Advice For Sellers
As a seller you first have to decide what the minimum amount you would accept for your item to sell. In order to do this you must be realistic in judging condition, age, usage history and any specific histories such as service and maintenance. In this respect selling on eBay is no different from any other method of selling.
You must ask yourself do you want a quick sale and be happy with more prospective buyers, but less money in your hand? Or do you want to hold out for the price you know your items worth?
If you can have your item professionally valued this may give you more peace of mind when setting prices for your auction listing.
If I am selling for you I will encourage you to give a good reserve price to start your auction on eBay.
The above illustration shows that the seller wanted to start the bidding on this property at £100,000. They did not want to sell anywhere near this price though. They could have started at just £10 and it wouldn't have made any difference, the property would only be sold if the reserve price were met. In this case the reserve price must be over the current highest bid of £150,000.
When the reserve price is met the auction does not stop. Bidders can carry on bidding until the time is up, so the price could climb many hundreds or even thousands above the reserve price.
What this means for you as a seller
- Don't set the reserve price too high. I see many auctions end with "reserve not met", so your lot doesn't sell and you end up with no money! Set a realistically low price for your reserve and bidders may well take the price much higher by themselves. Use the auction process to your advantage, don't restrict people who have the money and are willing to buy for the sake of £100 or so.
- Set quite a low starting price, but one that is in the region of your reserve. A low price encourages people to bid and hope for a bargain, but you don't want to frustrate them if they never get to your reserve price. Also there is no point in setting a starting price just below your reserve. You may as well not have a reserve, (or probably no sale).
- If your listing is high quality and well presented. If it has high quality photographs. If your description is well written, accurate and honest. If you have a realistic reserve price you will get bidders and end up selling to a happy bidder who will tell others s/he got a bargain on eBay.
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