posted on September 28, 2001 09:05:23 AM
I may catch some flack on this one but I HATE reserve auctions. I just won't bid on them anymore. You know the story someone left a substantial bid.....you go in there place a bid run it up a little. If you run it up enough you might help it sell for the seller. But, I just won't do it! I've missed out on a few nice things by dnot doing this. Problem is some have unreasonable reserves, so why try? The other day I missed out on a gorgeous Limoge dresser tray that sold fo $60, I would have gladly paid more but figured the reserve was unreasonable and just left it alone I think the seller could have done better without a reserve. I see those auctions just sitting there. To me it's not a true auction and takes the fun out of bidding. At least without the reserve you know you might end up with the item. I realize people use it to protect themselves from taking a loss. I thin e-bay stands to gain a lot on reserve auctions, imagine the money they make.
posted on September 28, 2001 09:13:41 AM
I have no problem with reserves. I think some people hope to score things for less and then after the fact they say they would have paid more.
I see an item, I decide my final bid. I snipe with that amount and I win or I lose, reserve or not. End of story for me.
posted on September 28, 2001 09:25:24 AM
I respect your opinion, and it's a good thing there are people who will bid reserves. I just think they are discouraging and expensive. I tried them once, no sale. To me its like you put an item up for auction but have a set price in mind, but it's a big secret what that price is. Not a true auction.
posted on September 28, 2001 09:25:24 AM
I also never bid on the reserve auctions. It's probably unwarranted, but I always assume that if there is a reserve, then it's gonna cost more than I want to pay. It almost seems as if it would be a waste of my time to bid.
What I really don't get is sellers that have a reserve AND a BIN... wouldn't one automatically think that the reserve would be about the same as the Buy It Now price? I seldom see a BIN that I think is a great deal on an item, so rarely take advantage of that option, either.
I think I'm rambling... just call me
Rosie
*There is no conclusive evidence that life is serious*
posted on September 28, 2001 09:29:52 AM
I can honestly say I've only won a reserve auction once, and that was a suprise. Yes, I'm a careful shopper. But, I can't tell you how many times I paid more than I should have when I got into a bidding war that I knew I could win! Whew!! That can be dangerous financially but that's why I think no reserves are usually best for the seller.
posted on September 28, 2001 10:14:13 AM
As a rule I dislike reserve auctions too. However, as a seller who needs to protect against financial losses, I think the only way I will be listing anything worth over $50 will now be with a reserve.
I can't let items go for $50 that are worth $150 everywhere else. And in the past few weeks that has happened to me way too often.
My other choice is to not offer these items at ebay at all. Is that what bidders want to see happen?
posted on September 28, 2001 10:21:39 AM
jadejim
I hear your concerns, and in all honesty am in the same boat. I have been with-holding my listings, in hope that sales pick-up. What will happen when all of us who have been in this position cut loose and begin to list again? We will flood e-bay in time for the holidays and then what? There may be a lot of bargains out there.
posted on September 28, 2001 10:26:49 AM
Two auctions, by the same seller, for identical items, with identical terms except one is a reserve auction and one non-reserve:
Reserve auction, reserve of $100: One bidder so far, current bid is $10.
Non-reserve auction: One bidder so far, current bid is $10, but the actual proxy bid is $100.
In either case, you'll have to bid over $100 to win, but there's no way to know that when you make your bid.
So... what's the difference?
Waste of time to bid? How long does it take to make a bid? 15 seconds?
posted on September 28, 2001 10:36:32 AM
I never use proxy bids, though a lot of people do. I find that I never end up with the item unless I'm there to watch it end. I can't tell you how many times I've place bids went to bed and woke up to find I have won nothing. Sniping seems to be the key, and that doesn't always work.
posted on September 28, 2001 11:00:42 AMI can't tell you how many times I've place bids went to bed and woke up to find I have won nothing.
What does this mean? Only that someone else wanted it worse than you did.
. To me it's not a true auction and takes the fun out of bidding.
It's only fun if the seller is willing to give it away if eBay has functionality problems during the last couple of hours of the auction? Not much fun for the seller.
I think some people hope to score things for less and then after the fact they say they would have paid more.
Yup.
What I really don't get is sellers that have a reserve AND a BIN
I do it all the time. It works, and that's what counts. I set the reserve at the lowest I can live with, and the bin at what I figure top dollar is.
posted on September 28, 2001 11:07:31 AM
As an artist who sells work on ebay I have to set a reserve. It works for me and I have never had any complaints about it.
I only set them on the large paintings and then I set a price that protects my time and material at a reasonable return. On the smaller paintings I just set a higher starting price and no reserve.
They both sell equally well. I get more bids on the ones with the reserve as people try to figure out what the reserve price is.
The low start price gets it going.
I tried it once without the reserve and ended up working for less than minimum wage that week.
Never again.
posted on September 28, 2001 11:08:21 AM
Here's what I do.....if I have an item that I'm afraid will go to cheap, I'll put a reserve on it(normally less than true value) then list the reserve amount in the auction description...at least I don't bugged by people wanting to know what my reserve is......works for me.
I think some people hope to score things for less and then after the fact they say they would have paid more.
Yup.
My response:
It Works. What would be the point of saying I would have paid more? Who knows what more is when there is a reserve, unless someone wins the auction and is willing to meet it no one knows. I just pass by to many reserve acutions. I think they leave out a signifigant portion of bidders. Sometimes all it takes is one bid to start things rolling. It seems that if one person wants the item, it is all of the sudden more desirable to other bidders.
[ edited by mhillyrd on Sep 28, 2001 11:22 AM ]
[ edited by mhillyrd on Sep 28, 2001 11:24 AM ]
posted on September 28, 2001 11:16:20 AM
What puzzles me are the people who set the reserve at $10.00 or so. I just saw one like that by a high feedback seller. Doesn't make sense to me.
posted on September 28, 2001 11:43:30 AMSometimes all it takes is one bid to start things rolling. It seems that if one person wants the item, it is all of the sudden more desirable to other bidders.
Exactly. Start something at $400, no reserve, and no one bids. Two weeks later re-list it at $50 with a $400 reserve and it gets 30 bids, and closes out for $500... I've had it happen over and over.
They were willing to stay up and bid on an item that had NO RESERVE. It works also.
It's not a matter of "staying up all night", it's a matter of being willing to pay a higher price. The last bid doesn't win, the highest bid does. (this has more to do with "sniping" than reserve auctions...)
I realize that some people don't like reserve auctions. I buy and sell strickly to make a profit. I do what works, and if it didn't work, I wouldn't do it.
We all know eBay can have functionality problems that make it almost impossible to bid at times, and that 50 % of the bids (and, more importaintly, the highest bids) come in the last 2 hrs. Without a reserve on the more expensive items, a seller either starts the bidding at a price to high to attract that importaint "first bid" that gets the ball rolling, or takes a chance of practicly giving away an item because eBay is slow as mollasas the last two hours of the auction.
posted on September 28, 2001 11:46:02 AM
I've used reserves successfully since I started selling on ebay ('98).
Time and time again it has proven superior to the other two options:
1. List at a lowball opener + no reserve (suicidal in today's marketplace), or
2. No reserve, higher opener.
This is because of one unwavering ebay reality:
Ebay bidders dislike high openers MORE than they dislike reserves.
I've experimented with it, someone even conducted a study on it once, items with reasonable reserves achieve higher sales levels than those with no reserves and identical opening prices.
BIN is the only exception to this rule, attracting that segment of the market for whom time is more important than price.
posted on September 28, 2001 11:51:27 AM
Microbes,
True enough, sniping is the key with experienced buyers. Sometimes we just can't be there to snipe, I hardly ever get anything purchased unless I am right there when it end. I'll be honest I don't like to leave large bids. I have many time run an item up just because someone did leave a proxy bid. How many others do this too?
Also, I have many times not been able to bid on an item in an attept to snipe, just because e-bay is slow. I have fast-track internet, that is incredibly frustrating.
posted on September 28, 2001 12:55:03 PM
While I realize I might lose a bidder or two because of reserve auctions, I have recently had much more success with them than I'd had in the past.
This might be because for books, I have other data bases besides eBay to use for price comparisons. My reserves are usually (not always) lower than the same book at fixed price sites.
On my everyday, you can find this many places items, of course I don't use reserves. But on special items I think you have to sometimes. I'd rather have one bidder who wants the item enough to bid my reserve, than 15 bidders who still only take the item to 50% of what I want for it.
Of course, it hurts when the reserve isn't met because of the extra listing fee involved. But it doesn't hurt as much as taking a substantial loss because eBay was down, or the right bidders didn't happen to see your item that week, etc.
posted on September 29, 2001 02:20:35 AM
As a seller I have used reserve auctions and done well with them. For some reason if you put a $300 start on an item you will not get bids but if you put a $1 start and a $300 reserve it will get to the $300 reserve.
posted on September 29, 2001 07:06:17 AMThe other day I missed out on a gorgeous Limoge dresser tray that sold fo $60, I would have gladly paid more but figured the reserve was unreasonable and just left it alone
Everyone has a right to their own opinion on what they will bid on and why....even if the why is illogical. You assumed the reserve was unreasonable but had no facts to base that assumption on...you are making decisions based on emotions rather than fact.
There is an easy way to judge whether a seller sets "unreasonable" reserves...pull up a 30 day history of their auctions. Check out their sold items...did they use reserves? Were they met? If the majority of their reserve auctions had the reserve met then they don't normally set unreasonable reserves. If their reserves are rarely met then they probably do set unreasonable reserves.
I can point you to a 3 year seller in the Limoges category who always uses reserves and his reserves are rarely met. He also has very low feedback for someone who has been listing steadily on ebay (under 100 and he seems to list 20 or so auctions every week). But he doesn't seem to want to sell on ebay...instead he points the potential buyer to his web site where he lists many items, all at high prices. He is using ebay strictly as an advertising medium. BUT...he is not the norm.
If you would check out a reserve sellers 30 day auctions tosee if his reserves are met AND you were to check out completed non-reserve auctions for the same merchandise, you will find most reserve auctions have the reserve set in the same ballpark that other similar, non reserve items have recently sold for.
As I said, everyone has the right to determine how and on what they will bid on, even if their basis for not bidding on something like a reserve auction is illogical...but, as your example proves, the one it hurts is the buyer because he more than likely WAS willing to pay the reserve amount but because of an illogical predjudice he lost out on something he wanted to someone who didn't reject an item because of an illogical predjudice.
The one who is losing is you, not the seller. There are plenty more fish in the sea who will bid on the reserve acution...you are the one limiting what you are able to buy. I wonder how many other items you have lost out on that you would have been willing to pay the reserve price?
[ edited by amy on Sep 29, 2001 07:07 AM ]
posted on September 29, 2001 08:53:57 AMan easy way to judge whether a seller sets "unreasonable" reserves...pull up a 30 day history of their auctions. Check out their sold items...did they use reserves? Were they met?
I know an even easier way that takes way less time. Bid your max. It either meets the reserve, or it doesn't. Takes 15 seconds.
posted on September 29, 2001 08:58:46 AM
Personally, I've picked up some of my best buys on eBay from sniping reserve auctions and ending up being the high bidder with the reserve not met....
I use sniping software or Vrane so I don't have to stay up all night...
The last item I bought this way, a diamond tie-tac, had a substantially higher reserve than the closing price (my winning bid, which was less than my high bid)...but, when contacting the seller privately, we both discovered our perceptions of value were closer than the auction may have led one to believe and the seller sold me the item at my high bid (as referenced in my bid notification from eBay), shipping and insurance included.
It appraised two weeks later for 8 times what I paid for it....
My advice (if there is any to give here...) is to focus on the item and its value, not the format of the auction.
As a seller, I've generally used lo-start reserve auctions on high value generic items and lo-start, no reserve auctions on popular items, my reasoning being essentially similar to what has been iterated by sellers elsewhere in this thread.
My most recent experiences (I'm not a full-time seller) have shown me that the popular items get bids quite early wheras some of the more generic items get picked up in mid-auction or near the end....a couple of watches I sold recently didn't get bids until the last couple hours but did surprise me at the action they received at that point.
So, should one avoid that dreaded reserve auction? That's a personal choice, much like bidding on any auction on eBay; usually one based on experience and research....and the desire for that trinket!
FWIW, I've bid on many pieces of equipment for my machine shop in reserve auctions in the R/W and, even though not successful at the auction, have had sellers contact me after the sale (often they're in the audience too) offering the item at a reasonable price, some of which I purchased. Had I not expressed interest in their item, they would have never known who I was, yes?
posted on September 29, 2001 09:08:20 AM
Microbes...yours is the better way, I totaly agree. but when someone has this illogical assumption that the reserves are all set at unreasonable amounts, then telling them it isn't so doesn't do any good...my idea was that the buyer could prove to himself that his asumptions were wrong if they just did a little research.
My point is that I am not the only one who feels this way about reserves. The majority I have dealt with in the past have been unreasonable, so I gave up on them. When I see a reserve it immediately kills my interest. I am basing my assumptions on past experience, not just prejudice.
If you want to use them fine, I really don't have a problem with it. I just wanted to see how other people feel about this issue.
posted on September 29, 2001 09:30:37 AMThe majority I have dealt with in the past have been unreasonable, so I gave up on them.
So what does that statement really say? That you wanted to pay less and someone else wanted to pay more? "Unreasonable" to one bidder may be well within reason to another.
posted on September 29, 2001 09:41:13 AMbut when someone has this illogical assumption that the reserves are all set at unreasonable amounts,
I agree. Most people sell on ebay in order to make a profit. How many of us would continue to use a method that didn't work? If it didn't work, I would have stopped using reserves long ago.
