When you are selling an item on Ebay and have a hidden reserve price, how do you deal with people that message you asking what your reserve is? Should you respond, and if yes, how?
Voice your opinion on either side. Don't give shady sentences that would hint in the middle. Either say: It's X amount. or I do not wish to disclose it, sorry. Thank you for your interest/inquirey.
Can someone explain to me why, as a seller, you wouldn't want to disclose your reserve amount? I've often wondered what the line of thinking is with not telling someone if they ask. The only rationale I can imagine is that the seller is hoping that people will bid a specific amount, or higher at the last second and they'll make out. If you have a coin with a reserve of $1000 and the bids are in the 600 range, why not tell someone if they ask? Are you hoping the item will be sniped by someone for 1400 at the end and you wouldn't want them just bidding 1001? If its being bid up by normal bidding, eventually they'll pass it and it'll go away anyway. I just never really understood why people would keep it a secret. Although - I never really never understood why you wouldn't just put your reserve as the starting bid which is why I tend to shy away from an item with a reserve. Just my 2 cents.
It all depends on the auction. Mainly because word my spread, "oh its a high reserve", and it might drive poetential bidders away.
I just wanted some thoughts. I had a hidden reserve once. A number of people asked. I told them outright. Decided after that I wouldn't do hidden reserve again. Not worth the hassle. Just put a start bid, it's easier. Thanks for the input.
And cheaper too. It used to be you had to pay a percentage of your reserve in fees even if the coin didn't sell. But you could set a starting price with no fee.
Personally, I don't like reserves. If I had to, I would just put the starting price around the LOWEST amount I would take, but keep it reasonable, and let the bidding start from there.
If you were at a live auction and an item had a reserve on it, you wouldn't get the auctioneer to tell you what the reserve is. Same thing with eBay. Politely tell them the reserve price is confidential.
That's perfectly rational, but eBay bidders are not. Suppose an item has been getting between $700 and $900 on eBay. You'd be willing to sell yours for $800, but no less, and you're hoping for more. (Ignore fees for the moment.) If you list it as an $800 BIN, you've got a chance of getting a buyer, but you won't get more than $800. And there will be quite a lot of people who don't even look at your auction, because they see a number of other auctions where the item is going for less, and they're hoping they can get it for less themselves. If you list it with an $800 starting bid, it may get bid higher. But your odds of a sale are actually even less than with BIN, because not only will you miss those who zero in on the lower-priced auctions, you'll miss those who would bid $800 if they could get instant gratification. If you list it with a 99-cent starting bid and an $800 reserve, you're almost guaranteed to get some bidders. There will be a few who refuse to bid on an auction with a reserve. But there'll be a lot more who will at least look at your auction because of its low price. Some of those will put in a lowish bid just in case your reserve turns out to be low. Some others will see that your auction has multiple bids, and decide that if others have found it interesting, they might, too. And if you change your mind about your lower limit, you have the option of accepting the high bid, even if it didn't meet your reserve. (After all, sellers aren't always perfectly rational, either.) Your very best chance of getting a successful auction with a high closing bid is to start at 99 cents with no reserve. But, of course, that also exposes you to the risk that you'll get less than the $800 you wanted. Your second-best bid may be to set an $810 BIN and an $800 reserve (or something similar). At that point, you're losing those who reject reserve auctions, but retaining those who are looking for a BIN. It's hard to tell which group is larger, so it's hard to tell whether this is really a winning strategy.
A hidden reserve auction doesn't really make sense. If your reserve is $1000, and you are hoping for a $1400 snipe at the end (to take the example given above), well... that snipe would still only pay you $1000, because it beat your reserve. Unless someone else also bids above $1000, in which case it's just normal bidding anyways. I think a hidden reserve is at best pointless, at worst self-defeating. Just tell them what the reserve is, and someone may bid that, and others can then bid against them. I'm not saying it right, but I know what I mean. Sigh.
