Reserve and Buy now ?
This may not be the proper place for my question but here goes. If I wanted to set my reserve at lets say $650.00, and also want to set a buy now option, do I set the Buy now higher because I don't want any less then $650.00 for the gun? I've started to list a few guns and not sure I understand if this is the right way or wrong way. And I can't make any sense out of GB's description. Thanks Dan
"Friends Don't Let Friends Ride Rice" Harley-Davidson
"Friends Don't Let Friends Ride Rice" Harley-Davidson
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Buy-now would be the higher price 0 -
Many buyers will not even look at a listing with a reserve price. That's because many of these sellers are playing games.
"Buy it now" can only hurt you, too. Why limit the amount of money that people are willing to pay for your gun?
Set your starting price at the lowest amount that you could live with, & go with that. If it's a reasonable price, folks will bid higher. If that's all you get, well, that's the true market value. If it doesn't sell, you've learned that you must either lower your price, or keep the gun.
Neal0 -
I would agree with the comment about reserves, although there are some sellers on these forums who believe that a low opening bid with a reserve attracts buyers. Maybe, but I almost never look at a reserve listing in any category and I don't think I'm alone. I think in the thousands of listings I've had in the past six years I've used a reserve at most five times, for very specific / technical reasons.
On the BIN, almost all of my auctions use one. I don't sell guns, but collectible ammo and I believe I know my market pretty well (there is really no reference of prices in this field, so knowledge pays dividends). I set my opening at a fair price, below the top of the market. I set the BIN at or slightly above the top of the market. If I misjudge a value, and I do, then what I've lost is theoretical profit, as I would have accepted the opening bid w/o a qualm. OTOH, there are people who don't like to wait for an auction to close, fear snipers or whatever and will pounce on the BIN for those reasons. I sell about 10% of my stuff that way, at what I consider a premium, so I'm happy.
Granted, I don't often see "auction fever" on my listings, but then I think that is often a seller's unfulfilled hope rather than a reality. If I think it is a possibility, I don't use the BIN, but 99% of the time I do.
"There is nothing lower than the human race - except the french." (Mark Twain)0 -
Thanks everyone for the helpfull input, I,ve been bit knotted on this subject and you all have hit on some of my thoughts on the subject. Dan
"Friends Don't Let Friends Ride Rice" Harley-Davidson0 -
I will not even look at an auction that has a reserve-wasting my time. If you want to sell the gun start the auction at $1 and see what happens, it will get market value. 0 -
I agree, START AT 1.00. People look at things with bids on them. (ME) Auction sets in, and its fun. Live with it. I an just getting started but haven't been hurt yet. nambu 0 -
Reserve auctions are a waste of time! Though not
always true...it's usually an indication of an
ovepriced gun that isn't going to sell and the seller
knows that...that's why the little game I don't waste time
playing! I know there is a push by many to set a $1.00 start
price, but that may be unfair to some sellers. This push may
also be the result of buyers wanting to get something for
nothing...you know...hoping their $2.00 bid might get a $500.00
gun because nobody else wants it. (So no other bids)
Setting a good starting price, which should be the least
acceptable price the seller will accept, is fine. What
this does is make the auction site a place where buyers can
view many more guns for sale than they could ever see locally.
What you have then are pages of guns for sale and the asking price
just like at a gun show or the local gun shop. This format also
gives the seller opportunity for a second buyer willing to pay higher
than the asking (starting) price. If more than one customer
wants the gun, it can actually begin to look like a REAL auction!
The only problem I see is that if a seller has a gun for sale at
a starting price of $650.00, we buyers can't ask the seller if
he would accept $625.00...and in a face to face deal...he might?
Yeah, I know he could have started with an asking price of $625.00,
but that's not the nature of web sales. Most sellers are not
auction oriented and are hesitant to offer a gun for a lower
price than they really want to get. It's residual thinking from
the gun show days!! Ask high... sell a little lower!!!
The $25.00 may be for us buyers the straw that broke the camel's
back and the gun doesn't sell and relists over and over and over
ad nauseum! And it's a lost sale that may have been made otherwise,
and made quickly! Many of us must also figure in shipping and
the fee charged by a transfer dealer. These charges are not present
at a gun show where guns are for sale pretty close to web prices. So
the only incentive to buy off the web is when a gun is wanted and
can't be found locally.
Another problem with the so-called auction format is the actual purchasing. Let's say I'm a buyer who really would like to buy
a gun a seller has for sale at a starting bid of $650.00 and the
gun has not be selling, having been relisted several times(or
even a new listing) but I don't have $650.00. But I do have
$500.00 and a $200.00 scope. There is no way for me to offer
the scope and $500.00 to the seller which might just make for a
good deal otherwise. I actually bought my last rifle at a gun show
this way...even though I had cash enough with me for an outright
purchase.($200.00 is what I wanted..but $100.00 was my least
acceptable)
Call this site what you want and haggle over how to run it or
how to present the offerings. To me it will never be anything but
an online gun show...and the little gimmicks that make it anything
else I just ignore.
No slams intended here...just truth!0 -
set your start price at the least amount you are willing to sell for , keep you shipping cost reasonable , use a buy now price , sure it may not bring top dollar but to me a quick sell is better than waiting a week to maybe get that extra 10 or 20 bucks , and don't use a Reserve [xx(] Reserve auctions suck , I wouldn't even look at them 0 -
quote:Originally posted by nmyers
Many buyers will not even look at a listing with a reserve price. That's because many of these sellers are playing games.
"Buy it now" can only hurt you, too. Why limit the amount of money that people are willing to pay for your gun?
Neal
I strongly disagree that "Buy it now" can only hurt. I set my Buy Now prices about 150% of what I think the item is worth. I had a run-of-the-mill Mosin Nagant M91 with a Buy Now of $225. A collector wanted the particular arsenal markings for his collection and used the Buy Now. This was not a rare gun by any means, but he wanted it. Without the Buy Now he probably would have gotten it for the opening bid of $100.
I also got $150 for a Remington model 31 barrel with Buy Now. I would have been happy with the $80 opening bid, but again, the buyer wanted to be sure that he won the auction.
Semper Fi
Remember Ruby Ridge.
What if there were no hypothetical questions?
Not a member at the auction? Join Gunbroker at this link!0 -
I stand corrected. HenryOReilly's game plan for the BIN sounds like a really smart way to use it; I never thought of it. Most of the auctions I see with BIN have it set at only a slight advance over the starting price or the reserve price, & that doesn't help you get the maximum.
Obviously, you really have to know the value of the item you are selling, & it helps if it is a bit unusual.
Neal0
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