DaveEscos

Is it better to start the bids from 0.01p?

or start the bidding on a higher price depending on the item?

cheers

COMEDY DAN

It al depends on an item and how long its on for .

For example if you got a car and you hoping it will go for 10K, there is no point starting the bid at 5p but something like £2500 is better, however if you selling a watch thats will go for £100 then a £10 start off is ok.

Starting at 5p is silly in my opinion.

Lower reserves keep people bidding too.

If people keep losing out to a high reserve, they will stop bidding.

RichardPON

Depends on what you want it to cost you.

If you're going to out it on without reserve, and start the bidding low, then you can end with egg on your face when something sells cheap (although these days most people have helpful friends to "assist" the bidding )

Still have to pay selling fee on items, and they can add up quickly.........

Gra

when i broke my cossie i started things around a few quid, as it keeps the listing fees down, also always put at the end of your auctions that you have other cossie bits etc, as a lot of my stuff sold via ebay without even listing it sometimes listing witout reserves and putting **NR** in the title works very well

sabres74

Some of the most successful sellers start all their auctions at 0.01p. One guy in the States has sold 1000's of items all starting at 1 cent including very high values items.

It is psychlogical ploy to start something at 0.01p in that it instills the belief in peoples mind that there is a bargain to be had. Either the seller is an idiot and doesn't realise the value of the item or just wants rid of it at any price. Having bought and sold considerable amounts at auctions throughout the years, my considered opinion is that the lower the starting price the more chance you have of getting a high final price. Often at a normal auction the auctioneer can't get a bid for £100 and then starts at £20 and the final price way exceeds £100. The same concept works for the online auctions.

If all goes wrong and your item is not looking like reaching the price you want, just withdraw it before the auction ends. You nearly always get someone contacting you to buy it outside Ebay.

Franco

iTrader: (2)

Mate i put all my stuff up with a starting bid of £10.00 as anything less aint worth it after fees....

If it doesnt sell, it goes in the bin.

DaveEscos

cheers guys

polly_x

iTrader: (2)

Start everything at a penny in my opinion.

Ebay is all about getting the market price for your wares and you need to accept that sometimes you wont get as much as you expected for a product.

That said, you know it should always sell so its a toss up between hanging on to something and waiting for a high price or getting shot of it.

Personally I tend to shy away from items with high start prices and reserves in general as it usually means the seller wants too much.

Start at a penny and it will get bid up to what people are prepared to pay. (The Market Price at that time for those people)

Franco

iTrader: (2)

Thats all well & good until you flog something for 99p!

Waste of time after fees........

Gra

the problem with starting at 0.99p is simply that some buyers are put off as there are so many 0.99p scams on ebay that some buyers may not be sure, plus at the moment soooo many people leave it till the last minute to bid that items sometimes only have a couple of bids right up until the end, so its sometimes better to start a little higher, i have over 1400 feedback on ebay

Christian and Beccy

iTrader: (14)

I haven't studied how Ebay bidding works, but I reckon things started at 0.01p take forever to get going. The first few bids amount to very small amounts and after 5 or so bids, you still wont have broken the £1.00 mark!!

I always go for 99p and no reserve, to keep the fee's down. They mostly turn out OK.

MWF

That should never happen. The exposure Ebay has to the general public means you should always get market value for nearly anything you sell.

Setting a reserve can be more damaging as you are effectively telling people how much you think the item is worth.

Jim Galbally

i tend to start my items at £1 or so, but then i dont really care how much they sell for, as i only sell things i have sitting around etc.

Micky The Finn

dont start anything at £4!!!!!

EssexBoyRacer

an important factor to consider is the end time of the auction.

Most people bid in the last few minutes / seconds. so make sure its a decent time when they are likely to be online!

Ending at 4am on a tuesday evening is not gonna get many last minute bids.

I tend to schedule my auctions so they end between 8.30 - 10.30pm week nites (or sunday) which IMO is a good time when people are gonna be "surfing" online.

Avoid ending auctions on friday mornings because ebay do maintenance upgrades and sometimes this means people cant get on ebay or bid on your item.

furry

start all my auctions at 99p and make sure the end between 6.30pm an 10.30pm on a sunday or monday night as more people sit trawling through ebay on these nights.