posted on August 12, 2001 07:15:16 PM new
and listed all of my auctions at $1.00 with no reserve. Many of the items I listed were selling in the $100-$200 range for others. Now we shall see if my time at eBay will come to an abrupt end. I took out a loan to purchase items to sell, and I am hoping AT THE VERY LEAST to break even.
But breaking even isn't good enough for me. I have never been so scared in my life as I am now. But then again, I guess people who don't take risks never get ahead in life.
BTW, if the items do half as good as I am hoping, I will offer an apology to everyone on this board who I told that they were crazy to start auctions at $1 NR.
I don't think I will be sleeping for the next 7 days.
posted on August 12, 2001 07:21:21 PM new
rewassago
Don't sweat it. As long as they are good, desirable items they should bring a fair price.
Mix yourself a margarita, kick back and watch the bids roll in. Don't worry if they don't get bids the first day or go to a big price in a few days! The bidders will come through for you.
Also, don't sweat the borrowing of money. I will sometimes purchase resale merchandise on credit or loan, turn it quick, repay the money borrowed and keep the profit.
[ edited by loosecannon on Aug 17, 2001 09:25 AM ]
posted on August 12, 2001 07:23:22 PM new
Hey Packer, check it out,
Another one of your "converts"
Rewassago,
I hope they will all sell and you'll do better then brake even,
But do get some sleep please.
(i'm not as brave as you guys are,
I would bite my acrilic nails off just
Waiting and hoping)
Next week I'll be posting
Auctions starting at $19.99 NR
Which is the lowest ever for me,
So I hope that mine will work out too
posted on August 12, 2001 07:26:21 PM new
Like always, it depends what you sell, and how many buyers are looking for those items on any given week.
I certainly wouldn't be tossing $100-200 items up at $1 NR, and especially not in mid August.
posted on August 12, 2001 07:39:08 PM new
I am selling closeout and return electronics. I weeded out all the junk and tested the items prior to listing. It has been slow going, since I am trying to learn a new auction listing program at the same time (another victim of Auction Amigo). I have about 140 more items to list, but I think I am only going to list about 10 more, and let these end so I can get a good test of the software prior to a larger glut.
When I decided to do this, I didn't realize how much work these items would be! I thought, "It will show up, and all I have to do is photograph it and list it"....YEAH RIGHT! I have to clean it, remove the annoying return stickers that they slap all over the merchandise, photograph it, find boxes for 80% of it, test it, list it, and package it up for shipping!
Well, if it pays enough, this will become a full time job for me and my wife. I sure hope it does. I have never taken a chance like this before....
I think I will play with that Dreamcast a bit more before I list it......
posted on August 12, 2001 07:47:04 PM new
I know about having to test electronics. I sell vintage electronics parts. It's work to test each piece! Labor intensive. But the parts are small and easy to ship except for being fragile. I'm sitting on literally thousands of pieces to test and sell. Some of it brings good money and some doesn't, but I'm certainly into it right!
I should get to work on this pronto but I picked up some other things to sell and it has given me a nice diversion from the electronics stuff.
Good luck on your auctions.
[ edited by loosecannon on Aug 17, 2001 09:26 AM ]
posted on August 13, 2001 10:01:02 AM new
I would say, if you don't get a bid by the 6th or 7th day, you should close that auction. I would hate for someone to sneak up at the last minute and purchase the item for a dollar.
If you had no bidders, then you can close the auction out early, but if you do, then you cannot and are stuck with the results. I do 1 dollar auctions faithfully, but I would NEVER do it on a 100-200 dollar item unless I got it for free or for about 5-10 dollars. I have even read this from those who are faithful dollar auction-starters.
posted on August 13, 2001 11:08:14 AM new
I hope this works out for you ~ I really do. I know this works well for Packer......but part of what works for her (and I believe she will agree with me) is that she runs all of her auction for a dollar every week ~ I bet she has loads of people that have her auctions bookmarked.
My point is this........I listed about 7 widgets that always sell everytime anybody on ebay list them in good condition. I decided to list them for $1.00 for 10 days to test what packer and others are saying. I figured I had nothing to loose ~ they always sell. I also had been watching another seller that sells the same stuff I do start her auction at $1.00 each week and do just as good and lots of time better than me. How did my auctions do? Three of them did great and the other 4 went for less than I had in them. One did go through the roof ~ so I came out ok over all ~ but I can't take it........I won't do it again because next time I might not be so lucky and I can not afford the loss ~ and if you borrowed money to buy inventory ~ neither can you.
posted on August 17, 2001 07:05:09 PM new
I think you probably just took a leap. Faith in eBay is roughly the half-life of Clinton promise. What happens if they have an outage while it closes.
I tried a couple 1.00 items that were much less expensive but I won't ever do it again. That's where they stay. It costs the same to start at 9.99. If you are willing to hang yourself, don't hand someone a rope, just take them out to the dumpster.
posted on August 17, 2001 08:16:37 PM new
Thank goodness for someone with some perspective. Every time I see that ******* $1NR thread come back, I list some items at $1 and I ALWAYS get hammered. I've learned my lesson. I certainly wouldn't put my business on the line with a kooky strategy like that though. Good luck.
posted on August 18, 2001 09:41:09 AM new
Well, the first batch is ending tomorrow around noon or so. So far, of the 15% of my total inventory that I have listed, the stats are:
12% with no bids (all telephones)
36% currently with a price BELOW what exact others are currently selling for (some which are ending AFTER mine)
52% currently either AT or ABOVE the current average selling price
The problem is, the 36% has some higher priced items in it.
So far, my conclusion is: Don't list any items worth $50.00 or more at $1 NR. The lower priced items are doing well, but we shall see. I know I have lost a few bidders because I don't ship to Canada, Hawaii, or Alaska (I quote a fixed shipping/handling price in my auctions). Oh well, at least they are asking before bidding. I will update when they are ended.
posted on August 18, 2001 09:58:32 AM new
I tried $1 auctions on some of my magazines once and once was enough! Most of them stayed right there. These were magazines that usually sell anywhere from $5.99 to $9.99 if I start them there. Also, lots of the $1 bidders turned out to be Non-Paying Bidders, Bad Check Writers and Slow Pays. No more $1 auctions for me. I'll start them at exactly what I want out of them and hope for the best. Good luck with your auctions. Hope they work out fine for you. I would have a heart attack before they were over if I listed that dollar value items starting at $1.
posted on August 18, 2001 11:57:11 AM new
Blind Leaps are ok for church and mabe ones Love life. Eventually youll get whacked hard - I sell 5 to 30 dollar items and tried the Leap o Faith tactic, It stirs lots of activity- Some great sales, some losses and quite a few no/slow pays - I have better luck with a reserve or a realistic min start bid. Good Luck- I hope you do great !
posted on August 18, 2001 12:16:45 PM new
This is why I only listed approx 15% of my inventory. If I get burned, I still have 85% to attempt to recover with. My break even point is $3700, and I have about 160 items to meet or beat that with (not counting any items I cannot sell due to them being DOA)
Right now I am at $367 with the 15% I have up, so I am still low. I need another $188 in bids to break even on this batch, but I doubt that will happen. Bidding is slow today.
posted on August 18, 2001 12:34:07 PM new
Why not judge the performance after the auctions end? You've got time to make up some ground--almost 24 hours.
And $1.00 no reserve auctions do work--depending on what merchandise it is of course.
rewassago
Just curious. It's none of my business of course, and if you can't answer this question I understand, but did you get the electronics from a company in Arkansas? I got an email from a company in Arkansas that was trying to sell surplus electronics merchandise by the pallet load. But I turned them down because I'm into vintage stuff.
[ edited by loosecannon on Aug 18, 2001 12:39 PM ]
posted on August 18, 2001 12:47:57 PM newAnd $1.00 no reserve auctions do work--depending on what merchandise it is of course.
I agree with this. It works (for me, anyway) with the very best merchandise. I try it from time to time with stuff I think will be "red hot", and I've guessed wrong ONCE. (and sent a nice peice of merchandise out for a dollar.)
Anything I think will only get a few (or only one) bids, I wouldn't do it on a bet.
posted on August 18, 2001 02:02:12 PM new
No, my items are not purchased from Arkansas. That is as much as I really wish to devulge. Still crossing my fingers that they will go up. They haven't budged all day yet.
posted on August 19, 2001 08:11:04 AM new
Hi revvassago,
Yes, I'm also waiting to hear the outcome of your auctions.
Just REMEMBER ONE THING when doing this.
You have to look at the TOTAL from all the auctions and not look at how they did individually.
I think that is where most of the sellers get confused and nervous as to the $1 NR auctions.
I NEVER look at how something does on its own, I look at my overall outcome.
EXAMPLE:
I go to a live auction. My total money spent is $350.00. Different bids for different things.
I may list 1/2 the stuff(but not the best yet from that auction) and always $1 NR.
If I can and do end up with a TOTAL of $1,000 from just half of it. I'VE DONE GOOD!!
Now, thats not to say...I bid and won this widget for $75 I only got $35 for it on eBay.....now, I have this other widget I paid $12.00 for and got $450.00 on eBay. You win some you lose some but the OVERALL outcome was that I was a BIG WINNER!!
Just don't fret on INDIVIDUAL sales and I beleive to be effective you have to run the $1 NR auction consistantly with everything.
posted on August 19, 2001 08:19:24 AM new
Glad it works for some of you. Definitely do not do it if you sell clothing - too many variables - sizes etc even if you have the right designer.
In fact we have done better raising our prices with women's clothing than lowering it. A lot of womens designer buyers feel there must be something wrong if a DKNY outfit, for example, is listed at $9.99 when it retails for $150 etc.
Just depends on your market. Clothing people only look last day - generally - because of the saturation so you won't get bidding wars.
posted on August 19, 2001 08:28:45 AM new
As always, it depends on what you sell!
I sell collectable/vintage. Everything from soup to nuts.
I sell a lot of those pieces/items needed to complete or add to collections.
I never know from one item to the next what is in demand. It all depends on who is looking.
I just put it on and either it goes or it don't. OVERALL I always come out way ahead.
I keep my eBay cost way down and I never have to relist.
I wouldn't be doing it that way if I were losing money over it.
posted on August 19, 2001 08:30:47 AM new
Problem appears to be those 15% that haven't received bids yet. Some joker(s) will slip in a last-minute $1 bid and win them.
It may be that if you have a reputation for starting bidding at $1 then you have buyers who regularly bookmark and search your items. The draw is obviously in attracting bidders who are searching for "deals." Once a $1NR item has a few bids, it no longer has its own appeal (though someone searching your auctions may find it).
As Packer has pointed out, to get that kind of rep you must start all your auctions at $1, always. If you sell low-end items, it might be practical. For high-end items, it is far too risky for me.
I tried a variation of this idea this week. I sell t-shirt (among other things) and decided to list most of them at $4.99. That is slightly lower than the usual price. Before I listed them, I did a keyword search at eBay for "gratefuldad, 488tshirt." (Gratefuldad is my selling ID.) Then I copied the URL of the search results and pasted it into my auctions, like this:
"Click here to see my _$4.99 t-shirt auctions_. (Keywords: gratefuldad, 499tshirt)"
By doing this, any bidder viewing any of my $4.99 t-shirt auctions can easily see a list of all other similar auctions. I also offered discounted shipping for multiple purchases.
Results so far: sales slightly better than usual, but because the price was lower, the difference is not very significant. A couple of t-shirts went high, but they probably would have anyway. A few got no bids. Hard to draw any real conclusion from this limited test run.
I would guess that a lower opening price increases looks, and may result in higher bids in some auctions. However, if you list ALL items at $1, the positive results may be offset by the items that sell for less than hoped.
posted on August 19, 2001 08:42:10 AM new
Hey twinsoft,
That may be a great idea! When I sell I try to sell like items at the same time so bidders can combine auctions.
I usually just say to check out my other auctions for somemore of the same. Something to that effect.
Then I always have a link to my picture Gallery.
But adding a link to just the similar items as well would save buyers from haveing to sift through the other stuff if not interested.
EXAMPLE:
I'm going to be doing another run of "American Fostoria" I could make an additional link just for those pieces.
What do think?
OR would I be cutting off my nose to spite my face by not having them look at the other stuff?
posted on August 19, 2001 09:02:23 AM new
Okay, I have been following these $1 NR discussions for awhile now. And I always wonder if all the work is worth it. When I check the completed auctions there seem to be a lot of them that end under $5.00.
Is it worth all the picture taking, listing, e-mails, packaging, etc. for such piddly amounts? And for the items that do go well.....wouldn't they do just as well if they started at $9.99 or any other amount? Good items are going to get bids anyways.
When I have checked the $1 NR jewelry auctions I see some with the same bidders on each seller's auctions so the prices do go up at the end. But those bidders are not the winners.
I still think that the $1 NR attracts bidders with dollar store mentalities for the most part.
Edited to clarify:
For the jewelry auctions I mentioned, I am talking about the $1 NR auctions for single items like real gold rings with stones, etc. The vintage jewelry lots with good items always do well whether they start at a dollar or not.
Sniping works up a thirst"