Is eBay best to auction an expensive book?

David T. Bilek wrote in
:

"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, I don't know how much truth there is to the statement that "reserves
scare off bidders." I know that they don't scare me off from an item I'm
interested in. I make my bid and take my chances. They probably do scare
off casual shoppers, but those aren't the people who are going to go up to
$4000 on books, anyway. There you're looking at serious buyers. As long as
the reserve isn't unreasonably high, if it were me, I'd set the minimum bid
high enough to indicate the level of price I'm looking for, and set the
reserve at the minimum I'd accept.
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

"Al D." wrote in
:

That scares me, because I'm not willing to part with the books below
a certain amount.

Then why the hell did you come in here looking for advice if you
already made a decision to set a reserve? By the way, the other
posters here are booksellers on eBay and they'll tell you to set a
reserve or high minimum bid in order to drive away your potential
bidders. The last thing they want to see are new eBay booksellers,
especially of rare books (their specialty), because that only
increases competition and siphons more potential bidders away from
them.

He knows how much he needs to get and was asking if eBay is a good place to
get that price. And I'm not a bookseller, I'm a book-buyer. The more
booksellers on eBay, the better for me.

And I still say that reserves don't scare off serious bidders. They scare
off the people who are hoping to nab a gem for a fraction of its fair
price. Those aren't the people the OP needs to worry about pleasing.
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

"Al D." wrote in message
.. .
That scares me, because I'm not willing to part with the books below a
certain amount.

Then why the hell did you come in here looking for advice if you already
made a decision to set a reserve? By the way, the other posters here are
booksellers on eBay and they'll tell you to set a reserve or high minimum
bid in order to drive away your potential bidders. The last thing they
want
to see are new eBay booksellers, especially of rare books
(their specialty), because that only increases
competition and siphons more potential bidders away from them.

You are wrong on so many counts. I am not a bookseller on eBay. And he
hadn't already made a decision -- he asked for advice. And you gave him
stupid advice. If he has a valuable book (or even if it's not) that wants a
minimum price for -- then set a reserve. It won't scare away any legitimate
buyer. What it will do is two things -- guarantee that he won't sell a
valuable book at a low price, and reduce the possibility of selling to
bottom-feeding idiots like you who want to screw someone over to get
something for nothing. There is absolutely NO VALUE to your idiotic advice
and YOU KNOW IT!

That scares me, because I'm not willing to part with the books below a
certain amount.

Then why the hell did you come in here looking for advice if you already
made a decision to set a reserve? By the way, the other posters here are
booksellers on eBay and they'll tell you to set a reserve or high minimum
bid in order to drive away your potential bidders. The last thing they want
to see are new eBay booksellers, especially of rare books
(their specialty), because that only increases
competition and siphons more potential bidders away from them.

Al D. wrote:
That scares me, because I'm not willing to part with the books below a
certain amount.

Then why the hell did you come in here looking for advice if you already
made a decision to set a reserve? By the way, the other posters here are
booksellers on eBay and they'll tell you to set a reserve or high minimum
bid in order to drive away your potential bidders. The last thing they want
to see are new eBay booksellers, especially of rare books
(their specialty), because that only increases
competition and siphons more potential bidders away from them.



I have never sold a book on eBay and I gave advice, so your
statement is not true.


Francis A. Miniter

On Fri, 16 May 2008 01:25:51 -0700, "Al D."
wrote:
That scares me, because I'm not willing to part with the books below a
certain amount.

Then why the hell did you come in here looking for advice if you already
made a decision to set a reserve? By the way, the other posters here are
booksellers on eBay and they'll tell you to set a reserve or high minimum
bid in order to drive away your potential bidders. The last thing they want
to see are new eBay booksellers, especially of rare books
(their specialty), because that only increases
competition and siphons more potential bidders away from them.


To recap: everybody else said your advice was stupid and wrong and
you're yelling at me for listening to them.

-David

"David T. Bilek" wrote in message
...
To recap: everybody else said your advice was stupid and wrong and
you're yelling at me for listening to them.

I AM NOT YELLING!!!!!!!!!!!!AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHH!

I hesitate to even venture an opinion given the vociferous nature of
the former comments. But, I am a long-time eBay buyer (who sells only
on occasion) and would recommend you start your auction with a minimum
bid of your lowest acceptable price, do not use a reserve at all (they
are off-putting, even to the experienced) and to convey an idea of the
real value of the item I would consider a Buy It Now price that equals
what one might expect to pay in a brick-and-mortar bookshop. Frankly,
the worst business practices I have seen on eBay are people who start
a listing at $1 with no reserve, let it gather some bids but when they
see the item is not going to sell as high as they'd hoped, they pull
the listing, sometimes just minutes before the auction's end... that
is infuriating! Be forthright, don't play into the vain imaginings of
the low-ballers, and maybe the right buyers will come along.

On May 19, 7:05*pm, wrote:
Frankly,
the worst business practices I have seen on eBay are people who start
a listing at $1 with no reserve, let it gather some bids but when they
see the item is not going to sell as high as they'd hoped, they pull
the listing, sometimes just minutes before the auction's end...

Well, I've been buying on eBay since its inception and have yet to see
that happen.

On May 19, 7:18�pm, RF wrote:
On May 19, 7:05�pm, wrote:

Frankly,
the worst business practices I have seen on eBay are people who start
a listing at $1 with no reserve, let it gather some bids but when they
see the item is not going to sell as high as they'd hoped, they pull
the listing, sometimes just minutes before the auction's end...

Well, I've been buying on eBay since its inception and have yet to see
that happen.

You are lucky then, I've had it happen to me several times as well.
"errors in listing" is the usual term they tell ebay when they yank
it.

sr