Question for all the Ebay sellers out there in Budget Board land...

[espana94]

So I finally took the plunge, watched all the tutorials and listed a couple things on Ebay to test the water.

It went pretty well. I sold 3 out of 4 items. A couple were at better prices than I expected. My question to all of you is this...

When you post an auction, how long do you typically let the auction run? I noticed Ebay automatically defaults to 7 days. Does anyone go shorter, longer? And is any day better than another to start your auctions?

Thanks! Espana

 

[Janepod]

Congratulations! You're off to a great start.

I like to start my auctions on a Sunday night and let them run to the following Sunday night. My feeling is, everyone's home on a Sunday night to bid. I like to end them 9:00 p.m. Eastern or later.

I never end auctions on the Sunday of a holiday weekend. Maybe then I would list Monday to Monday.

If I have something really great, I will start it on a Thursday and do a 10-day auction - that way it encompasses two weekends.

Good luck in the future!

 

[js]

I can tell you what I do.
If I have something that I don't think will sell right away, I put it up as Buy Now and set the price and don't use an auction.

When I want to auction something, I look to see if there is activity.
If there is a lot/some activity, I put the auction to end in 1 day since I know others are looking for the same item and already bidding. I usually start my price lower than what the price is being bid on and usually successful that I get a good price.

Good luck!

 

[a1tinkfans]

I researched the sale value in the finished auctions and IF I decided on buy now did it accordingly, so people got a bargain and I got it sold.
I always did 7 day auctions
I like the sunday eve...feel like you get most hits...
Good Luck!

 

[espana94]

Thanks for the input. That leads me to another question...

Do any of you ever use reserves in your auctions? Has that worked well, or not?

Thanks for all the great advice...Keep it coming, please!

 

[bjscheel]

I almost always do 7 days if it's an auction. The only time I have gone shorter is if it is a holiday item or something and that holiday is coming up. If I don't know the value of something, it definitely goes on auction.

I have never used reserves. I'd rather start it at what I need to have for it. Some people are turned off by having to guess at the reserve.

If it's something I feel needs time for the right buyer to come along, or if there is nothing special about it, I do 30 day fixed price. For instance, a DVD of which there are many many identical listings, I put mine at fixed price right around where others have ended, because people will choose to buy right away instead of waiting on an auction.

Check completed listings and current listings for the same sort of item to see how it's been selling.

If it's clothing, be sure to put size in the title and measurements in the description.

Make good use of your title space. If you were searching for that item, what words would you use to search? Make sure those words are in the title and every other relevant word you can fit in.

Ship internationally, you'll have many more buyers available to you. I ship to Europe, Canada, Asia, and Australia.

 

[tzeitel]

All my listing are Sun-Thurs night (around 9-10PM est), unless Monday is a holiday then I don't have them end on Sun/Mon. I usually do 7 days unless I have a "deadline" - holidays, going on vacation, need $ by a certain date etc.

I do not do reserves because I start my listings at the minimum I would take for the item. If it is a super popular item I will list very low - but that is because I pretty much know it will end at a price I am happy with - but still do not do reserve. It used to be that you could start stuff at .01 and get a good end price but last few years there has been so much competition that I just start at what I would be ok selling the item for.