posted on May 18, 2007 06:10:29 PM new
Last weekend I helped a friend with a shiny new eBay account list seven items starting at 99 cents with no reserve. I advised against that, but she wanted to let the excitement build.
Five days later, only one has any bids, but they all have multiple watchers.
This stuff isn't junk; one is a gift card for a very popular restaurant, another is vintage precious metal jewelry (very wearable) and the others are desirable collectibles. I had to tell my friend that sometimes eBay is like that. People wait until the last minute, or they put a watch on something intending to bid at the last minute but forget to. Or maybe they were freaked by the zero feedback number.
She asked me what I would do. I said I would end the auctions early, except for the one with the bids. She did so, reluctantly. I said she should try again in a month or so, after she's made some purchases. I don't believe feedback makes a difference if the seller has something you want, but just in case.
posted on May 18, 2007 06:33:45 PM new
What you said, it does matter if you have some feedback to buyers, I won't bid on peoples stuff if they have less than about 10 nice feedbacks. But hey that is just me. Everyone has to start somewhere. Have her list some stuff at decent prices... I think 99cent auctions are kinda fishy especially if they are very nice items worth some money.
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posted on May 18, 2007 06:42:49 PM new
If the bidder bids 99 cents,what does she care if seller has zero feedback and/or item is too good to be true?
All she loses is 99 cents plus shipping!
Ebay is slow,I see many items get no bids and many items get relisted.
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posted on May 18, 2007 06:45:57 PM new
I've had several eBay buyers tell me they ignore the scads of 99 cent items when browsing. Finding the right price instead of throwing a listing up to sell at whatever price is a better strategy. I've profited from sellers taking $30 items out of their store on discount listing days, listing them for 99 cents - I easily won them for 3.99 - maybe it drove some traffic to their store but it makes no sense to me.
posted on May 18, 2007 07:35:24 PM new
hey fluff!
To the experienced buyer, new sellers look like reincarnations of naru'ed sellers ~ IMHO, she needs to build up her feedback before she lists anything of value.
I've started three or four friends out and would only let them list items that couldn't be questioned as to their authenticity.
Also, if the listings look 'too good' to be from a new seller, her reluctant bidders may be questioning where she came from.
posted on May 18, 2007 08:27:38 PM new
When I was a beginning eBay-er, I posted a question on this board about some antique/early 1900's lithograph ads...I had started the auction at $5.99 with the hopes, like your friend, of building excitement. The auctions got no bids. A more knowledgeable person on this board said that, sometimes, people thought that if items had a lower opening bid, they probably weren't worth much. He suggested I start the bidding at $9.99. I re-listed with the higher opening bid and the items sold for over $20.00! So...if the items your friend is selling are worth more than 99 cents (and, from what you said, that seems to be the case) maybe a higher opening bid should be considered.
Fluffy, I pretty much agree with what the others have said and with the advice you gave your friend.
She needs to build her feedback to, oh, at least 10 before she jumps into selling. Then she needs to establish a realistic selling price and go from there.
It sounds like her items are fairly unique. There might not be a whole heck of a lot of people looking for them.
Starting her auctions at $0.99 probably isn't a good idea. For that to work it needs to be things like your jewelry, Fluff. High demand, very popular. And lots of selling experience, which shows in your feedback.
There was a time, way back in the day, when eBay was an entertaining pastime for a great many people (including me) but that time has passed. Feedback didn't matter, starting price didn't matter. Just about anything had multiple bids starting the instant it hit search.
Remember the guy who auctioned an almost square piece of cardboard? Too funny - he got bids out the roof.
Now people are on eBay shopping for things they need at a bargain price.
posted on May 18, 2007 09:06:22 PM new
If you think your friend is not doing well,I just looked at one seller who has been with Ebay since May 1997,99.9% feedback of 4592 and out of 658 listings,he sold 6.
He quits his job to do Ebay full time,works like a dog,takes multiple pictures and used to have a 90% sell through rate.
How time changes,the easy money is long over!
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posted on May 19, 2007 04:41:27 AM new
Tell your friend that on Vendio when Fluffy speaks we listen! I agree 99 cent sales look fishy unless I win. In the early days I bought a few things with my brand new account, then began selling. If your friend wants to make extra cash then price the stuff at near its value. I work cheap but my time per item is worth something. So the min amount I will list anything is $9.99!
posted on May 19, 2007 10:53:44 AM new
I think she needs to build up at least a small amount of feedback to build buyer trust. There are plenty of 1 cent digital items to build up feedback pretty quick. Does she accept paypal? that would help attract bidders too (many new sellers don't).
For whatever it's worth, I got lots more bidding with $1 starting fees than $0.99. It costs a nickel more, and I can't for the life of me explain it (I have theories, but they're pretty creaky).
We used to always list at $1. As an experiment, we reduced it to $0.99. Final selling prices went down. It could be a coincidence, but figuring that it only costs $5 per hundred auctions, I went back to $1.
posted on May 19, 2007 04:37:59 PM new
I think your advice was good - build up FB, revisit in a month, and I would add, do some homework. Tell her to watch the categories she listed in - how do successful sellers handle their listings? It seems evident that the .99 model didn't work in terms of getting early bids (as you know, that model works great in some categories and is a disaster in others)but may have brought a flurry of last minute bidding. If she is a "0" FB seller then that could have a lot to do with failure to produce early bids with all the scamming on the site.
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posted on May 19, 2007 11:41:02 PM new
One thing I look for when I suspect a scammer is multiple feedbacks received from purchasing BIN on .01 to .99 listings. "Buying" your feedback is not a good idea. It is a turn off for a potential bidder to see you received all your feedback in a short period from buying trash. If you intend to sell high value goods or want to create a reliable seller image, stay away from the quick feedback schemes.
I was able to get a fraudulent seller busted recently. Part of the evidence used against him was his new ID. In less than 5 days he had received multiple feedback from one cent sellers. His biggest screw up was shill bidding. His next biggest screw up was using a shill account with the same pattern of feedback. Even used the same penny sellers.
I don't think he was the bright bulb. Also made the mistake of trying to scam in a category that rarely has more than 300 listings a day. His pattern was way to easy to catch.
posted on May 19, 2007 11:56:25 PM new
I don't buy it. Can't imagine Fluffy wasting her time with a seller with no feedback. Anyone, especially Fluff, would insist the seller get a FB of 10 before listing
posted on May 20, 2007 12:04:05 AM new
Fluffy, I did not mean to imply that your friend was a scammer. I just wanted to point out the pitfalls of buying feedback.
Best advice for you friend is to raise her opening bid and accept PayPal until she builds her feedback above 20. (You did not say if she was accepting PP or not) She can always drop the PayPal later if she wants but PP gives the bidders some sense of security when purchasing from a new seller. I would not trust a seller who has no feedback and will only accept money orders.
As for the PayPal fees, I am willing to bet that the difference in final price between a PP auction and a MO auction is more than enough to cover the fees.
And starting price- When selling vintage, it takes too much of my time to write an auction to even bother with something that will not sell for at least 9.99. That is my opening minimum. I am constantly amazed at how much money sellers leave on the table because they were too cheap to pay .50 to list their item at a reasonable price. So you save .50 up front. If it costs you $8.00 on final price because the bidding died out, is it worth it?
Cash is the exception to the rule. He had a good following, excellent feedback and sold high end, Name brand goods. I don;t believe that vintage sellers just can not afford to take that chance anymore unless they have a truely valuable, high recognizable piece.
I also believe that the biggest contributor to good prices is good pictures. A clear picture is so much more important than a clever description. But then, I've seen your listings and you obviously already know that <g>
posted on May 20, 2007 03:30:18 AM new
There are many ways to make an eBay business, but in the end it comes down to having a good plan, and/or putting up stuff people really want. But just listing a random assortment of stuff akin to an on-line yard sale? You'll just get on-line yard sale customers. Can .99 work? Sure, if they are loss leaders that bring viewers/bidders to other listings. Can you start at regular retail? Sure, if they are desireable, hard to find items. Maybe I just don't know the market, but I can't imagine buying a gift card from someone on-line. What do I do if it isn't valid? Or a piece of costume jewelry pretty much like the other 18,873 pieces currently available?
My role model for eBay selling is a very, very successful seller who does the usual good listing practices, plus starts every item at 9.99, no reserves. And he does not sell low end stuff. He has built a great reputation, and their must be thousands of people who have him in their "favorite seller". But he works his business, not just cleaning out the closet and throwing miscellany up to see who bites.
[ edited by Damariscotta on May 20, 2007 03:31 AM ]
posted on May 20, 2007 07:03:21 AM new
Well said.
'Ordinary' nice used items just aint good enough anymore on Ebay
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[ edited by hwahwa on May 20, 2007 07:03 AM ]
posted on May 21, 2007 10:01:44 AM new
Seems that while I was gone for the weekend, she listed more auctions. Weirdly, they all have bids now.
I don't know what to make of it, but what the heck. Maybe it's not possible to declare a trend based on only a few data points.
Maybe I just don't know the market, but I can't imagine buying a gift card from someone on-line. What do I do if it isn't valid?
That was what I wondered before I started selling gift cards, but there's never been a problem. Cards usually go for a high percentage of face value. Gift card buyers want free shipping, though.
posted on May 22, 2007 06:32:24 AM new
How does a potential bidder find out if the gift card is any good,or still have value?
I read recently of scandal at Target,employees working there were copying down the gift card number and spending it.
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posted on May 22, 2007 07:07:57 AM new
They can't verify the gift card. It's an article of faith.
Trust me, thousands of gift cards change hands daily on eBay. As I said, I've never had a problem. If I bought one that turned out to be a zero amount, naturally I would file a PayPal claim.
posted on May 22, 2007 07:48:31 AM new
I know many are sold, and there are probably other on-line exchanges for them as well. My comments had more to do with the fact that it is not something I might bid on if it did not seem that the seller had a "history" with them. There are a number of things I don't bid on if I don't feel the seller is "qualified" to sell - I may miss out on some good deals, but I don't want the hassle of shipping back merchandise, etc.
posted on May 22, 2007 01:12:16 PM new
I read that some gift cards have very little $$ left and people still want them,for waht??
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Lets all stop whining !
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I married my wife for her looks, but Not the one she gives me lately! 
