Reserve auctions!?!

Mrpawn

As most of you will notice, I am a fairly new member of this board. I have read alot of your commentary and am learning a bit about coins and human nature.

My question for any that wish to respond is: why are so many of you opposed to reserve auctions on ebay? My pretty fair experience with auctions, long before ebay came about, is that some items have always been offered with a reserve. The auctioneer gets paid accordingly, potential buyers get a chance to buy an item that may never have been offered without a reserve price and the seller does not have to sweat bullets in the uncertain atmosphere of an auction while still offering quality items.

I have bid on quite a few ebay auctions and the presence of a reserve on the price does not deter me in the least.

Thank you in advance for your input.

Russ

<< <i>My pretty fair experience with auctions, long before ebay came about, is that some items have always been offered with a reserve. >>



I think we have too many people who actually think eBay is a real auction.

Russ, NCNE

littlewicher

If the seller wants a reserve, he should be allowed to. Look at all those expensive coins Mike Casper is auctioning off on Ebay. Some of those coins would probably never sell on there for even what he paid for them.

DHeath

A reserve doesn't bother me if it's an item I want, and if I really want it, I'll pay way too much. If you are asking to sell it at any price, sometimes I'll make a lowball offer even if I don't want it. Instead of setting a reserve and paying the fee, all a seller has to do is set an opening bid high enough to protect themselves. If you don't get bids, there aren't any real buyers looking this week.

rgiesick

I agree with Dheath, the seller should either set the price to the min he is willing to take for the item, or be willing to take what ever bid comes. If s/he is confident that there are enough buyers that setting the item 's opening bid to .01 then so be it.

-Randy

MacCoin

I hate reserves if you don't think the item will sell at a fair price go post it on the classified. I'll come over and look at it later after I can't get one from the auctions. To bad thats only the way I feel about it and not reality reserve are here to stay on matter how much I b1tch.

tsacch

Reserves are fine, at least you know where you need to be and you can move on if you dont like it.

RLinn

I think reserves are just fine. I'm not going to bid more than I am willing to pay for the coin anyway...so if my bid falls under the reserve so be it. (Buy the coin , not the reserve.)

WWBillman

I see nothing wrong with reserves. They are there to protect a sellers investment and entice more bidding. I will only bid up to my max amount anyway and if it hits the reserve great if not I would not have bought it anyway. Bidders who lack self control and end up bidding more than they wanted to pay have no one to blame but themselves.

An auction does not mean $1.00 open and highest bidder wins. I think most people who expect that are looking to screw someone. A seller has to be able to protect his investment and not be left vulnerable to the swinging moods of the buyers. High opening bids and reserves serve that purpose.

But like DHeath said, the times I have really wanted it the reserve was not an obstacle.

Petescorner

If every eBay auction had to start at $0.01, then I certainly wouldn't have a problem with the seller setting a Reserve. But eBay allows sellers to set the opening bid at whatever they want. Therefore, I look at Reserve auctions the same as bidding against a seller's shill. I won't say that I have never bid on them, but it really has to be a coin that I want, otherwise, I prefer an auction that is more open to the bidders.

-Dan

Mrpawn

Thank you to all of your for your responses

Dog97

If the buyer says what the reserve is it's no problem for me but I hate bidding & bidding and still not meeting reserve. My surfing time is valuable and I can't afford to waste it on useless bids. I've used reserves on expensive coins that could swing several hundred dollars either way depending on who's internet service is working that week but I state what the reserve is so the bidders don't have to fool around with wasting their bids.

Mrpawn

I agree with you on that Dog 97. In almost all auction environments that I have been in, except ebay, when there was a reserve the auctioneer usually said so from the get go (or even in the catalouge).

So go ahead and let us buyers know what your reserves are sellers!! It will not stop myself (ebay name is Mrpawn) and most others from bidding what we are willing to spend.

BAJJERFAN

Well one can always email the seller and ask. Also I believe in posting what the reserve. What I don't understand is why a bidder bids $1 when he knows the reserve is $5.

Placid

I have never understood the reason for having a reserve since you can just set the starting price where you want instead. The only reason I can think of is if your reserve is not meet you might sell to the highest bidder if you want but that goes against eBay rules I think.

FIRE760

The thing I don't like about reserve auctions is I go thru all the trouble and work to have the highest bid with a fair price and still don't make trhe reserve. That's why I won't bid on reserve auctions.

I think the best way to do it is to set a start price at the reserve. I know what I'll bid on a coin and if it is below the start I don't bid.

prooflike

I just don;t bid on reserve auctions anymore, a waste of ---my time--- entering a bid and not hitting the reserve.

I say start the item out at the price you want for it.

CalGold

I don't care for reserve auctions. I agree with Dog and others that its a waste of time to chase a will o' the wisp. What I have started doing is emailing the seller and asking what the reserve is.

I think that some sellers like to use a reserve with a lower minimum bid price to get the bidding process going. They think that setting the start price too high discourages competitive bidding. The same occurs in live auctions.

Also, I think some dealers use the reserve for price discovery purposes. I have received emails from seller's in auctions disclosing their reserve and asking if I was still interested when I bid close to but below their reserve -- though not in coin auctions. By the same token, when a seller has told me his reserve I have made counter offers, which allows some haggling and turns the sale into a more routine purchase from a dealer--nothing wrong with that either as far as I am concerned since what I am out to do is buy something, not just participate in an auction process.

AlanB

I hate reserves. If u want an auction to end above a minimum price, then start the bidding at that price, don't waste other people's time with a reserve.

66Tbird

I don't mind reserve auctions, I just bid my highest price. I'll go in with a snipe and if it doesn't make it then "oh well", Sometimes if I was the high bidder I'll get an email from the seller, and if he's cool about the whole thing a deal can be worked out. I usually give a little if they have the fortitude to come forward with a offer. I know when(if) I start to sell some higher end pieces on ebay I will use a reserve.

IrishMike

80% of the coins I put up for sale have a reserve attached to them. Guess what only two coins in 150 transactions have not sold because they didn't meet my reserve price. The following week they both sold and for more than my reserve. The reserve is there because I don't sell inexpensive coins, they are fairly priced, nice coins and if they don't sell I still own them. No lose situation. I have given away or sold dozens of coins to forum members under market, I don't plan on doing that on Ebay too. Why should I care if you won't bid on my auctions because I have a reserve, they all eventually sell. Why should I take the risk of ebay crashing or the handful of true collectors who are interested in buying my coins don't pick up on the auction.

Charles

I believe that Reserved Auctions are just a way for a seller to realize a higher final bid than he or she might with just listing a minimum bid that they are willing to sell the coin. I ignore Reserve Auctions.

Charles

JJacks

I almost never use reserves on my ebay auctions, and I often don't bid on reserve auctions (although I will if I really want the item.)

What I think is bad is when an ebay seller (apparently some dealers!) doesn't use a reserve and cancel their bids and their auction.

This would not hold up very good at a live floor auction. Can you imagine...Alright we got this TRUE auction on this $1000 coin. The bidding gets to $400 and the auctioneer cancels all bids and pulls the item??!

JJacks

IrishMike

JJacks all the major auction houses have reserve bids on their coins at the live auctions, Heritage, Bowers, Stacks, & Superior.

BAJJERFAN

A low starting price means that you pay a lower listing fee. I use a reserve because I sell cuz I want to not cuz I have to. If I don't need to sell than I am not going to let something go for a low price; its as simple as that. As I said before I do state my reserve price in the description. Why risk the chance that a $500 coin will sell for $200. Ebay is about the best venue right now for selling coins but it doesn't mean sellers are going to give stuff away.

Dog97

CalGold hit the nail on the head when he said: "I think that some sellers like to use a reserve with a lower minimum bid price to get the bidding process going. They think that setting the start price too high discourages competitive bidding."

I have only used a reserve twice but I start all my auctions @1¢; one time the reserve was reasonable and my coin sold. I had plenty of views & bids. On my last reserve auction I had an unreasonable reserve because I had overpaid for the coin when I bought it. The high reserve didn't dampen interest in the coin because I got plenty of emails from eBayers wanting to make a deal off-eBay. But like BAJJERFAN said, "I use a reserve because I sell cuz I want to not cuz I have to. If I don't need to sell than I am not going to let something go for a low price; its as simple as that."

I think the casual bidders surfing eBay for bargains ignore reserve auctions but if they are looking for something specific they look at & bid on reserve auctions.

FIRE760

<< <i>As I said before I do state my reserve price in the description. . >>


In that case I don't have a problem with bidding since I know what I will have to bib. Much the same as a high starting bid.
Yes I look for bargins What's wrong with that?

BigD5

I use reserves on occasion with my Ebay listings. It keeps the BIN up longer, which is beneficial. All it does is set the minimum amount for what a coin will be sold for. I don't see the big deal. At all. If anyone who doesn't like reserve auctions goes out and bids at any of the major auction offerings.........HELLO! Those coins are set with reserves! They just don't tell you. Although not all of the lots have reserves, but you don't know which do, and which don't. If you list unpopular or "different" items on Ebay, reserves can be necessary. Mint state Morgan dollars don't usually require a reserve. Seated half dimes usually do. There just aren't as many bidders for certain items as there are for other items. Nothing wrong with making sure the seller gets what he/she is looking for with a certain item. I will let any bidder know what the reserve is on an item I have listed with a reserve, but it's the sellers perogative.