New ebay seller - asked what reserve is?

travel_freak

Hi,

Thanks for the replies.

I was just wary that it might end up selling for peanuts which is why I put a reserve on it. I'm not trying to "play games" only to prevent the item selling too cheaply. My enquiry about what to say is geniune - I've never sold before and didn't know if people readily gave out their reserves - now I know I will ask myself when I spot something I'm interested in buying!

Perhaps I would have been better off with a "buy it now" price but I thought that a high "buy it now" price might put people off. Perhaps if it doesn't sell I'll re-try it this way. Do I understand from the above posts that the fees for a "BIN" and a reserve end up being pretty much the same anyway?

RFW - how would I sell to the highest bidder if it doesn't meet the reserve? Do I just email that person at the end of the auction and ask if they want to buy?

No, I don't plan to accept Paypal - I don't know what the risks are but I've decided cash on collection will be the best option because it's an enormous and heavy item that will need to be collected anyway.

Many thanks for the advice.

greenstreetprince

if you want to sell to someone who didnt meet the reserve eBay will give you that option once the listing has ended, not sure of what exactly will be displayed as i've never sold with a reserve which hasn't been met, but chances are the option will be near the top of the item page after it ends.

RFW

greenstreetprince wrote: »

if you want to sell to someone who didnt meet the reserve eBay will give you that option once the listing has ended, not sure of what exactly will be displayed as i've never sold with a reserve which hasn't been met, but chances are the option will be near the top of the item page after it ends.

What he said. I imagine its similar to best offers received in that you will be given a choice of accepting or declining the highest bid. If the item is collection only then I'd stick to your payment terms. Accepting Paypal for items being collected can cause problems especially if high value.

soolin

RFW wrote: »

What he said. I imagine its similar to best offers received in that you will be given a choice of accepting or declining the highest bid. If the item is collection only then I'd stick to your payment terms. Accepting Paypal for items being collected can cause problems especially if high value.

It isn't just high end goods where paypal should not be used for collected items, it is ALL collected items. Paypal should never ever be used where an item is collected as proof of delivery per paypal regulations cannot be provided and the buyer can reclaim their money easily.

barvid

Interestingly, I asked a seller what the reserve was on an item just before the OP posted on this thread - who knows, maybe the post was about me? (The seller declined to give the reserve price too, btw.)

From my perspective, all I can say is that I was watching a number of items and didn't want to get wound up in bidding for one if the reserve was above what I'd pay for it, or what I'd pay for another of the items. In the end, the seller told me it had a high reserve (apparently the bids were nowhere near the reserve yet) so I decided against bidding and bought another item. I tend not to use reserve prices as I rarely sell expensive items, but when I have done then I've tended to state the reserve in the listing - I think it's more helpful for a buyer to know what it is.

Just my 2p worth!

heppy23

I've been selling on ebay since 1999 and haven't used a reserve for several years. It's a waste of money and it winds up bidders.

If you MUST get a certain amount for an item then either enter the starting bid at that amount or do it as a buy it now with best offer and be strict about what offer you would take. Either of these ways still put buyers off but not as much as a reserve does.

Hintza

Hate reserves too and probably wouldn't buy, but as a buyer and seller was being difficult I could be really naughty and bid say £500 instead of £50 and the retract my bid and rebid £50 in that way i can open up the reserve anyway. Never done it but it would get my point across!

So you might as well tell them.

ROBDOLPHIN66

I personally do not like reserves, though I do like it when people selling a CD worth £1 or 2 put "No Reserve" even though the minimum reserve you can use is £50 :-)

However my point is - if this is a valuable item, you are a new seller and you are not accepting PayPal (though I understand how cash on collection is much better in this case) many people will be wary of buying an expensive item from you.

daveo138

smartie1976 wrote: »

I assume the low start price to is avoid the higher insertion fees for a high fixed price BIN.

You will pay a lot more for a reserve on an expensive item than you ever would with a BIN, so that wouldn't be the case - especially as you no longer get your reserve fee refunded if your item sells!

shop-to-drop

I'm the same as many here. If I am interested in a high value item with a reserve. I ask what it is too. I don't want to get my hopes up or waste my time bidding for an item I am never going to win as the reserve is too high.

I would suggest you tell them the reserve and maybe even display the question and answer so that others can see. They can also then see that someone else is interested so that could work to your advantage.