topic Re: Why would ayone list at 99c. in Selling

Why would ayone list at 99c.

bjlcr — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 21:23:48 GMT

I have a number of listings due for relisting.Ebay recommend I relist a 99c.Why ? Postage has to be included.So it has to be the value of the item plus postage.I'd rather throw things out than list at 99c...Things would be sold at that price .But i am not going to do it.

Re: Why would ayone list at 99c.

cathyjoyjoy — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 22:00:18 GMT

Correct. With eBay and PayPal fees plus the time it takes to create a listing & handling for postage, for me it's not worth listing anything below $6 + postage.

It can be interesting for some highly sought after items only, to be listed at 99c and then watch the demand set the final price. But members who list other items at well below what they are worth to list and cover their fees are just losing money OR they may be selling cheaply with the hope of increasing positive feedback OR to attract buyers to their other higher priced items. But as the number of people leaving feedback is decreasing, that's not always a good approach either.

Re: Why would ayone list at 99c.

springyzone — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 22:12:27 GMT

You'd have to be mad to list at that price, given the amount of work you would have to put in & the chance of things going wrong if a buyer wasn't 100% happy. It means that it is a bit risky to list things that aren't in great condition or that have faults.

But if it is perfect, why list at 99c??

It isn't much better at the markets, mind you. My sister & I recently had a stall, had an as new thick men's jacket, Yakka brand, you know the type, almost like a parka, fleece lined. $3 we asked.

One man walked away as we wouldn't budge on price. Yes, we sold it to someone else for $3.

People expect stuff for almost nothing but at least once it is sold, it is done and dusted, no debates down the track about stuff not fitting or whatever. And no commissions.

Not worth selling on ebay unless you make a few dollars, in my opinion. Ebay just say 99c as their only interest is in items selling & them getting commission. They couldn't care less if you lose or not.

Re: Why would ayone list at 99c.

utebns — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 22:48:21 GMT

Ive got alot listed at the moment for $2 plus post.
The main reason is to clear the **bleep** out thats accumulated for the past 12 months. Theres maybe 40ish items, if i list at $2 with the postage costs, take out fees etc im still making $1 per item.
$1 in my hand is better than $1 thrown out.
Well, thats how i see it anyway.
Won't make you a millionaire, but its at least getting something back in your pocket.

Re: Why would ayone list at 99c.

phorum_junkie* — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 00:35:17 GMT

A few years ago if you had the experience then you could safely start a listing at 99c and it really did encourage bidding wars, for the odd thing that didn't sell for more the extra profit on the others more than made up for it. That was in the days when listings were only free or very cheap if they were listed for 99c and you paid for every listing plus there were no fees on postage costs.

Now it is a while different ball game and it is no longer a good idea to list for 99c however ebay still tell sellers it is a good idea and newbies often fall for it, they soon learn one hopes.

Now I rarely list at any less than the cost to me of the item ($0 if it is a secod hand item from my wardrobe) plus $3.99 as it is just not worth it, more often than not my SH items are started at $7 to $8 and most of them sell eventually.

Re: Why would ayone list at 99c.

fitnhealthy2017 — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 00:46:57 GMT

Ebay Australia should have a reserve system like other sites!

Re: Why would ayone list at 99c.

repentatleisure1952 — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 01:40:14 GMT

@ilovelollies15 wrote:
Ebay Australia should have a reserve system like other sites!

Good day to you.

They already have it in place.

It's known as starting your auction at the lowest amount you are prepared to accept.

Works for me !!!

Re: Why would ayone list at 99c.

*tippy*toes* — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 01:53:23 GMT

@repentatleisure1952 wrote:
@ilovelollies15 wrote:
Ebay Australia should have a reserve system like other sites!
Good day to you.
They already have it in place.
It's known as starting your auction at the lowest amount you are prepared to accept.

Works for me !!!

That's exactly what I do too. I was one of the newbies that fell for the 99c thing. Mostly because a lot of things I bought started at 99c, so I thought it was the done thing to do. I soon learned that most things sold for 99c, so I was out of pocket big time!

Often when I relist an unsold, there will be the start at 99c message. I just tell it to get stuffed, then relist at my price. Every single item I relist suggests starting at a lower amount, often $2 less than what it started for last time. One time I decided to change and see what happens, so i relisted it at 50c lower than what eBay recommended.

It relisted 3 times then it went unsold and when I went to relist it again, the suggestion was around $2 less than the price I started at last time. I had already relisted for less than their previous suggestion, then they were telling me to relist lower AGAIN! No! I put it back up to the original price, then when it went unsold again, the new suggestion was for the same amount as the previous suggestion where I listed it 50c lower.

Moral of the story is, it doesn't matter what your start price is, they will always tell you to list with a lower starting price. If I had kept using their suggestions, it would have eventually been relisted with a start price of -$20! As it was, it eventually sold as a buy it now which was about 3 times the start price.

The ones that annoyed me was, I'd start it at $10, then eBay would suggest I start it at $8.20 and that similar items had sold for between $69 and $150. Yeah right! I know the value of my items, if anyone has paid that for them, they were crazy. Even if they had sold for that, why are they then telling me to lower my start price? Especially when 98% of my auctions end with 1 bid.

Re: Why would ayone list at 99c.

murdos — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 08:44:21 GMT

The days of starting items really low and getting competitive bidding to push up the price are long gone. Many years ago in the days of dial-up and slow internet you had to place bids if you wanted an item. Now with ADSL+ and NBN you can bid in the dying seconds and not bother with incremental bids.

I see listings for the same products i have (all second hand stuff im getting rid of, dvd's and mags) and a lot have small start prices and often postage well below what i know Aust Post will charge. I just guess this is by inexperienced sellers who think if they get a few bucks its worth it, but will get stung by the costs of the whole process.

eBay is increasingly becoming not worth the effort and with the increases in postage costs my sales have dropped. $5 to post a large envelope up to 500g is ridiculous!

So my local Salvos and Vinnies have been the winners.

Re: Why would ayone list at 99c.

davewil1964 — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 09:08:39 GMT

Prepaid envelopes are all good for 500g, and only the largest is anywhere near $5.00. I'm not sure what CD/DVD mailers post for, but that could be an option as well.

Maybe investigate the actual postage options available to you.

Re: Why would ayone list at 99c.

247newdeals — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 09:43:51 GMT

The reason to list things for a low price is to get people to buy from you even if you lose money. This forms a bound and a percentage will go on to be regular buyers if you do it right. Someone spending $0.99 with you today can spend thousands next month.

It has got hard to do with so many restrictions but when I sold before I sold a lot of items starting at $0.99 some I lost money some I broke even a few I made a profit overall I broke even on them of course that meant all the work packaging them up going to the post office was for free but what I got was free advertising.

There is also a very big downside, which is why I want do it any more, people who get things cheap tend to complain more than people who paid a good but fair price for an item

Re: Why would ayone list at 99c.

duck---dodgers — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 09:31:20 GMT

Maybe they think you are Chinese.

Re: Why would ayone list at 99c.

k1ooo-slr-sales — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 10:25:17 GMT

@bjlecr wrote:
I have a number of listings due for relisting.Ebay recommend I relist a 99c.Why ? Postage has to be included.So it has to be the value of the item plus postage.I'd rather throw things out than list at 99c...Things would be sold at that price .But i am not going to do it.

I think it is a bit of an "eBay culture" thing that they are reluctant to let go by the wayside, in some ways it defines eBay because that is what was popular when they began.

Yes, 99c auctions were popular and did yield good results in the early days, but as others have noted, technology has changed so last second bidding is now possible via mobiles which means it is not necessary to place your bids early.

The other thing that used to help prompt sellers to list for 99c start is listing fees. I remember paying something like 30c listing fee if I started auctions at 99c, and it cost more if you listed for $1 or more. So sellers started at 99c to save significantly on listing fees. This action entrenched the 99c auction eBay culture. It was further enhanced when eBay used to have "no listing fees for 99c auction" weekends with unlimited listings. This flooded eBay with lots of junk listed at 99c start, and some sellers used to avoid listing when these 99c free listing weekends were on.

This screengrab is from an email I got for a listing I had on another ID back in Sept 2009. The listing fee had to be paid even if the item did not sell, further encouraging you to list at a price that would attract bids. The listing fee consisted of a base fee + 25c for every photo uploaded after the free gallery photo. So I paid 30c + 6x25c = $1.80

Re: Why would ayone list at 99c.

springyzone — Fri, 29 Jan 2016 23:25:55 GMT

K1000 is right.

In the past, it cost less to list at 99c or $19.99 than it did to list for $1 or $20, so people did sometimes start at 99c to save fees.

Mind you, a lot of it was before paypal or 'free postage', so all you had then were the actual ebay fees if you did happen to sell.

It meant you could afford to get rid of small things around the home as you were still charging postage. You may not have made much but at least you didn't actually lose money.

These days, a different thing. All you can do is look after yourself & charge a reasonable price that will let you walk away with a small profit after paying all fees. If other newbie sellers don't do that & follow the old ebay guides, so be it. They will learn the hard way. Or else they will refuse to go through with a sale when they realise. That happens too.

Re: Why would ayone list at 99c.

wildwood5012 — Sun, 31 Jan 2016 00:34:50 GMT

I have a tendency to ignore Ebay recommendations on price and on postage sometimes their recommendations are totally ridiculous.
Especially as their listing fees are more than the recommendations.

Re: Why would ayone list at 99c.

wildwood5012 — Sun, 31 Jan 2016 00:36:57 GMT

Look a lot of this also depends on the buying expertise too if can buy cheap can sell cheap and still make money.
Also yes your correct you look after the pennies the pounds will look after themselves.

Re: Why would ayone list at 99c.

billexploited — Sun, 31 Jan 2016 06:28:32 GMT

I have an item listed for 0.01 cents but there's a catch you'll have to pay for $14 for postage

Re: Why would ayone list at 99c.

imastawka — Sun, 31 Jan 2016 06:52:50 GMT

Why?

I think you have devalued your 'geek' item

Not undervalued. Devalued.

Geeks will be suss at that price

Re: Why would ayone list at 99c.

*tippy*toes* — Sun, 31 Jan 2016 07:30:30 GMT

@billexploited wrote:
I have an item listed for 0.01 cents but there's a catch you'll have to pay for $14 for postage

I'm a bit concerned about your 1c item. Firstly, you are setting yourself up for a neg as even if the buyer gets it for 1c, I doubt it would cost $14 to post (I might be missing something?). Even if they get it for 1c, they may still get really upset if they are charged $14 for postage if it only costs $5 (just plucking a figure out of my head). I've seen it happen. They don't look at the overall price, they just see that they have paid far more postage than what it cost to post.

Next, the "strictly no money back guarantee" bit under your returns heading, sorry, but you don't have a choice on that. If a buyer opens a dispute, it doesn't matter what you say in your listing, eBay will force you. Plus, the no returns is only for change of mind. If something is not as described or arrives damaged, you either accept a return, or refund the buyer without them having to return.

As for not being responsible for items lost in the post, you can't write that in your description. If something is lost in the post, you refund the buyer. EBay or PayPal will force you if you don't do it willingly, then you receive a defect for your efforts. EBay will do it courtesy of the money back guarantee that you state you won't adhere to.

Re: Why would ayone list at 99c.

billexploited — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 04:42:39 GMT

Hi Hippy toes unforntatley I've been quoted $14 from Australia post around Australia. Due to its size and weight I quite happy to refund the difference. I terms of no money back guarnteee. I have not have had one item returned. I have honesslty discribed my items on ebay. AND ebayers should do likewise. If ebayers don't wish discribe their item I will ask them a question. And furthermore I am selling on gumtree as well. Plus when you're in doubt just give me a call its not that hard.