eBay

keziak · ‎05-14-2023

If you still use the auction format are you finding it harder than usual to move the stuff? I like auctions for moving stuff outta the house. It's tough right now though. I have limited space to store "lots" in my store at home. I am wondering if I need to make some major changes, put the stuff in the store but move it all to the storage unit. This would be a significant hassle but the unit is climate-controlled, not like my old crummy unit.

I do often relist and tack on Best Offer which sometimes helps. Other times the lots sell out of the store. I think the trend is skewing that way right now.

mam98031 · ‎05-14-2023

I stopped doing auctions a long time ago. I sell some books too. However mine are all craft type books, so I sell in the crafting categories because the FVF is significantly less. But I found that auctions really don't work well for me so I stopped. I try again every now and again, but they have never come back to what they once were prior to March/April of 2014.

So even when I have a listing with multiple items in it, I still just do a GTC listing.

I hope things pick up for all of us very soon. Sales are down all over for a variety of reasons.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

dirk12955 · ‎05-14-2023

I also stopped auctions a few years ago. I think people are trending towards wanting it RIGHT NOW!

The instant gratification factor and poor attention span of some bidders. They bid on Monday and when the auction ends on Friday, The winning notification goes into their spam folder so they aren't bothered by all those

nasty advertisements.

I've had way less headaches using BIN 100% of the time.

And I agree, Business is terrible.

lamber9347 · ‎05-14-2023

As a seller I still use auctions, but I sell different product than you do. Auctions work for what I sell.

As a buyer of DVD's and BR, I would be interested in some of your lots, but I would never bother with an auction just for used movies. Preowned movies are available just about anywhere so why wait for a week to find out if you even win the lot. I would suggest you consider selling your preowned movies as a lot at BIN and perhaps they may move quicker. Best of luck to you....

keziak · ‎05-14-2023

It's funny because the AV lots are the ones that all sell via auction. Not for great money but given how many zillions of them are out there I'm OK with that. I'm selling off huge numbers I obtained 1-2 years ago. I have a lot of repeat business for them. It's the books that aren't really moving right now.

lamber9347 · ‎05-14-2023

Oh, that's great then, never mind my comments. As long as it's working for you that's what matters. I will check out some of your fixed listings though....

dk0 · ‎05-14-2023

I sell collectibles, so I still use auctions, although the vast majority of my items are BIN.

I've always understood that auctions get higher rankings in best match, especially when they just started or are about to end. While most of mine sell for the opening bid, if I had put those same items as BIN, I don't think they would have sold as quickly.

Plus some items do get run up. I've been here for over 25 years, so I have a pretty good idea of which ones have the best chance for competitive bids. But I sometimes get surprised and something goes up and I have no idea why. (But I am OK with it!)

I've been doing auctions all along (the only choice when I started) so I have many repeat customers who bid regularly on my items.

That being said, I agree that for items that are being offered by numerous sellers, auctions are probably not the best way to go. Even with my items, a large percentage are fairly common so no point in setting up an auction for those.

Every few months, I gather up my unsold auctions and list them as BIN.

a_c_green · ‎05-14-2023

@keziak wrote:
If you still use the auction format are you finding it harder than usual to move the stuff?

I don't know if I would say that it's "harder to move the stuff" for the vintage items I sell, but there has been a noticeable down-turn in both the number of bidders for a lot of my items and the number of rival sellers for the same items. I'm listing some items as Fixed Price/Immediate Payment Required that I previously would sell at auction, because I can no longer rely on getting enough bidders to trigger competitive bidding and last-second sniping.

To be clear, I'm not going to pack up and stomp off anytime soon, but I have to get realistic in both my pricing and my type of selling (FP/IPR vs. Auction) if I want to maintain a good turnover of items. I limit my auctions now to only those items that will still draw an audience, and leave the rest of the items as Fixed Price to sell whenever someone wants to buy them.

chapeau-noir · ‎05-14-2023

I hear this all the time, that people who don't like auctions have some kind of deficit disorder, are impatient and want immediate gratification. But what's so odd about wanting to buy something the simple, old fashioned way by finding it and simply paying for it? We have to play a game to see if we "win" that shirt or pair of shoes? Not all, but most things are pretty straightforward and don't need to be auctioned and I think most people realise that.

“The illegal we do immediately, the unconstitutional takes a little longer.” - Henry Kissinger

"Do not obey in advance." Timothy Snyder "On Tyranny"

keziak · ‎05-14-2023

The bulk of what I auction are book and AV lots. Occasionally they will be exactly the same as other offerings like a set but mostly they are "unique" in that they have different components than other lots. So there is some element that if someone wants the items they might bid. Also it can be hard to predict what if anything gets bid up.

But the point of my question is that my sales are now skewing away from auctions to fixed price and this is a problem for me due to very limited space to store the lots in boxes until the right person comes along. Maybe it's time to take the lots I most recently put into the Store and stash them in the unit, see how that experiment works out but there is a certain hassle factor to that.

chapeau-noir · ‎05-14-2023

@keziak wrote:
The bulk of what I auction are book and AV lots. Occasionally they will be exactly the same as other offerings like a set but mostly they are "unique" in that they have different components than other lots. So there is some element that if someone wants the items they might bid. Also it can be hard to predict what if anything gets bid up.

But the point of my question is that my sales are now skewing away from auctions to fixed price and this is a problem for me due to very limited space to store the lots in boxes until the right person comes along. Maybe it's time to take the lots I most recently put into the Store and stash them in the unit, see how that experiment works out but there is a certain hassle factor to that.

I totally understand your mix of auctions and FP because you DO have some unique items, lots that have to find their price, etc. (I'm a book collector, after all). I was speaking in general about the general attitude, I scratch my head about it.

Anyway, I've been just plain purging my inventory and getting rid of items that just take up space but aren't great investments to sell, haven't sold and are costing more than they're worth in simple storage. That makes everything else easier to arrange for better accessibility, and now have in-season items to hand and out of season items in storage. It's a hassle, yes, but I found it make workflow a lot easier.

“The illegal we do immediately, the unconstitutional takes a little longer.” - Henry Kissinger

"Do not obey in advance." Timothy Snyder "On Tyranny"

starcastle33 · ‎05-14-2023

If you think you have something rare that doesnt have comparable sales, I would not recommend doing an auction starting off at 99 cents. I got killed last week on a signed bronze sculpture that only sold for 6 bucks.

mam98031 · ‎05-14-2023

IMHO it is that auctions can work very well in collectibles because buyers are likely trying to get the best possible price on things they collect.

In other categories most are likely just looking for a price they are willing to pay. They want to get their item and move on to the next thing on their to do list. This has been proven in studies done over the years. I'm sure some would show up if you Googled it.

I agree doing GTC [good till cancelled] is far less work and less headaches. I rarely have a non paying buyer too.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

mam98031 · ‎05-14-2023

@starcastle33 wrote:
If you think you have something rare that doesnt have comparable sales, I would not recommend doing an auction starting off at 99 cents. I got killed last week on a signed bronze sculpture that only sold for 6 bucks.

I agree. That simply is not good to have a price that you will have to pay the buyer to take the item so to speak. Selling the item for less that what you will have to pay for Fees and Shipping is simply silly.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999