Please Help! Ebay Reserve Price Question

[suzieqinga]

Hi all. I have been toying with the idea of selling on ebay for months and months. I finally put something up for auction, and now I have a question for you ebayers...I've been getting emails from people asking what my reserve price is. Is that a normal question from buyers, and should I disclose that info? Sorry if that's a stupid question - I'm very new to ebay.

I'm a little nervous about this ebay thing and hope that it will be a good experience. Having never sold, I have no feedback, and the first item I listed is sort of a higher priced item. Probably not the best way to get my feet wet?

Anyway, I appreciate any advice!

 

[swilshire]

I have ask this of sellers many times and most will reveal it. I ask because I don't want to waste my time bidding if the reserve is more than I'm willing to pay.

I lose interest in auctions if the reserve appears to be too high and move on to another one.

Usually the only sellers who refuse to answer are those selling big ticket items like timeshares. There is some strategy involved with selling these since so many bidders try to snipe them at the last minute.

Sheila

 

[floridagirrl2]

Agree that most sellers do reveal their reserves if asked. On the few occasions I've used a reserve, I've always revealed it when asked, and I've never had a seller refuse to reveal a reserve when I've asked.

 

[kashkdz]

Originally posted by suzieqinga
Hi all. I have been toying with the idea of selling on ebay for months and months. I finally put something up for auction, and now I have a question for you ebayers...I've been getting emails from people asking what my reserve price is. Is that a normal question from buyers, and should I disclose that info? Sorry if that's a stupid question - I'm very new to ebay.

I'm a little nervous about this ebay thing and hope that it will be a good experience. Having never sold, I have no feedback, and the first item I listed is sort of a higher priced item. Probably not the best way to get my feet wet?

Anyway, I appreciate any advice!

I'm assuming that you set up a 'Reserve Price' auction. As a frequent seller (and buyer) on ebay, I typically don't use a reserve price auction (for the simple fact that, just like you mentioned people will ask you what the reserve price is). As I buyer I use the "starting bid" feature, which is the lowest price I will accept for the item that I am selling. This lets everyone know what the minimum price for the item will be. As a buyer, I often don't bid on items that have a reserve price, because obviously I don't know what the reserve price is price and usually I'm too lazy to send an email and ask.

 

[javaj]

I always reveal the reserve price when asked, and sometimes I even put it in the auction description. Seems to work out best for me when I use a low starting bid with a reserve price. Although I only sell things that I think will sell for at least $20. I figure it isn't worth my time and effort to sell items that will sell for less than that. I've only sold about 15 things or so, lowest reserve I've used was 24.99, and I've never had a problem with the reserve not being met.

 

[suzieqinga]

Thank you all SO much for your prompt replies. I will let the buyers know the reserve so that they can decide if they are still interested. For some reason, I thought that I wasn't "supposed" to disclose the reserve. I think I may have started the bidding way too low considering the reserve price. I certainly don't want to get a bad rep as a seller and ruin my opportunites for future auctions. Hopefully you ebay experts are not too hard on us newbies!

Again, thanks for your help!

 

[DMRick]

Some people use a low starting price and a high reserve to get the auciton noticed. I don't care for reserves, since I don't usually want to keep bidding to find it out, but I know some people do..they like to start at a $1, but don't want to accept such a low amount. The goal on eBay is to sell your item..so I see no harm in letting people know what your reserve is.