eBay shenanigans

Scott Johnson · **Posted:** Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:11 am

So I'm selling a few things on eBay right now (not important what). I set fair "Buy it now" prices on both of them, both auctions are no reserve, starting bid of 0.99.

The first item is now bidding 2 dollars higher than the Buy it now price.

2nd item is bidding $199.01 below the buy it now price (hopefully I don't end up selling it for $1), but I bet the bidding gets within $10 of the Buy it now price.

I know we all want to get a deal, but I find myself opting for "Buy it now" more and more (assuming it's a fair price). Why take the chance?

Scott

Wes Eargle · **Joined:** Mon Oct 27, 2003 9:47 am **Posts:** 3683

I guess that BIN is good for a fancy limited edition new-in-box NASCAR Mr. Goodwrench plate signed by Dale Earnhardt, but bad for something that scambay has 100s of that you can get cheaper than the BIN if you're willing to wait a day or three.

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:33 am

For me it depends upon the item. If the current bid and BIN are within 5-10% of each other, and I want the item, I'll use BIN. Generally speaking, I use it a lot these days, for I'm impatient. - AB

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Wed Sep 29, 2004 2:17 pm

I buy from eBay very seldom and sell even less.

But I am in the middle of downsizing/replacing some Home Theature/Stereo stuff and just sold some audio amplifiers on eBay. Both sold via "Buy it now".

How did I price the items???

I spent a good bit of time looking to see what they have been selling for in the past. Looking at why some auctions sold higher, vs. lower, etc. I set the BIN value at an attractive price. Right in the range of what it would end up selling for (on average). Maybe a few dollars higher than the average. I didn't set a reserve, but I started bidding at a point that I would have been (barely) comfortable with if it sold at that price.

For one item I am talking about am opening bid of $500 and a BIN of $650. There is no freaking way I am going to start it out at a penny and say "no reserve". I just can't take the chance that it will sell for a really low value. I would much rather keep it or relist with updated info.

Items immediately went onto 6+ "watch it now" lists. It hovered this way for a few days, but with no bids. I suspect the prospective buyers were researching prices as well. A buyer for each eventually decided it was better to jump in now and get an averge if not good deal vs. loose out in a bidding war.

For me, this means, I may not have received top dollar via crazy bidding war, but I also sold quick for a fair price.

My 2 cents.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Wed Sep 29, 2004 2:24 pm

Oh, I am also a strong believer in that you need to provide quality info when you put up an item for sale.

Quick basic description with a stock/generic photo of like item (but not of the actual item) just does not work for me.

For my stuff, I ended up with one photo on the eBay page, but with a link to my personal web server for more photos. I had photos of every side and with low and high resolution versions. With close up details on a few parts that would have been of interest to the buyer.

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Wed Sep 29, 2004 2:58 pm

I've sold about 30+ items on ebay and have bought 40+ items. Due to the same buyer buying on multiple auctions, which only 1 feedback counts(83/83 positive), I have a rating of 77 with 100% positives.

What Richard talks about is important. Provide as many pictures as you can and be as descriptive as you can. I refuse to bid on anything that has shady detail or I can't see in advance, unless the seller is willing to send a picture.

Checking feedback is important, and I make sure to check it for about any auction. I've only had one transaction that went 'bad' from the seller's end, and i just chalk it up to the guy didn't follow through on his end of the deal. I left him no feedback in order to not risk him leaving me poor feedback, even though I paid him promptly and did my part. Sometimes you have to suck it up

I know a lot of people who have gotten screwed by people on Ebay, but it has become less of an issue since Ebay and Paypal teamed up and Ebay has added more buyer protection. - AB

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Wed Sep 29, 2004 3:56 pm

I've bought stuff on Ebay quite frequently this year, especially stuff for the Miata. The old method of waiting til the last minute to place a bid (to avoid a bidding war) is now history thank goodness. Esnipe.com is the way to go. Put in your max amount and wait for them to send you an e-mail telling you if you won or not. I just sniped a new Pioneer DEH-P6600 head unit for $123. New at Crutchfield it sells for $249. Now that's what I call a good deal. I was willing to go as high a $150 since all the BIN prices were about $165 or so. I used $150 as my max and lost three times before winning this one. The last one I lost the winner ended up paying $185...heck the BIN price was $165!!!! Can you say moron?

If you sell on Ebay my advice is to set the starting bid at the minimum you'll take or maybe a bit less. Then let the bidding wars begin

I sold a set of used Eibach springs (they were about 5 years old) and started the bidding at $50. They were just taking up space so I would have been very happy with $50. But low and behold, two guys got in a bidding war and the auction ended at $110! Ebay is my friend

Chuck Frank · **Posted:** Thu Sep 30, 2004 6:08 pm

I have been buying a number of collectibles off ebay of late, they seldom have BIN prices tho. I just don't understand why anyone would bid higher than the BIN price????
I use hammersnipe to place my bids 3 sec before the end, that way I don't get into a bidding war, don't have to be sitting there with my fingers on the keys when an item closes in the middle of the night or during work. I can also set up several days worth of bidding when I'm going to be away from the internet like at an AX. I've gotten some VERY good deals that way, and seldom lose an auction I want to win. I was outbid regularly before I started using hammersnipe.
Ebay has pretty much become the defacto value reference for most antiques and collectibles now. It amazes me sometimes what people held onto for so long.

Chuck Frank · **Posted:** Thu Sep 30, 2004 6:20 pm

Vincent's way of setting the starting bid makes sense. I also don't understand some of the people selling cars, they set a starting bid of say 500.00 and when you ask them the reserve price they say 25,000.00!
Why start the bidding so low when the least you are willing to take is 50X higher??? If you're going to have a fairly high reserve you should at least start with the right # of places left of the decimal point.
There has been a number of scam listing in the ebay motors listings I've run across, plus there is also a rash of counterfeit cashiers checks being passed. If selling, be as careful with cashiers checks and money orders as you would be with a personal check, especially if its an overseas buyer or they want to pay you more than the price and get money back.

Scott Johnson · **Posted:** Mon Oct 04, 2004 8:20 pm

Well, the carb parts sold for $63 when the BIN price was $35 (but that went away long before the winner saw the auction).

The other item sold for $173, $27 below my BIN price (I guess I didn't know what it was really worth), however the price of both items did go up nearly $20-30 in the last 5 minutes.

Scott

Donnie Barnes · **Posted:** Mon Oct 04, 2004 8:47 pm

I've had an auction with a BIN of $95 go for just under $200. But the reserve was like $75 which it hit so early that the BIN was gone and the later bidders probably never saw it.

I'm pretty sure that happens fairly often on eBay.

--Donnie

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