Thoughts on revealing reserve prices?

Sometimes people don't want to bid at a high starting price, because it seems too expensive. When the bidding starts at a lower price, uyers sometimes get into competition with others and the price builds.
 
There are two sides to revealing your reserve price:

1. Pretty much what everyone else here has already said. It could work in your favor as a seller to reveal it to all who ask. That way, your potential bidder won't have to waste any time bidding on your auction if they know in advance they don't want to pay your price.....

BUT.......

2. That also works AGAINST you as a seller. You want as many people bidding as possible. If you reveal your reserve to several potential bidders and they DON'T like the price, they won't bid. The point of the auction is for those interested in your item to actually bid on it which keeps the auction competetive. As a seller, you WANT the price to be driven up by as many different bidders as possible. You want a bidding war on your item so that it can go for as much $$ as possible.

As a seller, I don't like to reveal my reserve price for the most part. I have found that it usually backfires against me when I do. They would ask, I would tell and they would vanish (without even a thank you for my responding to the question most of the time). When I don't reveal it, I find that more people bid anyway just to see if they could figure it out, which drew even more attention to my auction and others would jump in and bid as well.

I know that most people are only going to bid as much as they want to pay anyway. So, speaking as a seller - why not keep your reserve price a secret and watch your number of bids creep up?

Just my .02 cents.
 
Rondafaye and print*model, Thanks for the explanation.

I consider myself a disciplined bidder. Let me talk it out loud to see if the seller is better off not revealing the reserve price to me. If the seller refuses to reveal the reserve price, then I'll just add the item to my watch list. My next action will depend on the situation. There are three possibilities.
1. If the price goes up to above my range, then I'll just remove the item from my watch list.
2. If nobody bids, and if I am still interested when the auction is about to expire, then I'll place bids with my target range. Again, I'll give up the item if I do not hit the reserve.
3. If the bidding goes up to near my range (at least 10% under) when the auction is about to expire, I may consider raising my target just a bit. I always remind myself about my target price, and that another better bag with the right price will come along. This way, I can keep myself from overbidding unnecessarily.

By my reasoning above, I guess you are right about that it is better for the seller not to reveal the reserve price (since I raise my target price a bit). Of course, some buyers do not stick to a target price range like me. Thus, your bidding war argument is a strong reason that supports not revealing your reserve price.
 
I've had 2 experiences where I've asked a seller for the reserve price:

1. Potero.....they will reveal it 24 hours before the end of bidding. I really wanted a bracelet from a high end jeweler so I emailed them and they gave me the reserve price ...as I said 24 hrs. before the end of auction. Yes, that helped me to decide my maximum bidding price. Well, I won the auction and wear this bracelet next to my watch every day. (By the way, I took it to the jewler's store in Palm Beach to verify that it was genuine and, yes, it was! Here's the best part....they were still selling the same item for much more!

2. Another seller had a reserve on a piece of jewelry I coveted so I emailed and asked for the reserve price. He was nice enough to give it to me.....I knew the piece was worth it....I bid a tad over the reserve, and got the item. It came in at the reserve price.

So, while I was always afraid to ask a seller for the reserve price, I've learned it pays to send them a nice emal and ask. If it's over what you want to pay, well, don't waste your time. However, if it's in your price range you've got a shot at what you want. If they don't want to reveal it....just watch the auction and decide accordingly.

Hope this helps.
 
I always disclose the reserve, just so I don't waste a potential buyers time. There will always be the weird buyers who bid a dollar on a $900 item, but there will always be the buyers who really are interested and would like to know if their bid would be game.
 
I am beginning to think that the traditional auction format is going to morph-with the growing strength of snipe sites, and other technologies I am unaware of but feel the effect of...if everyone is sniping, why have a reserve at all? Because you don't want your item to be stolen! No longer do people bid in small increments to find the reserve-I feel a lot of pressure as a seller to amend my auction to fit the buyers, ie offering a BIN if I will end the auction-I guess I'm trying to say I get the feeling that there is a lot less bidding...ebay is becoming very unsettling, just venting I guess!
 
I don't snipe and I very seldomly ever have snipers on my auctions. I think just the majority of this board snipes, which is only a tiny fraction of the ammount of bidders on eBay. The reserve is just there to 1) make sure you don't let it go for less than you want to, and 2) to add a low starting price to draw people to your auction. Many people sort auctions from lowest price to highest.
 
I think more people snipe than you know.

I'm on 3 eBay groups, one of them has over 2k members, and in polls I have seen that the majority in all 3 use sniper services.
 
I think more people snipe than you know.

I'm on 3 eBay groups, one of them has over 2k members, and in polls I have seen that the majority in all 3 use sniper services.
oh I know a lot of people use them, but there are millions of buyers on ebay, so 2K people is a small amount. I just very rarely ever witness sniper services being used on the products I buy and the products I sell.
 
you can't assume that the people on those groups are the only ones though! I didn't say the majority of all eBayers use snipers, just saying I think more people use them than you might think:yes:
 
I always tell the reserve, I think its pointless not to. Then if the amount is to high for the buyer they can move on, most of the time I tell the reserve then they bid and hit the reserve. I very rarely use a reserve at all now in my auctions just list the item for the lowest I would except and take it from their. I know adding reserves to auctions does put a lot of buyers off, thats why I rarely use it now.
 
you can't assume that the people on those groups are the only ones though! I didn't say the majority of all eBayers use snipers, just saying I think more people use them than you might think:yes:
I wasn't assuming, I'm using examples. The entire Bidding board on Ebay uses them. People on a local message board here use them. I was just using the example of the ammount of people who use them compared to the amount of buyers on eBay worldwide. There will always be an unknown number, but they aren't taking over.
 
ITA. When I see the line about not revealing the reserve price so don't ask, I tend to pass on the auction. Not that I'm going to ask, but it seems snotty.



It can only work in your favor to disclose your reserve price.
If the person is not willing to pay your reserve price, that prevents wasting both the buyer's and seller's time. (the buyer will probably stop watching the item, and then seller won't see them watching the item as a potential buyer) If the person is willing to pay your reserve price, well, you've got a sale on your hands. He/she will either bid high enough during the auction, or you can communicate post-auction.
As both a buyer and seller, I can only see the upside of the reserve price being public information. I have made many sales to people both during the auction and after by disclosing it. It just doesn't seem beneficial for it to be "secret" information.
 
Between my father and myself, we've bid on over 3,000 auctions, and in all seriousness, snipers come in about 90% of the time. I buy a wide variety of items, and the practice is across the board. I've also found this to be the case with the hundred or so items I tend to watch every month (never bid, just want to see the final value).

oh I know a lot of people use them, but there are millions of buyers on ebay, so 2K people is a small amount. I just very rarely ever witness sniper services being used on the products I buy and the products I sell.
 
i never bid on auctions where the seller will not disclose the reserve. point blank period. it's not meant to be a game or a mystery- rather it's there so the seller gets what they want for their item or they don't have to sell it. not telling seems snotty and ridiculous to me.

i rarely use reserves but when i do i list them IN the auction so no one has to ask.