Question:
Thanks to all who answered, for your good ideas and advice. (But no consensus, damn it!) — SML ess el five six zero at columbia dot edu <http://pirate-women.com
Response:
Thanks to all who answered, for your good ideas and advice. (But no consensus, damn it!)
The consensus is … as is all of eBay …. there is no consensus. It all depends on what you are trying to sell, how popular it is right now, who is bidding, how much money they have and if eBay will let your auction stay because someone complained about it. Since I’m not supposed to mention smoking anymore, I won’t. :)
Response:
Sara, There is value in both pricing strategies. If you start with a low minimum bid, you entice more traffic and you save listing fees. On the other hand, the majority of the traffic you entice are bargain shoppers who aren’t serious bidders. And there is the added risk of losing money. I’ve personally found that in the long run I’ve been more successful listing low minimum bids. Due to the bizarre psychology of bidding, if you start an item at $10 that you want to sell for $10 and there are no bids, people will be hesitant to open the bidding, asking "do I really need this?", "how come no one else has bid?", "is it worth $10?", etc. But if you start it at 99 cents and it is bid up to $10, shoppers tend to get wrapped up in the bidding and instead say to themselves "I really want to win this!" When you want something and you fear it will be taken away, you tend to want it even more. There is no perfect pricing strategy on eBay. It varies from one seller to the next, depending primarily on what they’re selling. Since you’re selling something with a wide potential audience (records), it is my opinion that you aren’t taking on much risk by listing your auctions with no/low minimum bids, and in the long run you’ll probably come out very slightly ahead. I wrote an article about eBay pricing strategy if you want to read more about it. Check it out at http://www.online-auction-expert.com/eBay-pricing.html. Good luck on eBay! Timothy Mina – http://www.online-auction-expert.com Help for sellers at eBay Online Auctions. Free strategies, secrets and tutorials to help you ELECTRIFY your profits on eBay. Sign up for the world’s most useful e-zine for eBay sellers at http://www.online-auction-expert.com/newsletter.html. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – When I put an item up for auction, should the minimum bid be a very low amount, to catch the eye of potential bidders, or the actual minimum I’d want it to go for? Mostly I sell used records (my collection from back when my record player worked). I do a little research for each one to get a rough idea of what they’re going for, but I still am frequently surprised. Sometimes they go for far more than I’d expected; sometimes, as happened today, I’m disappointed by how little I get.
Response:
declared: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – declared: When I put an item up for auction, should the minimum bid be a very low amount, to catch the eye of potential bidders, or the actual minimum I’d want it to go for? Mostly I sell used records (my collection from back when my record player worked). I do a little research for each one to get a rough idea of what they’re going for, but I still am frequently surprised. Sometimes they go for far more than I’d expected; sometimes, as happened today, I’m disappointed by how little I get. That’s a call you have to decide for yourself. I have started DVD’s at the price I wanted and sold a few. I have started them at 99 cents just because I wanted them to go and some went ballistic. I personally think that it all evens out at the end … some will go for a lot more, some will go for a little more, some will go for a little less and some will go for a lot less. it may even out, but *if* it does, you will have done more work to get there. I disagree. Here’s why: It takes the same amount of time to start an auction at 99 cents as it does to start at $4.99.
true The auction is still going to run the same 7 days and it takes the same amount of time to pack it and ship it.
wrong, it takes significantly less time to package 1 book at $10, than 10 books at 99 cents. It’s fun (to me) to log in a few times a day to see if someone has bid on my stuff, but like you or someone said, sometimes you can get more just by asking for more.
that was me 
Robert — The sound of gunfire, off in the distance, I’m getting used to it now Lived in a brownstone, lived in the ghetto, I’ve lived all over this town This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no fooling around
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – declared: declared: When I put an item up for auction, should the minimum bid be a very low amount, to catch the eye of potential bidders, or the actual minimum I’d want it to go for? Mostly I sell used records (my collection from back when my record player worked). I do a little research for each one to get a rough idea of what they’re going for, but I still am frequently surprised. Sometimes they go for far more than I’d expected; sometimes, as happened today, I’m disappointed by how little I get. That’s a call you have to decide for yourself. I have started DVD’s at the price I wanted and sold a few. I have started them at 99 cents just because I wanted them to go and some went ballistic. I personally think that it all evens out at the end … some will go for a lot more, some will go for a little more, some will go for a little less and some will go for a lot less. it may even out, but *if* it does, you will have done more work to get there. I disagree. Here’s why: It takes the same amount of time to start an auction at 99 cents as it does to start at $4.99. true The auction is still going to run the same 7 days and it takes the same amount of time to pack it and ship it. wrong, it takes significantly less time to package 1 book at $10, than 10 books at 99 cents.
I was talking about 1 book … it doesn’t matter if the book costs $100 or 10 cents, it’s going to take the same amount of time to pack and ship. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -It’s fun (to me) to log in a few times a day to see if someone has bid on my stuff, but like you or someone said, sometimes you can get more just by asking for more. that was me Robert
Response:
When I put an item up for auction, should the minimum bid be a very low amount, to catch the eye of potential bidders, or the actual minimum I’d want it to go for? Mostly I sell used records (my collection from back when my record player worked). I do a little research for each one to get a rough idea of what they’re going for, but I still am frequently surprised. Sometimes they go for far more than I’d expected; sometimes, as happened today, I’m disappointed by how little I get.
auction, after 3 days not one bid, started getting nervious, dropped it to $1.00, within 3 hrs it was up to $20.50, sold for $90.50 + $10.00 S/H, not a great price but fair enough. At the start of an auction, the 1st day or so, a very low starting bid attracts the bottom feeders, they will usually bid the item up to about 10 to 20 % of the win price(depending on the item ofcourse). Then it will go slack for the middle 2 thirds of the auction, your auction is sitting in the middle of the great bulk with the rest of the auctions, lost in the crowd, so to speak. Then towards the last 2 or 3 hours, it starts creeping up to the top of the going, going, gone page. Heres where your serious bidders are, they are not just trying to pick up a $50.00 item for $2, but the funny thing about people is that they are social creations, where one gathers others will follow. The bids put in at the start of the auction by the bottom feeders attracts the interest of the serious bidders. An auction with a starting bid of a $100 with no bids will draw less attention than one starting at a $1 with 15 bids and a current high bid of $102. Start your auctions as low as you can live with, remember its an auction.
Response:
declared: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – When I put an item up for auction, should the minimum bid be a very low amount, to catch the eye of potential bidders, or the actual minimum I’d want it to go for? Mostly I sell used records (my collection from back when my record player worked). I do a little research for each one to get a rough idea of what they’re going for, but I still am frequently surprised. Sometimes they go for far more than I’d expected; sometimes, as happened today, I’m disappointed by how little I get. That’s a call you have to decide for yourself. I have started DVD’s at the price I wanted and sold a few. I have started them at 99 cents just because I wanted them to go and some went ballistic. I personally think that it all evens out at the end … some will go for a lot more, some will go for a little more, some will go for a little less and some will go for a lot less.
it may even out, but *if* it does, you will have done more work to get there. The idea is to always make at least $1 on the shipping and everything will be okay.
LOL Robert — The sound of gunfire, off in the distance, I’m getting used to it now Lived in a brownstone, lived in the ghetto, I’ve lived all over this town This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no fooling around
Response:
When I put an item up for auction, should the minimum bid be a very low amount, to catch the eye of potential bidders, or the actual minimum I’d want it to go for? Mostly I sell used records (my collection from back when my record player worked). I do a little research for each one to get a rough idea of what they’re going for, but I still am frequently surprised. Sometimes they go for far more than I’d expected; sometimes, as happened today, I’m disappointed by how little I get. — SML ess el five six zero at columbia dot edu <http://pirate-women.com
Response:
When I put an item up for auction, should the minimum bid be a very low amount, to catch the eye of potential bidders, or the actual minimum I’d want it to go for?
there are varying opinons on that. personally i price at the minimum i’m willing to accept. Mostly I sell used records (my collection from back when my record player worked). I do a little research for each one to get a rough idea of what they’re going for, but I still am frequently surprised. Sometimes they go for far more than I’d expected; sometimes, as happened today, I’m disappointed by how little I get.
pricing at the minimum you’ll accept saves a lot of disappointment. Robert — The sound of gunfire, off in the distance, I’m getting used to it now Lived in a brownstone, lived in the ghetto, I’ve lived all over this town This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no fooling around
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – When I put an item up for auction, should the minimum bid be a very low amount, to catch the eye of potential bidders, or the actual minimum I’d want it to go for? there are varying opinions on that. personally i price at the minimum i’m willing to accept. Mostly I sell used records (my collection from back when my record player worked). I do a little research for each one to get a rough idea of what they’re going for, but I still am frequently surprised. Sometimes they go for far more than I’d expected; sometimes, as happened today, I’m disappointed by how little I get. pricing at the minimum you’ll accept saves a lot of disappointment. Robert
Fully agree. There’s some argument that starting at 1 cent, 99 cents, etc gets more bids, but final selling – not number of bids, is what’s important. Bottom feeders tend to drop out quickly and most often have little-to-no effect on the final price. If it doesn’t sell, it’s usually better to relist at a later date or even eat a listing cost than give it away below the minimum you’d like to have. On the other hand, do the research to understand what’s a realistic market price. We typically start about 10-20% below market price, but there are always exceptions.
Response:
When I put an item up for auction, should the minimum bid be a very low amount, to catch the eye of potential bidders, or the actual minimum I’d want it to go for? Mostly I sell used records (my collection from back when my record player worked). I do a little research for each one to get a rough idea of what they’re going for, but I still am frequently surprised. Sometimes they go for far more than I’d expected; sometimes, as happened today, I’m disappointed by how little I get.
That’s a call you have to decide for yourself. I have started DVD’s at the price I wanted and sold a few. I have started them at 99 cents just because I wanted them to go and some went ballistic. I personally think that it all evens out at the end … some will go for a lot more, some will go for a little more, some will go for a little less and some will go for a lot less. The idea is to always make at least $1 on the shipping and everything will be okay.
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – declared: When I put an item up for auction, should the minimum bid be a very low amount, to catch the eye of potential bidders, or the actual minimum I’d want it to go for? Mostly I sell used records (my collection from back when my record player worked). I do a little research for each one to get a rough idea of what they’re going for, but I still am frequently surprised. Sometimes they go for far more than I’d expected; sometimes, as happened today, I’m disappointed by how little I get. That’s a call you have to decide for yourself. I have started DVD’s at the price I wanted and sold a few. I have started them at 99 cents just because I wanted them to go and some went ballistic. I personally think that it all evens out at the end … some will go for a lot more, some will go for a little more, some will go for a little less and some will go for a lot less. it may even out, but *if* it does, you will have done more work to get there.
I disagree. Here’s why: It takes the same amount of time to start an auction at 99 cents as it does to start at $4.99. The auction is still going to run the same 7 days and it takes the same amount of time to pack it and ship it. It’s fun (to me) to log in a few times a day to see if someone has bid on my stuff, but like you or someone said, sometimes you can get more just by asking for more. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -The idea is to always make at least $1 on the shipping and everything will be okay. LOL Robert
Response:
Mostly I sell used records (my collection from back when my record player worked). I do a little research for each one to get a rough idea of what they’re going for, but I still am frequently surprised. Sometimes they go for far more than I’d expected; sometimes, as happened today, I’m disappointed by how little I get.
Shipping is the main problem with low-priced records. If it’s a common item, a buyer can go to a record show and pick it out of a $1 bin. No matter how low it goes for on eBay, there’s always at least $3-4 shipping. I never sell records for less than $9.99, and usually I’m hoping to get at least $20-25. At that price, shipping isn’t really a problem, and you’ll get top dollar from the worldwide collector community. If your items are worth little, you’d be better off taking a table at a show.
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – When I put an item up for auction, should the minimum bid be a very low amount, to catch the eye of potential bidders, or the actual minimum I’d want it to go for? there are varying opinions on that. personally i price at the minimum i’m willing to accept. Mostly I sell used records (my collection from back when my record player worked). I do a little research for each one to get a rough idea of what they’re going for, but I still am frequently surprised. Sometimes they go for far more than I’d expected; sometimes, as happened today, I’m disappointed by how little I get. pricing at the minimum you’ll accept saves a lot of disappointment. Robert Fully agree. There’s some argument that starting at 1 cent, 99 cents, etc gets more bids, but final selling – not number of bids, is what’s important.
biggest improvement i did to my bottom line was to raise opening bids to closer to the items value. Bottom feeders tend to drop out quickly and most often have little-to-no effect on the final price. If it doesn’t sell, it’s usually better to relist at a later date or even eat a listing cost than give it away below the minimum you’d like to have.
or to junk it as unsellable On the other hand, do the research to understand what’s a realistic market price. We typically start about 10-20% below market price, but there are always exceptions.
definitely! i’ve gotten more for certain books simply because i asked for more ;-) Robert — The sound of gunfire, off in the distance, I’m getting used to it now Lived in a brownstone, lived in the ghetto, I’ve lived all over this town This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no fooling around
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