Where do they get their info from?

[go-tazz]

I had two BIN listings drop off into unsold and eBay helpfull hints were to re-list them as auction format.

They are near identical and yet I was given different options for each.

We recommend changing the selling format to Auction. Similar items in auction format had starting prices around

$1.50 and sold for between $1.99-$5.00

If this sold for $5 I would have a nett profit of $1.72

We recommend changing the selling format to Auction. Similar items in auction format had starting prices

around $1.50 and sold for between $1.99-$2.95

If this sold for $2.95 I would have a nett loss of 6 cents.

If either sold for the $1.99 starting price I would have a nett loss of 90 cents

Seeing as they were so confident in the fact that the maximum profit I might make is $1.72 but I could end up

with a loss of 90 cents I decided not to re-list them,(thanks eBay for letting me know it's not worth it)

 I mean I sell for fun but there is no way that I would chance selling for a loss,

[*tippy*toes*]

Auctions are a maximum of 10 days, so 40 days tops with the free relists. Auctions work for me, but I know they would be a disaster for a lot of other categories and a complete waste of time (and money if you have a store). Ebay just needs to stay the hell out and let sellers be, because most actually know what they're doing.

I did look at putting all my items as BIN's at one point, but when I looked at similar items that other sellers had, for similar prices, I am selling a fair bit more than a lot of them are. I don't generally keep an eye on what others are doing, but I have made comparison checks in the past, just for curiosity.

[go-tazz]

The latest one to drop into unsold has:

Sell Tip: We recommend changing the selling format to Auction. Similar items sold better in auction format. † Edit and relist it

No price for me to list at?

It's still the same as items starting at a low price in an auction format have a better chance of selling,(that

means they get the FVF even if it sells for 99 cents and it doesn't matter if the seller makes a loss),

[heihachi_73]

Hahahaha, *if* it sells for 99 cents!!! /itm/162074826259

[chameleon54]

---

@*tippy*toes* wrote:

Auctions are a maximum of 10 days, so 40 days tops with the free relists. Auctions work for me, but I know they would be a disaster for a lot of other categories and a complete waste of time (and money if you have a store). Ebay just needs to stay the hell out and let sellers be, because most actually know what they're doing.

I did look at putting all my items as BIN's at one point, but when I looked at similar items that other sellers had, for similar prices, I am selling a fair bit more than a lot of them are. I don't generally keep an eye on what others are doing, but I have made comparison checks in the past, just for curiosity.

---

I still use auctions several times a month in my stores. I sometimes come across very rare items that are highly sought after but rarely come up for sale on ebay, or anywhere else. These items are usually valued in the $80-$300 range. I start my auctions at the price I would list them as BINS ( fairly high ).  Around 60% of the items sell, with most going for the opening bid, but occasionally they make $50-$100 more than the starting price.

It might cost me $3.50 to auction a $250 item, but as the item sells at the end of the 5 day auction period, I receive a quick sale of a valuable item, which can be important if the item came in a bulk stock purchase that I have just outlayed a lot of money for. I also believe it drives more traffic to my store. A bit like window dressing a shop with the best items in the front window of the store.

I believe auctions are treated more favourably by ebay in search results and can still be a useful tool for stores in some circumstances. 

[chameleon54]

---

@chameleon54 wrote:

---

*

---

I still use auctions several times a month in my stores. I sometimes come across very rare items that are highly sought after but rarely come up for sale on ebay, or anywhere else. These items are usually valued in the $80-$300 range. I start my auctions at the price I would list them as BINS ( fairly high ).  Around 60% of the items sell, with most going for the opening bid, but occasionally they make $50-$100 more than the starting price.

It might cost me $3.50 to auction a $250 item, but as the item sells at the end of the 5 day auction period, I receive a quick sale of a valuable item, which can be important if the item came in a bulk stock purchase that I have just outlayed a lot of money for. I also believe it drives more traffic to my store. A bit like window dressing a shop with the best items in the front window of the store.

I believe auctions are treated more favourably by ebay in search results and can still be a useful tool for stores in some circumstances. 

---

Often when I buy stock, I will buy it by the pallet load. There may be two or three very rare items and one hundred mundane, bread and butter items. I will pay the seller of the pallet load of stock, the value of the three rare items, which can be $600-$800. I then auction these for a quick sale. The rest of the items dont owe me anything and this provides me with stock at 100% profit to sell on an ongoing basis. Using this method I have built up a shipping container load of stock and can sell for months without having to buy in anything new .

Auctions play a valuable role in turning over the high value items quickly, meaning I have large levels of stock in storage without having any capital tied up.