Auctions: are they worth it?

[travis7s]

Is anyone using auction style much? Do you have much luck with them?

I recently had a promo for free auction style only listings so I did a trial of 20 listings, 7 day length, no reserve, and minimum bid typically $4.99.

5 of them sold

2 sold with the Buy it Now option, so I probably underestimated the demand for those.

2 sold with only 1 bid for the minimum amount.

1 had a minor bidding war but still ended up at only about half what I think I could get with BIN and a little more time.

One person bid and then cancelled it, plus the FVF fees are the same, and non immediate payment is pretty annoying to schedule around, so in my experience I don't really see the upside. (except perhaps for a one of a kind item that you really are not sure of the value)

[femmefan1946]

I don't think much of the Auction option, and one reason is exactly what you experienced.

One person bid and then cancelled it,

From complaints on the dotCOM Seller Board, Auctions seem more likely to end with an Unpaid Item Dispute than Fixed Price listings.

I think this has to do with Immediate Gratification.

Today's consumer wants it yesterday and with Free Shipping.

Auctions, as you said from your Seller perspective, take too long.

Ignoring the current foofaraw of Fixed Price /Good Till Cancelled, being able to list and let ride is simpler for the semi-pro, or just busy seller.

And easier for the buyer.

See it, buy it, get it.

[2nd-time-around-jewelry]

Auctions work well for certain categories. I know they are still popular with vintage jewelry especially when they are sold in large estate lots. That is how I have aquired a lot of my stock.  Also if you have unique, one of a kind, hard to find collectibles, it may cause a bidding war.  But you need to research what people are looking for or is popular.  But there also is a downside like you mentioned.  Buyers may forget they bid, not pay on time or cancel.

[femmefan1946]

Part of the problem is that new sellers are defaulted to the Simplified Sell Your Item form and to the Auction format.

With t he simplified form it  is hard to change the default settings, and many newbies may not even realize they are defaults and, with effort, changeable.

I agree that there are some categories where auction is a Best Practice. Collectibles being one. Perhaps As Is/For Parts/ No Returns being another.

I wonder if it would help if the Bid Now/Buy Now button were moved to underneath the Description? 

[summitheights00]

Even though I sell collectibles, I almost never sell via the auction route. There are so many variables and I'd rather control the process and who the buyer is (unless they hit the BIN, of course, which rarely happens).

I have run a few auctions in the past six months and the items have sold for 50% or less of what I think I would have gotten. Of course, you're getting a big fat $0 having it just sit there in your store, so you have to also consider that.

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[hlmacdon]

My highest margin sales have very often been sourced via auctions. Never use them as a seller myself unless the item has sufficient scarcity that it makes up for the dwindling buyer activity these days.

In the niches I monitor I've consitently found that sellers sell profitably with auctions when the item is scarce and the geographic location of the item means there is a logistics cost advantage, ie an auction for a rare item in HK/China will draw more bidders due to the low cost of tracked shipping. I see plenty of sellers losing their proverbial shirts on auctions.

[teenytrinkets]

I sell mostly BIN with best offer, and free shipping.  I experiment with auction-style listings and charge for shipping every once in a while.  I still do better with my BIN listings - and with far less headaches.

I find people buying auction-style are looking for a "deal" (something ending soon that has low or no bids).  OR there's a frenzy and the item gets bid up way too high - often higher than other listings for the same item that are BIN. They often regret their bid after that.  And then in both cases, they'll simply not pay and ignore you or message you that they want to cancel.

I think auction-style has it's place:  very popular items in low supply.

Best offer has it's issues.  I started putting an end to low-ballers by auto-rejecting bids that are less than 60% or so of the asking price.  But then they started messaging me, with their sob stories, and with reasons why I should send them an item below cost.  I had one gal send me a message, "Sephora cancelled my order, and this was for a gift.  And now it's out of stock" and she wanted to offer me LESS than it would cost me to actually ship the item to her (it was free shipping).  When that happens, I giggle and send my own sob story right back, along with a counteroffer that's about 10% under the BIN price.  Of course, I never hear back! LOL

[cooltoycars]

Auction usually is the best price for the buyer.

BIN is usually the best price for the seller.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

I used to run auctions all the time with a variety of success.  It really does depend on the item and interest each one gets. The last auction I ran was for a vintage novelty item I picked up for a quarter at a yard sale. Started the auction for a penny. Item sold for a penny. Then the winning bidder messaged me that they had to pay for shipping and why was it so much? I advised them it was due to the fact, the item had weight, was going a 1000 miles and that Canadpost simply refuses to offer free postage as an available service. Shortly thereafter, I gave up with auctions. They really weren' worth the frustrations and recurring letdowns. I definitely agree. The majority of slow or non-paying customers do involve auctions. Customers that have forgotten their awesome winning bid does not include the shipping.

-Lotz

[kawartha-ephemera]

There are two basic uses for the auction format imo.

1. A seller who has used or will use all available "free" listings for the month AND has lots of inventory sitting around unlisted may as well activate and make use of free auctions when they are offered via promotions. HOWEVER in MOST cases it is advisable to set the start price high just as if the listing were a BIN format listing. It is likely a low percentage of them will sell, most of those that do will be single bid auctions.

2. Select items within certain categories remain well suited for the auction format. For example postcards and antique photographs can and do perform very well at times. Sellers and buyers in those categories are keen and know well what is in demand and will bid for the right items. However, once again it is extremely inadvisable to use low start prices, those days are gone. Always start high, auction format requires some patience. The goal should be to maximize return not the sell through rate. 

[reallynicestamps]

Auction for buying.

Fixed Price for selling.