Maybe somewhat OT, but does the ebay BIN policy make sense?

Coppernicus

If I understand this, a seller on ebay lists an auction with an opening bid and a BIN price. If someone places a bid below the BIN price, the BIN then disappears? Why? If a bidder hits the minimum (e.g. $0.99), why should this eliminate the, say $40.00 BIN?

I may be missing something here but it's been pi**ing me off! I saw a BIN auction today that I wanted to hit, but by the time I hit the BIN, someone else had placed an opening bid and the BIN was gone!

Does this make sense to you? As a seller, I'd like the BIN to be there until someone goes higher!

I'd appreciate any comments/insights! Thanks.

Mike

p8nt

It makes me plenty dissapointed as a seller when someone comes buy and places a lowball bid just to take your BIN off. The buyer has a good reason to do it though. Exactly why you mentioned. They do not want to pay the BIN and want to get it for cheaper so they do not allow anyone else to do it either. If that makes sense. They dont want to pay the full price so they force it to be an auction so they can hopefully get it cheaper.

ss350camaro

Place a reserve close to the BIN. The BIN will stay until the reserve is met.

Bochiman

I've used BIN as a seller, but I also don't set a $0.99 or low bid to start.
I set, say, a $25 start and a $40 BIN. I also usually include shipping with the BIN since I know it is a bid I will be comfortable with and a BIN means I don't have to wait...I can just move forward.

Coppernicus

ss350camaro - I think you're looking from the seller's perspective, and I agree with your point. But from the bidder's perspective, why should a "low ball" bid by another bidder keep someone else from hitting the BIN?

Mike

dbldie55

I think it is a mistake by the seller to do the low start with a BIN. I do know of an auction that I killed the BIN to try and get the item cheaper, and it went much higher so that seller did better by doing it. I suspect that is not always the case.

You can always contact the seller and see if they will end it for their BIN price.

Other auction houses (I think Yahoo does this), will keep the bidding up to the BIN price and then it is sold. In this case the BIN is actually a max price. (I wouldn't like this as a seller)

Coppernicus

dbldie55 - That's what I think! The BIN should not be killed because someone puts in a bid at the mimimum or slightly higher. The BIN should disappear only when a bid exceeds it. As a seller, that's the way I'd like it to be.
And as a buyer, I'd like to still be able to hit say, a $100 BIN, even if there were 15 bids with a $70 maximum. But the way ebay is now, once the minimum is bid, the BIN is gone! I think that stinks!!

Mike