When Is An Ebay Auction Not Really An Auction?

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Author	Replies: 6 / Views: 2,424
John K Valued Member United States 419 Posts	Posted 06/09/2020 2:23 pm Answer - when the minimum bid is full retail (or more!). I just spent a few hours looking over all the world coin auctions on ebay ending today. Most of them have NO BIDS. The reason being their minimum starting bid is too high. Nearly all the auctions with bids have a very low starting price. I would think the sellers would get tired of wasting their time running "auctions" that get no bids. If you refuse to take less than a certain amount, make it a fixed price listing and save everybody some time. These sellers want to have it both ways. Protect themselves and get auction fever going. Not going to happen. I have a small list of sellers who start everything at less than $1. And they seem to be doing just fine with lots of early bids and plenty of snipers at the close. They run real auctions. They get lots of my money. It would be interesting to know the totals of auctions that never get a bid and have a high starting price. My guess is that percentage is way more than 90%. I know that the ones on my Watch List are at 100%! Report this Post to the Staff

Imag8r Valued Member United States 227 Posts	Posted 06/09/2020 2:56 pm When I list an item/coin on ebay I look at prices currently asked and also the sold prices. Then I will list just below lowest seller if pretty close to prices they sell for. I have better luck than doing auctions starting real low. I guess afraid coin will sell much lower than what I want. I agree there are a ton of sellers where I scratch my head and think are they really serious thinking this coin is going to sell for that..Old gold coins I auction. I always start at minimum that I want to sell it for and the coins always goes above that—some alittle higher some alot—I have a few needed Peace dollars to complete my set and just cant find one that is condition and price I want to spend on that coin, but I keep trying. Report this Post to the Staff
T-BOP Rest in Peace United States 18456 Posts	Posted 06/09/2020 4:34 pm I'm strictly an E-bay buyer . All I know is when I see an auction starting at a ridiculous high price I skip right over that coin . I'm looking to fight with other bidders in hopes of getting the coin at a good price . High bid starting sellers ; Stop Wasting Our Time ! Report this Post to the Staff
TobyJ Pillar of the Community United Kingdom 1273 Posts	Posted 06/09/2020 5:02 pm When I used to sell coins I used to buy them in job lots and list them all at £0.99 with no reserve, and more often than not I would turn a profit. It's also quite fun. You're right, there are so many listings that are 0 bids right until the end because they are asking £7999.99 for a coin that might sell for £2000 if it had a lot of interest. I actually only usually bid on coins that have started at what I believe to be less than their value. You can get some bargains if they end in the middle of daytime on a weekday! Report this Post to the Staff
edweather Pillar of the Community United States 7375 Posts	Posted 06/09/2020 9:53 pm A lot of sellers just aren't interested in moving inventory. If they do sell a coin once in a while, they will get their price. Auctions are risky for sellers, and I too like auctions that start low, and sell for whatever the market will bear. Report this Post to the Staff
John K Valued Member United States 419 Posts	Posted 06/10/2020 10:10 am Quote: I'm looking to fight with other bidders in hopes of getting the coin at a good price . High bid starting sellers ; Stop Wasting Our Time ! Absolutely! But don't bid on the stuff I wants - har! Up to now I have been listing all me coins in the fixed price format. But starting Saturday, I am going to auction a few USA Walking Liberty half dollars. I will follow the format of my favorite ebay sellers and start at 99 cents with free shipping. Hopefully they will go for more than melt! Report this Post to the Staff
John K Valued Member United States 419 Posts	Posted 06/20/2020 09:59 am Just looked at the 300 world coins that are about to close on ebay. Eight have bids and those started at $1 or less except for one that was silver and started at melt. What a waste of time. Give me REAL auctions or list them at fixed price. Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 6 / Views: 2,424

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