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Not to mention that eBay charges a very pretty penny to set a
reserve of any significance -- and doesn't give it back if the buyer
decides not to go through with the deal or opt for a return and
refund later.
I personally never understood the attraction some sellers
have for reserves in online auctions. They may serve some purpose in
live floor auctions where the seller/house wants to get some interest going by
setting a low opening bid and figure it's a way to get people involved and
placing bids and that then the old live-auction excitement will kick in and they
will bid against each other -- bid up to the reserve, pass it and keep
on going. I'm not sure how much that ever really happened -- but that
psychological effect certainly doesn't occur on eBay, not these days. Not with
Sniper programs and the only bids that count being entered in the last
microseconds between dueling computers in cyberspace where none of the
players can see what's happening at the close until it's all
over. There is no longer any real bidding excitement, strategy or tactics
on eBay now. It's now all a numbers game... you enter what you're willing to pay
(maybe a smidge more if you really want it), in your sniper program and set it
go off a few seconds before the auction ends. You either win it or you don't. If
there was a reserve, you either met it or your didn't.
It seems to me that at least on eBay that reserves are a waste
of money on the sellers part, as I don't see them achieving anything or
enhancing the auction in any way -- and since quite a few people don't
want to play the guessing game of trying to sus out what the hidden reserve
might be, you could argue that about the only thing reserves accomplish is to
turn off some potential bidders and cause them to look elsewhere. Far better
just to set an opening bid at the minimum you're willing to sell the item for
and be out front with potential buyers. Or do like Bruce, start everything at 99
cents and hope for the best (good luck with that if you don't happen to be
Bruce...)
But having a high reserve and a low opening price is kind of a
bait-and-switch sort of deal that I personally feels turns off more people
than anything else. Besides, it's irritating when a reserve auction ends with
some bids but the reserve not met -- the bidders have no way of knowing if they
were even close... did they miss hitting the reserve by one or two dollars... or
several hundred? It's a silly game and I haven't knowingly bid on a
reserve auction in years. Every once in a while I don't look closely enough and
fail to realize there is a reserve until after I place my bid. Then I get that
meaningless message: "You're high bidder but the Reserve has not bee met! You
may want to go back and try again..." I may? Says who?
-- JR
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- Re: [MOPO] Chasing reserve prices on ebay lobby card invasion
- Re: [MOPO] Chasing reserve prices on ebay Vaughn K. Mann
- Re: [MOPO] Chasing reserve prices on ebay JR
