posted on November 2, 2000 08:08:44 PM new
We need an abbreviation for the new BUY NOW format for eBay.
For NO RESERVE AUCTIONS, most folks use NR
Since eBay allows so few characters in ones title, we need to come up with a standard abbreviation for the BUY NOW that buyers will easily and quickly understand.
Does anyone have a suggestion?
On Yahoo we use 1ST BID WINS! but that takes up too much space for a eBay title.
posted on November 2, 2000 08:56:12 PM new
Between the snowflake thread and this one, I am LMAO - my sides hurt - wish you would all stop making me laugh so hard!!! It hurts! -Rosalinda
TAGnotes - daily email synopsis about the Online Auction Industry http://www.topica.com/lists/tagnotes
posted on November 3, 2000 04:58:29 AM new
A BUY NOW price is not necessarily retail - it may be funny, but a number of us who are active on Yahoo laugh all the way to the bank from our 1ST BID WINS sales.
There are a number of folks like myself who have access to many items including antiques at wholesale, and would rather sell at lower prices and turn the items faster - that isn't retail, and it is a bargin for the buyer.
I would like to think eBay would put some sort of Icon beside the Buy Now auction so that it would be easily recognizable and those using it wouldn't have to waste space adding an abbreviation to tell the buyer it is a BUY NOW item.
posted on November 3, 2000 05:41:09 AM new
As a seller, I can see some benefit to the "Buy Now" / 1st Bid Wins features...I'm sure I have quite a few items around here that I'd take the first bid for & be really happy NOT to have to wait the duration of an auction to complete....I agree there should be some standard for identifying these auctions, BUT I think that a "Buy Now" in the title would appear to some potential bidders to be the same as a "L@@K" or "H@T", just another gimmick....We know that there is a large majority of eBay users who do not read the announcements/bid without knowin' much about the SOPs, & even tho' "Buy Now" is to be the eBay way & "1st Bid Wins" is not, I believe the latter would be more effective in drawing potential bidders.
posted on November 3, 2000 05:54:11 AM new
First, it's important to understand that there is a difference between an auction with a "buy price" and a "1st bid wins."
With "1st bid wins," the buy price is the same as the minimum bid.
This will be even more important on eBay than it is on Yahoo because, if the buy price is higher than the minimum bid and someone places a bid below the buy price, the buy price is no longer in effect.
"1st bid wins" is clearly not appropriate for some types of auctions. But when it is appropriate (most clearly on items that tend to close with one bid), "1st bid wins" can be extremely effective.
However, it is important to explain exactly what this means in the text of your auction, because, no matter what abbreviation you use in your title, very few buyers will have any idea what it actually means.
posted on November 3, 2000 09:19:33 AM new
I use 1st Bid Wins in my titles at YAHOO and then insert the following into every description -
1st Bid Wins !! The first bid wins this item. The auction will be stopped, as the "buy price" has been set at the starting bid. View my other listings, combine "wins" for reduced postage and check back often. <p>
YOU BID - YOU WIN - NO WAITING <p>
(any comments or suggestions would be appreciated. I list for ten days with 2 resubmits.)
If we set the eBay opening bid and Buy Now price as the same amount this approach will work on eBay. I will try to use this phase in titles and give up the added item description words. Buy Now does not convey the same messages to me as 1st Bid Wins and BN will take a long time to gain the broad based acceptance that NR has.
This whole approach is further confused by eBays decision to cancel the Buy Now feature, if the opening price and the Buy Now price are different, after a bid is made.
Both Amazon and YAHOO let you choose a Buy Now price above the opening bid and keep it in operation after an initial bid. This gives customers the option of paying the higher amount and making an immediate purchase or hanging in for the auction. Very effective for customers that are in a hurry (Xmas) or don't want to risk being outbid.
If we don't set the opening bid and Buy Now price as the same amount, I don't see how we can put anything into the title or the description. The feature will disappear after a bid and anything we say will no longer apply thus leading to confusion.
While rethinking this feature's disappearing act seems like a worthwhile suggestion, I won't be making it. eBay has so turned me off with their attitude to independent sellers that I keep my contact with them to an absolute minimum.
I've made a personal compromise with myself to continue to use the venue because of the profit potential in light of their nearly monopolistic hold on the marketplace and to stay involved with the user community, but eBay's, in my view, lying, cheating and general abuse of independent sellers leads me to have no voluntary contact of any nature with them and to restrict communications to the absolute minimum necessary for listing on the venue.
While some do not like the addition of fixed price selling into an auction setting, I think it has a place and should be accepted as an additional option/tool.
One reason is eBay says they are moving in that direction and seem very pleased with the Half.com approach. What eBay wants, eBay gets (for now anyway).
Many new and common preowned items have an established price or narrow price range on ebay for sold/completed listings. Why not list the common item at the usual market price, close the transaction when we get a bid and cut out the waiting for 6 or 9 days until the listing closes.
Search of completed auctions show the eBay market price on many common products which is often below B&M retail. Giving the customer the choice of an immediate purchase, at eBay market price, or entering into a low opening bid, extended duration auction seems a reasonable extension of options.
I'll use both and sometimes list identical items, at the same time, in both formats. That gives the buyer a choice of NOW or trying for a lower price over an extended time.
While some will attempt full retail pricing they do so now with high opening bid. I also hold the generally unpopular opinion that increased listing fees with compensating reductions in FVF would cull out some overpriced or B&M retail pricing. An alternative would be a fixed FVF even if the item didn't sell. That would require a stable site which is not generally known to exist at eBay. But these latter remarks are really a topic for another discussion.
Bottom Line - with so much stuff selling repeatedly for one bid why not cut out the crap and shorten the sales cycle.
posted on November 3, 2000 11:02:07 AM new
amalgamated2000
I agree "1st Bid Wins" is the preferable tag, but with eBay's limited Characters in the Title, it takes too much room - it works fine on Yahoo where one can use much longer titles.
Think I'll ask Ebay if they are going to have an icon for the "BUY NOW" type auctions....probably won't get an answer, but can ask. Of course, as someone else said, if the opening price and the buy price aren't the same then the auction changes....
I intend to use the same approach I use on Yahoo, open price and buy price the same, so it is actually a 1st Bid Wins!
Guess someone will come up with something that works like NR.
I am really looking forward to how this will work on eBay.
posted on November 3, 2000 11:40:02 AM new
It would have to be an icon to make any sense, and besides that, one that comes and goes. As soon as someone places a bid below the buy price - there is no longer a 1st bid wins situation.
posted on November 4, 2000 09:35:55 AM new
I think an icon plus something in the title plus an explaination in the description will provide the best results.
All this will only work if the "Buy Now" price is the same as the starting bid.
If these prices are different and eBay continues with it's plan to remove the buy feature after a bid then nothing can be included in the title or description as it risks confusion if the feature is cancelled.
The icon would also have to disappear immediatly upon a bid being placed. With search functions being hours and sometimes days behind, I think this will also lead to confusion.
Customers will see "buy Now" icon in search, go to the listing and find one or more bids and no BN option.
I'm sure there was some concept that justified the disappearing option portion of this feature but it eludes me. I see it as having no merit and adding all sorts of possible confusion when used in a listing having different opening bid/buy price.
It also makes reference to the feature in the title and description invalid. Unless you want to explain that a listing started as a "Buy Now" but if anyone bids then yada yada yada.
The committee that created this should be congradulated for taking a clear cut, simple option that has worked well at other sites and turning it into another potential eBay nightmare.
After a sales lull following YAHOO requiring all buyer to register with a credit card, I've experienced better than one 1st Bid Wins sale per day since Oct. 15th. YAHOO also refunds the optional feature charges for that portion of the listing duration unused in a 1st Bid Wins sale.
Christmas seems like a perfect time to allow customers the option to complete a purchase rather than wait out the time and uncertain outcome of an auction.
Giving the buyer the option to change the terms of our dual priced tiered listing is unacceptable. Not to mention the buyer who will only partially understand the process and will expect the opening bid to complete the purchase.
I think this is marketing insanity but seems to go unnoticed among the ever increasing norm of conduct at the eBay asylum.
posted on November 4, 2000 10:27:28 AM new
Here's an interesting twist on Buy Now/First Bid Wins. We have (or have had) a lot of first bid wins auctions listed on Yahoo with no sales at all. Yesterday I stripped all "First Bid Wins" from the auction titles and dropped cut the opening bids in half, leaving the buy price where it was. This resulted in several auctions closing at the buy price today.
I am beginning to wonder if "first bid wins" is turning some people away.
