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"Would you take a BIN on your auction?" question

Please be kind - I am not the most experienced eBay user! I'm having one of my annual clear-out sessions today, and have put an item of clothing from Long Tall Sally on eBay. Set it as a 7 day auction with a £3 starting price and £4 P&P, using Hermes (I know they have an atrocious reputation with some people, but they've not let me down so far - touch wood!).


I've just had a message from someone asking if I'll take a BIN price. I have no idea how to go about that, whether it's allowed, or whether it'll cost more in fees. Would the person offering expect to pay more than the £3 + £4 P&P I'd set the auction at? I hope so ;) Do I even entertain this idea or tell her to wait it out?
© Cuilean 2005. Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.

Comments

  • ukmike
    ukmike Posts: 752 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts
    Just ask them how much they will pay in a BIN.
  • Cuilean
    Cuilean Posts: 732 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Car Insurance Carver! Cashback Cashier
    ukmike wrote: »
    Just ask them how much they will pay in a BIN.
    Thanks, I've done that :)


    I'm up to 8 watchers on the item already, so I'm thinking she'll have to be feeling pretty generous ;)
    © Cuilean 2005. Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.
  • kalsha
    kalsha Posts: 1,137 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    If you add BIN to your current auction listing it will cost you extra or will come off your monthly allowance.

    Also, if you add BIN now, it has to be a certain percentage above the auction start price. I think it is 40% - not sure.

    Also bear in mind that if you add BIN at a cost, the buyer might not even buy (that has happened to me) so it was a waste of 30 or 35p listing fee.

    From experience, when buyers ask for a BIN price, they know that the auction price could reach a lot higher and they might not win so they might as well buy now. I have had buyers ask for BIN price on items I had listed at £1 start price and I would have let them buy at £3 but I didn't and most times the final prices have been in the region of £15-20!!
    I have currently got one item listed at £1 and buyer has asked for BIN and I have said I want let the auction run its course. Let's see what happens as there are quite a few watchers.
  • anotheruser
    anotheruser Posts: 3,485 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper I've been Money Tipped!
    Technically it is against ebays terms, but we'll put all that aside here.

    If someone wants to buy it now, you have to some how give them your email address. You can't just write me@myemail.com or anything tricky like meATmyemailDOTcom as that won't work either.
    You would still have to pay PayPal fees (unless they send payment as a "payment to a friend" - which is great for you but highly likely the buyer won't do that), but no ebay fees.

    Buy It Now can be very helpful.

    Some people will offer above the going rate to persuade you to sell to them. Good deal for the buyer as it means you get more money.

    Some may offer less than the going rate. However you as a buyer win as you get the item sold sooner. However there is more risk with this as if they do a chargeback through PayPal, it's likely you will have lost your item.

    You can ask for cash on collection, then just delete the listing from ebay. That's the best way if they are local. The buyer would get it at a slightly lower price but you'd save on fees and have the cash in your hand.
    But the person has to be local.
  • Collabora
    Collabora Posts: 1,360 Forumite
    edited 15 February 2015 at 5:01PM
    Technically it is against ebays terms,
    No its not as you can go in and revise the listing at anytime, the only time you cannot revise the prices is if their is already a bid in place.

    Now this is against eBays rules (offering to sell outside of eBay)
    If someone wants to buy it now, you have to some how give them your email address. You can't just write me@myemail.com or anything tricky like meATmyemailDOTcom as that won't work either.
    You would still have to pay PayPal fees (unless they send payment as a "payment to a friend" - which is great for you but highly likely the buyer won't do that), but no ebay fees.
  • Technically it is against ebays terms, but we'll put all that aside here.

    If someone wants to buy it now, you have to some how give them your email address. You can't just write [EMAIL="me@myemail.com"]me@myemail.com[/EMAIL] or anything tricky like meATmyemailDOTcom as that won't work either.
    You would still have to pay PayPal fees (unless they send payment as a "payment to a friend" - which is great for you but highly likely the buyer won't do that), but no ebay fees.

    Buy It Now can be very helpful.

    Some people will offer above the going rate to persuade you to sell to them. Good deal for the buyer as it means you get more money.

    Some may offer less than the going rate. However you as a buyer win as you get the item sold sooner. However there is more risk with this as if they do a chargeback through PayPal, it's likely you will have lost your item.

    You can ask for cash on collection, then just delete the listing from ebay. That's the best way if they are local. The buyer would get it at a slightly lower price but you'd save on fees and have the cash in your hand.
    But the person has to be local.

    In my experience only the cheapskates want an early BIN so they can try their luck and lock in a price outside of a bidding war they know they'll not win.
  • If you agree on a price, save yourself the extra listing fee from adding a BIN, by asking them to bid, then end the item at the current price and adjust the postage fee when you invoice them to add up to the total amount agreed.
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