posted on September 25, 2001 07:47:27 AM new
Hi Packer
Were I you, I would be listing at higher opening bids right now. I also use the $1 no reserve thing, but on certain items only. The vast majority of my items are listed at $9.99, $4.99, $6.99, etc. to start (I like that .30 cent listing cost). The occasional item will start at $24.99 or $350.00 or whatever.
posted on September 25, 2001 07:56:10 AM new
One good strategy would be to email the missing brain cell crew at ebay and DEMAND that they quit screwing around with catagory titles!
They have completely done away with "Vintage Toys: Vehicles" and replaced one catagory with about EIGHT!
Thanks for the help ebay! As a buyer, I can't find things I used to under ONE simple catagory....
As a "want-to-start" seller....I now have a mass of confusion to deal with!
What will be next.....catagories for Hot Wheels by EACH color???????
posted on September 25, 2001 08:03:28 AM new
I sell a lot of items in the collectibles catagory. I start each bid (with only limited exception) where I make a reasonable profit and let whatever happens, happen. If It gets one bid I am ok, if it gets more, GOOD...
posted on September 25, 2001 08:05:31 AM new
I agree with Loosecannon & Coonr. You have to start at a price low enough to attract bidders but high enough to at least cover your costs so you don't lose your behind.
That's been my strategy for the past year or so and (up until this week) it's worked very well - 90-95% sell through with most items having multiple bids.
But chin up and keep the faith! I'm betting this is just a bump in the road (a very small bump I hope), and things will start improving soon.
posted on September 25, 2001 08:23:31 AM new
I don't sell vintage/collectables, except maybe for the occasional book. But I also had adopted your strategy to some extent, listing all newer items for $1.50 to $1.99 vs. the $4.00 to $5.00 I'd usually done. I was pleased with my results, in most cases my total take was about the same as if I'd listed at the higher prices.
But the fallout has come in more ways than one and I'm willing to go along with the adapt or die crowd.
Personally, I intend to keep listing, but I'm starting to raise my prices. I'd really rather keep relisting selectively, possibly combining more things into sets, etc. than practically give the majority of items away. Also, I noted in my category, that a lot of the buyers who won the items at rock-bottom prices were the most difficult to deal with after the sale.
I'm going back to more normal pricing. I may occasionally offer a "clearance sale" or combined set, but not until after I've listed the item a few times.
Patience and adaptation is the key to survival in these hard time, and not just in regards to auction selling either.
posted on September 25, 2001 09:44:51 AM new
hi - good thread.
regardless of cost, we open under $9.99 (usually at $4.99) - if it is a value of $100 + and we don't reach it - we kill the auction and relist... that works well.
plus, only July 4th we expanded into bargainandhaggle.com - that's had some nice results...
posted on September 25, 2001 10:37:33 AM new
"What will be next.....catagories for Hot Wheels by EACH color??????? "
I really wish they would do that, I only collect RED hot wheels.
And books: I wish they would have a category for "books with exactly 100 pages", I like them...
Also "fake fruit weighing two or more pounds", my wife likes those...
posted on September 25, 2001 10:39:41 AM new
"regardless of cost, we open under $9.99 (usually at $4.99) - if it is a value of $100 + and we don't reach it - we kill the auction and relist... that works well. "
I don't understand. Since many bidders bid at the last minute (snipe), how do you know it won't go really high? Your strategy seems like a defeatist attitude...
posted on September 25, 2001 11:02:40 AM new
how do you kill and auction if it has a bid???????? It would scare me to death to satr a 100.00 item at 9.99 in the climate. Boy you must have nerves of steel !!!!!!
posted on September 25, 2001 11:31:07 AM new
I've been selling [antiques & collectibles] in the same fashion as Coonr for going on 4 years, no complaints here.
If I need $49.99 to make a decent profit, that's where I start the item at. My sell through rate is consistently 80-90%.
One thing I NEVER do is list common easy to find items on eBay. I save those & sell them locally where they are somewhat harder to find. Sometimes what's quite rare locally, is almost common place on eBay.
I now have an eBay pile, a pile for the local auction house, and a pile for my booth in an antique mall.
P.S. Killing auctions tends to pizz off potential bidders, and I would never use such a tactic. JMO
posted on September 25, 2001 11:32:08 AM new
To kill an auction that has a bid/bids you simply cancel all the bids then use a lame brain excuse as to why you ended the auction early.
posted on September 25, 2001 12:29:11 PM new
To further the strategy plan.
Do you think it would be a Good idea to run a A4A auction in each run....or at least have one up and running while your other auctions are on and strongly urge them to view your other auctions for like items? Of course I always did that anyway with my $1NR auctions by using the picture gallery.
Also...lets say you have a bidder win a A4A auction and a regular auction. Of course you combine shipping, do you then charge them the shipping for both items or just the one non A4A item?
I'm trying to revise my template and I don't want to leave anything out.
posted on September 25, 2001 09:38:23 PM new
I gave up the auctions only strategy a year ago and opened a shop on Ruby Lane. I now have two shops and have never looked back. I still run auctions, either with reserves or at a comfortable opening bid, but now only try to sell my stale stock and shelf sitters that way, or really high end items that I think will bring more than the price I would have dared to put on them. No commissions, I recently sold a $1200 item over there for total overhead of twelve and a half cents. Can't beat that with a stick.
My biggest problem with the $1.00 bid? I won one recently. Guy listed an item - not spectacular, but nice - and I found it about a half hour before the auction closed. Won it, as second bidder, for $1.25. I actually bid $16.00, but no other bidders materialized. So far I have yet to receive anything but the canned end of auction notice. No personal note, no item, even though I paid the same day with PayPal. This is what chaps my hide about the $1.00 trick. Some sellers want to get attention and pull bidders from other auctions by utilizing it, but if it flops - all of the sudden the winning bidder is something stuck to the bottom of their shoe. Had the guy ended the auction with an excuse, no problem. Had he even asked if I wouldn't please pretend it never happened and just offered to exchange some decent feedback with me, I could have been persuaded - I didn't want the piece that bad. But to let the auction go to the bitter end and then ignore me - hey, dude, if you're reading this...bite the bullet. It was your big idea.
posted on September 26, 2001 12:26:37 AM new
You may have more success with BIN. My start bids are anywhere from .50¢-$1.50-$2.50 lower than the BIN. The higher the start price, the lower the spread. On many items I can start an auction higher than average when I use BIN because BIN auctions seem to be in more demand.
posted on September 26, 2001 01:44:48 AM new
If a person wants to kill an auction, does ebay require a reason based on their wording format, or can you use your own words for the explanation?
posted on September 26, 2001 02:49:04 AM new
thepriest wrote
regardless of cost, we open under $9.99 (usually at $4.99) - if it is a value of $100 + and we don't reach it - we kill the auction and relist... that works well.
I have had this happen to me one time and I would never bid on that sellers auctions again. Either have enough back bone to open at a cheap price and let it ride or start it at the price you want.
posted on September 26, 2001 05:28:11 AM new
Huh?? Doesn't eBay have rules about this? Sorry, but it sounds like kind of a shady way to do business if you ask me. Can you imagine if you went to a local live auction, saw an item that you wanted that you estimated was worth about $100.00 and the bidding started at $25.00 so you started to bid on it, the bidding keeps going until it reached say $50.00 and the other bidders give up, you hold the $50.00 bid. The auctioneer starts the countdown...
"Going once... Going twice..."
You get all excited that you might get it for half price...
"On second thought, we really wanted to get at least $75.00 for this so we're going to keep it and maybe try again at our next auction."
EXCUSE ME? Needless to say, I would never go back to any auction run by this company again...
That is what reserves are for, to make sure you get at least a certain price that you want for your item. If you don't want to use reserves then you should think about upping your starting bid...
Just out of curiousity... What do you use as an excuse for ending early when you are relisting only minutes later??
posted on September 26, 2001 05:44:21 AM new
hi - interesting comments...
we usually do it on high end glass and tiffany.
two night ago - cancelled two auctions - relisted within 10 minutes...total of 5 bidders.... within 3-hours - same bidders were back, plus two more- and, the $ bids were almost doubled....
posted on September 26, 2001 06:56:26 AM new
I agree there are some interesting comments here.
I have for the past 14 months been running ALL my auctions for $1NR regardless if its only worth a $1 or worth $300.00.
I have NEVER canceled an auction because it was not reaching my expectations.
I treat my $1 win customers EXACTLY the same as my $500.00 win customers.
I give great service and pack each item as if it were priceless no matter what the bid ends at. And, I stay close to belt on shipping costs. My 1136 feedback bares that out.
I roll the dice and I win some and I lose some. But I have WON many, many more then I have lost.
Now with the economy in the state its in and eBay with thier hair brained idea of A4A I'm a little scared to throw the dice on $1NR auctions.
I've never used BIN, and I don't use reserves. I've seen far to many BIN start with low openers and have a pretty inflated BIN price just sit there with NO action at all.
It makes me leary to see an opener of $9.99 and a BIN of $89.99 and it must make everyone else leary as well because the auction usually closes with NO bids.
I don't know what I'm going to do, I just know I can't sit here with all this inventory, I have bills to pay, It feels really weird not having any money coming in.
I've alway only sold on eBay, I tried some of the other auction sites back when the "its only a dollar" feasco happened.
I never sold one thing on the other sites.
I figure if you can't get it at eBay then its a waste of time anywhere else.
The only way I'd try another site now is if the masses were to agree to migrate to one place to grow it. Being spread all over the internet is not for me.
I just need to have a plan and then proceed with it.
Thanks for all the great comments...all will be considered EXCEPT the one to "kill the auction", thats dirty poole.
posted on September 26, 2001 07:00:17 AM new
What thepriest is doing is illigal on eBay. You can end your auction early if you decide not to sell your item or many other valid reasons. If you end the auction because the bids are not high enough and relist the item you are avoiding fees.
posted on September 26, 2001 07:20:23 AM new
I've found that some items that do poorly on e-bay sell really well at the local auction or my own garage sale. After trying the e-bay route a couple of times, if it hasn't sold I either put it in my "auction" pile or "garage-sale" pile. Last summer I made over $1,000 at my garage sale, and still had a pickup load left to donate to our church thrift shop. I took several boxes down to the local auction house and although they kept 20%, I made more than I would have on e-bay. (As an example--old children's books that are a dime a dozen on e-bay are still very collectible, and the unknowing e-bayers or collectors at the auction thought they'd found a treasure.)
In addition, I don't start anything under $5.50 with the reasoning that if it won't sell for that much (minimum wage for an hour's work) it's not worth my time to list it (and I can always garage-sale it.) Last year I also raised my opening prices by a dollar--what used to start at $5.50 now starts at $6.50. I still keep my opening amount under e-bay's fee break-off point to keep my listing fees as low as possible.
posted on September 26, 2001 03:34:38 PM new
hi packer,
i see the same thing with those $9.99 starts and inflated BINs - no action at all. probably puts the buyers off those sellers, so they just don't bother bidding.
for a while now i've been starting at a price that's reasonable enough to the buyers, but that i'm satisfied with if the item ends there. too many listings ending with one bid for me to do otherwise, and sometimes the bidding really takes off and then i'm very happy. this may be your best course of action for now.
i'm wondering if you have a mailing list of your buyers and can drop them a line explaining that you're changing your method, or mention it in your new listings. i'm sure you've gathered a following for your $1NR listings, and it might be a good idea to let them know what's going on so you can retain them as much as possible. if your buyers know you're having to adapt but will return to the $1NR as soon as it's possible for you, my guess is they'll keep on coming back. good luck, whatever you choose to do
posted on September 26, 2001 04:13:49 PM new
Toolhound,
You said "What thepriest is doing is illigal on eBay. You can end your auction early if you decide not to sell your item or many other valid reasons. If you end the auction because the bids are not high enough and relist the item you are avoiding fees"
Can you back this statement up with facts/rules/links to eBay where we can read this for ourselves?
posted on September 26, 2001 04:23:37 PM new
eBay says:
Canceling Bids
You can cancel bids in an auction if one or more of the following circumstances apply:
You have decided to end the auction early
A bidder contacts you to back out of a bid
You cannot verify the identity of a bidder
after trying all reasonable means of contact
Note: Since bid cancellations are publicized in the auction bidding history, you will be asked to provide a reason for your cancellation to bidders.
You will need to provide a reason explaining why you have ended the auction early. This reason can be found at the top of the Closed item page. You may also provide additional details in your item description.
posted on September 26, 2001 07:35:40 PM new
Here's something that I may try with a reserve auction. A $1.00 start on the item, along with the reserve price. If the high bidder reachs the reserve, then I will provide FREE INSURANCE!
If I'm selling an item of 75 to 100 dollars, I can eat 1.10 and then this might offer an incentive to bid. Who knows.
posted on September 26, 2001 08:22:21 PM new
I'm curious about the comments objecting to setting the opening price and BIN prices too far apart--I don't understand what one thing has to do with another, or why some folks find it a turn-off?
I've had decent luck setting low opening bids and BINS that are anywhere from 100% to 500% above opening bid price. Tonight I listed a widget for $5 bid or $25 BIN--it hasn't hit search yet, but I'll be watching to see what happens. I've sold identical widgets several times at prices ranging from $22 to $32, so that BIN is right in there. The $5 is only to entice looks, and possible bids--I haven't seen a single one of these end anywhere near $5. If someone opts to bid, the BIN will be gone and nobody else will ever know there was a 500% spread between opening bid and BIN.
I don't use BIN on items that don't have a recent sales history, or unless I have personal experience with that type of item. When I set a BIN I usually set it around mid-range of recent sales (if I like that range), and start off the bidding low. I'd say half the time the item goes for BIN, and the other half someone jumps in with a bid--but the funny part is, the ones that get bid on often end up going for more than the ones that get BINned.
I have to say I don't care whether the item goes bid or BIN--I'm in no hurry, I've paid for my 7 days. But I do like to imagine the bidders angsting over what to do, lol! My thinking is that a savvy bidder checks past sales to develop a feel for the "ebay value" of an item, or already knows what that item sells for. If the BIN is set within that range, then what difference does it make what the opening bid $ is, or how great of a spread there is between the two? Go for the sure thing, or gamble with a bid. I've had folks who've lost on widgets during a bidding war come back and grab the next one I list at the BIN price. I expect that some of the bidders who lost out on the last widget I listed might take a look at this one, and if they do, will they risk losing it again? Dunno.
To me, starting price is a strategy to encourage looking (plus keep my listing fee a little lower), while BIN pricing is a strategy to encourage a quick (but profitable to me) sale once they've clicked onto my item. Those are two different goals for me, the seller. The bidder has one goal--to win an item at a price they can live with. If the bidder doesn't like the BIN price, then fine, the $ bid price that drew them in is still there as an option for them.
Wow, I was long-winded. All to get to this point: I don't understand why one $ amount needs to be linked to the other. But I'd be willing to hear if there is a reason why.
What do you use as an excuse for ending early when you are relisting only minutes later??