reserves

tentickles666

ive just been bidding on a pair of trainers that were worth much more than £50 yet only got to £21 so didnt reach the reserve, do you think a reserve puts people off?

vultura

I think it can sometimes, I know it does on me.

mah_jong

Depends...as a buyer i only bid once, what I think is worth to me. If its the highest and doesn't make the sale fine by me. I have no idea what the seler wants...they have in the past contacted me as I was just short of thier reserve, and we have done the deal.

As I selller I have not used it..... I have only started at the lowest price that I am willing to sell for! So if the seller in your case, put in a minimun of £50...would you have been interested ? Would others have bidded?

I think its temptation tool, for those who nibble. I have seen 15 bids by the same bidder trying to get to the reserve price.

But I am only a small time seller.
Ma

Tojo_Ralph

I would never use a reserve, as I firmly believe that EBay is the place that, if listed correctly, any given item is most likely to achieve its true value.

If I believe an item is worth £100 and it sells for £80, then the reality is that the item was possibly not "worth" £100. I might well get £100 eventually, but I go with listing everything at £4.99 without a reserve.

As for bidding, I don't buy much, but reserves put me off, as it is usually the case that the reserve is going to be too high for this bargain hunter.

Hermia

At lot of people get very het up about reserve prices. I get annoyed with them myself. I just don't see the point of them. I suppose the idea is that the low starting price will lure people in and then they'll feel compelled to keep bidding.

I hate all the hassle of emailing the seller to ask what the reserve is, especially as I've come across a few sellers who have refused to tell me.

mcwarre

Hermia wrote:

I hate all the hassle of emailing the seller to ask what the reserve is, especially as I've come across a few sellers who have refused to tell me.

Isn't that the idea of a reserve, not to tell anyone. A bit pointless otherwise!!!

BrightonLad

Tojo_Ralph wrote:

I would never use a reserve, as I firmly believe that EBay is the place that, if listed correctly, any given item is most likely to achieve its true value.

Totally agree. I always start listings low, as it increases interest in your sale sooner. once you have people watching/bidding on something at a low price, in my opinion they are more likely to bid up as the auction progresses and more people get interested

Reserves certainly put me off.

Hermia

mcwarre wrote:

Isn't that the idea of a reserve, not to tell anyone. A bit pointless otherwise!!!

Ha! I think the whole thing is pointless. I give all auctions with reserves a miss. I saw one auction with a starting bid of £1 and I emailed the seller to find out the reserve and they said it was £190! I could just imagine some poor buyer bidding in £5 increments and constantly getting "you haven't met the reserve price" messages back. The item didn't sell BTW - ha!

Curry_Queen

Isn't the minimum reserve you can put £50 anyway? So presumably this is what the seller wanted for the trainers

danmanchester

Yes that's right £50 is the minimum amount for setting a reserve. I just set everything at a 99p starting price and cross me fingers :eek: !

Tojo_Ralph

I REALLY never understand sellers who put reserves on collectables. Yes, reserves are OK if you are trying to sell a 1970s Mint boxed set of Lego in an auction house in Chipping Norton on a damp n dreary Wednesday..... But this is EBay for heavens sake, it's the best place in the WORLD to realise an items true value at that point in time.

On the subject of watchers (as mentioned by Brighton Lad)..... What is an "average" for watchers? ...... I know it's not really an easy question to answer, but of 8 items finishing tonight, most "collectibles", there are 24 watchers on one, the lowest being 4 on another, with the average being 10.

The lowest figures for watchers are the non-collectibles.

How does that compare with others?