How high should I set my starting bid?

Chris120A

I really want (need ) to sell my TV, and I thought I'd give eBay a try, since I've had some success selling on there before. However, I have no idea how high I should set my starting bid for it.

It is this TV:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5378153.htm

I am selling it with the stand, remote and manual, and it is 6 months old. I paid £250 for it, so I figured a £150 starting bid and a Buy It Now price of £199 would attract sufficient interest. However, looking at

http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&fstype=1&from=R10&satitle=28+widescreen&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&bs=Search&fsop=1%26fsoo%3D1&coaction=compare&copagenum=1&coentrypage=search&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D3&sadis=200&fpos=CV11+5PD&ga10244=10425&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=

people don't seem to be bidding much on the higher-priced ones.

I have always been wary of how high to set the start bid on items - I have set some at 99p and had no interest, and set others really high, and people have been bidding since almost the start of the auction! Has anyone had any experience selling a telly on eBay, and what did you price it at?

Burlesque_Babe

hi - I've never sold a TV on ebay, but some things to consider might be - are you offering any type of courier/postage service? If so, it will probably be quite expensive, so the buyer will factor this into any price they are willing to pay. If you are offering local collection only, this may limit the number of people who are willing to travel to you to pick a television up, but might attract a bidder turned off by high postage costs .

TV prices seem to be very cheap at the moment, so I think that's why buyers are really looking around for cheap prices. Although not widescreen, I bought a 28 inch branded television in silver for £150 (inc vat) only 18 months ago from Macro and it's even cheaper now. I think the second hand market is also a buyers market, although, when I was looking it was the black TV's which were dirt cheap, rather than the silver ones (there weren't many of them around then, but there probably will be now)

This is a similar model, but three years old on ebay at the moment

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TOSHIBA-28-COLOUR-WIDESCREEN-TV-3-YRS-OLD_W0QQitemZ5849628446QQcategoryZ22639QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Maybe it might be worth watching how this one does over the next four days and then pitch your price from how much interest there is in this one??

Maybe look at the completed items listing on ebay to see how other similar models fared - this one had no bids

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TOSHIBA-SILVER-28N33B-28-WIDESCREEN-TELEVISION-TV_W0QQitemZ5846639399QQcategoryZ22639QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

so maybe start a little lower?

As I said, I've never sold a television, but hope this gives you a few things to think about!!

DCLane

The difficulty you may have here is:

1. In the timing - it's just after the Christmas sales, and

2. There is the move to flat-screen TV's.

In my experience, and I've sold about 600 items on eBay, setting a start price far too high isn't worthwhile. Buy-it-now (BIN) is only useful if you're really wanting a quick sale - it gives buyers an idea of your top price. Usually I'd advise a start price just below what you're willing to accept for it.

David

Altarf

Chris120A wrote:

I am selling it with the stand, remote and manual, and it is 6 months old. I paid £250 for it, so I figured a £150 starting bid and a Buy It Now price of £199 would attract sufficient interest.

I think that you are being optimistic and will be lucky to get £100.

shelly

Zackeriney wrote:

i would start @ 99p and leave a reserve of 150 because its only a quid for the reserve. and if it dosnt sell list it again

Why bother setting a reserve? Start it at the lowest you're willing to accept. You find with reserves they either put buyers off or a bidder will bid a high price then withdraw that bid just to find out what the reserve is.

bobadobado

How about setting a reserve and declaring what its set at in the listing. That way at least you get people bidding, and if it doesnt make the reserve I believe you then have the opportunity to offer it to the highest bidder at the end of the auction should you want to.

Contains_Mild_Peril

I've never sold a TV on eBay either, but I'm afraid I agree that your suggested starting price seems over-optimistic, particularly at this time of year. Luckily, that particular model seems to be the still the same price new, so it could have been worse! Do you have the receipt for it? That's important if selling electrical goods less than a year old, since the guarantee is useless without it. If I were selling it I'd watch similar items until they end on eBay to see what sort of money they make, and if it's not enough, advertise in the local paper/supermarkets instead.

Angie8

Why don't you just start it at 99p? eBay is a buyers market anyway and buyers dictate the price, not sellers (apart from BIN).

You'll find that a low starting bid will attract more people, and an auction with lots of bids on will attract yet more bidders. My most successful auctions have started at 99p, and I usually get more than sellers who are starting with a much higher price.

If you're looking for the best price possible then better to put it in your local paper, an eBayer will factor in delivery costs into an auction and with a TV this will be quite hefty.