Reserve Prices

[3jcc14]

Hi, for any of you who have Reserve Prices in your listings, have any of your buyers asked you to reveal your Reserve Price? Also, if they have, do you reveal it? I just had this happen, I refused to reveal it and he got quite upset. Any feedback would be appreciated! Thanks!

[treasure-pot]

What harm would it have really done to reveal your reserve? On the other hand, it appears the harm has been done by not revealing it.

Bill treasure-pot

[katiusciav]

lots of people actually reveal their reserve within the auction listing...its a pretty good business move in my opinion. it lets the buyer know exactly what to bid in order to win the item. this could work in your favour more than if they don't know. as bill said, there really is no harm in knowing...

[snoopwiz]

Please keep in mind, that many bidders (myself included) will not bid on a reserve price auction if the reserve price is neither shown in the auction description or the seller refuses to reveal it through an ASQ.

[futuretech_liquidations]

Lol -- whats the purpose of using a RESERVE PRICE if you then turn around and reveal it to anyone that asks. You pay for a feature that you end of not using so it is a waste of money.

You have all missed the point here - and I am quite surprised by most of your comments.

3jcc14, in my opinion you did the right thing by not revealing the price as it would give that bidder an advantage over everyone else. I would have replied to the bidder by telling them to bid the highest amount they are comfortable to pay for the item.

If they choose not to bid - oh well, that's their right.

IF you choose to reveal the RESERVE price then that's your choice.

Eitherway, its your auction and you should run it the way you see fit.

Generally speaking, RESERVE priced items are used most often to sell expensive items and/or highly sought after items that will get alot of attention. RESERVE pricing does not work for everyday item sales as most buyers prefer auction and BIN's.

Cheers,

TIM @ FTL

[orbitdrop.ont_01]

I use Reserve prices quite often with Swarovski crystal pieces I've been selling. I never used to reveal the reserve prices and used to get about a 38% success rate on selling pieces. I have recently started stating my reserve price in the item description and sell-through rate over the past 3 weeks has been closer to 55%.

[treasure-pot]

In fairness Tim, you're understanding of the purpose of a reserve is way off track.

The point of a reserve price is to ensure a minimum selling price thus offering protection to the seller. It has nothing to do with selling expensive items or items that will get a lot of attention. Frankly, I am surprised at your complete misinterpretation of the feature.

Bill treasure-pot

[katiusciav]

there's nothing 'mysterious' or confusing about reserve prices...they're just the minimum price a seller is willing to sell...i don't think its a waste of money, if you're putting something up for auction, good selling strategy is to start the asking low to attract attention, but with that, there's a chance, it may end low, so the reserve protects sellers. in my opinion, its better to reveal the reserve, i don't see any negetive implications from revealing it. it lets the buyer know exactly what to bid in order to win, and they may even choose to bid over the reserve in hopes of outbidding others. because auctions usually last five days or a weak, this gives the buyer lots of time to think about exactly how much they need to bid in order to possibly win your item. its a win win situation...

[sunshine2426]

I used it before on antiques and I never reveal. It takes the fun out of bidding! Let them guess 🙂

[tea_past_times]

Once again only Tim knows the correct answer.

[treasure-pot]

No, Tim misunderstands the intent of a reserve. It appears that you have the same misunderstanding.

Bill treasure-pot

[orbitdrop.ont_01]

If you've ever sold anything on consignment you would know the purpose of reserves. If you are going to charge someone a fee to sell their items for them then you want to be sure you don't give away someone else's item for a bag of peanuts in return.


It's like looking through want ads in a newspaper... when an expected value is reported at least it gives the buyer a clue as to:

A. Value of the item in relation to the person selling it
B. The exact amount a person is willing to sell something for.

I will not call people selling items in want ads that don't state how much they are looking for as it's a waste my time. At least by stating your reserve price you save someone else 7 days of watching your item because you have outlined exactly what you are willing to part with an item for.

The real battle with stating your reserve price is to actually get the potential buyers to READ your description 🙂