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 Replies: 33 / Views: 5,096 |
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Quote:
Reserves are used by Sellers who have no confidence that the item they are selling will bring what they need for it. I honestly cant blame anyone for using one after seeing what things were selling for last summer. There were definitely some very unhappy sellers |
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Valued Member
United States
226 Posts |
I have also stopped bidding on any item that has a reserve.
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Forum Dad
 United States
24192 Posts |
Yeah let's pay ebay to NOT find you a buyer. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7375 Posts |
Instead of a reserve a seller can just start with a high first bid, and that's free. IMO a reserve is just a trick......what's the point of even bidding under a reserve....none of those bids count anyway.
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Pillar of the Community
 Canada
849 Posts |
Thanks for the fast responses. I guess lots of people feel the way I do.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
621 Posts |
.99 starting reserve auctions are my biggest ebay pet peeve, and others aren't much further behind it. Most of the time I just hit the back button but if it's something I really want I will politely contact them and ask the reserve price. so far it hasn't worked out to well honestly, it either seems like their reserve is crazy high or the person responds that they don't disclose that info as a personal policy. It took me about 5-10 times of being the top bidder but not meeting reserve to start disliking reserve auctions. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1130 Posts |
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I honestly cant blame anyone for using one after seeing what things were selling for last summer. There were definitely some very unhappy sellers Yeah, I could definitely see where some sellers would want one. I don't take any gambles, my auctions always start where I will clear some money after fees and shipping. If I hadn't done this, I would have been ripped off a lot lately. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2124 Posts |
I used it once as a seller. It's a good option to protect yourself when you aren't sure at what price sell something. Anyway, at any moment, according to the bids you can lower than limit.
As a seller it costs you $2 even if you don't sell it.
As a buyer, it could be a waste of time if it's a seller that puts ridiculous reserve price, but not all of them are like that and you have nothing to lose.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1130 Posts |
Now I can see where you may want to do it with a vehicle, but people setting reserves on these little $10 items really surprises me.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7375 Posts |
I've contacted reserve sellers several times and have always gotten them to tell me what the reserve is, 'so far.' Usually say something like, "I have plans for this evening, but just want to make sure it worth staying around for the auction before I change them." Just be careful though, because once a seller told me the reserve and it was actually lower than he said, and if I would have bid, under the supposed reserve, I would have been the successful bidder. Some sellers are tricky.
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Valued Member
United States
374 Posts |
I set reserves on my higher priced auctions because, even if that reserve is not met, if someone gets in the the ball park and I feel like it, I can still extend an offer. In my limited experience it does in fact increase the number of watchers and views. As someone else said, however, 0.99 starting bids with high reserves are likely just going to annoy people or get attention from folks who are not going to bid in a realistic price range. Someone made a comment above about "real auction houses" doing it for good reasons. I don't see any reason why an ebay auction cannot be taken as seriously as any other auction. If someone is not going to bid a realistic price because I have a reserve - they are not really interested in the item. |
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Moderator
Australia
16871 Posts |
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. An internet auction system needs either reserves, or a minimum starting bid, but it does not need both. They both serve the same function - to protect a seller from making an unacceptable loss on an item.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Valued Member
United States
337 Posts |
The reserve serves two purposes. But I tent to not bother when I see them. First, more people will not look than will, and bid if they think they might get a $50 coin for 99 cents. So, it attracts attention by making the coin look real inexpensive. The other is, say a $50 coin has a high bid of $30, and ou bid $60. Instead f getting the $31 bid, you are jumped to he reserve of $50. what sellers do not realize is it is a turn off, and their listing fee is determined by the reserve price, not the artificially low apparent starting price.
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
477 Posts |
@mgillette I mentioned that real auction houses have good reasons for using reserves, because a seller cannot put a starting bid on something like on ebay. In no way am I saying I don't take ebay seriously as I buy/sell on their, what I'm saying is that I personally feel they added the reserve addition to make it feel more like a real auction house scenario. But as someone has mentioned, if you can start the bidding at the price you want-what is the need in having a reserve option when they serve the same purpose in securing a sellers lowest acceptable price. I think you misinterpreted what I wrote, hope this clarifies it in better detail my opinion stated. |
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Quote:
Now I can see where you may want to do it with a vehicle, but people setting reserves on these little $10 items really surprises me. Exactly. Theres no point in doing reserves for cheap items. It needs to be at least three figures and really probably 200 or more to make any sense. Cheaper than that just list it as a BIN. I do what you do though and just start it where I'm comfortable. I would rather have 1 bid I like than 65 bids that end up being way low. Quote:
if you can start the bidding at the price you want-what is the need in having a reserve option when they serve the same purpose in securing a sellers lowest acceptable price From eBays perspective its something else they can charge for as a listing fee which is why they give the option. As far as sellers theyre trying to get the best of both worlds. Theyre hoping to start a bidding frenzy that ends high with the .99 cent start but dont want to take the risk of it ending low. IMO it doesn't really do much but provide protection. Things that go high are because 2 or more people REALLY want something. Thats going to either happen or it wont on its own, putting in a reserve or a .99 cent start isn't what causes that. |
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Replies: 33 / Views: 5,096 |
First Page
Posted 03/08/2014 10:01 pm
