ok really?

[sweetrelease]

ok maybe it's me but i was just asked what my reserve was on my coke bottle auction. guy emails me and ask whats your reserve, i want to bid. i mean really?? who does that? do you guys tell bidders what your reserve is?? seemed out of line to me. ~matt

 

[cyberdigger]

Tell him it's one million dollars, Matt.. []

 

[wilmingtonbottleboys]

i get that crap all the time! do they really think we are going to tell them??? idiots!!

 

[diggerdirect]

I dont as a rule, because the reserve is usually my bottom line. Could be he has one or knows of one somewheres and wants a 'price check' on aisle E! []

Al

 

[AntiqueMeds]

Honestly, as a buyer I dont even fool with auctions that have reserves. I figure the seller isnt really that interested in selling. I guess thats why reserve auctions average so much lower final values than non-reserve auctions.

 

[div2roty]

Honestly, as a buyer I dont even fool with auctions that have reserves. I figure the seller isnt really that interested in selling. I guess thats why reserve auctions average so much lower final values than non-reserve auctions.

If its something I am more attached to, then I'll start it at my minimum. I've had pretty good success with that. I've never listed something with a reserve.

 

[Plumbata]

I likewise ignore auctions with reserves. They are a waste of my time, and of the potential profits the seller could reap if they tried a different approach.

I also never ask the sellers what the reserve is. It is tactless and seems to be a waste of time for all involved

I much prefer the BIN/Best Offer system. You set the BIN at twice or more than what you think it should sell for via auction, wait a bit, and then enjoy the surreality of how high some of the offers are. Some of the people may think that the asking price is accurate and by offering 25% less they are getting a deal.

Nope, just getting their wallets cleared out!

The latest victory came with selling the squat soda I found on the surface of the ground. I had a crazy high BIN, was contacted by a helpful collector who said that they were good scarce bottles but not worth nearly that much and told me that the last one he saw sell went for 38 bucks, then discussed dump locations and whatnot.

Right after it ended a few days later I got an offer from a collector of stuff with that particular name (not a bottle collector), relisted it and immediately sold it for 100 + shipping. Not a bad way to do things if you don't need the cash immediately.

Got 500 bucks for a LUG apothecary Cannabis bottle, almost identical to the one that just sold recently for 213 bucks, by doing the BIN/BO and waiting a couple weeks. I like this system.

 

[appliedlips]

I'll ask what a reserve is, why not its just a question. What does the seller want me to do, see if I have the funds,watch the listing wait to the last minute and bid against myself? That is not an auction, that is a fixed price sale like at a show, only there nobody hides there price tag.

 

[earlyglasscollector]

Interesting how differently somepeople do it. Most of the time I have a reserve which is really a bit less than the minimum I think it's worth, and hope that it goes higher. Sometimes it does and that's great - I'm happy, sometimes it doesn't, but at least I've turned over another item, made a bit of profit and move onto the nest item. On the couple of times I haven't put a reserve I've nearly always lost out dramatically, and the thing has sold for peanuts...
So you might say, well that was obviously what it was worth to people out there - not what you thought it was, but the truth is that is what it was worth to the few people who happened to see it THEN. Another week and a lot more interested people might have seen it. That IS the biggest problem with ebay, so hit and miss. I have put stuff on one week and not had a bid, then another week it's gone on again and I've sold it way over what I was expecting....
THAT'S why I feel the need to put a reserve. However I usually find it a good thing to reveal the reserve just a couple days before it finishes, because those people who have got interested in the thing but really don't know how far to go and think perhaps the reserve is something ridiculous and they stand no real chance of getting the item but are leaving a bid just in case sometimes are then tempted to meet the reserve given a bit of time to get used to the idea....
I'm still experimenting with BINs though. I like the ideas expressed above about using them, so might try that.
Of course these days I get a lot of emails after the auction if it doesn't sell, people who forgot to bid or just missed it etc, and they want to buy it. but I still never go below the reserve.
egc ....on ebay: ***.earlyglass.*** www.earlyglass.com

 

[earlyglasscollector]

...and yes I do tell people the reserve if they ask for it. No problem. I really don't know quite what the point of keeping it secret is about. It is after all just a protection against the thing being sold for peanuts.
egc