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  #1  
Old 05-29-2008, 11:46 AM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: David R

Other than the higher fees, is there any downside to setting a reserve for eBay auctions? For a rarer card that does not have a lot of available market data on value, does setting a reserve negatively affect the final price? Why don't more people use reserves? I'd love to hear some thoughts from eBay buyers and sellers.



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  #2  
Old 05-29-2008, 11:55 AM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: LetsGoBucs

I can only speak for myself, but as a buyer I generally don't even bother with auctions that have reserves. My own (admittedly old fashioned) opinion is that if you want to sell your cards great - put up a webpage or open a store and do so - more power to you.

If you want to auction your item then there should be no reserve. The auction will determine what it is worth.

When I read people stating that they have put a reserve to "protect their investment", I chuckle usually - it just means that the person wants to guarantee selling the card for more than they paid for it.....ie the retail price is $1200 or I paid 1200, but for one week I'll run an auction to see if anyone will pay more than $1200. I hate it when people waste my time and I simply don't bother with those auctions.

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  #3  
Old 05-29-2008, 11:57 AM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: Adam

I don't bid on eBay auctions with reserves. If you want to take your item to auction, then you need to be willing to sell it for whatever the market brings.

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  #4  
Old 05-29-2008, 12:40 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

The bottom line is that sellers don't want to lose money and buyers, if they had their way, wouldn't pay more than ten cents for any item. You can use more flowery prose, but you would still be ultimately saying the same thing.

The "Buy it Now or Best Offer" can be a better alternative in these cases. Again, though, buyers refuse to make proper offers much of the time. I've placed high-end HOF autographed material on eBay using this feature, and the offers received were absolutely asinine. Any individual who thinks a seller would seriously consider on offer of $300 for a Ty Cobb 3X5 is moronic indeed.

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  #5  
Old 05-29-2008, 12:57 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: LetsGoBucs

I would respectfully disagree that buyers want to pay 10 cents for all items. I buy a lot of items at shows and through advertisements. Prices are stated and I can buy if I so choose. Sellers can set the price that they desire and if there is a match there is a sale

An auction is not a retail sale. And its far from moronic to have a sale of a Ty Cobb autograph (I have no idea what it is or isn't supposedly "worth") for $300. If on that day the highest bid is for $300 then that is what its worth. An auction should guarantee that there is a sale of that item on that day for whatever that marketplace will bear. Anything else isn't an auction (IMO).



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  #6  
Old 05-29-2008, 12:59 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: Jeff Mohler

I am no Ebay listing expert, but when I list a card, I like to put a BIN at slightly above market on the card. If I don't put a reserve on the card, then the BIN disappears when someone bids my minimum bid (which is usually $.99). My reserve is usually pretty low, but it gives the BIN at least a couple of days exposure.

I don't like high minimum bids, because I think that also discourages bidding, so maybe I should start a thread about high miminum bids.

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  #7  
Old 05-29-2008, 01:04 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: Red

Who cares if the auction has a reserve, or what the reserve is based on. The only thing that matters is what you want to pay for the card. All you do is click on an auction, enter a snipe bid, and you either win it or you don't.

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  #8  
Old 05-29-2008, 01:09 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

To set the record straight, I mostly agree with your initial thoughts on reserve auctions.

And FYI, the going rate for a Cobb 3X5 is far more than $300. If you see one offered at that price, STAY AWAY! The chances are 99.9% toward its being fake. You don't sound like you have any interest in autographs. I'll put the scenario in card terms, then. If you were selling a PSA 1 T206 Plank on eBay at, say, $20,000 OBO, and somebody made an offer of $1000, wouldn't YOU be offended? You know its actual value is in the $20K range. It's not worth $1000 as opposed to $20K simply because that was the highest offer received in a forum where buyers don't care to pay the going rate.

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  #9  
Old 05-29-2008, 01:12 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: boxingcardman

A reserve costs money.

Plus what everyone else so ably said.

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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  #10  
Old 05-29-2008, 01:20 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: Darren

Jodi,

I can only speak for myself, but in your scenario I would not take offense I'd just say "Hell no, not even close". Getting offended accomplishes zippo.

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  #11  
Old 05-29-2008, 01:28 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: Tim

It sounds like I am in the minority here, but I bid on items with a reserve just as I would if it didn't have a reserve. Sometimes the reserve is a minimal number to protect the seller from a really poor showing and the reserve itself reduces competition.

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  #12  
Old 05-29-2008, 01:28 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: Jodi Birkholm

Well, in effect, that's what I do. eBay offers sellers to automatically reject any ridiculously low offers according to your wishes. I employ this feature, but eBay still shows you the automatically rejected offers. I just don't understand why people out there would even be bothered with some of their ludicrous bids. Somebody once offered me $5 for a Babe Ruth signed photo!

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  #13  
Old 05-29-2008, 01:35 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: LetsGoBucs

I'll put the scenario in card terms, then. If you were selling a PSA 1 T206 Plank on eBay at, say, $20,000 OBO, and somebody made an offer of $1000, wouldn't YOU be offended?
-----------------

Well actually no. Why would I be offended? I don't see the OBO as being an auction either, but if I had the card and had chosen to do that I might simply decline the offer of 1000 if I thought I would get another offer that was much higher. But I view that as basically a retail sale.

If the card is put up at auction and the winning bid is $1000 then that is the value of the card. Now if there is another auction that gets 20K for the same card then I would question the choice of marketplace as being very limited. But if you truly own an item that is likely to fetch $20K then I would assume you would place it in an auction marketplace that has access to that type of buyer. But even in that environment, a card that previously sold for 20K may sell for 7K. If there are three people that are willing to pay more than 6K for that card and two of them have already acquired it (lets say both for 20K), when the third card comes up the highest price left on the demand curve is 6K and thats what the card is hypothetically worth. If the fourth person values the card at 4K then its likely to sell one bid above 4K. And I don't view anything wrong with that sale at all, from either the buyer or seller perspective. Sure the seller would wish they had sold their card earlier but thats the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. I think with cards an assumption is made that the highest price paid is then the value - that is simply economically wrong.

I view all collectables as merely having intrinsic value - unto themselves pieces of cardboard have little value. And while today that Plank might fetch 20K, in two years perhaps it fetches 5K or 3K? And perhaps it fetches 100k. Simply depends on supply and demand and people's intrinsic value of the card. I always smile when I hear dealers at shows saying "that card is worth XYZ" while they read from a price guide - its worth whatever it sells for.

However, since I collect for enjoyment purposes all the economic stuff is irrelevant. Reserve auctions waste my time (and offend my economic sensabilities) so I avoid them

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  #14  
Old 05-29-2008, 01:43 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: T206Collector

...unless I really desperately need the card. And then you don't get a good feel for market value, because the seller only sees an increment over the second-highest bid.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

http://www.t206collector.com

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  #15  
Old 05-29-2008, 01:50 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: Mark L

I will bid on items that have reserves just like those that don't. Reserves are part of the auction world, and sometimes they are reasonable.

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  #16  
Old 05-29-2008, 02:23 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: Cat

I'll bid on a card with a reserve (conservatively) but I won't put a snipe on a card with a reserve. I tend to put some very healthy snipes when I really want something, but won't do that with a reserve auction. I think the reasoning is obvious.

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  #17  
Old 05-29-2008, 02:26 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: Adam

On the eBay "buy it now or best offer" thing, when I use it I select the "automatically decline offers below a certain price" option. That way, I do not even see the crazy low offers that may come in, as eBay automatically declines them for me.

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  #18  
Old 05-29-2008, 02:32 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: Jason

To be fair. Sometimes sellers place such high BIN's that I have gotten cards for 50% of the BIN price on an OBO.

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  #19  
Old 05-29-2008, 02:52 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: leon

I don't normally bid in reserve auctions.....If I know what it is I will but otherwise I have found it a waste of time.....that's just me....

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  #20  
Old 05-29-2008, 03:14 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: Bottom of the Ninth

eBay started out as an auction site. Not sure when the auction format became synonymous with not retail. eBay now offers the straight sale price format as well. For the most part it has become the expectation of many ebay buyers that it is a flea market and is not a retail environment. That is not to say items do not sell for full retail but more times than not an item would sell for significantly more in a Mastro, REA type of setting.

The auction format, if not manipulated, allows bidders to determine the value on that given day. Because eBay has so many items being listed on a constant basis, collectors who do not have all day to do searches may not see items they need or they forget to bid, hence the item will sell for less. Catalog auctions, like Mastro and REA, are more likely to include all interested bidders because they happen on a certain day and lots are not always being added.

When I am buying I do not care if there is a reserve or a high opening bid to start.

Greg

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  #21  
Old 05-29-2008, 03:22 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: leon

I agree but more often than not on ebay the reserves are exaggerated (not realistic)....and will not be met. If I were to do an ebay type sale with a reserve I would either start with my reserve or go ahead and state it. I don't like hidden reserves. On our current B & L auction we felt that stating the reserve (if any) towards the end would accomplish our goal of...no hidden reserve and action on the lot until then....I am not sure there is a perfect way to do it....regards

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  #22  
Old 05-29-2008, 04:10 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: Steve

Buyers hate them, you are better off starting the auction at the minimum
that you would feel comfortable selling it at.

Steve

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  #23  
Old 05-29-2008, 04:43 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: boxingcardman

"If you were selling a PSA 1 T206 Plank on eBay at, say, $20,000 OBO, and somebody made an offer of $1000, wouldn't YOU be offended?"

Not that I have a Plank to sell but when I get similarly outlandish offers on items I do post, I usually laugh at them and spread the joke around if the offer is particularly silly or accompanied by some really dumb reasoning. What annoys me are people who insist on starting an email dialogue over their lowball offer. Then again, you never know what might come of it. I once had a lowball offer come in, which auto-rejected, but I got into a discussion with the offeror and we ended up making a deal at close to my price.



Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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  #24  
Old 05-29-2008, 05:27 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: ali_lapoint

i put reserves on my cards because i have a price in mind that i'm looking to get for them. i know that maybe a lot of people put a ridiculous price on their cards, but for me, i want to at least get back what i paid for the card when i bought it. my reserves are never grossly inflated, but i dont think its too out of the ordinary to not want to take a loss on your card.

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  #25  
Old 05-29-2008, 05:31 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: leon

No one wants to take a loss on a card. The more you buy and sell the less realistic "never" losing on one becomes...trust me. You might consider starting your auctions at your reserve and see how that goes. If what you are doing works great then by all means don't change a thing. I guess I just don't care for hidden reserves....

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Old 05-29-2008, 06:06 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: Matthew

If you are going to have a reserve why not have the buy it know with best offer. In regards to $1000 csomeone offers for t206 plank. may i ask why would you even respond to him. clearly the guy has noting to do with his time.but buy it know is much better then a reserve in my opinion which isnt much. Enjot evening.

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  #27  
Old 05-29-2008, 06:56 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: ali_lapoint

i usually put my buy it now price pretty close to my reserve price. of course i put the buy it now slightly higher than my reserve, but the buy it now helps bidders get a feel for what i'm looking to get for a card. to me, it would be a lot more frustrating for bidders if i had to close an auction early because i didn't put a reserve on the card and didn't want it to end for less than i thought i should get. that wouldn't be fair and i'd never do that to someone. but i do realize that once in a while you're going to take a hit. however, i usually dont sell my high dollar cards because they're the ones i really want to hold onto. i usually sell mid level cards that i bought for pretty cheap years ago so i hardly ever take a loss and don't make bidders crazy by setting a ridiculous reserve.

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  #28  
Old 05-29-2008, 09:00 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: Alan

At a show, I just love when a collector asks a dealer about an item and the dealer responds, "Let me see what I have into it".

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  #29  
Old 05-29-2008, 09:55 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: Mike Mccullough

If a person truly wants to sell something they state what the reserve is or they start it at what they want for it. ANything else Imo the seller is sucker fishing or he/she is trying to gauge a market as he has no idea what his item is worth.
I generally stay away from reserves because of my preconceived notions,,,, but will place a bid out of curiosity to try and reveal the reserve. 99% of the time fair market value wont take the reserve sign down.... Seems like a waste of time to me..

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  #30  
Old 05-30-2008, 07:50 AM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: Red

In regular catalog and auction house auctions the ending time of the auction can be adjusted due to power outages or the computer going down at a critical point. Ebay goes down from time to time and if your stuff is scheduled to close when the system craps out you're losing a lot of money. With all the snipe bids coming in the last minute a card could be sitting at a $100 with a minute to go and then jump to several thousand when it closes. If Ebay goes down and those bids don't come in you'll wish you had a reserve on your stuff.

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Old 05-31-2008, 07:55 AM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: brian

"If Ebay goes down and those bids don't come in you'll wish you had a reserve on your stuff."

Only if someone is willing to take a monumental loss on a big money card and follow thru with a sale to whoever was the high bidder at the time of the eBay gaffe.

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  #32  
Old 05-31-2008, 08:05 AM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: leon

When ebay was younger it did go down sometimes. I haven't seen it go down too many times in the last few years other than scheduled maintenance. If it did go down at the last minutes/hours of an auction I wouldn't be selling my cards that ended then.....I am sure folks that were bidding would understand....I would

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Old 05-31-2008, 04:01 PM
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Default Why don't more people use reserves on eBay?

Posted By: Ted

I am a small seller on ebay, and when 707 or another BIG dealers buys my cards at auction, then sells them for $150 or $200 more I cant help but ask myself why. I undestand brand loyalty and comfort levels with the big time buyers, but this makes no sense to me. Tehrefore I need to set a reserve accordingly..and a BIN for slpzwtheboss

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