's only ten printed and this may be the bidders' only shot at owning this item. So, I'm thinking that'll factor in to how picky they want to be about the term "slight wear".

I think your suggestion about a seven day listing is great. I'll definitely go that route in the future. And, thank you for the advice on returns. I hope I've been transparent enough that there will be no requests for returns.

Thanks again for your advice. Very appreciated. 🙂

Edit: Oh! I just found this eBay resource that includes a definition of "excellent" as being a card that has "moderate corner wear with multiple dinged corners". I think that covers this card. 🙂 https://pages.ebay.com/cardconditions/

[soh.maryl]

You seem ok with starting your listing at one cent, so I assume you are pretty confident that you will get more than one bid.

Am no longer in the selling game, but I would never ever have started any auction for any item at a price that would be less than I would be satisfied with if I got only one bid.  

If you did enough research to believe it's worth at least $70, what's the strategy of starting at one cent? 

[choicecards2021]

Honestly, I haven't sold much on eBay. I knew what I was hoping to get, but was unsure about which strategy would attract the most bidders. So, rather than choose the one that would potentially exclude people, I chose the one that would be less exclusive, but I've had doubts that was the right move.

This conversation, and the input from the community, has helped to alleviate some of those doubts. I'm not as worried as I was before. 🙂

Thank you for you reply! Very appreciated! 🙂

[ten_o_nine]

It really depends on the item, I started hundreds of my silver coin auctions at 1 penny and they brought more than I was hoping.

I would not start a candlestick auction for a penny.

[gurlcat · Accepted solution]

Just curious, did you apply the Promoted Listings Express offered to you when you created the listing?  It really works to get more visibility (therefore bids) on auctions.  It's usually only $1.49 - $2.99 and it's not too late to apply it; you can do it at any time, although there's no discount for waiting, lol.  

I don't recommend it for ALL auctions, mind you.  The thing is, you pay the fee up-front and there's no refund if you don't get any bids, so I only recommend it for highly desirable items with a low starting bid, which is exactly what you have here.  

Oh by the way, don't be discouraged by the tiny bid increments you're seeing so far.  Those people aren't battling in earnest yet; they just put in bids to receive notifications/reminders, and to find easily find the auction whenever they want to check the progress on it.    

[12345jamesstamps]

I totally agree with you on promoting a listing whether auction or buy it now...I listed something and promoted it high and it sold in 6 hours.

Because seller doesn't have a lot of auctions or buy it now I think your suggestion is great.

[gurlcat]

I don't believe PLE works quite as well as it did a year or so ago when I first started using it, but I suspect that's because it has just gotten more popular among sellers in my category, so there are more of us in the lotto for each promoted space, ha.  But I still find it totally worthwhile, I mean it's SO cheap.  

[choicecards2021]

I did get the Promoted Listings Express option. Thank you for asking because I do have a question about that.

I've placed a few more listings in the last few days. I'm trying to sell off some other baseball cards that I've accumulated, in order to concentrate my collection on Seattle Mariners cards strictly, my favorite team.

So, I listed team lots for the Cubs, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Brewers so far, each with the Promoted Listings Express option. Afterwards, I found the "See ad report" feature on the eBay mobile app and checked it out, to see how that option worked.

I've noticed that my Cubs team lot has been promoted 183 times, my Red Sox team lot has been promoted 95 times, my Brewers team lot has been promoted 32 times and my Blue Jays team lot has only been promoted 7 times, although I listed them all within hours of each other.

So, I thought maybe it was the way the algorithm was reading the Cubs listing, as opposed to the wording I used in the other team lots. I changed the wording to the other lots to be the same as the Cubs lot and included a team logo that I had only included in the Cubs lot. Yet, there is still a significant difference in the number of promotions/ads that are being generated for each listing.

That was a wordy reply, but I'm curious if you might have any insight into why that is so. Just curious.

Thank you for your reply!