Auctions only ever receive one bid now

[chameleon54]

I just scrolled down my auction results from the last lot of ebay freebies. I had 17 sales in a row that sold to one starting bid. I had a couple of items in particular that would have attracted strong competition twelve months ago and didnt even sell this time around. I try to base decisions on real tangible facts and statistics and have to say this one is a bit of a worry.

[kzb888]

I agree with you 100%,and also BIN listings don't sell either,99c listings aren't selling so there is no hope that higher starting listings will even sell,hell most of mine don't even get a view anymore.

[horizon1907]

Yes, chameleon, I think lots would agree with you. You read lots about the same thing here. From what I gather, some folk don't like Auctions & prefer BIN. IMO, the whole ebay platform & market has dramically changed. Yet having said that, some still list items, dozens at a time at 99c and the items sell for many hundreds of $$$ ( go figure ) I personally would never start an Auction at 99c & hope you get lots of bids.  It just depends on so many factors. Yes, ebay has changed dramatically in all areas.  Some not for the better, I'm afraid to say.  

[chameleon54]

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@horizon1907 wrote:

  some still list items, dozens at a time at 99c and the items sell for many hundreds of $$$ ( go figure ) I personally would never start an Auction at 99c & hope you get lots of bids.  It just depends on so many factors. Yes, ebay has changed dramatically in all areas.  Some not for the better, I'm afraid to say.  

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I do occasionally look at the bidding patterns of some of the 99 cent start auctions that sell for hundreds of dollars and quite often see suspected shill bidding. I have reported a couple of very clear examples over the years and no action has ever been taken, so dont bother now.

[phorum_junkie*]

Just checked and since the beginning of November 60% of my items had multiple bids and a few went for ridiculously high prices, they could have bought the same or very similar from my store account for about the same price.

[horizon1907]

Some folk say they dont Auctions at all. They don't want to wait or they have to have it now etc. As for the dodgy bids part, YES, I agree and ebay seem to like it. 😞 All too obvious.  Just depends. 

[aps1080]

I honestly can't understand the 0.99 listing for some items.

I have purcahsed quite a few things for 0.99 cents in the last 3 months which were worth more than that.

At the same time, the following week the same items I purchased for $6. So you have to wonder.

On top of that, they list the same item for buy it now for $15 and get sales ?????!!!!!!!!

The marketplace has changed because so many other options or places to buy things - In the last few weeks just on here I have learnt about Etsy, Facebook trading and a few others and then of course you have Gumtree which is free and of course businesses own web sites.

Ebay does not have a monopoly any more, items listed on ebay do not even come up at the top of Google searches or at least are

part of a pack, not like in the past.

[character_parties_aus]

I've got a solution on the auctions. If they don't work for you don't do them.  There is lots of things wrong with ebay but no point in moaning about eBay if the auctions do not work for you.  There will be a reason why such as good BIN options or products offered elsewhere outside of eBay attracting sellers or no demand for the product anymore.  Simply change your approach to selling or what you sell to get better results.

I do agree that buyers seem a little warped in their approach I used to do auctions and frequently they went for more than the same at BIN I had listed.  I am not sure if it is the buyers not looking or eBay and their use of best match to generate fees or both.

[dotm2004]

Exactly the same with me 😞 

I list for 10 days and usually sell the item to the first bidder, whether it's put on the first day or the last minute.   At least we have the advantage now of 3 time free re-listings ... my sales are down, but I DO find that sometimes items sell the second time around.

I don't think it's you 'chameleon54'   .... it appears to be a sign of the times on eBay,   I've tried free postage ... made no difference at all.   I'm not able to do Buy It Now ... 

I'd love to hear from anyway who's found a way to attract more bids ??

[horizon1907]

🙂 so many variables.