Sellers using Buy it Now and higher start bids...

[marty7188]

I've been a member for a very long time, and one concerning thing I've noticed more and more is that sellers

are using Buy it Now as well as as much higher starting bids than before. In the majority, sellers would often 

have low start amount. 

One of the great attributes of Ebay has always been bidding is open to everyone. And in a way it's a fairly

democratic market place where anyone can have a go, have a chance at winning..an equal playing ground

from the start. Over the last few years, certain market niches have become premium and high end selling,

and in many cases items are listed with 3, 4 or 5 hundred start points or Buy it Nows. The $1 or even $10 dollar 

start with 'No Reserve' is largely gone, which makes the market a place where only the premium buyers get 

the best opportunity. 

So the Sellers will say, 'so what?' thats the way the market operates. No it doesn't. It locks other members of the

Ebay 'community' from competing on an equal footing. Sellers will always want to get the highest price, but setting 

start bids at exhorbatant prices cuts most people out of the equation, which is whats intented I guess, so it 

comes down to greed pure and simple.

Comparing the same kinds of items with Ebay US and UK, these market places still practice the low start bid, but  not

here in Australia. Prices are very much higher. I wonder.

[lyndal1838]

Are you for real?

So you think a seller should start their auction at 99cents as advised by ebay and lose money just so anyone can bid and try to get a bargain?   Sellers on ebay are not charities....some of them are trying to earn a living, not giving their items away because you are not happy to pay a fair price.

There are so many inexperienced sellers coming to the boards wanting to cancel the transaction because they followed ebay's advice to start the auction at a low price and that is all they received.   Gone are the days when there were bidding wars on most items.....most items now sell at the start price with one bid.  The advice from boardies is to start your auction at the price you would be happy to sell for.

Why on earth would you expect a seller to start an item worth hundreds of $$$ at 99cents just so you can have a chance of buying it?  How is that an equal playing field.....buyer wins, seller loses a bundle.  

It looks to me as though you cannot afford to pay a fair price so you want the sellers to pander to you?   Not going to happen I'm afraid, and why should it?   There is plenty of really cheap junk from China that is readily available on ebay.....$1 with free postage.    Have you looked at that instead of wanting to rip off Australian sellers?

You will not have a problem with Reserve prices on ebay Australia.....there are no reserve prices except on vehicles and real estate.

As for the BIN items being listed.....if a seller has a store that is the way they have to list,  It also lets the buyer know what they have to pay....there is no uncertainty as there is with auction bidding.   If there is "Or best offer" on the listing you can make an lower offer but the seller is not obliged to accept it.

What do you wonder about?   If the prices on the US and UK sites are so much better there is nothing stopping you from buying from these sites......except for perhaps the high postage costs.

[springyzone]

You may have more fun hunting at op shops and garage sales if you are expecting to pick up some things cheaply, although there are still plenty of good buys on ebay. But postage costs and fees means it is not worthwhile for sellers to list really cheap stuff. As a buyer, would you be happy to pay 99c an item but $13 postage, because that is what it may actually cost to post it these days?

You're looking at it from the wrong perspective.

What you need to consider is what do you want to buy & what does it cost in the shops, versus what would it cost via ebay once you factor in postage etc. Or is there something you can't find in the shops that is available on ebay?

Sometimes it will end up that buying from a shop is a better option but there are still times ebay is a lifesaver and a really good place to buy.

You don't have to be a premium buyer, for heavens sakes. I regularly buy spices and small things for a handful of change, at what I consider fair prices. But not $1.You've got to be realistic, the postage alone costs the seller double that.

You need to be reasonable. Realise that sellers pay fees to ebay when they sell. They pay fees to paypal when they sell. They have to pay out to post your item. How can they do it for 99c and would you???

PS There are a lot more buy it now items on ebay-they are often new items from shops etc. Still plenty of auctions but as an occasional seller, I would always start my auction higher, at a minimum price I would like to get for it.This is a sales site, not a games site.

[enigmabear]

I think,just in my opinion, if someone does not like the price, they do not have to bid

The same as in a b&m store, if you don't think is worth the asking price, don't buy it

[digital*ghost]

---

@marty7188 wrote:

So the Sellers will say, 'so what?' thats the way the market operates. No it doesn't. It locks other members of the

Ebay 'community' from competing on an equal footing. Sellers will always want to get the highest price, but setting 

start bids at exhorbatant prices cuts most people out of the equation, which is whats intented I guess, so it 

comes down to greed pure and simple.

---

I think you are completely misinterpreting the reasons behind why the auction market has been driven this way, and I think you'll find the reactions to your post are strong because labeling higher start prices 'seller greed' assumes there's no other justification for them taking measures to ensure they don't sell their items for a pittance - that's not greed, that's smart. 

It is actually buyer / bidder behaviour and activity that has resulted in this change, by the way, so if you want to blame anyone for you not being able to try and get an item for less than it may be worth, blame all the buyers who lost interest in the auction side of things, or for whom the novelty of eBay wore of completely, and no longer particpate in auctions, because I'll tell you a secret...

From the buyer's perspective, low-start auctions were a potential opportunity, and they were exactly the same things for sellers - by which I mean they weren't doing it out of generosity, it was a marketing strategy. I started out as a seller only listing auctions, at very low start prices. Why? Because back when people still got caught up in the thrill of auctions, low prices attracted bidders, placing a bid committed them to an item, and more than one person committed to an item resulted in getting better prices at auction than I could if I listed high start prices and / or with Buy It Now. Sure, there were always a few items that sold a little below what I was expecting and I made the odd loss on individual items, but most of the time the end prices on other items would exceed expectations and make up for it. So, was I being greedy for doing that, or am I being greedy now for listing at Buy It Now, for fair prices that can't go any higher than what I've determined a modest profit is? 

These days, sellers are lucky if they even get one bid on an item, and this didn't start happening because sellers started using high start prices, it started happening because many buyers shifted away from auctions and purchasing Buy It Now instead, and so sellers listing with higher prices was a reaction to that. Case in point, I knew for sure that the appeal of auctions had fizzled out when I would list some of the items I had in my shop for auction, at less than half the price it was to Buy It Now. Every single time I did that, items would not get a single bid, but people would buy the item at full price instead. 

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

---

@marty7188 wrote:

I've been a member for a very long time, and one concerning thing I've noticed more and more is that sellers

are using Buy it Now as well as as much higher starting bids than before. In the majority, sellers would often 

have low start amount. 

One of the great attributes of Ebay has always been bidding is open to everyone. And in a way it's a fairly

democratic market place where anyone can have a go, have a chance at winning..an equal playing ground

from the start. Over the last few years, certain market niches have become premium and high end selling,

and in many cases items are listed with 3, 4 or 5 hundred start points or Buy it Nows. The $1 or even $10 dollar 

start with 'No Reserve' is largely gone, which makes the market a place where only the premium buyers get 

the best opportunity. 

So the Sellers will say, 'so what?' thats the way the market operates. No it doesn't. It locks other members of the

Ebay 'community' from competing on an equal footing. Sellers will always want to get the highest price, but setting 

start bids at exhorbatant prices cuts most people out of the equation, which is whats intented I guess, so it 

comes down to greed pure and simple.

Comparing the same kinds of items with Ebay US and UK, these market places still practice the low start bid, but  not

here in Australia. Prices are very much higher. I wonder.

---

One of the great attributes of Ebay has always been bidding is open to everyone.

Nothing has changed, it still is.

And in a way it's a fairly democratic market place

eBay has never been a democratic market place in any way shape or form.  The member prepared to pay/bid the highest has always had the best chance of winning an auction if they bid.

where anyone can have a go, have a chance at winning..an equal playing ground from the start.

And it still is, however, sellers are more savvy than in the early years of eBay (as are buyers!).  Generally, anyone can still bid on auction items. Their chance of winning is not like in a lottery, it has always been dependent upon the amount they are able to bid.

Over the last few years, certain market niches have become premium and high end selling,

And this too is a situation of eBay's making as well as evolving market forces.  eBay have changed their policies and sellers have had to adapt to remain viable.  The nature of niche market prices has not changed for centuries, niche market prices have always been dictated by buyers and how much they are prepared to pay.  I'll give you an example, in late 2009 I bought 5 Zimbabwe 100 trillion dollars banknotes on eBay for around $9.  Today, these notes are selling on eBay for over $80 a piece.  Under your thinking, it appears that you think they should still be available to some at $9 for 5, as they once were.

and in many cases items are listed with 3, 4 or 5 hundred start points or Buy it Nows.

Buyers determine prices. The item will not sell if an asking price is too high, and buyers alone are the ones who decide if the price is too high. If items sell for 3, 4 or 5 hundred dollars then that is what they are currently worth, and if some members are unable to afford to pay this amount then they are not being discriminated against.

The $1 or even $10 dollar start with 'No Reserve' is largely gone, which makes the market a place where only the premium buyers get the best opportunity.

Again, the amount a member is prepared/able to bid has always determined the winner.  By premium buyer do you mean buyers with access to more funds?  All members have the same opportunity to bid, but some are unable to afford the asking/bid amount . . . . . just as it always has been on eBay.

So the Sellers will say, 'so what?' thats the way the market operates. No it doesn't.

Yes it does. By your own admission it does.

It locks other members of the Ebay 'community' from competing on an equal footing.

eBay have never had an assets test to determine who should be able to become a member, so anyone with an internet connection can become a member of the eBay community.  Social disadvantage and disposable income are what locks members out of affording high priced Buy-Now items.

Sellers will always want to get the highest price, but setting start bids at exhorbatant prices cuts most people out of the equation, which is whats intented I guess, so it comes down to greed pure and simple.

Q) Who determines what is exorbitant? A) Buyers or potential buyers

Wanting to get a the best price for an item is not being greedy, it is that simple.

Comparing the same kinds of items with Ebay US and UK, these market places still practice the low start bid, but not here in Australia. Prices are very much higher. I wonder.

No need to keep wondering, I'll educate you . . . . Australian eBay sellers are more savvy and not fools who fall for eBay's "start you item at 99cents, it'll be fine, you'll get a high price, trust us" mantra.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

I am wondering if you are lamenting the fact that you won an auction for a 42" TV that had a start bid of $94.99 and only three bids with you winning the auction for $101.

Maybe you think the seller should have started the bidding at 99cents . . . . . . and that even though bidding would have been "open to everyone" and there would have been more bidders, that your bid, the last in the auction, would then have won the item for far less $ and not $101 . . . . . . and that somehow this would have been democratic and a fair and level playing field.

Hardly fair for the seller.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

---

@marty7188 wrote:

Comparing the same kinds of items with Ebay US and UK, these market places still practice the low start bid, but  not

here in Australia. Prices are very much higher. I wonder.

---

I agree.

My most recent purchase was from the UK

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/QUALITY-NEW-METAL-CRAFT-SCROLL-FORMER-WROUGHT-IRON-BENDER-BENDING-TOOL-/3...

Start bid GBP50  - very low for this brand of scroll former

I won for GBP69 - approx A$113 . . . . a bargain 

postage of GBP50 - A$85 high compared to postage here if I had bought from Syd or Melb . . . . . . but it was coming by courier from the UK

Paid 8th Feb, arrived this morning (I can't even get items via Aust Post from Sydney that fast !!!!!!)

This item, a metalworking scroll former, sells in Australia from the authorised Australian seller (not on eBay) for well over $400 . . . . . so I got a bargain . . . . . just as it can be on eBay if you are a smart buyer.

[redders_60]

I recently gave away a lge flat screen TV & large washing machine as it was just not worth the hassle of listing on ebay. Both went to a charity called "Kids Under Cover"  They came & collected @ the designated time & day - no problems - & said "Thank You"!

Maybe there would have been bidders, had I listed the items; But for a long time on ebay this cannot be guaranteed. No matter the auction start price point. Sometimes listings just fall into a black hole & cannot be seen! Or bidders wait to snipe bid @ the last minute & forget to do so.

Then there's the hassle of arranging pickups for large items, or postage & packaging for items that can or might go by post. Even though pickup only is stated in the listing, some buyers are adamant that the item can be posted. (Yep - but who packs it carefully & lugs it around to the PO for the pittance the buyer offered on postcost?) I've given up on those type of sales as it's always me who ends up out of pocket. 

Not to mention fees from ebay & PPal. (Maybe the OP is unaware that Ebay also charges a fee on postage?) 

[brerrabbit585]

---

@marty7188 wrote:

I've been a member for a very long time, and one concerning thing I've noticed more and more is that sellers

are using Buy it Now as well as as much higher starting bids than before. In the majority, sellers would often 

have low start amount. 

One of the great attributes of Ebay has always been bidding is open to everyone. And in a way it's a fairly

democratic market place where anyone can have a go, have a chance at winning..an equal playing ground

from the start. Over the last few years, certain market niches have become premium and high end selling,

and in many cases items are listed with 3, 4 or 5 hundred start points or Buy it Nows. The $1 or even $10 dollar 

start with 'No Reserve' is largely gone, which makes the market a place where only the premium buyers get 

the best opportunity. 

So the Sellers will say, 'so what?' thats the way the market operates. No it doesn't. It locks other members of the

Ebay 'community' from competing on an equal footing. Sellers will always want to get the highest price, but setting 

start bids at exhorbatant prices cuts most people out of the equation, which is whats intented I guess, so it 

comes down to greed pure and simple.

Comparing the same kinds of items with Ebay US and UK, these market places still practice the low start bid, but  not

here in Australia. Prices are very much higher. I wonder.

---

Is this a wind-up?

If sellers asking what the market is prepared to pay is 'greed pure and simple', then I really have to ask what is buyers expecting to get things for much less than what they're worth.  Surely that's also greed, pure and simple.  Why is greed okay for buyers but not for sellers?

It's no different to all the little bullies who go around op shops and try and get things for next to nothing, and when they can't they say, "But you got it for nothing" - before they walk out to their $50,000 car and drive off.

In case you hadn't noticed, the UK and US have much higher populations than here and are much more likely to get more than one bid in an auction.