ebay reserve price question - WWMD

[InspectorGadget]

I have a few things listed on ebay right now, one of which has a reasonably high reserve. I received the following question from a prospective buyer:

what is reserve?

I'm inclined to respond by asking this guy What are you willing to spend?. If a seller lists the reserve in the auction description, so be it. But why should I disclose my reserve to this bozo.

What do you think?

[ski_faster]

What do you want out of the skis? That is the question!


P.S. I am drunk

[Lexi-Bell]

Either he doesn't know what a reserve is (Ebay JONG)

OR

Like me, he wishes people would start bidding around what they want for the item instead of wasting bidders' time trying to guess what you want for your item.

[marshalolson]

link to the aUCTION?

[altagirl]

Why not just tell him? He could keep bidding in little increments until he hits your reserve if he's willing to spend that much, but I don't see what it hurts to reveal it. What if it came down to where he was a couple of dollars away from your reserve but didn't know it? Then he'd give up, not knowing he was close and you might end up with no sale.

[nutcase]

reserves are stupid. Just tell him what your reserve is and he's either gonna bid it or not. You end up screwing yourself if your reserve is 100 dollars and someone only bisd as high as 99.99.

[InspectorGadget]

Thanks for the input. I'm selling a limited edition print that is hand signed by a well known automotive designer. My response:

The reserve is $500 - which might be ALL the money in the world for this piece and, then again, it might not.

[InspectorGadget]

Auction update:

I am not surprised that the print didn't meet my $500 reserve. The gentleman that asked what my reserve was came back to me after the auction ended and offered me $300 for the print, a hat that was included and shipping. I accepted his offer and he said he would send the money via PayPal. Several days went by and nothing. I sent him an email and asked if he was still interested; he said he was and would send the money that afternoon. The day passed and still, nothing. I sent him another email and told him the print would be relisted, though I would cancel the auction before it started if I received his payment beforehand. Of course, I didn't hear from him.

The auction started - with a $300 starting price - and he sent me an email asking if I wanted to treat it as a buy it now or get paid and then end the auction. I told him the terms of the auction were in play and the hat and shipping were no longer included. I also told him he should place his bid and then I would end the auction. Before he could do so, someone else put up the first bid. My would-be buyer then placed his bid on the print; but, another person bid the auction up to $350. Mr. would-be buyer has the current high bid at $351 and I got an email from him asking if I was going to end the auction early.

I responded with the following:

Honestly, I am not trying to be difficult; but, as you can clearly see from the existing bids, there are other people interested in this print. I'm sorry, but I am going to let the auction run its course. Best of luck and thank you for your continued interest.

I'm going to let the auction run, but WWMD?

[BLOODSWEATSTEEL]

Let the auction run, cancel his bid, block him from bidding on your auctions, and forget he ever existed. He's a liability and a troublemaker. He clearly either doesn't understand the rules, is manipulating your kindness, or a combination of both. In the end - somehow, some way - you may or may not get paid and WILL end up with negative feedback from him. Don't put your feedback reputation or your PayPal [or potentially bank] account at the mercy of an eBay JONG or sketcher. Trust me, I've seen it happen too many times. It's not worth trying to squeeze an extra six bucks out of a several hundred dollar item just to end up banging your head against a wall over.

*EDIT* Hidden reserves are silly ebay games. Either just post it in the auction or set your starting price at the minimum amount you need to get for it. All it does is shy away potential bidders.

[Conundrum]

Let the auction run. Check his feedback. He could screw you over and leave you negative feedback because "you wouldn't hook him up" even though it sounds like you definitely tried to help him out...maybe consider blocking his bid.

[cj001f]

*EDIT* Hidden reserves are silly ebay games. Either just post it in the auction or set your starting price at the minimum amount you need to get for it. All it does is shy away potential bidders.

I'd thought differently, but there's at least one group of economists who agree with you. Interesting.

[funkendrenchman]

Why not just tell him? He could keep bidding in little increments until he hits your reserve if he's willing to spend that much, but I don't see what it hurts to reveal it. What if it came down to where he was a couple of dollars away from your reserve but didn't know it? Then he'd give up, not knowing he was close and you might end up with no sale.

I would tell him... IMO, reserves are pointless. Just start the item at the minimum you would accept for it. It's seems lame when auctions have 20 bids bumping it from $1.00 to $400.00 when the reserves is $800.

And I agree with Bloodsweat... I prefer to bid on auctions that have no reserve. Items with a reserve usually don't end up being a good deal.

[Plakespear]

*EDIT* Hidden reserves are silly ebay games. Either just post it in the auction or set your starting price at the minimum amount you need to get for it. All it does is shy away potential bidders.

I agree. Whenever I sell something, my reserve and minimum bid are the same. If there is a minimum you are willing to sell it for, than why bother even accepting lower starting bids? When you go to an auction house, the auctioneer starts off each auction with the phrase "We will start the bidding at..." E-bay should be the same way.

[cj001f]

I agree. Whenever I sell something, my reserve and minimum bid are the same. If there is a minimum you are willing to sell it for, than why bother even accepting lower starting bids? When you go to an auction house, the auctioneer starts off each auction with the phrase "We will start the bidding at..." E-bay should be the same way.

Except at many auction houses (particularly $ ones like Christie's) the starting price at the auction is not the minimum selling price - there is a reserve price that's not known until the close of the auction. The difference between their reserve and the eBay reserve is you don't know if one even exists at Christies until bidding is closed, unlike eBay. The reason they start the price lower than the reserve is to build interest and bids which ultimately result in a higher sales price. An interesting paper:
http://www.u.arizona.edu/~dreiley/pa...etReserves.pdf

As a seller I'd like my auctions to close 5 minutes after the last bid. Sniping sucks.

[elchupanebre4]

To be honest I could care less what people start thier auction at. I personally start nearly everything I sell at .99 cents, If I put a reserve on it I disclose what it is, but to be honest, it's fr cheaper the sell something starting at .99cents when coupled with Ebay's steep starting fees (well when selling stuff not worth $100 or more). Usually something that starts at .99cents and will sell for $400 will get bid up thier fairly quick if there is two bidders willing to pay that so why pay the extra fees, and save a few bucks, plus maybe generate a little more interest. Just my 2 cents but I'm all about doing anything to keep a few extra dolars out of Ebay's already deep pockets (and yes it's a shame there arn't completly equal alternatives to sell stuff on Ebay (although there are at least some alternatives for certain things, such as here for ski and outdoor gear). Now don't get me started on Paypal....

[InspectorGadget]

As elchupanebre4 stated above, I start some of my auctions at low prices in order to save money on the listing fees. I know, it's not that much money, but it does add up.

I am waiting for Mr. would-be bidder to respond; but, I am probably going to follow BLOODSWEATSTEEL's advice and cancel his bids and block any future bids from him.

[Spats]

I am waiting for Mr. would-be bidder to respond; but, I am probably going to follow BLOODSWEATSTEEL's advice and cancel his bids and block any future bids from him.

Good move. He knows the rules, he's just trying to game you -- especially since he could have actually bought it from you at any time just by paying the damn money. People like that are nothing but trouble.

[wstdeep]

Auctions in any form are an interesting study of behavior, to be brief placing a known reserve can have some negative effects for the seller:

A buyer running $$$$ way over the reserve is more likely to have buysers remorse later as they know you got more than you wanted.

A prospective buyer will be less likely to bid way past the reserve even if he thinks the price is okay as he now thinks he "could have" bought it for less....so now his head is screwed up.

Consider starting the auction at maybe 70% of where you want to end up, this will encourage bidding and involvement......involvement is what you want, once people get emotionally involved the price goes up......have you ever paid more than you originally set out too once an auction live or online starts........happens ALL the time. As seller looking to get the top buck bidder involvement should be your goal.

Oh and the jackoff working you on your art deal......he's just working both end tring to catch you in the process....maybe let him run the bidding up a bit THEN block his ass....serves him right.

[leroy jenkins]

i didn't read this thread so i'm not sure if anyone said this allready, but just fyi to anyone that doesn't allready know, NEVER SET A RESERVE PRICE if you're selling something.

To save you the money it would cost, just use a freinds acount and bid the item up to where you want it, it ussually works well to bid it up to a decent level early in the auction, then when there like an hour left, bid it up to the minimun you want to sell it for. If no one outbids that, then you just mark it as payed and shipping and no ones the wiser.

[cj001f]

To save you the money it would cost, just use a freinds acount and bid the item up to where you want it, it ussually works well to bid it up to a decent level early in the auction, then when there like an hour left, bid it up to the minimun you want to sell it for.

That's called shill bidding and is against the TOS and also sometimes illegal. Asshole.

[leroy jenkins]

That's called shill bidding and is against the TOS and also sometimes illegal. Asshole.

Yea, i've never actually done it, hell I've never even sold anythign on ebay, so don't get your panties in a bunch.

But what would it hurt, you're not causing anyone to pay any more than they allready would if you had a reserve price, you're just cheating the owners of ebay out of a little bit of money, and sorry, but i wouldn't really feel too bad about taking $50 from a gazillionaire.

[Z]

Yea, i've never actually done it, hell I've never even sold anythign on ebay, so don't get your panties in a bunch.

But what would it hurt, you're not causing anyone to pay any more than they allready would if you had a reserve price, you're just cheating the owners of ebay out of a little bit of money, and sorry, but i wouldn't really feel too bad about taking $50 from a gazillionaire.

Yeah, it's really not that different from someone setting a reserve price. I wouldn't care that much if someone did that on something I was bidding on honestly.

[cj001f]

Yeah, it's really not that different from someone setting a reserve price.

Aside from the absence of competitive bidding, yes

So you'd be fine if someone used a shill bid to bump you up to exactly your maximum bid?