You need thick skin .....

2Clueless2

... to run a no reserve auction for anything over $100 starting at a dollar. It used to be back in the day, that you would get bids from multiple viewers throughout the duration of the auction. Not so anymore. I guess with all the snipe apps, more sophisticated bidders, and the chance at a lower final number, the bids don't happen until the last 10 minutes.

Just auctioned off a 1971 lot of 350 cards... good stuff, vending quality. # 321670583298 = Sorry not link savvy. Had 88 views, 26 followers and 18 bids. Not bad. But, the bulk of the action came in the last hour. I started this off at $1.00 so I figured to get early action. Negative. I hate fishing with a high reserve, and really was hoping for $150 range, but was OK with wherever it ended. Anyone else noticed a more educated buyer trend?

TMc

bobbyw8469

Auctions on Ebay suck. This isn't 2005 anymore. Unless you are PWCC or Probstein123, you best be prepared to give stuff away.

frankhardy

I stopped auctioning things a few years ago. I takes patience, but with a But It Now, at least you can get your price out of it.

Do a search on completed and sold items. Almost without exception, auctions are lower than with a fixed price listing.....and by a large margin. (Large margin meaning price)

Piggs

What's the strategy for BIN for those that don't sell much on ebay? Keep your set price for a week and lower it or leave it alone? Thanks

charrigan

A week? Patience.

MilehighHOF

<< <i>What's the strategy for BIN for those that don't sell much on ebay? Keep your set price for a week and lower it or leave it alone? Thanks >>



I like to use the "or Best Offer" function on my BIN listings and just set my BIN a bit higher than the amount I'd take for it. You will often get a lot of really low offers, but when someone makes a reasonable starting offer we can often find middle ground around what I want for the card.

bounce

i think this all depends on what's being auctioned, as well as when its set to end

honestly, i don't even know what a good price would be for 350 1971 cards; however, if there weren't any stars then you're just gambling on whether someone wants to build a set or is chasing for high grade raw to submit

i imagine the price per card on something like that is incredibly volatile, so the number of potential people following you as a seller could have a huge impact on something like that

i list things with Buy It Now and accept offers, i very rarely reduce the price of the buy it now unless there's a listing special or something that i'm trying to capitalize on

a week for a price reduction even on a fixed price? not unless you priced it wrong in the first place.

Stone193

The Auction.

skrezyna23

I laugh to myself when I see someone bid anytime before 20 secs of auction ending. Nowandays it seems we are just waiting, with no bidding, for the auction to end to see who had the highest snipe. Too bad all eyes cant be on the item within 24 hrs of posting to have it end quicker in that same time frame.

1976ToppsCollector

sorry for the dumb question but what is a snipe?

skrezyna23

A snipe is when someone bids at the last second. There are websites out there that will snipe for you while you're away. I use gavelsnipe. It's free.

psychump

I sold some lots of 1971 Topps Baseball(very beat up!) and uncanned heat bought them both and sold them off at .99 per card and made more $ than I did. I figured that most people do not want "lots" of cards but just a few to finish their sets. I'm finding out that more and more,only other sellers buy lots.

thenavarro

ebay needs to go to a system where it extends the auction for one minute after each bid.

grote15

<< <i>ebay needs to go to a system where it extends the auction for one minute after each bid. >>



Sellers would love that, LOL!

Though with almost everyone sniping now anyway, who will be at the computer to bid again in those 60 seconds?

dytch2220

Long live the snipe! Most of the cards I bid on have an explosion of action in the last few minutes of the auction. I just pick a number and walk away.

jay0791

<< ebay needs to go to a system where it extends the auction for one minute after each bid

Genius

I wonder if you could then enter a 2nd snipe at the time of your first snipe............

If so does 2nd snipe become your first true offer after a lower than normal bid ???

If the extended minute was only open to people who had bid before similar to many AH

rules but could only be entered manually w/o a snipe service. Then the truly bidders who really

want the item badly are bidding.

BaltimoreYankee

I would have bid more for that lot. Been searching for 1971 Topps lots to build a nice set but I usually include terms like NM or near mint in the search.

Probstein123

lately, prices seem to be very polarized, high end is going for record prices and super low end is producing new lows...is extremely tough to predict everything in the middle

schapko

As a low volume seller, mainly just items from my personal collection that I have upgraded or just didn't fit my collecting focus now, I always do Buy it Now with NO OBO. I just look at current listings and recent sales and price my item fairly usually just above the recent sales but on the low end of the current listings. I have done very well with this strategy and really don't have many items that last more than 2 months. I rarely lower my listing price. Just price it fair and you will not have to. This strategy also helps reduce the number of low-ballers as they see its fair.

mtcards

IMO, if you are selling ANYTHING that has multiple items available or something that isnt "hot" at the moment, running an auction may end up selling the item quicker, but usually at a pretty good loss. A lot of the items I run are low numbered, unique items (at least to ebay)...if I put up an item at auction for something I expect will sell for $20 as a BIN, I would almost bet I get half of that or less. I guess it really depends on how long you are willing to wait to get the money you should be getting, but in the end, EBAY is no longer a great place for auctions unless you have one of the high demand/RARE items

mtcards

<< <i>ebay needs to go to a system where it extends the auction for one minute after each bid. >>




Agree 1000%, they need to take the "snipe effect" out of the system. You would have thought ebay would have figured it out since I think it would lead to more bids.....I think a minute might be a little to short, but 15 minutes from last bid would be ok. I think the seller wouldnt have an issue with it as every 15 minute extension would result in more money

frankhardy

<< <i>As a low volume seller, mainly just items from my personal collection that I have upgraded or just didn't fit my collecting focus now, I always do Buy it Now with NO OBO. I just look at current listings and recent sales and price my item fairly usually just above the recent sales but on the low end of the current listings. I have done very well with this strategy and really don't have many items that last more than 2 months. I rarely lower my listing price. Just price it fair and you will not have to. This strategy also helps reduce the number of low-ballers as they see its fair. >>



I agree 100%. I do the exact same thing. I check sold items and I check current listings and I price mine appropriately. If there is a bunch of items like mine, I will (almost without exception) beat the lowest price. If there are not any current listings, I check what sales have been in the past to estimate my price. If there is nothing to gauge value on, then you can ask what you want for it. It may not sell, but we do have that option. I currently have a very unique item for sale (pop 1) and I am asking S-T-U-P-I-D money for. I may not get it, but I am offering a best offer. I am shooting for the stars hoping to reach the moon.

MrNearMint

Frankhardy,
You got me curious, what is the item?

frankhardy

<< <i>Frankhardy,
You got me curious, what is the item? >>



PM sent.