Some people are optimistic; ebay pricing...

parsifal said:
When I first started selling things on eBay I used to fix starting prices at a bit less than I hoped to get. Result -failure.

Then I bit the bullet and began setting the start price at £0.99, even for items worth more than £1,000. Result - lots of sales at good prices.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I had a similarish experience when I had loads of stuff to clear out, but I found that 99p starts didn't generate nearly as much activity as higher but still low ones, if you see what I mean. So, for example, I had a couple of things which didn't get any bids when I started them at 99p, but which went over a hundred when I started them at £20. I now tend to start things at a fiver plus postage cost, so I can list them as postage free. That seems to avoid the "bloody hell, what's wrong with it" reaction to a very low price and makes people think they are getting a bargain in the postage.

People get swept along at auctions when plenty of others are bidding. It reassures them.
Click to expand...

Oh yes indeed. I sold a load of Triumph Herald parts for way more than precisely the same things cost new.
 
john_morris_uk said:
I'm looking for another spinnaker pole and occasionally have a look on ebay…

I found these two items which just shows how optimism can dominate realism when it comes to pricing sometimes.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lightweig...UK_Sporting_Goods_Sailing&hash=item338c8ae851

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Carbon-Fi...UK_Sporting_Goods_Sailing&hash=item4ad29b6892

Both from the same seller who is trying to fund his/her dream. At best they are worth less than half his suggested figures and I am not even sure that they are worth that.
Click to expand...

I cannot open these threads. Is that because I am outside of the UK?

If that were the case, it would appear to me to contravene EU rules. Why should I not be able to buy or sell things in the UK?
 
JumbleDuck said:
Interesting. I had a similarish experience when I had loads of stuff to clear out, but I found that 99p starts didn't generate nearly as much activity as higher but still low ones, if you see what I mean. So, for example, I had a couple of things which didn't get any bids when I started them at 99p, but which went over a hundred when I started them at £20. I now tend to start things at a fiver plus postage cost, so I can list them as postage free. That seems to avoid the "bloody hell, what's wrong with it" reaction to a very low price and makes people think they are getting a bargain in the postage..
Click to expand...

That's worth knowing. I'll try that next time. It hasn't happened to me that often, but it is pretty aggrawating when you end up trudging to the post office with something you've had to spend time parcelling up and knowing you're only going to get 99p for your trouble! :(
 
john_morris_uk said:
That's odd - I have always (as far as I am aware) been able to open ebay uk from anywhere in the world.
Click to expand...

I've tried again through Expat Shield. This is what i get :

Unfortunately, access to this particular item has been blocked due to legal restrictions in some countries. We are blocking your viewing in an effort to prevent restricted items from being displayed. Regrettably, in some cases, we may prevent users from accessing items that are not within the scope of said restrictions because of limitations of existing technology. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause, and we hope you may find other items of interest on eBay.
 
parsifal said:
... it it is pretty aggrawating when you end up trudging to the post office with something you've had to spend time parcelling up and knowing you're only going to get 99p for your trouble! :(
Click to expand...

On the other hand it's great when you're the buyer. I've sold a few things for peanuts, but try to smile though the tears ... if there weren't occasional bargains on eBay it would attract nearly as many customers.
 
Sybarite said:
Unfortunately, access to this particular item has been blocked due to legal restrictions in some countries. We are blocking your viewing in an effort to prevent restricted items from being displayed. Regrettably, in some cases, we may prevent users from accessing items that are not within the scope of said restrictions because of limitations of existing technology. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause, and we hope you may find other items of interest on eBay.
Click to expand...

Do the French have odd rules about what you can see on the Internet? I can believe they might, and that eBay are being over-cautious (with a dash of "sod them if they want to play silly-buggers") in applying said restrictions.

Pete
 
Another thing i don't get, is when an item says 'reserve not met' so i message them asking 'what is the reserve?' and they won't say. Why is that? Or another recent one who removed it from auction then relisted it a few days later. I asked why, and he got all stroppy. As for silly high prices, i suppose if your in no rush to sell then why not put a silly price on it. I got to the point of almost paying anything for a boom just because a new one would have been £1500ish. As it turned out, one did come along on ebay for £90? so i was lucky.
 
prv said:
On the other hand, it only takes one person who doesn't know what they're worth and the seller is quids-in.

Pete
Click to expand...

I saw something on eBay earlier this week with ten bids. The auction price had gone past the 'Buy it now' price from the same seller!!!
 
dslittle said:
I saw something on eBay earlier this week with ten bids. The auction price had gone past the 'Buy it now' price from the same seller!!!
Click to expand...

That can easily happen. The Buy-it-now option vanishes when two (I think) bids have been received, even if they are less than the b-i-n one, so it's quite possible that some, many or most bidders never know there was one.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top