Auctions - a dinosaurus of the past!

[melinachristina]

We decided to ‘give a little bit back’ with our final listings for 2018 and put a handful up with no reserve. Part of the decision though, was a little experiment, and we played it safe with less expensive items.

The results thus far clearly indicate for us and our items at least, along with many other opinions here, that the day of the auction on eBay is truly done and dusted. Oh, you might get the odd item that attracts a small bid war, but small is the operative word, and it’s rare enough to almost be unique. No reserve listings these days, will I think generally return no profit, and may even bring the colour to your cheeks with a loss. We certainly wouldn’t last very long.

Cover thy bum, or it will be exfoliated most painfully ... lol.

Interestingly though for us, is that if we list as BIN there’s very little interest, as opposed to still listing in the auction format and creating a reserve with the starting price, which goes then hops along okay. This has intrigued me since our return to eBay, and so far I cannot understand any tangible reason for it. Ah! The convoluted, intricate and evasive psychology of the eBay buyer. I’d so love to know what makes this tick the way it does.

It seems to me these days that in many cases you need to match an item up with a buyer and in some instances be very patient. Using two or three platforms now seems to be almost requisite as well. Online selling has changed so much. These days it’s so much more important to realise your profit when you buy, rather than trying to make it when you sell. The world of shopping has become so small and accessible for buyers.

Melina.

[chameleon54]

It is certainly a bit of a niche thing, but I still believe auctions have a place on ebay along with other selling methods. By far the majority of my listings are BINS, but I still regularly use auctions for some of the more unusual items or stuff that is just too hard to place a value on.

I list these with a starting price equel to what I would list the item as a BIN. Often the auction format forces the sale as there is the defined time limit and a chance the item may not come up for sale again. Every now and again a bidding war breaks out driving prices higher than expected.

If the item does not sell at auction it is quick and easy to relist as a BIN at the auction starting price using bulk editing. While auctions may not suit everyone, they are still a very handy tool to have in the ebay toolbox.

[brerrabbit585]

I used to love doing auctions where I had two of an item and being able to do second chance offers. Around half never took up the second chance offers but the ones that did made it worthwhile, especially in the days when you had to pay listing fees for everything.

If I were you, I'd give your auctions a few runs before you changed them to BIN. Many is the time I've seen items listed several times for $10 and not got a single bid, then the next time everybody decides they want it and it gets bid up to $30. It's all about being in the right place at the right time. Some people don't have the money the first few times, other times they just don't see them, and sometimes the longer they see them the more chance that they decide they've got to have them after all.

[brerrabbit585]

I don't know whether it's still the case but auctions used to appear higher in best match. I've been wanting to clear a bit of stuff out cheap and thinking it might pay me to do a few auctions but I keep forgetting.

[collect247]

Auctions are what keep me smiling 

[melinachristina]

Early days still, but I think our tests are indicative of that Crow. We’ve never done well with BIN’s. We’ll let it run it course, add a few more, and see what the result is.

Its a circus, but only on days that end in ‘Y’.

Melina.

[brerrabbit585]

For some things that are only worth what people will pay and don't really have a set value, auctions can add a bit of mystery, plus you might get people bidding in case they miss out.

[chameleon54]

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@brerrabbit585 wrote:
For some things that are only worth what people will pay and don't really have a set value, auctions can add a bit of mystery, plus you might get people bidding in case they miss out.

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Some things are very hard to value. Often you can do searches and there are none for sale anywhere and maybe only one or two in state collections. They might be small, insignifigant things that look worthless, but often these are the most collectable because everyone threw them out. I only have one item with bids in my current lot of auctions. It is a tiny almost photocopy style, printed paper book, maybe 12 pages. I paid one dollar for it. It currently has two bidders and is sitting at $27.00.

Some tiny little paper back publications such as early Australian books given to potential migrants can bring $600 - $1000 . With collectables, often its not the size or granduer of an item that gives it value, it is rarity. And often rarity comes in the plainest, cheapest, potentially disposable items.

Perhaps the best example of this I have sold was a single page, cheap white paper brochure, crudely printed on one side in the late 1970,s or early 80,s. It created a lot of interest, dozens of bids and ended up selling for well over $200.

What was it ? It was a machinery brochure for the first Air seeder ever sold to the public. Air seeders are an Australian invention that are now used in agriculture throughout the world. It was a small W.A. engineering company that first developed the concept and only a few of the first design where ever made. Hence the brochures rarity and collector value.

How do you price something like that ? There are not any records of any others even in existance, let alone selling. It is for these sorts of things that ebay auctions really come into there own. Offer the item with a realistic starting price and let the market set the value.

It also helps if you build relationships with buyers and tip them off if you come across something they might really want. This gaurantees a floor in the market before you even start the auction off. On other occasions they may offer a crazy price to secure the item before it goes to auction.

I have just listed another item for auction this evening. At first I just thought it was a common garden variety collectable that I intended to list as a BIN for $50. On closer inspection I realised it was a bit different and could appeal to specialist collectors. I started to list it as a BIN for $150 and then changed my mind. I decided to give it a run as an auction with a starting bid of $150 in case it is worth more to some-one than expected. It will be another interesting auction experiment.

Auctions appear to be less popular than when ebay was in its glory days, but they still can work succesfully for certain items and have a place on ebay.