posted on July 11, 2001 06:50:36 AM new
I have no experience at these, but I'm trying a few because I found some merchandise that I thought would be good for Dutch.
I noticed in the bid history that the bidders' high bid amounts show while the auctions are still running. Why is that?
BTW, I guess I started the bid a little too high because out of 3 auctions (26 total items) I've only received 3 bids so far. Unless I get a lot of bidding toward the end, the next batch will be a little cheaper!
I do think I will like Dutch auctions though, and would like to try more in the future. I listed 26 items with minimal effort! I kinda like that part of it.
[ edited by loosecannon on Jul 11, 2001 06:53 AM ]
posted on July 11, 2001 06:59:32 AM new
Bid amounts show so the bidder will know what to bid... he can place his bid low or high...
dutch auctions do not use the proxy bidding system.
In a dutch auction everyone pays the same price as the lowest successful bidder.
(There is a glitch in this rule : when there is only one bidder and he bids for ALL the items, if he has bid more than the starting bid he will pay the amount of his bid even though he is the only bidder!)
I use dutch auctions for selling a lot, but I have noticed other sellers prefer to list their items one at a time with a BIN equal to the starting bid.
Others list many identical auctions at one time like a regular auction.
posted on July 11, 2001 07:31:21 AM new
Hi Loosecannon!
I've run a few dutch auctions for a particular widget that I make. It's been my experience that dutch auctions confuse the heck out of my bidders.
If you are even a little confused by the rules of a dutch auction imagine how your bidders feel. We use the ebay system every day and understand the ins and outs. Bidders just log on and bid on what they want. They (at least in my experience) don't want to bother learning a whole new system. If they don't understand the rules they just move on to another auction.
By all means, give it a shot in the dutch auction format. When it works it sure is fun to sell a whole bunch of items in one auction, but it has rarely worked out for me. I find that I do much better listing my items one at a time with a BIN price. I often relist as soon as I have a bid to keep things moving.
Let me know how you make out. I'd like to know if your results are similar to mine.
I have bid on Dutch auctions because they are a surefire way to get something cheap.
For that reason, I won't ever hold a dutch auction. Quite frankly, there seems to be no advantage to it -- you pay the listing fee x the number of items offered, so no savings there.
Also, if you have 10 items, you have to hope to find 10 bidders willing to keep the price increasing. From my experience, most bid wars come from 2-3 interested people.
Also, scarcity makes an item more interesting. If you have 10 of them listed (or 50 or 100), then I might wait since I know I can get the item anytime. I also might buy for a very low price, since the odds are in my favor of getting it anyway.
If I perceive that this is the only chance I've got to get the item (regular auction), I am more apt to engage in a bidding war over it.
For that reason, I also don't list several separate auctions for the same thing at the same time. If the market is flooded with the item, it does me no good to basically compete against myself to sell two or more of the items. Space them out one at a time and keep the demand high.
When I look for something, if I see 15 of the same thing clearly by the same seller, then heck, I won't bid against anyone, I'll just go to one of the unbid listings and get that one.
Even if your supply is high, you have to keep demand high.
posted on July 11, 2001 09:50:58 AM new(There is a glitch in this rule : when there is only one bidder and he bids for ALL the items, if he has bid more than the starting bid he will pay the amount of his bid even though he is the only bidder!)
This isn't a glitch. When you place a bid for the entire lot, you become the "lowest successful bidder".
For example, a dutch auction has 10 widgets listed at a starting bid of $1.00. One bidder places a bid of $5.00 each for all 10 items. The lowest successful bid is now $5.00, the price that the bidder will pay if no one else bids. If another bidder wants a widget, he will have to bid at least the next bid increment above $5.00.
Now let's say that 10 different users each bid $5.00 for 1 widget each. The same situation as above applies. An 11th bidder will have to bid at least one bid increment above $5.00 in order to receive a widget.
As previously stated, there is no proxy bidding in a dutch auction, and the "lowest successful bid amount is the same regardless if the lowest bid is placed by the only bidder or the 100th bidder. Therefore no glitch. The process works as designed (and very well IMO). I run dutch auctions almost exclusively (most with a 1¢ starting bid) and they are VERY profitable if the seller runs them correctly and if the merchandise itself is conducive to a dutch auction format.
