eBay Buy-It-Now Didn't Work

rlawsha

Anybody ever create an eBay auction, select a Buy-It-Now price, submit the auction only to have a missing Buy-It-Now button? I just put some items up on Ebay and the one auction that I wanted to have a BIN did not. I know I know I filled in the BIN field correctly as this is not my first auction. I tried to edit the item but you can't add a BIN to an existing auction or so it would appear. I don't want to cancel the auction because it now has bids. I guess the bottom line is I should have payed a little closer attention to the preview just before submittal.

rhedden

It has bids on it, but did you have a reserve? If not, the Buy It Now disappears as soon as the first person bids. If there was a reserve, the Buy It Now disappears as soon as the reserve is met.

Russ

<< <i>but you can't add a BIN to an existing auction or so it would appear. >>



As long as you have no bids, you can add a BIN. Once it has bids, though, you can't.

Russ, NCNE

rlawsha

"...did you have a reserve? If not, the Buy It Now disappears as soon as the first person bids."

I had NO reserve price. That's kind of a convoluted system if you ask me. Just because someone bids the BIN goes away if you have no reserve? Wierd...

ealandg

The BIN goes away as soon as someone bids, whether there is a reserve or not. I just had an auction without a reserve, but with a BIN. Someone bid and the BIN went away.

Russ

<< <i>The BIN goes away as soon as someone bids, whether there is a reserve or not. >>



If there is a reserve, the BIN stays until the reserve is met.

Russ, NCNE

rlawsha

Okay, let's assume there is no reserve for simplicity. You have a BIN and no bids. The BIN is for $100. Someone bids $1 and the BIN dissapears. What is the logic behind the BIN going away? Now everyone must wait for the auction completion to get the item. The poor soul thinking about hitting the BIN button for $100 now must wait and maybe pay $200. I realize the person may get the item cheaper than the BIN but come on, what's the logic in the BIN going away?

ealandg

I'm with you on this one. Silliness.

rhedden

Every time I have ever listed anything with BIN and a $1 starting price, I have had some dork bid $1 within 1 minute of the listing starting... then the person never bids again. Someone out there gets their jollies out of wrecking your BIN's and costing you the 5 cents you paid for it. I bet that the person who bid $1 on your auction gives up on it and doesn't bid again. The only way to do BIN is to just pay extra for a high starting price. That is why ebay has this rule- it makes more money for them on listing fees.

rlawsha

Well I can't blame the dork bidder, I sometimes do the same thing because it then puts the item in my bidding list so I don't forget about it. I can understand eBay makes the BIN go away so they can make more money by using a reserve price but then what is the logic of the BIN going away once the reserve price is met? I guess what I need is a sort of sticky BIN. Hey eBay, there is another way to rake in the dough!

flaminio

For a sorta sticky BIN, just make the start price = BIN price.

I also don't quite get the concept of the BIN going away once a bid is made, but that's the way eBay does it. Yes, I've BIN-stomped many a time -- but always for something I was interested in, but didn't want to see some deep-pocket come and just BIN it away. A standard bidding strategy is to BIN-stomp and then snipe at the BIN price -- you might not win, but if you do you're probably going to pay less than the BIN price.

rhedden

Flaminio,

Last fall I tried to do what you suggest on two Bust halves- erase the BIN by bidding the opening amount, and then snipe at the original BIN price. The result? Both coins sold for more than the original BIN price and I got neither of them! One of them sold for WAY MORE than the original BIN price- like 50% more. Now I just hit BIN, because if I'm tempted enough to think about it, then it's probably worth the BIN price.

NoGvmnt

Shoot, I've put stuff up with a BIN and the reserve about 10% below the BIN and have it not sell, then relisted without the BIN and have the same item go for way more then when it had a BIN just the week before.


Just put a reserve (10% or so below the BIN) and a BIN on the Item and tell potential bidders what the reserve is in the text of the Auction.

Jim

rhedden

People are afraid to "pull the trigger" because BIN items are usually grotesquely overpriced. When a fairly priced one comes along, they don't know enough to buy it. Relist the same thing with no reserve and it brings much more than you were asking via BIN. That just happened to me last month. BIN was $150, opened at $125, no bids. Relisted the coin with no reserve and got $178.