bidsbids
|
posted on June 11, 2002 10:04:41 AM
Why would anyone list and item for $45 when it sold for as little as $2.25 in the completed auctions search and a fellow seller has it listed at only $5?
People say how much it costs to list at eBay
but why just throw the fees away.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2111110834
competitor's auction
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=882671625
[ edited by bidsbids on Jun 11, 2002 10:07 AM ]
|
RB
|
posted on June 11, 2002 10:36:13 AM
Interesting question. I was bidding on an item and when the bidding got up over $30.00, I stopped bidding. Lo and behold, I found an identical item (better actually as it was still factory sealed) that was only 2 or 3 lines below the one I was bidding on, both closing within minutes of each other. I bid on that one, and won it for $26.00.
|
bidsbids
|
posted on June 11, 2002 12:16:12 PM
Here's what I've found about pricing on the internet. The most expensive prices tend to be on personal web pages that act as a quasi-store ( BVer/TopNotchAuctions Beach's homepage as an example ). Next come the "hope I find a rube" bidder tiny auctionsites, then comes Yahoo where the sellers can't warehouse their items and finally comes the Mother-of-All bargain sites, the Mighty eBay.
BTW, wasn't there a JustJoan on BV and Moo?
|
RB
|
posted on June 11, 2002 12:29:23 PM
I think there's also a lot of impulse buying happening on eBay. You know, you've been looking for something for a few weeks, finally see it, and place a huge bid. Then, after you have placed your bid, you look around a little more and find the same thing at a BIN price of 1/2 of what you bid ...
Hate that when that happens 
|
barncards1
|
posted on June 11, 2002 02:56:52 PM
Well here is what i just done:
3 items at the BAY one has 50 cards two have 40 cards. I want all of these cards as he is a locial guy. so I bid no one bids on them for days. then last day someone else wants in on them. so I figer I get out bid on one of the lots so what there are 2 more lots. well I got out bid on the second lot but I did bid lots more than what they could have been sold for around here.
now yesterday the last lot is fixing to go off got 3 hours to go my bid was out bid on them so I though about it and said this is what i will go for and guess what I won:} but they waited till the last few min's to start bidding and my high was higher than there's:}
Cool the first lot went for 26.00 the second 156.00 last one 75.00
|
bidsbids
|
posted on June 11, 2002 03:49:46 PM
Much of the bidding at eBay is in the last hour. I had some football memorbilia up for auction recently and put a $9.50 start bid with no reserve ( never have had a reserve auction ). After 3 days I get the minimum bid. Nothing else happens for 4 days and I check out the auction one hour before it ends and the bid is still $9.50 and the hit counter stuck at 14. I figured that was all I'd get for the item. I checked back after the auction ended and the hit counter was at 40+ and the item sold at $56 and the guy paid the next day by PayPal and I mailed out the item that same day.
Those "high" eBay fees were only $2.17 for the FVF and 30 cents for the listing fee. The item had been up in an attic and forgotten and given to me as a gift the other day. How much bidding activity do you think a third tier site would have generated?
|
RB
|
posted on June 11, 2002 05:15:58 PM
How much bidding activity do you think a third tier site would have generated?
Somewhere very close to zero, I'd say.
As a buyer only (I'm still one of those non-US types that doesn't have a credit card so I am not allowed to sell on eBay), it bugs me when people place bids at the last minute - I never seem to be near my PC when they close
|
bidsbids
|
posted on June 11, 2002 07:54:43 PM
Buzz, the idea is to proxy bid the maximum you are willing to pay for an item and then the last minute bidders can bid all they want but you'll know the eBay computer bid the most you were willing to pay for you. It helps eliminate emotional bidding too.
|
caffeitalia
|
posted on June 11, 2002 08:29:07 PM
Personally, I do not like to proxy bid. I have had trouble with shill bidding in the past and now if I bid just enough to be the front runner and if I get it, fine. If not, usually there are more items of the same to bid upon.
RB, I understand the frustration about being out bid at the last second. Many bidders use sniping software to bid. Ebay needs to update their site so others have a chance to outbid by extending auctions by 5 minutes. AuctionDiner does this and it works well. (Not that I am promoting AD, just stating a nice feature.) Many bidders wouldn't get turned off by the snipers and stick around for more chances to win auctions.
|
bidsbids
|
posted on June 11, 2002 09:08:49 PM
I get leery of possible shillers only if the seller has a very low feedback rating. In those cases and I might not use the proxy bidding system. I don't like the anti-sniping extension of auction method of adding 5 minutes to an auction. All bidders have a chance to make their bid, whether it's on the first day or the last few seconds. They can use the proxy system. If anyone is too paranoid of shill bidding on all auctions then they should only bid the most they will pay and only bid near the end of an auction. If you really think about shill bidding the corrupt seller risks losing the sale because he has no idea of how high you have proxy bid. If he outbids you and you do not up your bid then he may be stuck with the item and a have to pay a FVF on it.
Online auctions are confusing enough without adding time extensions to auctions.
|
RB
|
posted on June 12, 2002 06:20:51 AM new
caff ...
Ebay needs to update their site so others have a chance to outbid by extending auctions by 5 minutes.
I recall a venue (it may have been Yahoo in the early days) where a bid in the last hour extended the closing time by 24 hours. While this is a long ways off an extra 5 minutes, the concept is the same.
I don't like it.
It could go on ad infinitum - what happens if I place a bid in the 4th minute of overtime ... does it get extended again?
I believe that a closing time should not be altered, unless of course, a similar procedure is allowed in other areas. There have been several hockey games my team has lost over the years by just one goal ... another 5 minutes would have been very helpful 
|
robnzak
|
posted on June 12, 2002 06:59:14 AM new
setting the opening bid price aside for a moment, and looking at the two auctions in question...
Both sellers are newbies but in the long haul, the second seller will be much more successful. The crisp presentation, detailed description/shipping info & clear photo make the second one much more attractive.
New seller number one should take notes from seller number two.
Rob (of the South)
robnzak - 1st editions
|
bidsbids
|
posted on June 12, 2002 08:55:06 AM new
The first seller ( justjoan053 ) will either learn or leave eBay and says stupid things like "you just can't sell anything there" or "the high listing fees ate me up". The reality is that that seller may find a buyer that is very naive or unsaavy at the BV-type sites if she runs the auction non-stop for a year or two. That's not an auction that is a warehouse. That is not a place to shop at because the prices are often ridiculous.
The second seller may have done their homework and saw that the same item sold in the $2.25 to $20 range and establish the $5 opening bid as the least she would accept for the item while hoping to get multiple bids. That sellers item should sell and the total fees will be only around 50 cents while the first seller will pay that much in listing fees for her item that almost certainly won't sell.
The sellers that waste the listing fees are the ones that cry the loudest. The FVF of 5.25% on an item up to $10 and much less thereafter is a tremendous bargain for a seller! If eBay would start a 'half of the listing fee is rebated if the item sells on the first shot' thing they would have many more sellers willing to list. It's the damn listing fee that hurts at eBay. The FVF is more than generous.
|
