Bidding on ebay

[fishaholic18]

Originally Posted by Raider Ronnie

Wouldn't a $250 starting bid and a minimum reserve be the same thing ?

Thats what I would think..But today..There are no %$#@ rules, people do whatever the $#@! they want and get away with most of it..Horses and all..
%$#@! sickening isn't it??

[spence]

Real auctions don't always start at a dollar.

-spence

[Raider Ronnie]

Originally Posted by spence

Real auctions don't always start at a dollar.

-spence

I was just using $1 as an example.
I would think no reserve and 0 bids, someone could bid as low as they want !

[mikecc]

They do it that way because reserve auctions cost a lot more for the lister.

[spence]

Originally Posted by mikecc

They do it that way because reserve auctions cost a lot more for the lister.

Well, that's part of it.

But depending on how well you know the value of an item you take risks accordingly.

If there's something I know will fetch a hundred, I might be inclined to start it at a dollar. Because:

1) it doesn't cost as much to list

2) the bidding frenzy might just cause the auction to go higher than market price

Right now I have a few Dunhill pens for sale that cost me a lot of money. I can't afford to risk them selling for 120 bucks...it would be a huge loss...but I know they will go for close to 200 based on previous sales.

So I'll list with an opening bid of say 180 or 190 to ensure I get some profit, and a buy it now at just above what people have been paying to entice a watcher to pull the trigger.

This strategy is designed to balance risk with a modest gain.

-spence

[jimmy z]

Its Ebay.
I ignore items like that.