Ebay Bidding Question

Read my post above about some people putting in a low auction bids to better track the listing. I learned about this method from another eBayer over 5 years ago. It's really a good trick.

Also keep in mind that auctions in general create a sense of 'urgency', you know that coin is going to sell for the last bid almost no matter what.

When I see BIN listings I don't feel that sense of urgency. I know others see it, but our brains aren't picking up on deadlines, number of bids, and current prices vs the potential value when looking at BINs.

There are many times when I feel obligated to enter an auction when I otherwise wouldn't bid if it was a BIN listing or not up there at all. It's just something about knowing someone else will win that coin you need in 4D 22H 16M with $15.68 bid on a $100 coin. There's urgency for a bidder to put in on that auction versus looking at the same coin pegged at $90 BIN. Once that emotion sets in you have people more likely to get into bidding wars and run the prices up due to emotion. You don't ever get that chance with a BIN.

I agree the key is marketing these coins and building a small following.

 

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Thanks for your encouragement. I rarely have the guts to list auction items at $0.99 starting bid. I almost always sell items BIN and list them lower than anyone else on ebay. But when I do that and still no one buys it, I have no choice but to keep lowering the BIN price, or put up for auction. I look at the sold history and see people paying way more for the same coin, but yet I have to give mine away. I guess I don't have the patience to wait months to sell. I have to move my inventory. Right now I have two silver Roosevelts graded MS67 and hardly anyone even looks at them. I listed them at half book value and still nothing. It's just so hard to predict what people will buy. I will probably take a little loss or maybe break even after all fees are done.

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Being the best at what you do has been supreme and chief. And it seems you already are on top of offering good items to your prospective clients. Keep up the good work, it will pay off. Your items will continue to sell and sell more. I am proud of you. Try to find alternatives to Ebay. But while you are there keep your integrity. It will always make you the success you always been. .99 start auctions are good, but if you are having issues with this process; change it to suit you better. Much success to you always.

 

I think it would create extra confusion if there was a BIN while bidding is going on (without a reserve price). You really need to keep things as simple as possible when there are millions of users from around the world using the site.

Just one example:
Let's say the bid is at $250 with a $300 BIN. User 1 has a max bid of $300 active. There are 6 days left in the auction. Now User2 places a max bid of $295. That triggers an automatic purchase by User1. He's surprised that he's being invoiced 6 days before he expected the auction to end and he won't have the funds available for another 8 days.

 

Let's say you can't place a bid for the same amount as the BIN unless it makes you BIN...then that would solve that problem maybe...

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Tell the truth, did you help write the tax laws in the US?

 

In which case the bidding would never go over the BIN amount, which it quite frequently does the way the system runs now, especially when the BIN price is reasonable. When the bidding starts at $0.99, there aren't too many people who will hit the BIN button, even if that item routinely sells for $350. People are optimistic they will get it for less than $300, so they go the bidding route instead. A $0.99 start, with a $200 reserve, and a $300 BIN might keep the BIN option active longer, but you might pay more in fees to end up selling an item for less that it might otherwise get bid up to.

 

Yes, I've done that before. I have also had time when I was willing to pay the BIN but no more than that, yet I hoped to get it cheaper. So I would BID the amount of the BIN but decline the BIN option. That would enter a 99 cent bid, remove the BIN but still leave the auction open. If someone wanted it more than I did they had to bid more than the original BIN price and the seller got a bonus.

 

Or how about this option: let the BIN price stay listed for at least 24 hours, even if there is bidding, just to give everyone time to see it first and make a decision. I listed two coins last night and very quickly had a $0.99 bid on both by the same person. There could have been someone who may have taken it for the BIN price if they would have had time to see it first. Who knows...

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Just keep the starting bid higher, e.g. at $30 when you have a BIN of let's say $79, that's what I am doing...

 

it usually (not always) takes some time until I get the first bid and sometimes I can sell a coin for the BIN price

 

I have done that before and it has attracted less attention. Just going to let this ride out and see what happens. Hopefully I will be surprised by the result.

 

No.

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I agree with you. It'd be nice if Ebay allowed the BIN to stay in place until 75% of the amount had been reached. Example: You start the bidding at $.99 with a $100 BIN. I'd like to see the BIN price available until the bidding reaches $75.

 

Agreed. I just wish it wouldn't dissappear with the first $0.99 bid.

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Well, both items sold for a total of exactly what I paid for them. After shipping and ebay fees, I lost out. I just don't have much luck with selling by auction. But I needed to move these coins, so I didn't have much choice. Will stick with lowest - on - ebay BIN listings. You win some, you lose some, but at least I know i paid fair market value for them and didn't overpay. I just didn't get it cheap enough to flip for a profit like I thought...

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