In this chapter of our series on Ebay, we’re going to cover a topic that gets a little complex. Hopefully, I will be able to simplify it a bit for you. I’m talking about starting prices for auctions.
This is probably one of the hardest things to do when it comes to selling anything on Ebay. Why? Well, you don’t want to set your price too low to begin with. What if you only get a few bids and your $100 value item ends up getting sold for $5? You’re going to be pretty upset to say the least. On the other hand, if you set the starting price too high, you’re libel to not get any bids at all. Quite a problem isn’t it. Well, hopefully, I can help solve this problem simply.
The most popular starting bid is $1 No Reserve. This means that the starting bid is a dollar and there is no minimum bid that has to be met for the item to be sold. This can be scary as hell for people who are selling $500 watches, but there is a time and a place to use the $1 NR bid, and I will make this as simple as possible.
Use $1 NR Bid – when the item that you are selling is in great demand, such as if you are selling a brand new Ipod.
Don’t Use $1 NR Bid – when you are selling an item that is older and may not be in such demand.
It’s that simple. Don’t let people confuse you with all this psychology and strategy garbage. If you’ve got something for sale that people are dying to get their hands on, then start it at $1 NR.
You’re probably asking why. I’ll tell you. See, when you are selling something in demand, if you start it at a high price, you are going to eliminate the people who really don’t want it that badly. Leaving them out, there may not be that many people out there who are literally going to breathe their last breath if they don’t get this thing. Plus, with little bidding activity, which you will have with a high starting bid, you are likely to get people who are too hesitant to place a bid. They’re going to wonder why no bids are taking place.
With $1 NR bids, you are going to get even casual bidders throwing their hat in the ring. After all, it’s only $1 so what’s the big deal. Then, as the bidding war starts, it begins to heat up. This is where things start to get real exciting.
Trust me, there are items out there that start at $1 NR that end up bringing in lots of cash and leave many bidders disappointed when at the last second somebody comes in and bids 1 cent more than you bid. It can drive you crazy.
If you’re going to do a reserve auction, meaning there is a minimum bid that has to be met in order for the item to be sold, you are going to want to make your reserve figure fairly low. The reason is that if people are bidding and the reserve is not met, they are going to be very unhappy that they wasted all that time bidding and the sale never even went off. This will not only discourage people for that item but also discourage them for any listings you do with a reserve. So keep your reserve figure low. Don’t worry, if the item is good and people want it, it’ll sell.
Obviously, you can start your bidding at any figure you like. Naturally, the higher the figure, the fewer number of bids you will get and may not even sell the item.
You can also use the “buy it now” feature, where people don’t bid on the item. They just buy it at the price you have listed.
In our next chapter, we’re going to cover some more tips and tricks.