packer
|
posted on July 22, 2001 02:59:44 PM
better hint:
just quiet enlightment
packer
|
LAIOCHKA
|
posted on July 22, 2001 03:19:40 PM
Ok hint didnt work,
I'm not that far in my english,
If you can just email me or ask a question form
My id is the same
|
lanetzliving
|
posted on July 22, 2001 03:36:24 PM
Hi Packer,
Your thread inspired me and I have put several on at $1, as I have a lot of art glass that I am accumulating and lots of home school books.
The books are doing very well, and the art glass has bids but not a lot....still quite a while to go.
I tried this a while back and it worked well so I thought it would be fun to go again!!
I would love to look at your auctions too!
you can email me at [email protected] with your id if you like!
Thanks for the fun thread, I have enjoyed the "rise and fall" of it!
|
MrsSantaClaus
|
posted on July 22, 2001 08:28:34 PM
Hmmm ..... perhaps I need to rethink the strategy ... I should probably only use it on items that are bringing better ending bids, right? The normal book I am listing ends for somewhere between $1.99 and $5.00.
I will try the strategy on a higher valued book this week and see how it does.
Thanks for your help, PACKER!
BECKY
|
packer
|
posted on July 24, 2001 07:12:17 AM
Time for an update for the Nay-Sayers.
As I said I only listed 1/3 of my loot for this round. One set of dishes alone now has exceded what I paid for the whole lot.
One set is still sitting at $1 but even if I only get the $1 for the 4 cups & saucers it will still be worth it because ALL OTHERS have Exceded my EXPECTATIONS. And the $1 winner will get a hellava deal.
I have just under 2 days left so I've got a lot of time yet.
Can't wait to see what the rest will go for come time for xmas sales.
Thanks to all who responded 
packer
|
zoomin
|
posted on July 24, 2001 07:37:25 AM
Looks good, packer!
I have over a 90% sell through rate.
If an item doesn't sell, I relist it at $1.
More often than not, it well surpasses the opening bid of it's initial listing.
Using the $1 auctions for re-list lessens my anxiety about letting the widget go super cheap. I've already invested the time on the pic and descriptions and it didn't sell on the first go round so what the heck?
I found that "like new" designer clothing yields better final price starting at $3 rather than $1. My marketing background leads me to believe it has to do with perceived quality and prestige pricing.
BTW,
For those who think THEY "do not" (don't) work.
For those who think IT "does not" (doesn't) work.
Both are correct, depending on how you are reading the thread title.
only ZOOMIN here 
|
amy
|
posted on July 24, 2001 08:46:17 AM
Packer...it isn't the $1 that does the trick as the same thing can be done at other price points. The strategy you are employing is to price the item considerably less than the market value. You are also using a strategy of taking the total you have invested in a "lot" and attempting to make your profit margin on the group rather than each individual item.
$1 isn't a magic number. If I had an item that normally sells on ebay for $200, I could start it at $19.99 and get the same results you do starting it at $1. The key is that the buyer realizes the starting price is a huge bargain and they are hoping the item will sell at the deep discounted price.
Pricing an item involves knowing the psychology of the buyers. As has been pointed out, sometimes if the price is to low the buyer might think there is something wrong with the item...maybe it is damaged or a fake...or it doesn't have the right "snob appeal" if it is to cheap.
Your strategy doesn't require a $1 starting bid...all it requires is a starting bid that is deeply discounted in relation to the normal ebay ending price of the item.
Starting everything out at $1 could work against you. Many buyers are hoping to find the item that a seller doesn't know the real value of. Since most buyers do not know the true value of every item a seller has listed, a seller who uses various low price points will give the impression that he might not be aware of the true value of the item the buyer is looking for...and the buyer "thinks" he may be able to steal the item. But if the seller starts everything out at $1 (or everything at $4.99 or everything at $10), the buyer sees less of a chance that the seller is unaware of the real value and less of a chance to "steal".
Some buyers will see the $1 as a gimmick or a trick...they know you are unable to make a profit if everything you have sells for only a dollar. Many buyers are turned off by "come on" prices...they know they will rarely get the item at the $1. They feel like your trying to trick them.
[ edited by amy on Jul 24, 2001 09:02 AM ]
|
cdnbooks
|
posted on July 24, 2001 08:53:07 AM
amy,
very well put.
Personally, I like to start very high and go after the 'snob appeal' group.
Bill
|
capotasto
|
posted on July 24, 2001 09:17:24 AM
"You are also using a strategy of taking the total you have invested in a "lot" and attempting to make your profit margin on the group rather than each individual item."
This is the portfolio concept in investing, and it works in selling also. Yes we will lose on some items but the total bottom line is what counts.
Don't be afraid to "fail" on some items if you make money overall.
"$1 isn't a magic number. If I had an item that normally sells on ebay for $200, I could start it at $19.99 and get the same results you do starting it at $1."
Then there is no benefit in paying the higher listing fee to ebay by starting high.
Vinnie
|
packer
|
posted on July 24, 2001 09:21:54 AM
amy,
Looking at from your perspective you are probably right for a portion of the buyers out there. BUT, thats just a portion, whether its a large portion...who knows?
From my perpsective there are just as many buyers that are looking for a great deal and get caught up in the bidding to make sure they get it. BIDDING WARS!
You know what they are don't you?
I'll take 25 bids verses 1 bid any day even if the results do turn out to be the same.
As far as it being a trick, I don't thinks so, at least not for me, I keep my shipping prices as low as possible(I refund if I misquote), and my feedback is testemony to my selling quality and not JUNK(even though I call it that ).
Thanks for a look at the other point of view.
packer
|
packer
|
posted on July 24, 2001 09:24:19 AM
Vinnie,
Then there is no benefit in paying the higher listing fee to ebay by starting high.
WELL SAID!!!
packer
|
amy
|
posted on July 24, 2001 09:50:02 AM
Vinnie..you said "Then there is no benefit in paying the higher listing fee to ebay by starting high."
But there is.
At $1 starting bid there is no possibility that the seller is covering his investment (unless he got it free). If the seller starts everything at $1 NR he definately isn't covering his investments.
Starting higher but at a deep discount can cover the seller's investment...especially if he has a flexible pricing strategy.
Plus, a $1 starting price can give the impression that the item has little value.
A higher starting price that is still deeply discounted can give the buyer the impression that the item has value.
A good pricing strategy involves using the total investment point plus deep discounts on those items that have a fairly stable price on ebay and that have a high sell through rate. On the rest of the items the price is set so that if everything sells the investment is recovered.
I have used this strategy on ebay for over 3 years now. I have found that many, many times my items end higher than the recent ending prices of other sellers. Although there have been a few times when I lost money on an individual item I have yet to lose money on a total buy. I have had a few times where I broke even on the amount I spent at any one auction I attended (and this has only been a few times)...but most times I have met or exceeded the profit margin I set for that "buy".
And I have never used $1NR as a pricing strategy.
|
amy
|
posted on July 24, 2001 10:24:33 AM
Packer...I am not saying $1NR doesn't work. I am just pointing out that the $1 is not the magic thing that gets the bidding wars going. What gets the bidding wars started is a deeply discounted starting price in relation to what the item can be reasonably expected to sell at. It doesn't have to be $1.
I also didn't say you were tricking the buyer. I pointed out that some buyers can SEE it that way...especially if the seller starts everything at $1.
For example of not needing to start at $1...from recent sales I made
$14.99 NR opening..14 bids ended $66.98
$19.99 NR opening..16 bids ended $190.49
$19.99 NR opening..25 bids ended $93
$9.99 NR opening...8 bids ended $28.50
$14.99 NR opening..8 bids ended $42.26
$49.99 opening, reserve $250 6 bids ended
$439.68
The first two items ended way higher than I expected. They were porcelain items that had no major name...one was unmarked, the other was a everyday German company but both had a design motif that was desireable. But I did start them at less than half what I expected to get for them.
The third was an unusual design on a piece of 1930s Noritake that ended close to what I expected.
The fourth item was started at the top recent price of the item...I got almost three times what everyone else had gotten for it.
The fifth item was started $5 below the top recent price of the item... I got double what anyone else had gotten for it within the two weeks previous.
The sixth was a rare item in an elegant depression pattern that books for $500-$600. My reserve was half book... a bargain for anyone who collected this pattern.
I doubt if i would have gotten any better prices if i started at $1 NR on any of these items. On the piece I got 3x recent price...one of those sellers HAD started at $1 NR
$1NR isn't what causes the item to have bidding wars...its a very low starting price in relation to what most people are willing to pay for it
|
packer
|
posted on July 24, 2001 10:25:33 AM
amy,
I disagree with this statement.
Plus, a $1 starting price can give the impression that the item has little value.
When I shop eBay I ALWAYS look at the item with bids first. In my mind I think "WOW" someone must have a winner there because it has 10 bids on it already...verses the same item just sitting there with a much higher starting price and NO bids.
As an advid buyer when I first came to eBay I engaged in many a bidding wars because I was determined after being outbid several times I was going to have it or else.
And I would get so wrapped up with this one quest that I wouldn't even go look to see if there were more like it.
Is an American thing "WE DON"T LIKE TO LOSE!"
Look! To each his own. I just found a way to bring the fun back into the spirit of a true auction, it works for me and apparently for many others as well, I DO GOOD, I MAKE MONEY AT IT! And most of all I'm HAVING FUN AGAIN
I have read all the "SALES ARE PATHETIC" threads. Lets see, the most recent I read was that he sold 3 out of 37 listed. Sorry, that is pathetic. Look at all the eBay fees he's being charged with NO SALE!
Granted this isn't for everyone and I'm glad, because if everyone was doing it, it would be a big FLOP.
packer
[ edited by packer on Jul 24, 2001 10:29 AM ]
|
peiklk
|
posted on July 24, 2001 10:26:20 AM
To each his (or her) own.
I've posted many things at $1 NR and had them far exceed the "going rate" on ebay as well.
We can find success stories using either example -- and probably some examples that we haven't thought of.
However, the fact remains that $1 NR DOES WORK.
The fact also remains that a higher amount, NR DOES WORK as well.
So do what you feel works for you -- There are plenty of buyers out there of all levels of sophistication. That's why we can have a Wal-Mart and Neiman Marcus in the same city. And they both make money.
|
getalife
|
posted on July 24, 2001 10:27:21 AM
This is a comment on capotasto's "portfolio investment"concept. One of the problems with this concept is the amount of time it takes to write a description, take a picture, edit pictures, upload pictures and then list the item. While the percentage of profit may work out just fine, it certainly lowers the amount of money made per hour, week or whatever. For this reason I choose not to list at bottom dollar. Capotasto's "the total bottom line is what counts" isn't true unless a person truly has time to burn.
On the other hand I have watched people list items over the upper end of what that item usually sells for, then reduce the price each time they run the auction. I watched a Bear bow start at eighty dollars that was normally selling for thirty to thirty-five dollars if it sold. It sold on the fourth try for sixty-five dollars. I don't think this proves packer incorrect any more than his one dollar examples prove him correct.
Each item I sell is a unique item and I choose not to write descriptions, upload and edit pictures on items that sell for a few dollars. A lot of your success on ebay depends more on what you sell than how low you start it and I think Buy It Now helps to prove that.
|
amy
|
posted on July 24, 2001 10:48:38 AM
Packer..you are making the mistake of putting YOUR thinking into the minds of all buyers. To you a $1 NR may not raise a red flag...but it does to some. Does it raise a red flag to many buyers?...until a study is done on ebay buyer habits we will never know.
Actually, from what you said, what got you bidding was that other people had already bid on the item, not the fact that an item started at $1. Getting people to bid does not depend on a $1 start...it just depends on the item being desirable and starting at a "bargain" price.
It doesn't take a $1NR to make an auction an auction...or to bring back the fun. But if $1NR works for you then that is all that counts FOR YOU. But those who don't use $1NR are not nay-sayers...they are just people who have found it didn't work for them in one way or another. There is no need to try and convert them to your method
|
MrsSantaClaus
|
posted on July 24, 2001 12:11:49 PM
Packer
I think the biggest thing is that you have built up a clientele that is checking to see what you have. That in itself is worth your strategy.
Becky
|
nightbird84
|
posted on July 24, 2001 12:18:22 PM
I will never do $1.00 again. I've done it several times and actually had things end that low that were worth a lot more. Maybe I just have bad luck.
Lauren
|
packer
|
posted on July 24, 2001 12:50:04 PM
No amy, I'm not trying to convert anybody.
I'm just sharing what works for me.
It was brought up a year ago on this board. Everyone was complaining of slow sales and I forget now who it was at that time that mentioned the $1 NR sales.
I was to the point of trying something different or getting out altogether.
I took the $1 plunge and I never looked back.
I've had better sales this year then I was having the previous 2 years.
Besides that its motivating to get into gear and list all that stuff that was collecting dust.
Just sharing amy
packer
|
pcbueg
|
posted on July 24, 2001 01:26:12 PM
Who has tried $1 NR with ticket items costing
in the $100-$200 dollar range or more? What
price range are they closing at? How many
time would sell an item for less than your
cost? Or do you hope they will average out? I
agree it's great and stimulates bids. It is a
bummer to look at your listing and not have
any bids. I would really be interested in
someone doing higher ticket cost items.
|
packer
|
posted on July 24, 2001 01:56:36 PM
pcbueg,
Yes I've listed things for $1 where I have paid $200.00 for it.
But only when I've made at least double from the auction items from which it came.
This way I figure it owes me NOTHING, as I've already made my BUCKS. However I do watch the market very closely for that item, I will CATEGORY FEATURE it and I make sure I have plenty of other DESIRERABLE things on with it.
I use to run a FEATURE with every batch, but I quickly used up my best stuff doing that, so now I may do 1 once a month or so. I also run everything for 10 days.
For a regular listing it cost me $.65. That is for 10 days and Gallery.
Yes, I sit and bite my nails to the quick thinking "I MUST BE NUTS" doing this without a reserve or something to protect my investment.
Knock wood....I haven't been skunked so far.
It always turns out much better then I had ever hoped for.
packer
[ edited by packer on Jul 24, 2001 02:00 PM ]
|
kiawok
|
posted on July 24, 2001 03:30:15 PM
packer
From your initial post:
You nay=sayers can argue all you want that $1.00 NR doesn't work.BUT......I'm here to tell you that it does!
I think Amy said it best ........
But those who don't use $1NR are not nay-sayers...they are just people who have found it didn't work for them in one way or another.
I too have numerous repeat customers who check my listings weekly, and I seldom start items at $1 NR.
I've also never complained about slow sales.
Glad it works for you.
|
dadofstickboy
|
posted on July 24, 2001 04:01:31 PM
I've got one item going now for $1.00 N/R.
I'm really biting my lip over doing it, we'll see! A few month's back I had an old vidio game, that after doing a search I found was selling from $25.00 to $35.00. I watched about 4 of them sell.I thought good I'll list at $1.00 and watch the bid's.Well guess what I ended up selling it for 5.00 not the outcome I was hoping for. So even though the numerous bid's do get you excited the low selling price don't. There are thing that just are not worth taking a chance with!
|
packer
|
posted on July 24, 2001 05:45:32 PM
Heres another thing to think about.
I'm not impressed with sellers that run auctions with high(subject to interpretation)starts or low starts with a reserve and THEN throw in a couple of $1.00 NR auctions.
You can bet that it would lead me to think its something they want to unload and something MUST be wrong with it.
Thats when I had to make up my mind its ALL OR NOTHING for $1 starts!
What about Marie and her onecentcd's? She'd lose her reputation if she threw in a $10 or $15 start on some of her cd's because she knew it was worth that and she could probably get it.
A lot of it boils down to how much of a bid is ENOUGH for you.
packer
|
Microbes
|
posted on July 24, 2001 06:25:38 PM
Who has tried $1 NR with ticket items costing in the $100-$200 dollar range or more?
I've done it. There is one model of widget that I get now and again that regularly sells in the $350 to $400 range, and I start them at $9.99. I don't know that I get more money this way (maybe a little, due to "ego bids", but I save on fees, and it makes an exciting auction. They are almost always bid up over $200 the first 24 hours, and then slowly climb all week, and normally get a snipe bid or two.
But other things that should bring the same money, I wouldn't do the lowball starting price with. Only do it with items in HIGH demand.
Who Need's a stink'n Sig. File?
|
kiara
|
posted on July 24, 2001 11:01:07 PM
If you have the chance to buy your merchandise in lots and you have a good steady supply of items you may be able to run all your auctions this way. I am more selective in my buying so wouldn't want to risk it. Any of the most wanted items will get high bids whether they start at one dollar or a higher price.
I know that there is a dollar store mentality among much of the population these days so that may be the draw? Personally I loathe dollar stores and when I bid on auctions I would never think to look for the $1 NR ones. I look for merchandise that interests me and I decide what it is worth to me and I bid accordingly.
|
kittykittykitty
|
posted on July 25, 2001 04:17:44 AM
it doesn't work well in the category i mostly sell in, unless it's something very highly sought after. generally, if items in this category are priced very low, it raises eyebrows (i.e. 'something must be wrong with it'). it's a fine line - can't open it too high else you risk pricing yourself out, can't price it too high, or it's suspect.
recently i tried listing a very expensive designer item at $1nr. i got it for a buck, so thought why not give it a shot? it ended at $14. now i didn't mind all that much because i'd only invested a buck in it, but i had spent my time finding it, prepping it, shooting, measuring, describing, listing, packing, etc. concluded the $1 nr isn't for me.
just curious, how do you $1 nr'ers deal with ebay outtages? you must have nerves of steel. i'd be a wreck.
kittyx3
|
WeRuleWithTechnology
|
posted on July 26, 2001 11:20:00 AM
I decided to try starting one of my items at $1 NR (an item which I sell a lot of), and it's already up equal to the BIN price! I usually only get one bid, putting it below the BIN price.
All the other same items with the regular start prices have no bids and they end today. 
|
peiklk
|
posted on July 26, 2001 11:36:19 AM
I've not experienced any real ebay outages in the several months that I've been very active. Not sure what you mean there.
Just took a bunch of software and listed it all as $1NR (new title code, packer?) and most, if not all have bids. Several for much higher than I was expecting. This is for regular items.
However, I had once collectible game that I listed for higher (wimp).
I also relisted (or they will relist tonight) my four no-sells from the AW Customer Appreciation Day as $1NR to see how they go.
|
