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I have done a few impulse bids when I first started ebaying. I got an ugly dragon incense burner, and two dragon goblets. Both were gifts for my brother, but I didnt realize how much cheesy/fake stuff Ebay had on it till I was a member for a while. I only recently learned about all the fake baseball cards. Real deals on Ebay are a rarity.
skigod377 wrote:Melody wrote:I don’t understand why the sellers do that.. why not state the reserve price,isn’t that the same thing as having an opening bid amount? What is the advantage of having it be a dark secret?? Anybody know?
The only advantage I can see is that more people bid when the bid starts at $.99. It shows interest in the piece, and you know how that is…no one wants it till someone else does. I never kept track, but it may be cheaper to have a reserve than to have a higher starting bid (Ebay fees.) I am not positive, but its a possibility. Its a bummer for a seller to post a piece for $200, (Or whatever) and then noone bids till the very end. I prefer to see bids on my item.
Ski you’re absolutely right, as I’ve stated before, I keep track of what Windstones sell for on ebay and I regularly see a piece with a high starting bid end up not selling and when that very same piece by that same seller is re-listed with a much lower starting bid it often sells for more than the original starting bid had been, go figure! For example, I remember a white male with a starting bid of $100.00 (which is not bad for a white) go unsold. It was re-listed right after with a starting bid of $0.99 and ended up selling for $152.00!
On the other hand, with a reserve and a low starting bid… Those always get bids, and I would wager, as has been mentionned, the bidder get caught up in the action, you know…”oh, just ten more dollars… just five more… I’m sure I’m close to winning it… just another twenty” and voila! Item sold!
I guess I’m weird then. If it has a reserve price, I generally won’t bid at all.
Why? Because I hate getting yanked about. “Ooooo, look it’s so cheap, I’m the high bidder! Oh, no, wait, there’s a reserve I haven’t met, I’m not getting it after all. Okay, I’ll bid a little more! ….no, not yet. Bid a little more… a little more… a little more…” And I just get disappointed over and over again, every time I up my bid a few bucks, I hope to get it, and then I don’t.
I HATE hate hate that. When something is listed for $1, and you want to pay maybe $50, and could maybe scrape up $100 at the most, but the reserve is $150, it’s just frustrating. I’ll bid until I can’t afford it anymore, and then I just am pissed off because I thought I could get it, and it turns out I can’t afford it at all, and I spent all that time hoping it would be mine, and it’s totally beyond my reach.
I guess it’s silly to get upset like that over ebay, but darn it, it’s Windstone we’re talking here! I must have my precious shinies! *grins*
Anyhow, that is why I never bid if there’s a reserve price. (Yes, I’m neurotic.)
There are lots that find a reserve discouraging. I am one of them, also. Lots of times I wont even bother to bid if there is a reserve, too.
I’m one of the ones who sees reserve and trys to figure out what it is. I’ll bid till I find out. I’m not so bad now. After I won a bradford exchange perpetual calander that I can’t even give away, that is. I guess I liked it when I bid on it but, now I just can’t stand it. It’s too fluffy cute. No-one seems to want it though. I’m sure I paid less than it was originally but, I think I overpaid. I don’t even bother with Bradford anymore. They seem to go down in price more and more every year.
skigod377 wrote:There are lots that find a reserve discouraging. I am one of them, also. Lots of times I wont even bother to bid if there is a reserve, too.
I’m the same, generally.
I don’t mind when things have a reserve. If it’s over what I’m willing to pay I just leave it alone. And I’m really never sorry I don’t win an auction because the upside is a lot of saved money.
Last night I bid against myself to win dunreining’s peacock OW and found the reserve price at $190. I paid her that for him this morning. I think it’s a fine deal but I’m still arguing with myself whether or not I should have done that at all since I know perfectly well I’m going to make a huge big several thousand frank buy next month… Well, he’s mine now and heading to Wolfen’s by UPS.skigod377 wrote:There are lots that find a reserve discouraging. I am one of them, also. Lots of times I wont even bother to bid if there is a reserve, too.
Yeah, that is how I feel. It seems like a reserve is a way for a seller to dangle and item over your head and say “Jump! Jump!”. Humiliating. I’d rather stalk and snipe when I can clearly see the quarry… grrr
Melody wrote:skigod377 wrote:There are lots that find a reserve discouraging. I am one of them, also. Lots of times I wont even bother to bid if there is a reserve, too.
Yeah, that is how I feel. It seems like a reserve is a way for a seller to dangle and item over your head and say “Jump! Jump!”. Humiliating. I’d rather stalk and snipe when I can clearly see the quarry… grrr
Yes! My feelings exactly!
Melody wrote:skigod377 wrote:There are lots that find a reserve discouraging. I am one of them, also. Lots of times I wont even bother to bid if there is a reserve, too.
Yeah, that is how I feel. It seems like a reserve is a way for a seller to dangle and item over your head and say “Jump! Jump!”. Humiliating. I’d rather stalk and snipe when I can clearly see the quarry… grrr
I have to agree. I kind of find the reserve thing as just not being up front. It’s like saying “You want this? Ok, then guess how much I’m going to let it go for.”
As a buyer there are about three things to be wary of with reserves. (I do bid on auctions with reserve if its something I want, but I usually don’t keep uping it to find out. If it’s higher than what I’m willing to pay, I walk away.)
1.)Why doesn’t the seller want to tell you what the minium they will take? Are they hiding something?
2.) What if you put in a bid, don’t get to the reserve and then go on to other auctions, only to find out later the reserve has been lowered, and you’re now on the line for paying said amount. I like to know up front if I’m winning or not.
3.) One auction for a Longaberger basket I wanted had a really high reserve. I didn’t win, nor did any of the other bidders. About a week later I got a “special” offer from the seller (via e-bay auction, just for me) to buy the item for the highest amount I bid. I’m sure the other bidders got the same offer. It was a way to sell the item 3 times (the seller was a registered dealer of the Brand – so they could order multiple items) via one auction. Legal, but not too honest I don’t think.If I ever sell with a reserve, I would state in my auction what it was. And yes, Silver, that sounds very shady. I rarely accept a second chance offer. If my bid wasnt good enough on Ebay, what makes it good enough now??
SilverArrow wrote:2.) What if you put in a bid, don’t get to the reserve and then go on to other auctions, only to find out later the reserve has been lowered, and you’re now on the line for paying said amount. I like to know up front if I’m winning or not.
As per eBay: If a seller lowers the reserve below the high bidder’s maximum bid, the high bidder’s maximum bid will be lowered to $1.00 below the new reserve price. The seller’s new reserve price will be revealed to the high bidder by email. This lets high bidders confirm they are still interested in the item.
So, you will only be in line for the item if you want to be. A buyer isn’t held to their high bid if they didn’t meet the reserve, no matter what the seller lowers the reserve to.
I steer clear of reserve price auctions, myself. If you want X amount for an item, say so. Maybe I’ll bid and maybe I won’t.
lamortefille wrote:SilverArrow wrote:2.) What if you put in a bid, don’t get to the reserve and then go on to other auctions, only to find out later the reserve has been lowered, and you’re now on the line for paying said amount. I like to know up front if I’m winning or not.
As per eBay: If a seller lowers the reserve below the high bidder’s maximum bid, the high bidder’s maximum bid will be lowered to $1.00 below the new reserve price. The seller’s new reserve price will be revealed to the high bidder by email. This lets high bidders confirm they are still interested in the item.
So, you will only be in line for the item if you want to be. A buyer isn’t held to their high bid if they didn’t meet the reserve, no matter what the seller lowers the reserve to.
I steer clear of reserve price auctions, myself. If you want X amount for an item, say so. Maybe I’ll bid and maybe I won’t.
Hey, that’s good to know. I never had it happen so I was thinking worst case scenario. It’s nice to know it has that feature.
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