Thoughts??? The joy of the 99 cent starting price auction......
 

.....killed the moment I notice a reserve price on the auction.

I just don't get it.

Thoughts?

A lot of sellers don't do .99 cents auctions. This isn't 2001. Ebay back then, you used to could get away with .99 cent auctions as a seller. Your item will bring fair market price. If you do a .99 cent auction now, you are libel to take a bath and get your feelings hurt. I sold a 1954 Bowman Ted Williams SGC 5 under a .99 cent auction. It sold for $800. The winning buyer has it for sell for $1,200. Should be gone within the month.

I'm sorry, but it is just to risky for sellers to run .99 cent auctions anymore. Unless you are Probstein or PWCC, you just don't get the bids that you used to get.

Those were the good ole days. .99 auctions became a thing of the past when ebay moved to a Buy It now model.

I think the OP is asking why run a .99 cent auction and then put a reserve on the item? Why not just start the auction at the reserve price to begin with? Is that right, Thromdog?

I think you're right. A .99 cent auction isn't really a .99 cent auction if you put a reserve on it!


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I believe cause the seller would like to get higher than the reserve. When the reserve is the minimum bid, then everyone knows what that number is. Sometimes that number is best to stay hidden, especially if your item is rare, and more than one person wants it.

Most sellers just want to make a living. The method they choose to sell an item on ebay depends on what they think will work best to get the price they need.

People here complain about the various methods sellers use, but for most sellers there's nothing nefarious about it - no attempt to "screw" or anything else - just make a living. You might love 99 cent auctions with no reserve, but that seems to only work for certain sellers, for reasons well-documented, if not hypothetical. Call honest sellers 'stupid' if you want, or call them 'bad businessmen', but a lot of the ones that we insult here are actually quite honest.

I just started 5 or 6 $0.01 auctions. I think $0.99 is so arbitrary and was likely based on original eBay fee pricing. Plus this way I get a few bids before it even gets to $0.99. Bid count is the best advertising I know.

Any way you list can have holes punched in it. I think the absolute worst is starting an auction at the lowest price you would take. So many times I have snagged a card below its value by being the only bidder on an auction like this. Either start it low and let it ride so it has a lot of bids when it approaches fair value, or list it BIN/BO and field offers if you can be patient.

I start all of my auctions at .99. I win some, I lose some. If I have a card that would hurt if it sold too low, I'll put it up as a BIN for a while and see how it goes.

I wish eBay would do away with reserves entirely. If you're going to put a reserve on your item, then start it at the reserve price. I never bid on items with reserves, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't be interested in buying at the reserve price.

I've seen and won auctions on Ebay where the seller had the starting bid of 1 cent. One auction where I was the only bidder. The seller had a fit. He tried everything he could to void the auction. I forwarded all the emails to Ebay. I finally did receive the item. And the person was gone from Ebay soon after.

I bet - although he probably quit on his own accord because he was forced out of business.

For 1-cent (or 99 cent) auctions to work consistently for a seller, they have to have a kind of critical mass of bidders actively bidding. Some are able to achieve that through their own promotional efforts, large base of repeat customers, etc. It used to be that there were enough collectors scouring ebay auctions on a weekly basis that the only advertising effort you had to put forth was to write an accurate/catchy title. With ebay's push for fixed price listings and virtual elimination of up-front listing fees, much of the sense of urgency on the part of both buyers and sellers was removed, and that necessary mass of buyers that was once a given became more of an exception. A few diligent sellers are still able to pull off the 99-cent auctions, but for most, the "good ol' days" of running 99-cent auctions are a thing of the past.

nevermind….

No ...speak your peace. This is one of my favorite topics! There are no right or wrong answers. I just know what works for me.

Bobby, there actually IS a right answer when it comes to the type of selling strategy that a seller uses, but there is no way that a Net54 buyer can possibly know the 'right answer' for any particular seller, unless he analyzes the seller's business plan. The seller is in the best position to know what the 'right answer' is for him personally. For me it used to be .99 cent auctions with no reserve. It no longer is.

Agree with Scott
 

I agree with Scott. To each their own!

I posted this thread because I can't understand a 99 cent auction that has a reserve on it......not at all questioning the ethics of the seller or think he has some devious plan. It just didn't make sense to me as a buyer, but I'm guessing the seller has a valid reason.

In my mind, the 99 cent auction is a "you got 7 or 10 days to put out your best price, and I will accept it". I think setting up a reserve cancels that.

One of the newer approaches that I've seen that I like is having a a start price that you are fine selling for with no reserve set. If you only get a single bid, you are fine with that, and you can potentially get more.

Agreed, and maybe even a step further. Not only would it be different from seller to seller, it might be different from item to item for the same seller.

I can price BINs for tobacco cards, but how do I price a "set of 4, ceramic, cork bottom, George Sauer NY Jets coasters in wooden holder" that was also in the box of cards I picked up if I want to get rid of it ASAP?

T cards - BIN
coaster set - auction with low (99 cent) opening bid

You would be surprised how many times I listed an item with a start price of X and got no bids..but when started at .99 cents..the bidding got it above X...people think that a start price is inflated....that's why sellers are doing the .99 cents with a reserve...

Penny Auctions.....
 

I have started running Buy it Nows with some surprising success but if an item sits for a month or so with no great interest, I will run it at a penny with no reserve for 7 days. I have over 4000 100% feedback so I have a bit of experience in this field.

On a rare occasion, I will get beat up on the penny auctions but it happens rarely. I distinctly remember a Yellow HOF Postcard signed by Boggs which I got in person went for $1.75 or something crazy like that. After fuming a bit, I realized that I had paid $1 for the postcard and gotten the auto for free so I actually made money (so I tell myself....not counting opportunity cost of course!) :)

If you list items for a penny you can also back out of them anytime outside the 12 hour window so there really is little risk.

peace, mike

The worst is when you know there is a reserve, place your best price bid and you don't even reach their reserve. MOVING ON. lol

Now is your price just a percentage of the typical going rate, or are you at least close to the average selling price?