People on Ebay are funny , in a strange sorta way!

D

designer1

Member
Jul 23, 2010
1,630
468
#1
So…I actually got tired of carrying an LV bag I had for almost 2 years and listed it on Ebay. I listed it at less than what all the other same style bag, (not to mention, dirty, and old looking bags were going for). I had about 38 watchers, yet nobody was buying it, so I relisted it. Again, about 32 watchers, and no bids with about 12 hours left in the auction. Someone messaged me with an offer, so I sold it and ended the auction. Suddenly, I get a lot of messages saying they wanted to buy it, will I be relisting it, or can they purchase it?? WHY didn't they grab it when they had the chance?? That kind of behaviour makes me crazy!! Its kinda like Costco, you see something you want, you buy it before its gone!! You snooze you lose.!! To the lucky lady who got my gently used Delightful for such a steal…enjoy!! :smile:
 
#3
It's a regular thing and not just with bags .... I sold a very low value item last month on a BIN listing and had 2 people subsequently contact me (one just yesterday, about 5 weeks post-sale) to ask if they could buy it!!

Just goes to show you, watchers never relate to bidders .....

Hope your buyer adores her new bag.
 
#4
Happens to me allllll the time too! I think eBay buyers in general are very stingy and are waiting to see if it gets lowered or if you'll relist it lower etc... I always put my lowest price out there as a minimum, and don't always relist if it doesn't sell, I'd rather consign (which by the way I always work it so after my eBay fees I am netting about the same as a consignment payout quote) *sigh* I just like to see if I can sell something first before having to wait for a consignment sale. I've tried to play with format, if it helps I've noticed not doing buy-it-now or best offer listings helps. Just start a straight auction at your lowest price, and when I do that I more often than not get a bidding war at the end. You can also try adding to the description, that this is a one-time only listing and if not sold will go to consignment. I agree it's so infuriating. :smile:

eBay has been trying to get sellers to not end listings early with their new rules on fees once there is one bid, and also discourages listing items anywhere other than eBay.. but seriously, I don't think eBay realizes that sometimes we have no choice due to buyer inactivity and I do sometimes end the listing to sell on Bonanza or send to consignment or sell on a FB group etc.. so you can try listing elsewhere too. I find more serious buyers elsewhere. eBay sure has the traffic but I agree there is a mood in the eBay community that is generally not all that serious about purchasing.
 
#5
lshcat said:
Happens to me allllll the time too! I think eBay buyers in general are very stingy and are waiting to see if it gets lowered or if you'll relist it lower etc... I always put my lowest price out there as a minimum, and don't always relist if it doesn't sell, I'd rather consign (which by the way I always work it so after my eBay fees I am netting about the same as a consignment payout quote) *sigh* I just like to see if I can sell something first before having to wait for a consignment sale. I've tried to play with format, if it helps I've noticed not doing buy-it-now or best offer listings helps. Just start a straight auction at your lowest price, and when I do that I more often than not get a bidding war at the end. You can also try adding to the description, that this is a one-time only listing and if not sold will go to consignment. I agree it's so infuriating. :smile:

eBay has been trying to get sellers to not end listings early with their new rules on fees once there is one bid, and also discourages listing items anywhere other than eBay.. but seriously, I don't think eBay realizes that sometimes we have no choice due to buyer inactivity and I do sometimes end the listing to sell on Bonanza or send to consignment or sell on a FB group etc.. so you can try listing elsewhere too. I find more serious buyers elsewhere. eBay sure has the traffic but I agree there is a mood in the eBay community that is generally not all that serious about purchasing.
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Agree with everything you said! :smile:
 
#6
designer1 said:
Agree with everything you said! :smile:
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I agree! I have noticed that a slightly lower listing to begin with draws more attention from buyers - but it is a risk!

Now, a question for sellers: Why do some sellers put up a reserve that is not that much lower than their buy-it-now price? Why don't they just list it as a buy-it-now? Does this tactic actually work?
 
#7
CoachRules said:
I agree! I have noticed that a slightly lower listing to begin with draws more attention from buyers - but it is a risk!

Now, a question for sellers: Why do some sellers put up a reserve that is not that much lower than their buy-it-now price? Why don't they just list it as a buy-it-now? Does this tactic actually work?
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Not sure about reserve pricing as I avoid such listings in all honesty but it does seem to work for some with BIN/Best Offer (similar principle I guess). I was watching a couple of items recently that I was debating about purchasing (I had submitted best offers between 10 and 15% off the BIN price and had been auto-declined) and they both sold for within 3 to 4% of the BIN price.
 
#8
I've sold a few not expensive purses on eBay. Sometimes I use a reserve, and sometimes I just post a minimum price. I do find, like y'all do, that just trying to be fair and post a firm minimum gets less action than when I have set a reserve with a low opening.

One item I recently sold actually ended up selling for more than the reserve and BIN price. Go figure. But the person was happy with it, so that's all that matters!

Ebay forces you to list an items BIN at a certain percentage higher than the opening bid (didn't use to be this way years ago) so I that's why I chose to list low and set a reserve at a minimum price I'd be happy with in order to generate interest. I figured if you are going to have to start it 30% lower than your BIn anyway, you might as well start it really low. If I had just set the auction at that minimum price, I bet I'd have had hardly any activity. I find straight up BIN auction to be less successful than starting low with a reserve so I've decided in the future to just not use BINs. Ebay psychology is weird.

One little purse I had sat in BIN for 2 months, at a very very fair price. I decided to list it as an auction one more time before taking to consignment where I would have received almost nothing, and then it sold for more than the previous BIN price was (that had been up for 2 months).
 
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#11
I've had buyers tell me for a few hundred saving they could just go buy it from the store. So I reply "go and buy it from the store then." Had others tell me they could get it cheaper, so I say 'go and buy a cheaper one but it won't be authentic… good luck'.

Australia Ebay won't let us set reserves so I always use BIN with offer function. I think of it this way.. the start auction price is the lowest price I am willing to accept and BIN is the highest price I think it is worth. But everyone's perception of 'what its worth' will be different, hence the sometimes nasty emails. What I normally do is minus 30% of RRP then move up or down depending on condition.

As a buyer, I do watch an item for ages, its not about waiting for the price to come down, but waiting to see if another one will be listed, as always, patience has its own rewards. There is always another one around the corner. Having said that it doesn't necessarily work. I had a chance to buy a 'new unused' Ixia MM for $1795 AUD which retails for $5500 AUD, but I thought I'd sleep on it. But sadly the other person didn't. LOL. still hurts.
 
#12
I had the worst Ebay experience trying to sell a LV bag. The lady was seriously bonkers! She bought the bag and then sent me all these questions about it. She then decided she didn't want it. Fine with me! No wait, she did want it! No wait, she didn't want it. She changed her mind probably TEN TIMES! I was pulling my hair out. A very helpful Ebay rep finally canceled the sale for me thank goodness.
 
#13
Shoppinmel said:
I had the worst Ebay experience trying to sell a LV bag. The lady was seriously bonkers! She bought the bag and then sent me all these questions about it. She then decided she didn't want it. Fine with me! No wait, she did want it! No wait, she didn't want it. She changed her mind probably TEN TIMES! I was pulling my hair out. A very helpful Ebay rep finally canceled the sale for me thank goodness.
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lol
 
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