| When To List an Auction Instead of Fixed Price on eBay |
| When most people think eBay, they think auctions! Well, the truth of the matter is that more than 1/3 of eBay's Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) comes from fixed price listings, those listings where there is no bidding. Those fixed price listings are precisely what Like It's 1999 filters out from your view. Now, fixed price listings make a ton of sense for a wide range of items that you might sell. However, I thought I might take a moment to go over some of the classic cases that you as a seller should be strongly considering using auctions. You Don't Know the Value of What You're Selling You as a seller should never list an item with a fixed price or even a Buy-It-Now if you don't know the value of the item. Auction listings allow the community to set the market price for what you are selling. Theoretically (according to the same market principles on which Pierre founded eBay), you should receive a fair price by letting the market determine what it's worth. The Item You're Selling is in High Demand There's no better way to get top dollar for high priced items that are hot, than to put them up for auction. You wouldn't believe how many times people I know have sold tickets, limited release collectibles, or other high demand items and received hundreds of dollars more (if not thousands) than what they expected. You Just Want To Get Rid Of It Don't want to hassle with it anymore? Just start the bidding at $1 and let 'er rip! Particularly if your item is not too obscure and you do a good job describing it, you shouldn't be too concerned. Single Items Only! You should never list using Dutch auctions. Dutch auctions allow you to list multiple identical items and allow bidder to not only place their bid, but also to choose the quantity of the items that they want. My experience is that the typical eBay listing doesn't get enough exposure to support Dutch auctions and invariably you will get a lower price for your items. In summary... This list is by no means exhaustive, but hopefully will give you some direction in choosing format. Don't forget the best reason for choosing auctions though: Only auction listings appear on Like It's 1999! :-) Disclaimer: The information in this blog is my opinion, I am not speaking on behalf of eBay. |
posted by Danny Leffel at Monday, June 19, 2006
