posted on January 17, 2001 10:02:50 AM
Ignorance is BLISS!
In light of eBay's rate increase there is much talk on the boards of leaving, down sizing, trying other auction sites.
I've made a decision to do NONE of the above.
Heres why:
I sell Used, Old collectable items. Most the time I haven't a clue as to what I have and its worth to someone else.
I run 10 day auctions, use the gallery, put 1 auction in a Feature Category per batch, and start ALL my auctions at $1.00 NO RESERVE.
I started doing this last August when I no longer was having any fun at this job. I was lucky to even get one bid when I was setting prices to what I thought I needed to recover just my cost.
Reading these boards give me the incentive to do the $1.00 thingy.
I can't even begin to tell you the success I've had since I took the $1.00 plunge.
Granted, I have had items only sell for $1.00 in those cases I will lose money......BUT.....you need to look at the BIG PICTURE.
The next 10 items may go beyond your wildest dreams.
Not long ago I was asking on this board about postcards and there value if they are glued into an album. After bidding it up at a live auction I got it for $90.00. Not really realizing they were ALL glued in .
I went ahead and FEATURED it started at a $1.00 NO RESERVE and held my breath. Well.....9 hours to go, its at $515.00.
I think that will MORE then cover the NICKLES & DIMES that eBay may add onto my coming auctions for a good long time.
Ignorance is BLISS!
NO BIN for me.....and CONGRATULATIONS to mrssatantaclaus.
posted on January 17, 2001 12:23:27 PM
Hi Packer:
I am always glad to see one of your posts on this board, because I couldn't agree with you more on your $1 philosophy.
I have successfully run $1 auctions for 3 years now, and I do believe this is the only way to go. Mind you, these are not $1 items, my final bids probably average $20 and range from $4 - $500 +.
I have also tried it the other way lately, by making my start bid as high as $9.95 on some items I have in quantity - it clearly doesn't work as well. A true auction is what the bidders really want, and some will pay a very high price to win one.
So you occasionally loose on an item - so what! The money you make on the whole more than makes up for this. I also have plenty of blissfull stories about my ignorance in certain categories, and how surprised I have been to discover that I turned $10 into $500 or more. You and I know that this is true, but I think a lot of people who read this don't beleive it.
Now for the sad part: after a couple years of reading these boards, I have come to the conclusion that you can post about "real auctions" every day, and you will get very few converts. I don't think that most people can take this kind of risk - not that they shouldn't, but it makes them too uncomfortable. Then there are those who are just plain short-sighted - in fact there's a lot of them.
The latest fee increases don't bother me at all - PayPal, USPS, eBay. Not that I enjoy paying more, but these charges represent such a small % of my gross, it's not worth mentioning. You won't hear me whining on this board about deadbeats and stupid bidders either, because 99% of the people I deal with are friendly and pleasant. I just run real auctions, and couldn't be happier about the whole deal.
posted on January 17, 2001 01:44:54 PM
Hi kathyg,
Yes, you have a good handle on how all this "REAL AUCTION" stuff works.
One thing I like is I don't have to mess with any "relists". I use to burn alot of money just relisting stuff. Oh yah, they say its FREE to relist,BUT...thats only if you sell it the second time. If it doesn't sell you have another quarter tied up in it or even worse if you use a reserve and it don't sell.
Of corse maybe sellers like you and I should be grateful to those that list with an inflated price. It just sends them my way.
The more bids an auction has the more atrractive it is to the bidder. They are thinking WOW if that many people want it I better try and get it....uh-oh, we have a BIDDING WAR taking place.
posted on January 17, 2001 01:54:05 PM
Hi packer...
Congrats on your album... I have one of those...with glued cards. How many photos did you take of yours...a bunch? I'm kind of at a loss on how much detail I need to give... There are a LOT of cards in there!
posted on January 17, 2001 02:05:30 PM
Hi toke,
I work on that album the better part of 3 days preparing it for auction.
With 600+ postcards I took tons of pictures with 5 links on the auction page. Of course I didn't take pictures of them all, but tried to get a good sampling of what there was. Also tried to list most of the towns and states involved, but, I really grew weary and missed some I know.
It was alot of work and I wasn't even sure if it would pay off at the time I was preparing it for auction. I'm sure happy to say I was wrong and the extra effort I put into it was well worth it.
I guess if you want good results you have to put the time and effort into it.
I say the more good clear pictures you can provide will be your biggest asset to your auction.
posted on January 17, 2001 02:21:36 PM
Thanks! I just learned how to do those clickable thumbnails...I could do a bunch of those.
Makes more sense than soaking all of those cards off and doing a bunch of individual auctions. Maybe I'll try your $1 method. Hey...I have no money in the album...why not give it a try?
posted on January 17, 2001 02:34:02 PM
Hi, I guess I've been a wimp. What's kept me from doing it I admit is fear of loosing. Did you just jump in feet first, or did you experiment with items that you got really cheap? I sometimes buy new items to re sell that I put a bit of money into like quality teapots that are tough to find retail but there is so many out there.. well as I said I'm a wimp.
posted on January 17, 2001 02:43:25 PM
Well said...
Last end of June, I stopped all accessories...gallery, feature, etc.
Listed under $5.00 and maintained about same number of auctions.
Bids and dollars went up...
Thanks for your insights...
posted on January 17, 2001 03:00:24 PM
Howdy Packer,
I tried your $1 with no reserve idea in December and had mixed results. The items that always sell well, still did, and most ended at about the same amount they would have had I started them at $9.99 or $14.99.
Some of the items that don't always do so well, depending on the week, did about the same as they normally do. A couple items dudded completely. One thing I noticed is that the cheapskates that started the bidding off, never did return to bid when the items got closer to their normal price range on eBay. They must have gone off in search of another bargain basement deal?
I took a look at your auctions on eBay, and I really think it depends what you sell as to how well this method works, or doesn't.
KathyG
Same thing as above. If my items averaged $20 I'd be doing the same as you, but they don't, and after 3+ yrs of selling on eBay the one thing that I've learned is that
timing is everything.
Items that might fizzle at $50 one week, can end at $175 2 weeks later on a relist. It all comes down to the # of bidders on any given week.
I always research the bidding pool on eBay before I list my higher priced trinkets, if the bidding is soft, I wait a few weeks until there's more buyers actively seeking out that particular item.
It may take more time & energy than simply tossing an item up for $1 and crossing my fingers & hoping for the best, but it works for me, & it works very well.
I always start my items at a very reasonable price, because I can afford to [I buy cheap], and I love to see bidders get a great deal, but I'm not in the habit of giving things away either.
On $20 items you don't have a HUGE risk factor, but try listing items in the $100-500 range, and you might be singing a different tune?
You'll never see me moaning & groaning about a lack of bidders, nor will you see me complaining about the increase in fees, for the most part my items kick azz on eBay, and always have.
Oh, and once in awhile I get so whacked that I even use a reserve, & my customers don't seem to have any problems with that either.
posted on January 17, 2001 05:07:19 PM
I am glad that some of you have found starting all your auctions at $1 to be successful.
I tried a bunch of these last summer with decidedly mixed results. Many got the bid that I was expecting. A very few did better, but far, far too many sold for $1.
For my product, the best that I can say about starting at $1 is that, if done with a few auctions, it may draw traffic to my other auctions. Trouble is, I can't prove that, even to myself.
When I expect the item to sell for under $50, I usually start at a price where I will make a small profit. Occasionally I will use a reserve. Occasionally I will start where I will be very happy with one bid. I am using BIN on most but not all of my less that $50 auctions.
Higher price auctions allow for even more flexible strategies.
I one thing I never do is start auctions at $9.xx. Far, far too many people start there. My goal is to set my auctions apart from others.
In short, I try to use the best strategy for the particular auction. IMHO, if you only have a 'one size fits all' strategy, you are missing a lot of opportunities, and a lot of dollars.
Bill
typos
[ edited by cdnbooks on Jan 17, 2001 05:09 PM ]
posted on January 17, 2001 09:13:50 PM
I am just a small time seller, but I start all my auctions at 1.99. For instance, right now I have 12 items up, and all 12 are sold. I have 44 bids on them. I think that is pretty good, and I am happy!
posted on January 17, 2001 10:23:39 PM
Hi reddeer,
I'm sorry i'm posting so late but I just returned home from my RLJ , (I'd rather be here listing).
I respect your posts and am glad you replyed to mine.
I don't know what you sell.....
ME...I go to our local auctions and buy what I like and what I think MAY do well on eBay.
Understand this is after 3 years here...so I've got a pretty good handle on things.
This last run(lasting 3 months now) I spent $900.00+ at auction. I'm getting down now to the END. BUT.....I've made 3X and better OVER ALL from that auction running my $1.00 starters. AND I still have the WINNER sitting here that I paid $300.00 for. Yes, I'm very nervous about starting it at a dollar...(but it owes me NOTHING!)
I don't always know what goes and what don't,
but if I like it I GO FOR IT!
You have to look at the BIG PICTURE!
Like I said I don't know what everyone sells that come here with their GRIEF. I have NO Grief with what I'm doing.
If even ONE person can pick up on what I'm saying......GREAT.
If your not getting what you think you should out of your product.....get a different one.
In closing....I'm having the time of my life RIGHT NOW running my $1.00 NO RESERVE auctions.
Yes, it was VERY SCARY for me when I started, but the OVER ALL(thats the key to this OVER ALL) results are WONDERFUL!
posted on January 17, 2001 10:48:21 PM
I have started the "dollar" thing and have had great results...I have had to place a $5.00 s/h fee on these and people seem to like it...and with the new USPS fees it pretty much fits the 5 bucks anyway...I have had several auctions go way up with this dollar thing...I like it....I'm gonna keep at it for a while and see...even with ebay hikes I think it is pretty safe....it might just keep people feeling like they can still get a good deal on ebay....
posted on January 18, 2001 02:58:39 AM
Yeah, I like that! Start it low and let it go! Mostly I've had very good luck with starting everything,if not at a $1, at least under $5. Only problem was a couple of times the bidders thought there must be something wrong with it or it wouldn't be that cheap.
Going to do it again tho, because it all evens out and I want to get all this inventory on fast and sold.
I do have some qualms about my new Amish quilts cause I've got too much in them, but that was my mistake, ebay is just not the right venue for them so better I take the loss, get some money back out of them and move on.
Oh, I make a hefty profit as well, I just happen to know that from week to week the bidding can be very fickle on eBay, and I'm not about to toss an item up for $1 that I know will fetch $250-$350 on a good week.
I'm a power seller, and have been for the past 14 months straight, and on lower $ items I still use the $1 opening bid. At the moment I have an item with one bid, at $1, with 30 hits. It should fetch $25-50 on eBay. So far the $1 opening hasn't started a bidding war. Lucky for me, it only cost me $2, so we'll see what happens.
I don't show my Power Seller logo on my auctions, but I do show some of my past eBay trinkets sold on my ME page to give bidders an idea of the merchandise I handle. 18 items I've selected from the past year, that total $11,250 in sales, that cost me a total of, $1,300, at auction etc. And that's just a small sample of the items I've sold on eBay.
Here's a post I copied from someone who lists over 1000 antiques & collectibles every week. He was complaining to a rep about the increase in listing fees, but he's come to the same conclusion as moi, every week is a different story as far as who's bidding on what. I've followed his auctions for the past year.
............................................
I sell rare and unusual items, mostly. About 20% of my stuff I have more than one of, and it's pretty regular. I'll sell *anything* that isn't nailed down.... Unless I have a hammer nearby.
I've been a gold powerseller 11 out of the last 15 months, and I am pretty confident I know my market. However, there is
NO telling WHEN the right bidder is going to show up for the RIGHT item at the right price. So I have to be very exposed. And you are making it VERY hard for me to stay exposed by increasing the COST of exposure. You are not TAKING money from my PROFITS, you are taking money BEFORE there is any sale. And that (not to put *too* fine a
point on it) sucks. You are NOT helping me sell, if you are charging me to SHOW stuff for sale. Can't you SEE how counterproductive that is? Has ANYONE at eBay *ever*
seriously studied SALES? And, no, an MBA doesn't count. That's business, and not SALES. Different animal.
posted on January 18, 2001 08:01:37 AM
Good Morning reddeer,
You are so right about being exposed to the right people. Thats why with the $1.00 opener its important for me to run 10 days.
I just don't know how you can figure when the right people are on searching for a particular item and when a good time is.
I liked the letter you posted, it is so true!
I advertise in all my auctions that "ALL auctions start at $1.00 NO RESERVE" I do that so they will look to see what else I'm offering for a dollar.
With ALL being a dollar I don't think they are thinking "whats wrong with this item?".
Its a plan I have adopted and hopefully buyers are bookmarking me to return and view new listings.
Also when I list...I list all related items that I have on hand at that time. It incourages buyers to purchase more then one item of related interests.
Fortunate for me as it turned out, I'm finishing up on this last big auction, and its down to paper items which can ship really cheap. With the postal hike I'm sure that buyers are taking that into consideration when buying anything over the net.
Its all a risk...to me, you have to start out with a really attractive amount just to get them to look.
And yes, Ive had bidders start the bidding for $1.00 never to return, but thats OK at least they got the ball rolling. So, the next one comes along and thinks "oh well thats worth 2 bucks" or even more with a proxy, and so it goes.
Heres the thing...I do search on my stuff usually AFTER I buy it. Only to find disappointment in the bids and amount that it brings. BUT...to my surpise when I run my item for a $1.00 it will bring double and triple in price. I'm not an analyst, so I don't know really why that happens.
I just don't know how you can figure when the right people are on searching for a particular item and when a good time is.
Unless it's an ultra rare item, I simply do a Search, both active & completed, and go from there. Sometimes I'll find a few bidders that are going gung ho on that type of item, and that's when I list it.
Unlike most people that complain about reserves on AW, I've never had a problem using them. I think the key factor is using a reserve that's low enough that it will be met VERY early on. The reserve attracts bidders [even the cheap ones] who will get the action going, and once it's met, the serious players come out to play.
Ironically, a reserve auction [on higher priced trinkets] can get the same results as a $1 opening bid auction.
Recently I listed an item with a $99.00 reserve. I was hoping it would fetch $150-225. Within the first 48 hrs the reserve was met,[with approx 15 bids] and it ended at $381 with 28 bids. I had over 450 hits on that auction, so even the looky loos took the time to check it out.
3 weeks later I listed another similar item at $49.99 with no reserve. It ended at $351 with 15 bids.
The same high bidder won both items.
I now have another one up [these are all VERY unique, but similar up to a certain extent]
It has a $145 reserve [I paid more for this piece] and has 8 bids and is at $54 this morning. My guess it too will end up at well over the $200 mark.
Also when I list...I list all related items that I have on hand at that time. It incourages buyers to purchase more then one item of related interests.
Yes, I do this as well, on the lower $ items, and it HAS worked very well. Everyone likes to save $ on shipping where possible.
On higher $ unique items it's not usually a good idea as you'll spread the bidding pool around too much. I like to get everyone to focus on the 1 item, then list another one a week or two down the road.
I think Bill made a excellent point:
if you only have a 'one size fits all' strategy, you are missing a lot of opportunities, and a lot of dollars.
Myself, I'll use everything & anything at my disposal to help increase the final sales price.
If I feel the item is a good piece to use a BIN on, I will. Same thing goes for double categories, bold, featured auction, $1 opening, etc-etc.
I've had sellers tell me I'm crazy to waste my $$$ on those extras, but when I see the same items ending at less than half of what my item ended at, on the same week, I simply say, Ya, crazy like a fox.
posted on January 18, 2001 10:06:51 AM
As to whether the opening bid should be $1, or some other low opening amount certainly depends a lot on the item being offered, and the seller's comfort level.
I research all my items, and the better I think it is, the more likely I am to start it at a dollar. If I discover I've brought home a dud, I may try to recoup my cost or may list it at just a few bucks to get rid of it.
The point is, when you list items starting at closer to your cost vs. what you hope they bring, you ususually end up with a real auction on your hands.
My experience is that more often than not, the momentum that comes from multiple opening bids on the first day will carry the auction through to a higher outcome. This is what the bidders like, and keeps them coming back. At the same time, the seller makes more money.
It's not a perfect science, but if you can't buy low and sell high in the aggregate, then why are you listing on an auction site?
posted on January 18, 2001 10:13:19 AM
A safer and still very effective approach is to start the auction at 1/2 or 1/3 of what you think it will get (street value, not book value).
If you don't know street value then start it at $1.
Many items I sell get one bid no matter if the start is $1 or $8, as long as the price is reasonable, so it comes down to knowing how your items sell. With BIN, I put the start price about 10% below the BIN price and it works great for me. The faster turnover beats that occasional surprise high bid.
posted on January 18, 2001 10:15:46 AM
I've been doing the no reserve thing (9.99 starting bid), on high end items, for more than a year now, and I agree it is a great format, BUT...
I think it helps to have high feedback. I think some bidders get wary when they see a seller with 10 feedbacks offering a highly desireable item for $1 without a reserve. The "too good to be true" mentality comes into play. When I first started using this format, my feedback was around 100, and I would get countless emails asking me "how can you sell your widgets so cheaply...are they counterfeit?" So, I think having solid, somewhat high feedback is crucial for maximizing one's success with this format.
It's also important to take advantage of having a return bidder base, which is normally a result of running auctions in this format. I "reward" my return buyers by offering free shipping, free goodies, etc. So, I don't feel like the risk is so great as I know the regulars will be there.
This format, obviously, won't work with all items...that's a given, so I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. You really need to know your category, your market, and stay on top of things.
You really need to know your category, your market, and stay on top of things.
Exactly! I think it all really comes down to what a person sells, and how well established you are as a seller on eBay.
KathyG
The point is, when you list items starting at closer to your cost vs. what you hope they bring, you usually end up with a real auction on your hands.
I agree 100%. I don't often use reserves on my items, but when I do, I try & make it as low as humanly possible, knowing that once it's met, even the reserve auction haters will still bid.
Same goes for all my items, they start at a very reasonable amount, with the hopes of a BIG surprise finish at the end. Most of the time it all averages out in the end.
.
I have one of those...with glued cards. How many photos did you take of yours...a bunch? I'm kind of at a loss on how much detail I need to give... There are a LOT of cards in there!