What is the difference between the regular auctions and the fixed priced auctions?

[alcoforever]

There is no such thing as a fixed price auction.   You may be thinking of a buy it now format which has only one price.   Auctions have a starting price which is then bid up until the end of the auction.   Highest bid wins.

[dhbookds]

you  are running both auctions and fixed price listings, and have over 5800 feedbacks as a seller.........so I'm not sure what you mean? 

[nobody*s_perfect]

eBay has two basic formats for its listings: Auction and fixed price.  Sellers may choose to add a "Buy it now" price when they list an auction-format listing.

Auctions have a specific duration which the seller chooses when setting up the listing  choices are 1, 3, 5, 7, or 10 days. Fixed price listings are "good until canceled;" they will run indefinitely until the item(s) are sold or the seller ends the listing.

[femmefan1946]

Sloppy use of language.

It would be better to refer to your "listings" which then can be either Auction or Fixed Price format.

In the same way, many members refer to "tracking" when the service they use actually only offers "confirmation of delivery".  (And eBay and Paypal only require Confirmation of Delivery in a Dispute, not tracking which can be more expensive.)

Slightly confusing the issue,  Auctions can have a Best Offer option OR a Buy It Now option, but not both, which make the listing less of a true auction.

And Fixed Price can have a Best Offer option, which makes it a sort of auction.

But sellers make LISTINGS in various formats, one of which is Auction.

[fern*wood]

Against my better judgement, I will respond.  Auctions allow bidding and can offer a buy it now price as an option.  Fixed price listings have one fixed price and are not auctions--no bidding. 

[coolections]

Everything you currently have listed is what is called an "auction" listing. A fixed price listing is called a "BIN" and does not include an opportunity for someone to bid on the price. It is a set price.

[little.font.lord.leroy]

Auction Listings and Fixed Priced Listings (Buy it Now) are the two types of listings.

You can list an auction together with a Buy-it-Now option for the buyer. For instance, you start the auction at $1.99, but enter $9.99 as a Buy-it-Now. If a buyer purchases the item ($9.99) the auction ends. If a bidder places a bid, then the Buy-it-Now option is removed from the listing.

The Auction-style format lasts: 1, 3, 5, 7, or 10 days (your choice). The straight up Fixed Price format lasts 30 days and is automatically re-scheduled if not sold.

hope that helps.

[jayjaspersgarage]

If I ever saw the definition of a rhetorical question this would be it.   A seller with over 20 years experience on ebay and a feedback score of almost 6000 knows the difference.

[dhbookds]

@coolections   take a look again.........use the fixed price tab..........he's running both.......of the same items.....

[a_c_green]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

In the same way, many members refer to "tracking" when the service they use actually only offers "confirmation of delivery".  (And eBay and Paypal only require Confirmation of Delivery in a Dispute, not tracking which can be more expensive.)

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Well, USPS has been offering tracking for years, and at no extra charge for packages. This USPS poster first came out over eight years ago, as seen in a post of mine from August of 2013 (here😞 

I should add here that the disclaimers above from eight years ago no longer apply: you get free tracking on First Class Package and Media Mail now as well.

As for the original question, the difference between regular auctions and "Fixed Price Auctions" (which might be better described as auctions with a BuyItNow option) is simply the seller's choice of whether he wants to add a BuyItNow price to his auction, for interested buyers who want to grab the item before anyone else gets a bid in. eBay requires the BuyItNow in that case to be at least 30% higher than the opening price, and in most categories, the BuyItNow option goes away as soon as a bid is received. (In some categories, it remains in play unless or until bidding reaches 50% of the BIN price.)

[femmefan1946]

Although dotCOM is basically the US site, many non-US sellers also list here.

I'm in Canada. USPS is not an option for me, or for millions of other sellers.

[coolections]

@dhbookds 

Is that even Ok with Ebay to do such a thing. I cannot imagine how upset people will be when they find out the auction is gone because someone used the other listing to buy it. IMO the OP need to immediately remove those BIN listings if they plan to continue with auctions.

[pjcdn2005]

@coolections 
@dhbookds 

  When you click on the buy it now tab you see the auctions that still have a BIN price. They aren’t separate listings, eBay is just showing the bin price until you click on the listing itself.

[coolections]

OK, that makes more sense. They way dkbooks mentioned it I thought the OP was running BOTH. At least once there is a bid the BIN will disappear making it a "real" auction.