Ebay, reserve price above starting price, why?

[singlecoil]

Every now and then I look at an item in ebay, and note that there have been one or more bids, but that the reserve price is not reached. Why would the seller do that? Why not just start the item at whatever the reserve price they require is?

[jimmystratos]

Bait.

[Rusty Arches]

Lower the starting price, lower the cost of placing the item.

[singlecoil]

Rusty Arches said:

Lower the starting price, lower the cost of placing the item.

I believe the fees are based on whichever is the highest of the two, reserve or starting price. I had a quick look at the ebay help pages, and the list they gave had starting or reserve price at the top of the column which read to me that the fees are the same.

[V8mate]

singlecoil said:

Every now and then I look at an item in ebay, and note that there have been one or more bids, but that the reserve price is not reached. Why would the seller do that? Why not just start the item at whatever the reserve price they require is?

Ditto any auction, anywhere. Not sure why it bugs you.

[Morningside]

I have done it a couple of times to test the water over a certain item.

How much is my priceless tat? Not sure, I will set a reserve for £10,000 and see how far it reaches.

Yes, you could start at 99p but knowing my luck it would sell for that.

Then again, if you make it BIN for £500 you may be underselling.

Common items TV, Cars etc. it does not matter but what about a *rare* pocketwatch.

BTW: I hate it when people put *rare* or LOOK or other annoying headers.

[T89 Callan]

Putting a reserve is stupid.

If you want to sell something for no less than £X then put in a local ad' for that amount you retards.

I have just won an auction for a cheap car, £500 but did not make reserve. The seller still has to pay the fees but has no sale. If he had wanted £700 then why did he put it on ebay with a 99p start? fking morons.

[Paul_M3]

T89 Callan said:

Putting a reserve is stupid.

If you want to sell something for no less than £X then put in a local ad' for that amount you retards.

Perhaps because if they put out a local ad for £x then that is the MOST they would get?

If they put it on ebay they could potentially get two or three times that. (if its an item that may appeal to select audience)

Edited by Paul_M3 on Saturday 27th February 17:24

[theaxe]

T89 Callan said:

Putting a reserve is stupid.

If you want to sell something for no less than £X then put in a local ad' for that amount you retards.

But what if it's worth £x * 1.5? You're assuming that everything has a clear value.

For example I have an old guitar, I've been meaning to get rid of it for ages. It cost me £120 4 years ago. Anything less than £20 for it isn't worth the hassle so should I:

a) Stick it in the paper for £20 and either sell it or not.
b) Stick it on eBay with a £20 reserve and see how much I get?

[singlecoil]

V8mate said:

singlecoil said:

Every now and then I look at an item in ebay, and note that there have been one or more bids, but that the reserve price is not reached. Why would the seller do that? Why not just start the item at whatever the reserve price they require is?

Ditto any auction, anywhere. Not sure why it bugs you.

And I'm not sure why you would assume that I am 'bugged'

[singlecoil]

theaxe said:

b) Stick it on eBay with a £20 reserve and see how much I get?

Or a starting price of £20?

[V8mate]

singlecoil said:

V8mate said:

singlecoil said:

Every now and then I look at an item in ebay, and note that there have been one or more bids, but that the reserve price is not reached. Why would the seller do that? Why not just start the item at whatever the reserve price they require is?

Ditto any auction, anywhere. Not sure why it bugs you.

And I'm not sure why you would assume that I am 'bugged'

Because you started a thread clearly unhappy that people do it?

[singlecoil]

V8mate said:

singlecoil said:

V8mate said:

singlecoil said:

Every now and then I look at an item in ebay, and note that there have been one or more bids, but that the reserve price is not reached. Why would the seller do that? Why not just start the item at whatever the reserve price they require is?

Ditto any auction, anywhere. Not sure why it bugs you.

And I'm not sure why you would assume that I am 'bugged'

Because you started a thread clearly unhappy that people do it?

Since when has asking a question meant that the asker is unhappy? FFS answer the original question if you can.

[V8mate]

singlecoil said:

V8mate said:

singlecoil said:

V8mate said:

singlecoil said:

Every now and then I look at an item in ebay, and note that there have been one or more bids, but that the reserve price is not reached. Why would the seller do that? Why not just start the item at whatever the reserve price they require is?

Ditto any auction, anywhere. Not sure why it bugs you.

And I'm not sure why you would assume that I am 'bugged'

Because you started a thread clearly unhappy that people do it?

Since when has asking a question meant that the asker is unhappy? FFS answer the original question if you can.

I did.

[singlecoil]

V8mate said:

singlecoil said:

V8mate said:

singlecoil said:

V8mate said:

singlecoil said:

Every now and then I look at an item in ebay, and note that there have been one or more bids, but that the reserve price is not reached. Why would the seller do that? Why not just start the item at whatever the reserve price they require is?

Ditto any auction, anywhere. Not sure why it bugs you.

And I'm not sure why you would assume that I am 'bugged'

Because you started a thread clearly unhappy that people do it?

Since when has asking a question meant that the asker is unhappy? FFS answer the original question if you can.

I did.

No you didn't. You simply said that the behaviour I was asking about was "Ditto any auction, anywhere". That's not answering the question. I asked why they did it. If I had asked whether it happened at every auction, then your answer would have fitted, but I didn't and so it didn't.

[Jasandjules]

I always thought people put in a 99p starting price so that when someone listed the products by price it would be right at the top?!?

[Mr E Driver]

I always thought that stuff is listed at .99p to avoid a listing fee and to encourage more peeps to bid it up.
The reserve just stops somebody buying something at less than the seller wants for it when there may only be a couple of bidders after it.

As for ridiculous words in the header...L@@k has to be the worst, why would you put that word in the search?

[chim]

T89 Callan said:

Putting a reserve is stupid.

If you want to sell something for no less than £X then put in a local ad' for that amount you retards.

I have just won an auction for a cheap car, £500 but did not make reserve. The seller still has to pay the fees but has no sale. If he had wanted £700 then why did he put it on ebay with a 99p start? fking morons.

Mmm, maybe its because every auction house (cars/antiques) whatever use this method. It attracts the bidders and keeps them interested. It my also be that you are not exactly sure of the value of your item and would like to see where it goes without letting it go for less than you think it is worth or are looking for. It also protects against the occasion when the correct bidders are not there for your type of item and it slips through for less than its value.

[singlecoil]

chim said:

T89 Callan said:

Putting a reserve is stupid.

If you want to sell something for no less than £X then put in a local ad' for that amount you retards.

I have just won an auction for a cheap car, £500 but did not make reserve. The seller still has to pay the fees but has no sale. If he had wanted £700 then why did he put it on ebay with a 99p start? fking morons.

Mmm, maybe its because every auction house (cars/antiques) whatever use this method. It attracts the bidders and keeps them interested. It my also be that you are not exactly sure of the value of your item and would like to see where it goes without letting it go for less than you think it is worth or are looking for. It also protects against the occasion when the correct bidders are not there for your type of item and it slips through for less than its value.

Hmm.. does it though? I don't think it's happened that I personally wanted to bid on something that had received bids but which hadn't achieved the reserve but I do see it quite often when I look through the kit car section, for instance, and I find it more interesting when I see bids have been received but there's no reserve, because then I know that if I bid, and no-one bids higher, then I will be buying it, whereas if there is a reserve, and I bid and no-one else does, then maybe I won't win it. So although I don't know what it's going to go for, at least I know if the item is actually on sale or not.

The other concern you mention, protecting it from letting it go than you think it's worth, that would be covered by setting the starting price at that level.

Edited by singlecoil on Saturday 27th February 18:48

[cambiker71]

If the auction is started low with a hidden reserve, you'll often get lots of people bidding their maximum in the hope it is higher than the reserve. Oddly on ebay items with a high bid count seem to attract more bidders, so a low start price with a reserve seems to firstly attract the "low maximum bid" bidders, who bump the price and bid count up which attracts other bidders which bump the price up usually well above the reserve too.
I have no idea why high bid counts attract higher bids but that's how it seems to be. If you start too high nobody bids as there could be the chance of getting the same item at a lower price elsewhere even if the reserve is set at the same price. It's a form of gambling i guess?