E-Bay start prices ever get burned

GTOster

Good Day! to All
Just a question? or questions?
I have been reading the posts of starting auction @ $1.00 or even .01 my take on this is to save a few cents on ebay moneys to them? But my question is? Have you ever gotten burned on your final price just to save Oh say .50 to start? I start my auctions @ or below (what ever I get afford to lose) And sometimes I get the bear or the bear gets me ( NOW I'm gona hear it from bear LOL)Does starting @ a lower price get you more in the end or is it a cr@pshoot does it stir people into a feeding frenzy when they see alot of bids on a certin Item? I had a few auctions in last night and people looked at them all week long but no bids untill the last hour or so and I made a few bucks other auction I see with low starting price get bid right off the bat. I dont put alot of High priced item up for auction mostly proofs that I have cracked to get to other coins for grading What do you think?? A $1.00 or close to real price for start?
Thank You
Paul

BigD5

I think it can go either way. I start most of my items with a set price, usually just a few pieces start off at $10 or so. I have found that GENERALLY, and that can be a misleading term, if I start an item off at $10, it doesn't reach where I believe it should, in regards to bidding level. It depends on the item though. Morgans....sure, they will reach a certain price no matter what, because there are more collectors looking for them. Half dimes? Forget it.
I'm sure there will be plenty of members to disagree with me, but for what I'm listing, and over an extended period of time, this is what I've found. The next guy's results can be totally different.

danglen

If I know an item will generate a lot of interest, I always start it at a dollar with No Reserve. I have done this with an 1893-S Morgan, as well as a lot of commemorative halves, 1932-D quarters, etc. On the other hand, if I don't know whether an item will sell or not, I start it at the minimum price I want to get that will assure a profit. I have been running 200 to 300 auctions a week for a couple of years, and this seems to be working out pretty well for me.

MadMarty

I started a bunch of proof sets off at $.99 and one of them only made it up to $2.50. I guess you tak ethe good with the bad!

nwcs

Yeah, I got burned on low starting prices on auctions. I had four coins start at .99 and the highest any of them got was around 2.99. That coin was worth at least 2-3 times that. Same for the others that didn't even make it to 2.

copperhead

I haven't had much luck starting items at $.99. The items I listed this week all started at $.99. There are actually still several items that haven't gotten a bid. I sometimes experiment with pricing. Granted, most of the coins I list are "raw" low dollar items but I sometimes think it best to list a coin for what you think it should sell for. The main issue is how many looks an item receives. I you can get (2) bidders interested in the same coin that usually make a seller happy. I guess the bottom line is: There is some luck involved in selling common coins. "RARE", certified, low pop coins usually always does well in most cases.
Just my 2 cents,
AL

BIGDAVE

The only one Starting a auction out at $ 1 with no reserve is good for , is the bidder. got burned 2 time's no more now i have a res or i start at a minimum price.

BAJJERFAN

Well a lot depends on what you are selling of course. Nice CC minted Morgans usually go pretty well. Then again if you are selling a 1880-S in MS64 and there are 75 others listed at the same time I would say don't expect big results unless you have something really nice.
A lot of bidders (myself included) never tip their interest in a coin until the last 15 seconds so you never really no for sure. You can always end an auction early (and pi$$ some bidders off) if you feel uncomfy. Like anything else ya pays yer money and ya takes yer chances. These are things you should decide before you list your coin/item.

flaminio

It depends on what you want out of an auction. A lot of sellers have a certain price that they can not, will not sell below. If this is your mode, then a 1c/NR auction is probably not for you. Look into higher starting prices and/or reserve prices -- you won't sell as much, but the items you do sell will meet your price expectations.

For my part, I don't make a living off eBay, and use it just to clear out coins I don't want anymore. I also enjoy letting the free market decide what a coin is worth rather than some colored paper. So, cheap start prices and no reserves work well for me. Sure, sometimes a coin sells for less than I had hoped -- and sometimes more. That's the "fun" of it all.

Endocrinologist

I agree with what has been said above.

If the item is a "hot" item, then go ahead and start with NR at 0.99. It will probably end up higher than what you expected.

If the item is a common item like a modern proof set (except silver proofs) or a mint set, you might get in trouble because there are so many of these to choose from on Ebay and the shipping costs outweigh the "bargain" so the bidding action will less.

Its probably better to bundle up smaller ticket items together so the shipping costs as a percentage of the purchase will be reasonable. Like 5 mint sets. Try to bundle up sets that make sense not a random assortment.

Finally, I noticed that to really get good bidding action on your auction you need at least 100 hits to your website. If you are going into the last 24 hours of your action and you only have 20 hits there, you won't get any strong bids.

Happy Ebaying,
Endo

MacCoin

I am only a Turquoise Star buyer not a seller but I will look a the higher price coins if I'm looking for that coin. If I'm just bargan hunting I go for the low price no reserve. I will need even read the description of a reserve not met coin because I feel I was lied to to get me to that page I sure ain't going to believe anything else the seller has to say. I don't want a seller to take a beating but don't try trick me into looking at a coin that I can't afford. I feel the lowest price you can afford to start an auction is the best way to go.

wayneherndon

I believe it is easy to get burned with low-start no-reserve auctions unless, as others have stated, it is a popular item. I do occasionally use this format on items that I want to go ahead and get rid of even if it means a loss. I start them low to save on eBay fees and hopefully build some bidding excitement.

When I buy on eBay I'm looking for things I can get a good buy on and resell for a profit. More often than not, it turns out to be one of these low-start, no-reserve auctions. However, most of them pass the price I'm willing to pay so most sellers are getting at least wholesale, if not more for them.

WH

khayse

I'm not a dealer so I don't have to mark an item up a certain percentage.
When I want to sell I want the item to sell so 90% of the time I start off the auction at $0.01 and no reserve.

Once in a while I'll put a reserve on so I don't get burned. Maybe if the item is very good quality but in the
wrong slab.

Mostly I just start a a cent and let it fly. I don't want to have to relist and relist and relist. The idea of
starting low so you get more bidders and start a frenzy is pretty good.

-KHayse

SemperFI

Here are mine. So Far So Good.

Auction 1

Auction 2

Russ

<< <i>If I know an item will generate a lot of interest, I always start it at a dollar with No Reserve. >>



I do as Danglen does. If I think it's a cool coin that a lot of people may want, I start at a buck. Or, if it's just leftovers that I want to get rid of, also at a buck. Most of the time it works out just fine, but occasionally - as a newb - I'm off the mark on what I think will generate the interest and will lose a little money.

Bidders can be funny animals sometimes. They'll frequently kill a BIN on a $1 no reserve auction and it than ends up selling for more than the original BIN. The last two rolls of extra 1964 proof Kennedys I sold off started at $1 with a BIN of $79. BIN got killed out of the gate, and both rolls sold for over $100. Go figure.

Russ, NCNE

relayer

The nice people on eBay never take my coins cheap and are always willing to pay top dollar, so there is no way you can ever get burned on a $1 no reserve auction.

Otherwise you have to hope two greedy hard-heads show up to battle each other and then have a sniper come along and out bid them both.

But if only one greedy person shows up at the party, you're pretty much screwed.

GTOster

Many Thanks to all