posted on March 19, 2002 09:20:06 PM
hi,
Our philosophy? Every auction starts at $1.00, no reserve...ever. And it doesn't matter what we have invested in it...starts at $1.00...period...we wouldn't think of selling any other way...but, of course, it does depend on what you sell, some other sellers will remind you of that...for us it works because of the kind of merchandise we auction...Some sellers will knock the $1.00 auction format, but I'm telling you it works...why, Ebayers love em' and they tell me so it attracts bidders, lots of them...and a lot of bidders create what I would term as a "bid war"...and a "bid war" generally creates a higher final value than an item at a fixed price~~more often than not...I have seen hundreds of examples were my competition may have started items at $9.95, $10.95, etc. and not receive a single bid, but we sell the same items for double that and receive several bids...over and over across the board...it is a proven method and it works for us...it is not as risky as some may tell you...we do occasionally lose money on an item, that is part of the game...but since our average profit margin is over 300%, it is not a concern for us....
Case in point about how successful $1.00 auctions are...I posted here the other day about a supplier who decided he would no longer sell me his product because he was getting several complaints from other Ebay sellers who were losing money. I was selling the same merchandise as the others. It appears that the same Ebay sellers cornered the supplier to try and get me to start my bidding at a much higher price(the same as them). I refused to do this...the supplier cut me off so he would not to risk losing the other sellers.
posted on March 19, 2002 10:41:49 PM
I use both, depends on the item. Just started some auction today at 1 cent, others pretty close to what I expect the final price to be. It also depends on how much I have into the item I am selling (how much it cost me) and sometimes I experiment if I sell multiples of an item. Usually it works out, though sometimes things go for under cost. I sort of laugh at people who complain that they ended up selling something less than they paid for it, if you start at $1 it happens from time to time. It's not like you sold 100 of the item, it is just one auction...
I started the 1 cent auctions last spring. I did up to $1. and it still works.
sure I've sold something for 1 cent, and I've something for $1. but the prices that go up on everything else sure makes up for it, and I happily ship that 1 penny or 1 dollar item out.
I couldn't do it any other way.. I have too many repeat buyers, who expect the $1 start with no reserve. I tried one week, to do the start at $9.99 like everyone else.... didn't work... nada...
And yes my items are worth more than one cent or one dollar
posted on March 20, 2002 08:29:11 PM
There's one power seller (feedback 70000+) in the used CD category that starts every auction at $0.01. I've watched their auction results from time to time and often they end up selling the used cd's for $8-10 and boxed sets often go for retail. I guess it really depends what category you sell in.
I sell in a lower volume category and usually list at an acceptable fixed price. I think I may start putting some item up at $0.01 just to see how things work out.
posted on March 20, 2002 11:15:35 PM
The best way IMO is a lower start bid with a BIN about 15% higher than what your High Start price would have been.
I don't stick to one method, I reserach how an item sells and adjust my strategy accordingly. They all work well in their own situations. Something that gets lots of bid only needs a low start bid. Something with a lack of bids better to start higher.
posted on March 21, 2002 02:55:29 AM
Here are 2 recent experiences of mine.
I put on a doorstop for $99.00 start and did not get a bid. I reran it at $49.99 and it sold for $355.00
I put on an antique wrench that the last 3 I saw on eBay sold for over $300.00 each. I started mine at 9.99 and it sold for %54.00
I think you have to protect your investment. Make your starting bid at the lowest price you will make a profit. I had only paid $30.00 for the doorstop but I paid $100.00 for the wrench. I should have never started the wrench so cheap. Good items are to hard to find to let them go to cheap.
posted on March 21, 2002 04:38:20 AM
It depends on what you sell as has been mentioned earlier. If you are selling low cost restockable items by the 100's or 1000's, then a low starting bid of a buck or so will work. I personally would not want to take that risk on high end or collectible items. Buyers are funny, I listed a book a while back at a reasonable price, no bidders. Just for the fun of it, I doubled the price when I relisted and had a dozen bidders, You just never know.
posted on March 21, 2002 06:52:23 AM
[b]I doubled the price when I relisted and had a dozen bidders
I ALWAYS raise my price on a re-list! They invariably SELL! [/b]
Alldings & tomwii,
Same here. I started raising prices and sold more. Maybe they thought something was wrong the items because they were too cheap? But I see the same items start cheap and bid up every day, so that just doesn’t make sense.
I raise the price on a resell and it seems to sell fine. When I lowered the price in the past, they sat there and died. ????
it attracts bidders, lots of them...and a lot of bidders create what I would term as a "bid war"...and a "bid war" generally creates a higher final value than an item at a fixed price~~more often than not...I have seen hundreds of examples were my competition may have started items at $9.95, $10.95, etc. and not receive a single bid, but we sell the same items for double that and receive several bids...over and over across the board...it is a proven method and it works for us...it is not as risky as some may tell you...we do occasionally lose money on an item, that is part of the game...but since our average profit margin is over 300%, it is not a concern for us....