Is eBay best to auction an expensive book?

I've used eBay successfully in the past for both buying and selling,
but only for things reaching the $300 range. I've never tried selling
an expensive item on eBay before. I'm going to auction a couple books
as a set that should go for considerably higher. $4000 would be a
minimum bid.

Is eBay still the place for something like that? Would potential
buyers be scared off for using eBay for that? I know people do sell
valuable items on eBay put since a lot of the value in a collectible
book is in the condition, wouldn't only being able to see pictures of
the book be a downer?

Are there conditions under which you're better off with an actual
physical auction? That would likely limit the potential market for my
books since they are highly sought after but likely only in a very
limited market.

-David

On Wed, 14 May 2008 15:12:30 -0700, David T. Bilek
wrote:
I've used eBay successfully in the past for both buying and selling,
but only for things reaching the $300 range. I've never tried selling
an expensive item on eBay before. I'm going to auction a couple books
as a set that should go for considerably higher. $4000 would be a
minimum bid.

Is eBay still the place for something like that? Would potential
buyers be scared off for using eBay for that? I know people do sell
valuable items on eBay put since a lot of the value in a collectible
book is in the condition, wouldn't only being able to see pictures of
the book be a downer?

Are there conditions under which you're better off with an actual
physical auction? That would likely limit the potential market for my
books since they are highly sought after but likely only in a very
limited market.


And, yes, I would actually try to use correct grammar and spelling in
any listing. I suck.

-David

On Wed, 14 May 2008 15:12:30 -0700, David T. Bilek
wrote:

*snip my post*

Yes, I really am following up my own post twice.

One last question; Once I decide to auction the books, are there
appropriate places on the web/usenet to post an announcement? I hate
spammers with the incandescent fire of a thousand blazing suns and
thus will not be spamming either usenet or web forums.

But there must be places that people watch to find out about
interesting auctions. I know there are some marketplace newsgroups
but I doubt anybody looks at those considering how spamalicious they
are.

So is there, in fact, anywhere it is actually both

A) appropriate

and

B) useful

to post?

-David

"Al D." wrote:
start all of your books at $1.....not at a high minimum


Do people react better to a $1 min bid with a reserve than a high min
bid? Or do you mean don't sell with a reserve at all?

-David

start all of your books at $1.....not at a high minimum

"David T. Bilek" wrote in message
...
I've used eBay successfully in the past for both buying and selling,
but only for things reaching the $300 range. I've never tried selling
an expensive item on eBay before. I'm going to auction a couple books
as a set that should go for considerably higher. $4000 would be a
minimum bid.

Is eBay still the place for something like that? Would potential
buyers be scared off for using eBay for that? I know people do sell
valuable items on eBay put since a lot of the value in a collectible
book is in the condition, wouldn't only being able to see pictures of
the book be a downer?

Are there conditions under which you're better off with an actual
physical auction? That would likely limit the potential market for my
books since they are highly sought after but likely only in a very
limited market.

-David

"David T. Bilek" wrote in message
...
Do people react better to a $1 min bid with a reserve than a high min
bid? Or do you mean don't sell with a reserve at all?

$1 minimum with no reserve at all. Reserves will scare away bidders.

"Al D." wrote:
"David T. Bilek" wrote in message
.. .
Do people react better to a $1 min bid with a reserve than a high min
bid? Or do you mean don't sell with a reserve at all?

$1 minimum with no reserve at all. Reserves will scare away bidders.


That scares me, because I'm not willing to part with the books below a
certain amount. I believe it's extremely likely the bidding would
reach that amount, but there could be a fluke where people just don't
see the auction or something and miss it and it sells for less than I
want to accept.

-David

You are getting stoopid advice. If the item is worth some certain amount of
money below which you will not accept and has some intrinsic value then
there's no reason not to have a reserve or opening bid. No one bidding on a
first edition of Moby Dick or Great Expectations is going to be scared to
bid because there's a reserve price. OTC, I wouldn't bid on a first edition
of a valuable book that was listed for a dollar because I'd assume it wasn't
what it was purported to be.



"David T. Bilek" wrote in message
...
"Al D." wrote:
"David T. Bilek" wrote in message
. ..
Do people react better to a $1 min bid with a reserve than a high min
bid? Or do you mean don't sell with a reserve at all?

$1 minimum with no reserve at all. Reserves will scare away bidders.


That scares me, because I'm not willing to part with the books below a
certain amount. I believe it's extremely likely the bidding would
reach that amount, but there could be a fluke where people just don't
see the auction or something and miss it and it sells for less than I
want to accept.

-David

On May 15, 3:17*pm, "Al D." wrote:

$1 minimum with no reserve at all. *Reserves will scare away bidders.


You are an idiot.

foad wrote:
You are getting stoopid advice. If the item is worth some certain amount of
money below which you will not accept and has some intrinsic value then
there's no reason not to have a reserve or opening bid. No one bidding on a
first edition of Moby Dick or Great Expectations is going to be scared to
bid because there's a reserve price. OTC, I wouldn't bid on a first edition
of a valuable book that was listed for a dollar because I'd assume it wasn't
what it was purported to be.



Agreed. You won't see Christie's putting up anything
valuable without a reserve.

I would provide a careful, professional description of the
condition of the book. As a buyer, I look to see if a
seller has a clue what s/he is selling. There are some
listings that I would not chance buying on because of the
poor description of the book (whether or not the book is in
fine condition).


Francis A. Miniter