BIN- Buy It Now or Buy It Never?

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Posted By: barrysloate

Corey- don't try to persuade, it won't work. Tell Amy she got a great deal.

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Corey, the downside of spending a lot of money on baseball cards is that one is seemingly never in a credible position to complain about a wife's exorbitant purchases.

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Posted By: boxingcardman

They are an investment, not a consumed good. At least that's what I keep telling her.

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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Posted By: JDRUM

I go first, she has a better chance of selling a Ty Cobb as I do a Coach purse!

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Adam - but does she actually buy that? I've tried that...and get eye rolling in response.

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Posted By: Jim VB

"...the downside of spending a lot of money on baseball cards is that one is seemingly never in a credible position to complain about a wife's exorbitant purchases."


Truer words were never spoken.

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Posted By: Jay

I like the concept of BINs. Obviously, on things I want, I would like the prices to be as low as possible but,regardless of the price, these are free options. You are given the right, but not the obligation, to buy a card at a fixed price. That's a good thing.

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Posted By: JimCrandell

Despite my earlier comments I bought 26 cards through BINs this weekend.

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Posted By: BobbyI

I totally agree, those bin's and best offers make simply scanning a t206 search for instance very tiresome. I especially despise when a dealer has listed say 100+ items and it is getting toward the end of the auction and the 1st one hundred items are all buy it nows with no bids. No way ebay stops the practice though revenue is revenue. I personally have become turned off my ebay as of late their new feedback policies are ridiculous. I can charge 1.50 shipping for a card, mail it out the next day and still receive less than a five in the shipping category, an average of below 4.1 can stop me from offering items. If someone has a grudge an unwarranted grudge and assigns me a "1" I have no recourse whatsoever and no protection as a reliable honest seller, even a 100% feedback rating won't help me.

P.S. I just found this site a week ago and its fantastic.

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Posted By: barrysloate

As long as we are complaining about ebay:

For most things I sell, such as baseball cards and coins, I can adjust the postage I charge based on the weight and value of the item. But when I recently listed a baseball book in the antiquarian section, I was told the total I can charge for postage and insurance combined is $4.


Now this is an oversized book and will need about $250 of insurance. My guess is it will cost me at least $10 to ship. Why do they limit in this category, but not in others?

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Posted By: BobbyI

If postage is clearly stated in the auction why should there be any restriction? If a bidder thinks the postage is too excessive then they have the option not to bid. My feeling is either allow any shipping and or insurance charge with no restriction and no possibility for negative feedback in that category or change ebay policy and make all shipping free. The fact that they can limit postage or allow someone to harm a seller by giving a less than 5 rating when shipping for the item actually cost more than charged in the auction is discriminating against the seller.

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Posted By: marshall barkman

Barry adjust the weight, change from letter to box and you are good to go.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Bobby- ebay wouldn't let me charge more than $4 postage. I think I tried putting $8 total for postage and insurance into the two boxes provided on their template and they wouldn't let me proceed with the listing. But I only had that problem trying to list the book. All my other categories had no restriction.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Thanks Marshall, sounds like I missed something when I listed. I'll go back and check it out.

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Posted By: boxingcardman

Given how much money she's cost us with bad investments over the last few years, I have carte blanche

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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Posted By: Dave

Are..
A) Great if you're the 1st one to spot a card listed too low.
B) Terrible if you need a card that's listed by seller who pays no attention to market prices.

Overall I find myself hitting the Auctions only button 99% of the time, but I have overpaid on a few BIN's over the years out of desperation. I've also found that most sellers will knock off some of their BIN prices if you show interest.

One way or another a lot of these dealers are going to find thmeselves with a ton of inventory over the next year and a half, so I'd be willing to bet we see those BIN's go down. Time will tell.

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Posted By: Laura

Barry, eBay's motive with limiting shipping charges is to encourage sellers to offer free shipping, and raise the item price accordingly. That way eBay gets a cut of the combined cost in fees, which they don't if shipping is charged outside the selling price.

Pretty insulting, but that's eBay for ya.

And fwiw, on the subject of BINs, I sell a fair amount on eBay, and at least 40% of my sales come from BINs. I try to price them properly, with only a couple of showcase items to act as marketing tools.

There are certain categories where my pricing is high, but it's in line with other sellers of the same items. And I don't mind rolling inventory over for several months. But after a while I will lower a BIN if an item doesn't sell, usually at about the six month mark.

I use my auctions to get folks in the door, and at least some of them then look around my store and purchase things to go along with their auction wins. I feel that as a sales and marketing tool, properly priced BINs are a good thing.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Laura- I guess that is just another example of how ebay is moving away from the auction format, and to the fixed price retail market. We will probably see more of these changes down the road.

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Posted By: Laura

It's certainly a far different site than it was ten years ago. That being said, I do love having a store (or two.)

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Posted By: Ricky Y

I use BIN but only on new items that pop up...I have found some good hidden gems...the ones from the same sellers...which comprises most of the BINS..I don't even bother...

It is often like prospecting for gold...shift through a lot of sand to find that shiny pebble..

Ricky Y