Thread: Still learning the Bay

I'm not sure what you mean. I'm in the US, so all my listings are US Dollars.

I've noticed the 'starting price effect' on UK eBay - even if the price is reasonable for an item, having a starting price at all seems to discourage people from bidding. Once people have made a bid, it seems that they're likely to bid a little more to get the item, and if several people are doing this the price can go up a lot. Fewer people seem willing to jump in, even with a sensible price, to start with - lots of people will enter a very low bid for a bargain. I've watched eBay a lot more than I've bid on it, and I've only sold a couple of spare DVDs just to see how it works, but I got that impression strongly.

It's also noticeable that the two largest-volume UK vintage razor sellers have very low starting prices, and minimum postage charges. I think people are very put off if they think the seller is trying to pad the postage for a few extra pennies profit.

You can pretty much guarantee interest in your item by starting with a low price but there is no way of knowing if the price will rise to what you really want. At the same time you want to protect yourself so the auction doesn't end with you on the losing side. Plenty of people start low and if they don't like the way things are going they cancel the auction towards the end.

I need to read up. I don't know how to cancel an auction or what the consequences are.

Yes a lot of people will cancel the listing, or (and please dont do this) shill bid on it themselves until it gets where they want it. Sometimes it is just bad timing, there could be a similar razor that others are interested in, bad pictures, who knows. With razors there are so many different factors that can come in place.

The other thing to consider is if the razor is worth as much to a buyer as you think it's worth.
If you're stuck on getting a certain dollar amount just set it up as a BIN with a reserve below the BIN price. It will take longer to sell this way, but you'll get what you want.

If you're willing to let the market decide, start your auctions at $0.99 with no reserve. Make sure they don't end at stupid times (shoot for about 10PM pacific). Sundays tend to be the best day of the week to end your auction, but a lot of razor sellers know that, so there's a lot more competition on Sunday nights. Going with a $0.99 / no reserve, you'll do better than you thought on some, and worse on others but they definitely get more attention.

Also, a LOT of razor buyers use sniping software. If you're canceling auctions before they end, you might be shooting yourself in the foot. There could be two or more people with high snipes set.

The most important thing: GOOD PICTURES.
A crappy razor with good pictures will often sell for more than a good razor with crappy pictures.

Learning how to set the white balance on my camera made a big difference in selling prices for me.

Originally Posted by HNSB

The most important thing: GOOD PICTURES.
A crappy razor with good pictures will often sell for more than a good razor with crappy pictures.