eBay reserve price

[Baldhead]

Those of us who sell on eBay, do you reveal the reserve price if someone asks?

Baldhead

 

[Vic Perrin]

If you have plenty of watchers viewing an item that you have up for auction, I personally would not reveal the reserve price. I would let it run and let them battle it out. Sometimes setting a Buy it Now price helps get an item sold.

 

[bugbear]

Those of us who sell on eBay, do you reveal the reserve price if someone asks?

Baldhead

If you mean to tell it, what's the point of having it? Just set the start price higher.

BugBear

 

[marcros]

i would probably reveal it- if that is the minimum that you would accept then what is the harm. Depends on the item, of course, but knowing the reserve shouldnt affect the selling price.

 

[MMUK]

There was a time when eBay made a point of penalising people who revealed their reserve price. Just like everything else now they don't give a ****, they just want your money.

 

[RogerP]

You might just as well start the listing at the minimum you'll accept.

Having a reserve costs extra and "Reseve Not Met" puts people off - I for one don't bother bidding once I see that.

Never set a reserve on my auctions, let the bidders decide the price.

 

[wizard]

If it has a reserve price i do not bid it puts me off

 

[mseries]

Those of us who sell on eBay, do you reveal the reserve price if someone asks?

Baldhead

If you mean to tell it, what's the point of having it? Just set the start price higher.

BugBear

If an item doesn't meet the reserve you can decide to sell it or not to the highest bidder. If you had set the start bid at the amount you wanted for it (the reserve) it would someone off bidding a lower amount and hence you'd not get the option to sell for a lower amount. For example you are selling a router and you set your reserve at £120. Even if you tell me the reserve I can't afford more than £100 so I bid £100, I don't get outbid. Your reserve is not met but you want to sell so you offer it to me for £100, deal done. If your start bid is £120, I'd not be able to bid my £100 and you'd have no sale.

 

[mseries]

If it has a reserve price i do not bid it puts me off

why ? Just id what you think the item is worth to you. This amount might be more than the reserve, you have nothing to lose but time.

 

[RogerP]

If it has a reserve price i do not bid it puts me off

............. T you have nothing to lose but time.

Quite!

 

[bugbear]

Those of us who sell on eBay, do you reveal the reserve price if someone asks?

Baldhead

If you mean to tell it, what's the point of having it? Just set the start price higher.

BugBear

If an item doesn't meet the reserve you can decide to sell it or not to the highest bidder. If you had set the start bid at the amount you wanted for it (the reserve) it would someone off bidding a lower amount and hence you'd not get the option to sell for a lower amount. For example you are selling a router and you set your reserve at £120. Even if you tell me the reserve I can't afford more than £100 so I bid £100, I don't get outbid. Your reserve is not met but you want to sell so you offer it to me for £100, deal done. If your start bid is £120, I'd not be able to bid my £100 and you'd have no sale.

You make a fine argument.

For the seller having a reserve at £100, if they're prepared to accept it. :lol: :lol:

BugBear

 

[marcros]

You used to pay a fee having a reserve on ebay and a different fee for a higher starting price. I cant remember which was greater, but I know taht there was an advantage of going one way or the other.

 

[Baldhead]

Thanks guys, just for the record, I always start my auctions at .99p (listing is free) and it gets bidders bidding, if I set a reserve I try to make it realistic but not set in stone ie I will offer a 'second chance offer' if the reserve is close to the highest bid, and I always tell any prospective bidders my reserve (I can't see any reason to keep it secret).
The reason I don't set the starting bid at my reserve price is because eBay make more money from it, simple as that.

Thanks again

Baldhead

 

[RogerP]

...........
The reason I don't set the starting bid at my reserve price is because eBay make more money from it, simple as that.

The way you do it the there's no listing fee BUT the Reserve fee is 3% of the reserve price ......

Anyway eBay have stuck their 10% commission on the P/P as well as the final selling price so all the little upfront fees can be insignificant in comparison to that rip-off!

 

[axe]

Hard to know what to do as everyone sees things differently.

I have something for sale on there right now that, although these things turn up from time to time, are not exactly easy to come by.

I did set a reserve of £600 which is a quite low price but a price I would be happy with at the moment. It has to go!

I did reveal the reserve price and the bloke bid it up to the reserve straight away and it still has almost a week to run, so good for me.

I suppose that really it depends on how realistic the reserve price is. If it is set way too high and you tell someone then the likelihood is that they will not bid at all.

To be honest, I don't really know what the best answer is

This is in the motors section so although it's £10 to list it the fees are only £20 up to a £2000 sale which I don't think is bad at all

Dave

 

[MMUK]

It's regular auctions where the seller gets stung - several times!

1. eBay commission (FVF) is now 10%!
2. add any listing, reserve fees.
3. Paypal takes another 3.4%
4. eBay are now ILLEGALLY (in UK Law) taking 10% commission on postal charges. And they are getting away with it thanks to an EU loophole!

Effectively, if you sell an item and charge postage at RM cost, you could lose up to 25% of the sale price in fees after you've taken packaging costs, etc. into account.

Add to that the fact that the seller has next to **** all protection against unscrupulous buyers!

It's ******* theft! Hence why I have nothing to do with eBay or Paypal any more!

 

[marcros]

few viable alternative at the moment though to reach a large number of potential buyers for non specialised stuff. Nobody reads the papers any longer (if they still have a classified section), local shop window might reach a couple of hundred passers by, you cant join a specialist forum for each type of item in your attic, local auctions are limited, probably requiring stuff taking there and having seen bargain hunt, most stuff makes precious little.

Ebay know it. Then they realised the value of Paypal and bought it. Next, they will realise the value of somebody like parcel2go/uship/shipley et al if they havent already. Credit where it is due, they are not stupid.

 

[RogerP]

Effectively, if you sell an item and charge postage at RM cost, you could lose up to 25% of the sale price in fees after you've taken packaging costs, etc. into account.

At real live auctions the seller's premium is 15% to 25% as is the buyer's premium. Plus VAT, of course, and both are often the higher percentage. So, for all their greed, eBay are still competitive (just).

 

[MMUK]

Effectively, if you sell an item and charge postage at RM cost, you could lose up to 25% of the sale price in fees after you've taken packaging costs, etc. into account.

At real live auctions the seller's premium is 15% to 25% as is the buyer's premium. Plus VAT, of course, and both are often the higher percentage. So, for all their greed, eBay are still competitive (just).

The difference being that when you attend a "live" auction, you are made fully aware of the fact. Most people just don't seem to realise how much you lose through eBay and eBay don't go to any great lengths to tell you how much it will cost you to sell, for example, a £10 item. Your likely "profit" on a £10 sale will invariably be under £6.

 

[MickCheese]

The reason I often ask a seller for the reserve price is when I am watching two similar items. I of course want the cheapest one.

I see that the one that ends first is £50 but the one ending later is £25 but has a reserve. If my top bid is £75 then I want to know that the reserve is not more than £75 but if it is below I may let the first go as it gets close hoping to get the second at a cheaper price. So it's in the sellers interest to reveal the reserve.

I get narked if the seller will not tell me the reserve and will not bid. Maybe it's just me being stroppy but I am of the opinion that they either want to sell or they don't, getting stressed about revealing the reserve is not good for business. I just cannot see why it is a secret.

Mick