EBAY reserve price question

[riz]

If I have an EBAY auction running with a reserve set on it and it hasn't been met yet and the auction is still going..... now somebody e-mails me asking what the reserve is, should I tell them? What would be the benefit to me telling them and what would be the down side if I told them? I appreciate the help.

RIZ "thumbsup"

 

[paystin]

If I have an EBAY auction running with a reserve set on it and it hasn't been met yet and the auction is still going..... now somebody e-mails me asking what the reserve is, should I tell them? What would be the benefit to me telling them and what would be the down side if I told them? I appreciate the help.

RIZ "thumbsup"

There is no real benefit in telling them the reserve. All it will do is let the guy know if it's over his price range or not. Let him bid until he hits his max and leave it at that.

Also, if you tell him your minimum, he could be the only bidder at your reserve price which would suck for you. Let the dumbasses fight it out and see who wins.

 

[romulus22]

the way i look at it is you might as well start the bidding at the lowest possible price you will take for what you are selling. i don't even consider bidding on items that have a reserve. most of them are way too high.

the upside of telling him is he will know and maybe meet your reserve. the downside is he may be frightened by it and not bid on the item causing your item to not increase in price.

 

[ericinMD]

x2... I just start my auctions at the least amount I can take and not be totally butt raped, then pray for the best. I don't think I've messed with a reserve price since my very first year on eBay which was quite some time ago.

 

[microgoat]

Go ahead and tell him the reserve. Then he can bid it up to the reserve and retract his bid. Then he'll email you again and ask if you'll sell it for half price. And ship to Nigeria.

eBay sucks balls.

 

[jcboof]

eBay sucks balls.

Pretty much anymore, buyers can legally screw you over, ebay makes a ton of money off the sellers fees, can't dispute negative feedback left for a seller. It does suck balls. Ebay is no longer a good place for sellers, its only good for buyers.
I recently sold 4 thingss on ebay totaling about $400 and my ebay sellers fees for those items was over $80!!!! You have to pay extra for a reserve auuction, and for a Buy It Now price. They are constantly changing their fee schedule. And you can only charge so much $$ for shipping certain items like books. Even if it costs more to ship it out, you can only charge $4.00 for shipping on books with ebay, even 8lb textbooks!

Fawk ebay anymore, only good for buying stuff anymore. That's why I sell all my stuff here or on craigslist.

 

[CleptoLeptic]

I dont bid on anything that has a reserve. Its a lot easier to list the item at the lowest price you will take and let it climb from there.

 

[riz]

I set my reserve on the lowest price I would take for it. If I set the starting bid at my reserve nobody would have bid. I'm sure of that.

 

[KBrog]

I cant stand a reserve price on a auction. Most of the time the reserve is full value or so close to full value its not worth bidding on anyway. I have asked sellers the same question to find out if it is worth my time to even bid on it. Now days, I dont even waist time on a auction with a reserve price. Ebay is going to take all your profit anyway.

 

[dub599]

i dont bid on reserve price auctions. they are a waste of time since you never know how high the seller wants. start the auction at a price close to what you want to get and hope for the best. ive been doing really well starting the cars at low prices with free shipping, ive been ending up with more than i wanted to sell them for in the first place. i had a micro rs4 i couldnt sell for $45shipped i sold on ebay for $73 after paypal and ebay fees were deducted

 

[silentcircus]

Ask yourself this: If you were interested in an item with a reserve price and the seller refused to tell you, would you bother bidding? I wouldn't.

What does it hurt to disclose the reserve? Why should it be a big secret? Withholding the reserve price from a potential buyer is a stupid tactic in my book.