Australian Auction Reserves

[kaboom-cards]

Hi,

Can you please add auction reserves to the Australian site?

The USA site has them.

It would be great for AUS, it would mean all listings could start at $0.99c and gain watchers, thus driving up Ebay revenue. Currently we have to list them at the price we want to protect ourselves as sellers which lessens buyers interest.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

my experience with reserves has not been great.

I spend time putting on bids, end up with the highest bid at end of auction without winning the item.

I prefer sellers putting their minimum price they want, call it a reserve of sorts, and if I have the high bid at end of auction I win!

So, although I know some members want reserves on general items, I am not one of them.

[countessalmirena]

Hello, @kaboom-cards,

Note: you're not contacting eBay by posting on these boards. They are public forums on which any eBay member can post, and the responders are, like you, fellow eBay members who give voluntary helpful advice and information. (The standard of help is usually well above the type of cut-and-paste help provided by eBay customer service.)

We can't add auction reserves; that's not even a matter for eBay CS reps, but rather for management. It's highly unlikely that eBay will add auction reserves to eBay Australia, as it's been their deliberate policy for years not to enable that on the eBay.com.au site.

Of course you can try to contact eBay with the request, and my guess is that they will afford it all due ... nothing. eBay's Unsolicited idea submissions policy discusses just how much eBay values member suggestions.

❝At eBay, we appreciate comments from our members on our products and services. But we have a long-standing policy of not accepting unsolicited suggestions, ideas, or proposals.❞

Translation: Don't bother us. We really don't want to know. We don't appreciate ad hoc eBay member comments.

❝What happens if I send a suggestion to eBay?

We appreciate your input, but we can't respond to suggestions that are sent to eBay.❞

Translation: We don't appreciate your input. Send us your thoughts if you must, but they are directed straight to a wormhole from which they are spewed into the belly of a black hole.

❝Unsolicited idea submissions

eBay is always pleased to hear from members of the eBay community and welcomes their comments regarding eBay's products and services. However, eBay's long-standing company policy does not allow eBay to accept or consider ideas, suggestions, proposals or materials other than those eBay has specifically requested.❞

Translation: We're not pleased to hear from eBay members - really. They tend to "blah blah blah". We only want to hear from eBay members when we've phrased a questionnaire or survey to get the answer that we want.

But don't let my pessimism prevent you from trying. Here's a direct link for you to offer your suggestion to eBay. Give it a try; it won't cost you anything to make the attempt and... who knows?

[springyzone]

I am a buyer and I would hate it.

If I am interested in any auctioned item, I'd like to know I am in with a chance if I bid.

What's the point of starting at 99c if every other auction does too, but you know the real price could be $200?

And would you have it like a house auction, where once it meets the reserve you had an 'on the market' tag pop up on the item?

I think it could make people cynical of ebay. There's also the factor that a seller might wish to lower a reserve and it is not as if they are attending a live auction. They could lower it and a person with a previously failed bid could suddenly be in the running, but they probably wouldn't be there, they would have seen their bid didn't meet reserve and gone off and forgotten about it, they might not pop into ebay every day and it is likely the seller will be left with a non paying buyer. That non paying buyer might resent getting a strike over it too. I know I would. I don't see ebay messages and emails, they go to a rarely used email addy I only access a couple of times a year.

[daizy_collectables]

For me, I get way more visibility on my listings if I start the auction small, meaning more eyes on it. 

I would genuinely prefer to set a reserve. 

[*sons_n_daughters*]

---

@daizy_collectables wrote:

For me, I get way more visibility on my listings if I start the auction small, meaning more eyes on it. 

I would genuinely prefer to set a reserve. 

---

You don't seem to have an issue selling your items at auction, with multiple bidders mostly, so really not sure how a reserve would help you. Your current listings all have bids, including one where you have a start price of $300. You appear to know the market of your items, so why do you need a reserve? 

Yes, there are a couple of your current items where you may lose money on them if there are no other bidders, but overall, you are getting lots of bids on your items and getting some good prices. It could be a real turn off for your buyers if they suddenly see they may not have a chance of winning the item. Your items are selling. It would be a shame to wreck that because of a reserve, where the item doesn't sell. Then doesn't sell. Then doesn't sell. Then your buyers move on to someone else.

You can set a reserve by starting bidding at the lowest you're willing to accept. I suspect, you'll still get lots of bidders.