Sorry for the rant....but I hate reserve price auctions.

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Posted By: John S

I have read all the arguments for and against, but why do sellers put reserves on eBay auctions? Why not start the item at a price that even if a single bid is placed will bring a sufficient return? Does it cost less for the seller to set a reserve instead of a high opening bid? I placed a few bids today on reserve auctions. I won two, but even with my maximum bids being 200% of book they did not meet the reserve. If I had known the prices I may have placed a ridiculous bid to get the cards (both have been on the want list for some time).

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Posted By: John Kalafarski

If I may ask, what book do you reference? I think setting a reserve as an alternative to a high first bid works better. I see that many auctions with the high first bid remain untouched.

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Posted By: John S

I understand that it is the sellers perogative to sell his/her item for whatever price they wish. I also understand that there is no set "book" for any collectible. I should have simplified my previous statement by saying that my bids were about twice as much as what these two cards have typically sold for in other auctions.

I do not believe however that a reserve price generates a final higher sale. Of course it will produce more bids. A fairly priced vintage card in today's market will sell.

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Posted By: E, Daniel

And here's where I always end up.
When you set an opening price, or buy it now, it is difficult to not set the price at the very top end of what you might hope to get for it. Even if its reasonable to expect a great card to find that price, an opening at this point discourages many buyers who hope to get the card at the best possible price through the auction process. Therefore, they tend not to bid in the hope they will get a similar card for less. Even long time collectors with decent budgets follow this pattern to some extent.
And pricing the card MORE than fairly, or right in the middle of expectations, is such a hard number to discern. Usually it is a number below recent results and if that were the only bid you got you might find yourself disappointed. It's hard to do....

For myself, the hardest call has always been to sell with reserve, or with no reserve with a $9.95 opening. My general feeling is that reserves discourage activity, often resulting in lower final bids than the excitement and frenzy of a free and clear auction that makes everyone feel they have a chance. I'm always impressed by the balls out auctions some run for great cards with no reserves, and nearly always bookmark them and try and establish some way to dream up winning them. It definitely has the most upside as I see it.

But my own cards, hell, I can't afford to take the hit of a lowball result, so reasonable reserves are the way I usually end up going.

Daniel

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Posted By: Cobby33

Psychologically, I think people are more likely to end up paying as much as (or usually more) than a reserve, because there is a bidding war- or when they have some "control" over their bidding. I think sellers who set reserves or high first bids are shooing themselves in the foot (unless of course they really don't want to sell it). Reserves scare people away - they would rather bid high dollars in smaller increments than commit to a high dollar right off the bat.

As someone else alluded to, if you must have a minimum, BIN with Best Offer seems to be the best way to go.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

If I see something I "Need" that has a reserve on it I just email the seller and ask for the reserve. Probably about 50% of the time the seller will tell me. I guess I don't really understand the mentality behind a hidden reserve. Just tell me what you're willing to let it go for so I can make up my mind right then if I want to mess around with it.

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Posted By: Dylan

I dont mind reasonable reserve auctions, its those sky high reserves that waste everyones time being interested in an auction thatll never sell

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Posted By: barrysloate

I start all my ebay lots at $9.95 with no reserve. I'm rarely disappointed and quite often pleasantly surprised. On average my lots do better than I might have expected. I think no reserve auctions encourage bidding.

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Posted By: Dylan

Although i dont sell big money items, i usually start everything at .99 cents. It encourages bidders, and the fees are lower, which is a plus

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Posted By: Ed Hans

I agree with Barry and all those who do not use reserves. I start all my auctions at either $.99 or $9.99 with no reserve. With a hundred million people using ebay and a molten hot vintage card market, there is absolutely no reason to fear a "lowball result". If you have good images and clear, concise descriptions, your items will fetch market price. I rarely bid in reserve price auctions, as the seller usually wants above retail for his items. It's just a waste of time.

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Posted By: Rob Dewolf

there is absolutely no reason to fear a "lowball result".

Currently on the board is another thread regarding the inability of bidders to place last-second bids. eBay can be prone to short periods of down time in which the site doesn't function properly and is extremely slow. I've had a number of auctions in which the winning bid went from the opening $9.99 to a few hundred dollars in the final 30 seconds. Had eBay been having problems, that likely would not have happened.

So to say there's "absolutely no reason" to use a reserve just isn't true. They might be annoying to bidders, but they do serve a useful purpose. I've had success using a reserve and simply stating in the ad the reserve amount.

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Posted By: Shanon

As a buyer I usually will avoid reserve auctions, and as a seller I very rarely, if ever, use a reserve. I like to start all auctions at $9.99 or less. As for Buy It Now items I placed a raw T205 Walter Johnson at $500 and it was bought within an hour. Now I believe the Johnson would have graded no more than a 1.5 SCG and I even offered it to someone here on the board at $375 and was turned down. Of course this makes one wonder if the Buy It Now option cost me money on this particular auction.

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Posted By: Maker's Mark

One thing to consider, if are placing a lot of bids on an item and are not near the reserve price, you can email the seller and tell them you are interested in the item and ask what the reserve is currently. They may or may not tell you. It's worth a shot. I do not place reserves on any of my auctions, as I feel it takes away from the fun on eBay. The buyer may come away with a hell of a deal. Like I said, it doesn't hurt to ask....Good Luck!

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Posted By: Maker's Mark

Sorry Dan...I should have read all the comments first. Didn't mean to echo yours.

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Posted By: Jim Dale

Honestly I like reserve auctions. A lot of times I'm not really wanting to sell but will pay the price for an auction to see what an item is really worth - I set a high reserve which I'm able to live with if the item does reach it and sell.

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Posted By: John S

Jim,

So for you it is like a cheap appraisal service? Not a bad idea if one wants to estimate the value of cards in his/her collection. In reserve auctions in which I know I will see an example of the card again, I will usually stop bidding at about 50% to 75% of my estimation of the cards value if the reserve has yet to be reached.