burned by the "suggested price" ... or at least I feel that way

[mcgillsl]

So I have been re-selling large furniture (that I have purchased and refinished to flip) for over 8 years. It's a fantastic business! UNTIL 2020 of course. I decided about half way through the year that I was going to try my hand at selling smaller, more manageable, shippable items. I'm getting older and those huge furniture pieces are going to impossible for me to handle one day. Anyway .... I chose to purchase a large lot of jewelry and some designer purses. The jewelry has flopped. That is ok because my family and friends love digging through it all and getting some free jewelry off the top. The purses I was excited about because I sold 3 immediately (same day) on Marketplace and CL. Yay! Didn't make a ton of money but it was quick and easy and there was some immediate happiness!

Now .... I turn to Ebay. Free listings sounded good to test the waters. I listed a coach bag after researching it all myself and was pretty sure that I would end up selling for around $40. That thought was further 'validated' so to speak when I first listed it and Ebay suggested that I do an auction with a minimum bid of $15.50....along with letting me know that this bag usually sells for $40. I took their 'advice' and based on my research of 'sold' items on Ebay .... I actually listed for $15 and buy it now of $38. I got a $15 bid about 5 minutes after I posted it. I had 13 watchers and SOOOO many people viewing the ad .... that I thought that it could go into a bidding war at the last few minutes.

NOPE! In the LITERAL last seconds of the listing one more person bid $15.50 and won the auction.

So - Why do I tell you this pathetic story??? To say this .... do YOUR OWN research .... and then list your item for the LOWEST PRICE that YOU will accept! Do NOT count on a bidding spike at the end. I don't even know if I will ever do an auction again. I have other purses listed at fair prices. I am going to pass out the jewelry like candy to my kids friends ..... and I may or may not still attempt to buy and sell purses - just depends on how the others do that I already own.

Good luck everyone!!!

[rock.star]

Since the aucion ended with a price of $15.50 that is the value of that item. 

[coastaltechsolution]

Auctions are for when you absolutely cannot figure out a value of an item, but if you do run an auction start it at the lowest price you would probably take, in this case $38.00 

[dhbookds]

I sure agree with your statement of "Do your OWN research"...........  To expect ebay to do it accurately is just a fallacy even with popular commodity items.....  In my opinion, sellers need to SEE where prices are currently and what the items have previously sold for...... 

[powell-memorabilia]

@mcgillsl @rock.star 

That was the value on that day.  It was $40 before.  Sellers need to check on frequency of sales - it might take weeks to find the right buyer - maybe months - willing to spend $40.

And that’s just one reason why I don’t sell under the auction format.

[releasethekraken_1]

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@powell-memorabilia wrote:

@mcgillsl @rock.star 

That was the value on that day.  It was $40 before.  Sellers need to check on frequency of sales - it might take weeks to find the right buyer - maybe months - willing to spend $40.

And that’s just one reason why I don’t sell under the auction format.

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Exactly. If the person willing to pay $40 (sorry, if TWO people willing to spend around that much) aren't looking when your auction is running, you lose. That's why I also stopped running auctions. I could buy things here at auction, then flip for a 200% profit with a fixed price listing.

[gracieallen01]

Doing your own research is the ONLY way to go.  You learn about your items, learn about what to pay for them and what you need/want to get out of them.

ebay is in it for the money.  ebay doesn't care how much something is worth.  ebay wants a lot of items to sell fast - they call it velocity.  The more items that sell and the faster they sell, the more money ebay makes in a shorter period of time, whether the seller makes a profit or not.  Do your own research and pricing - don't price below what you will settle for and what is within reason for YOUR item.

[lamber9347]

@mcgillsl We all started out pretty much just like you did. We all listened to advice from eBay on how to list and what amount to list at. We all learned just like you that it doesn't work that way. Really that's how life works, we learn from our own mistakes. Now you know how to better list your items. I hope you continue to sell on here, it can be very fun and you will make extra money. Keep at it with your new knowledge and now experience. Best of luck to you....