If a seller has a starting price isn't that really a reserve? An item is listed with a start of $100 no reserve, in effect has a reserve of $100 correct? I understand an auction starts at .99 cents and the seller has an amount set at an undisclosed price that is a reserve, but isn't the same true for first item. I mean the seller is taking anything below a set price. Am I just splitting hairs because I'm sleep deprived?
In my opinion, you are correct, that start price is the reserve, but people often say stuff that is nonsense in the hope it will somehow impress the gullible that the deal is special. Back in the days when ebay seemed to be more of a level playing field, I sold everything at 99c. and no reserve (not that I ever mentioned no reserve, my customers were never too stupid to work this out for themselves) The results were almost always very good. I doubt if I'd use this method now, and certainly not for low value common items.
I don't look at that price as a Reserve, the Seller wants a 100 bucks and no less . Sounds more like a " Fix Price " then a " Reserve Price " .. Also remember if this was a " Reserve Price Auction " you wouldn't know what the Reserve Price was either . At the end of the Auction, if the reserve isn't met, coin doesn't sell and Auction says " Reserve wasn't met " ....
What I love is listings that say $100.00 or best offer and you make an offer say 90.00 and you never hear back or they decline the offer but make no counter offer. So in fact they won't accept anything other then the list price.
Sometimes, a seller will use this tactic to try to learn what he can expect to get in a normal sale. Chris
Yeah, some people swear by everything. Just throw it out there and SOMEBODY will say it's the only way to sell. Until you show me some peer reviewed scientific study, it's all Pigeon superstition.
My superstition was that by starting low, by the time the item reached a sensible price level it would have 30 or so bids on it, giving the illusion of great demand and competition, even though rational thought would lead to the conclusion that all those bids were mostly at a trivial price. The main reson for a total ground up price structure was that I usually had no idea just how high things would go but I did know that anything good would sell well enough, so no need to worry about pricing at all. I could rely on coin buyers not to allow someone else to get away with something cheap.
I get what you are saying. To me a "no reserve auction" is the starting price of the item. You know what that price is. A "reserve auction" is when the seller has a set minimum they accept for the item but you do not know what that amount is. I see no difference between $.99 and $100.00, other than the obvious, as they are both starting prices and I guess one could in effect call them "reserve", however they are not a reserve. You are not sleep deprived, just thinking about it.
To me, the key feature of a "reserve price" is that it's secret -- not disclosed to bidders. By using a low starting price and setting a reserve, sellers think they can take advantage of the "lots of bids = lots of interest = lots of demand = BID MOAR" psychology @afantiques describes. The counter, of course, is that bidders with any experience are likely to ignore reserve auctions. (As my brother the part-time antiques dealer says, "if you won't sell it for less than a certain amount, start it at that amount, so we don't waste each other's time.")
if you won't sell it for less than a certain amount, start it at that amount, so we don't waste each other's time. Just so.
Well, yeah -- but then there's: "Here's a lot of 20 Morgans starting at $500. Meh." "Here's an identical lot of 20 Morgans, starting a 99 cents! Heck yeah, I'll put in a lowball bid, maybe everybody else will ignore it. Oh, didn't make the reserve, well, never mind." (time passes, 5-10 bidders do the same thing...) "Here's a lot of 20 Morgans starting at $500. Meh." "Here's an identical lot currently bid at $450. Still has "Reserve not met", but there've been a lot of bidders. Maybe there's something there that doesn't meet the eye. Heck, I'll bid $500, that's what people are asking as a starting price for lots like this. Reserve met! Woohoo! I guess." (time passes...) "Here's a lot starting at $500 with no bidders. Meh." "Here's a lot that looks identical, also at $500, but it's already got 11 bidders. Maybe someone sees something that I don't. I'll go $525." "$550!" "Now I know there must be something special there -- $700!" And so on.
Whenever I open a listing that shows multiple bids and see the words "reserve not met", I move on. It's sort of a bait and switch, making it look like a true auction when it really isn't. I have won auctions as the only bidder on listings with a high opening bid. I'm okay bidding on those as long as they are fairly priced; however, most seem to be way over retail. The selling method I am most comfortable with is to set a BIN price on the high end of retail with a best offer. Setting too high of a BIN price scares away potential buyers, so it's best to set a price somewhere within the realm of possibility and then haggle a bit.
IMHO, a $100 start price is the reserve. All other auctions would start at 99 cents. It's the minimum the seller wants to accept, which is the definition of reserve, no? Everything else that others have mentioned may be valid theories about setting the start price, etc..., but I still see it as a reserve, and false advertising if listed as no reserve.
I understand the idea that a starting price perhaps should be considered a "reserve price", but the fact is that all auction venues, at least all that I've heard of, define reserve price as a SECRET minimum price known only to the seller and the venue. You don't have to like the definition, but you do have to acknowledge it.
99 cent by definition would be a reserve as well though in that case. The only way to do a true no reserve if a start price is a reserve is to have the opening bid be free.
I don't understand why even put a reserve on the item and they start it low. Either way the fees will be about the same as a seller. The low is just get people interest in bidding, but if they have the reserve high then you will never get there unless you know about what the coins is worth. So alot of the time I will put a bid high just to see if I hit the reserve or not.
I have bid a few times on a reserve eBay auction. I go no higher than what I think is a fair price. I have won none of those auctions. I don't bother any longer.
