|   Listing speakers on Ebay | HT BUFF
Dec 10, 2002 1:55 PM | | I listed speakers on Ebay last week, they are Energy XL 26's, 2 1/2 years old, immaculate condition with a reserve of $500 CDN.
These tightwad bidders on Ebay want everything for nothing,
what a waste of time.
They were bidding in incremants of $1 and after one week
bidding reached a paltry $290 CDN.
Glad to say I will be keeping my speakers. |
| It all depends....... | BK
Dec 10, 2002 3:03 PM | | I have actually MADE more money than I spent on some speaks I've sold on Ebay.
I also listed a classic pair of the Advent 5002's that I thought would sell for some good coin, but was disappointed. Got tons of emails asking questions, but no takers.
But all in all, I am way ahead of the game in terms of what I paid for, and what I sold speaks for on Ebay.
Sometimes you luck out, other times not. Timing is everything......
Wait a few days and give it another shot. Maybe your luck will be better second time around. You could also try selling them on Audiogon.
Good luck!
BK |
| Try this | Express
Dec 10, 2002 6:12 PM | | http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1942979724
A better description, some links to manufacturers sites and/or reviews and maybe some photos. Always save your packaging and manuals to include in the sale. Try and run your auction weekend to weekend and ending during hours where people are more likely to be surfing. I have sold quite a few Paradigms quite successfully this way. One more thing is to show American bidders that since these speakers are Canadian made(NAFTA) there will be no hassles with duties/taxes/brokerage fees. That scares away 90% of your potential bidders. |
| re: Listing speakers on Ebay | Express
Dec 10, 2002 6:18 PM | | Oh ya, feedback speaks volumes to others.. Try buying and selling a few small ticket items such as CD's/DVD's and you will have greater credibility amongst those you are asking to send you 100's of their hard earned $$$$. |
| Many problems with your listing... | jeskibuff
Dec 10, 2002 9:42 PM | | 1) You had no other feedback, as just pointed out. People were afraid to trust you. Yes, start with smaller sales to build your reputation. Get rid of some unwanted stuff from your closets!
2) You used minimal wording in the description area. This was especially bad since no photos were provided. People like to know what they're buying. How was the equipment treated? What kind of equipment was used to play the speakers with? Were they in a smoking or non-smoking home? Include specifications, dimensions, shipping weight - estimated shipping - all the information at their fingertips.
3) Payment options - with your feedback of ZERO and accepting only money orders or cashier's checks, you make yourself look like you're ready to scam them out of their money. That's probably the biggest reason you had little response. Get setup with PayPal, Billpoint and possibly C2it. Giving people the option to pay instantly and offering the convenience and protection a credit card purchase offers will improve your auction action.
4) Pictures. People like to see what they're buying. Take the time to get pictures before the next listing.
5) Reviews. Take the time to search the internet for reviews on the equipment you're selling. Include links to those reviews so they don't have to cut-and-paste. Someone may not know anything about the Energys, but once they read a glowing review, may be inspired to place a bid.
6) Ending date. List a 7-day auction on Sunday evening, about 9pm Eastern time. Most of your potential buyers will be in the United States or Canada and that should be the best time for your auctions to end, with most people being home, preparing for the upcoming work week. Thursday nights may also be a good time to end an auction. These have been the times where most TV watching occurs, for good reasons. Try not to end your auction on a holiday. I held off a week on my latest auctions because the Sunday after Thanksgiving would be a heavy travel day for people. Even if they were home, they would have a lot of catching up to do (paying bills, etc.) if they were out of town.
I put a lot of effort in my listings, trying to present comprehensive information and detailed explanation of each flaw. I don't want anything to be discovered when the equipment arrives. They should know exactly what they're buying. Check out this listing of mine that just ended on Sunday. I think it has all these elements. It does take extra effort to present my auctions this way, but I think it pays off. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=14991&item=1942770035
Hope this helps. A lot had already been said and I merely expanded on it. You'll find that eBay is a great tool to sell stuff with. You just have to get more proficient in using that tool. |
| Many problems with your listing... | bogrod
Dec 11, 2002 3:01 PM | | All very good points here, Jeskibuff. Also, in regard to the link that Express gave, I've heard some not-so-good stuff regarding "Private" auctions on ebay. You seem to have some experience with selling. Any thoughts? |
| "Private auctions"... | jeskibuff
Dec 11, 2002 5:47 PM | | ...don't bother me much. I think I have been involved in only one for the purchase of my center channel speaker. I'd like to hear some of the negatives that you've heard of. I just think it's a way for a seller to keep his bidders from getting solicitations from shysters trying to steal their buyers, especially when selling pricey items. In that respect, it protects the bidders, too, as they may be viewed as targets with deep pockets. Selling sensitive items may be great for private auctions, too. I don't know if eBay allows it, but if vibrators were sold, I imagine many women wouldn't want their IDs showing up on the list of bidders. |
| re: Listing speakers on Ebay | igor
Dec 11, 2002 7:10 AM | | I recently bought a pair on eBay of Energy, the new model, C-3 monitors, for $275 which included shipping. They were 6 weeks old. The seller loved them, and was buying another pair, this time in black to match his furniture. I don't know what he paid for them, but my local dealer was asking the msrp of $500. Originally the buyer was asking $350, but the bidding didn't go high enough. The next day he relisted with the buy it now option of $250 (w/$25 for shipping) and I jumped on it. TO me, the buy it now option is the way to go. If someone really wants your item, they aren't going to nickel and dime you. I forgot what these model speakers are, I know they are as you mentioned older, and maybe asking $500 (C) was just too much. Funny thing I have found about ebay, is that sure, people are looking for deals and hope they can get something real cheap, but other people often overpay for stuff. I sold an old Bose system, I was hoping to get $400 for it, and the bidding hit over $800. I was thrilled, and almost felt a little guilty, maybe becuase I hate Bose, and feel their stuff is so overpriced. But $800 was still cheaper than new, so maybe everyone here was happy. If you really want to sell them, relist with a buy it now option. Photos help too. |
| It depends... | jeskibuff
Dec 11, 2002 7:58 AM | | Buy-It-Now can be a bargain OR a ripoff. It depends on how the seller structures it. The best thing you can do as a buyer is to research the market prices for what you're interested in. Sometimes you can get a bargain because the seller priced the Buy-It-Now attractively or includes free shipping with it, other times you can get a better bargain by waiting until the last minute and bidding on an item no one else seems to have noticed, or were afraid to bid on. More expensive items that don't offer the purchase option of a credit card will most likely get fewer bidders than one than an auction that does. If you find an item near where you live that wants only cashier's check or money order payment, few bidders are going to trust that auction. You can bid, get a great price and pick up the goods yourself, saving on shipping, too. |
| It depends... | igor
Dec 11, 2002 2:04 PM | | Well what I meant for this buyer, since he seemed pissed off with the bids, was to list it as a buy it now, knowing that this was the amount he really wants to sell for. If it is $300, then that is what he should do, so there is no $1-2 bids and it stops at $25. Sure, he might get more if he didn't have a reserve, but in this case, it didn't work. Buy it now tends to lesson the confusion perhaps for some bidders about what the seller really wants for the item. In my case, I was much better off not using a buy it now option (not sure it existed then anyway). Sometimes this is the best way to go if the item doesn't sell the first time. And yes you are right, it really does depend on the item, and even the timing. |
| It depends... | bogrod
Dec 11, 2002 3:29 PM | | Igor, this is not a slam or a flame directed towards you, but I still don't see the point to reserve auctions. It's always seemed to me to be more a waste of time for the seller, and an irritant to the buyer.
IMO, if someone's really interested in selling an item (and not just seeing what the "market will bear") I think that he or she is doing themselves a favor by starting the bid out at the minimum amount of money they're willing to part with it for. I don't know what the percentage is of reserve auctions that never meet the reserve price (if it's a reasonable price) but I imagine that ebay still pockets a profit for reserve auctions that end lower than the reserve price.
Buy it now, to me, is the BEST feature on ebay. Clear, and to the point. I love BIN, simply because if I've researched the market value on an item, and if I happen to come across an item that has a BIN price below market value, I grab it. I once came across an item (camera lens) that was almost 1/2 of what it normally sold for used, but the seller mentioned it had a very miniscule mark on the barrel. It's still the best deal I've made on ebay.
In regard to the timing of items placed on ebay, I happened to be "shopping" their over Memorial Day weekend, and noticed how high the bids were on various items. (well over what they'd normally go for) |
| Reserve auctions on eBay... | jeskibuff
Dec 11, 2002 5:06 PM | | ...are a frustration to many bidders because they don't understand the mechanics. I know. I was once there myself. The reserve price was the best thing this seller could have done on this auction listing. Without it, he would have been obligated to sell those Energys for the highest bid of $290.
I once thought that if a buyer wanted to buy a reserve price item, he couldn't unless another bidder was competing, helping to push the bid over the reserve mark. Only when I put a last-minute bid on an item did I realize how it worked. Say a seller put a reserve price of $350 on an item. Buyers have no idea what that reserve price is unless the seller discloses it. So they bid incrementally up until, say $310. The item won't sell at $310. There's 30 seconds left until the auction closes, and I'm willing to pay up to $380 for the item, so I throw my bid in. The bid price immediately jumps to the reserve price of $350 and if nobody else had the same idea, I walk away with the item for $350, not the $380 I was willing to pay. If someone made a last minute bid for $360, I still win it, but at the next bidding increment ($370?). If a reserve auction does not have a winner, the seller only pays eBay the fees that it cost to list the item, including a fee based on the reserve value.My first reserve price auction is currently running for those Dayton BR-1 speakers. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1944345001
I set the reserve price to $165 (and disclosed that in the listing). If there is no winner, eBay will get $2.20 for the basic listing, $.05 for the Buy-It-Now option and $1.00 for the reserve value, for a total of $2.35. The funny thing is that even though I disclosed the reserve price in the listing, there are already 2 bidders. This demonstrates how buyers don't understand how it works. Their bids are a waste of their time. Either they hit the reserve or they don't. I think I'll add some more text to the listing to help explain it. Most of my auctions have been no-reserve auctions, starting with a ridiculously low starting bid of $9.99. I think this generates a lot of initial interest and gets my item either on their bid list or on their watch list. If not on either one of those reminders, they may forget about the item. It stands out from the crowd. Inevitably, the item climbs to the market value. I get apprehensive sometimes. I had NO BIDS on a brand new 15" monitor until the very last day of the auction. I thought I would take a loss, but it sold for about $60. |
| No I agree with you... | igor
Dec 12, 2002 8:32 AM | | and I must not have said it very clearly. The BIN option is a great way to search/sell stuff. I'm not sure I see the point in reserve auctions either. I've sold very little on ebay, and started a reserve auction at close to what I hoped to get. I think I began my Bose auction at $100, and the reserve at $400. This way no one was bidding $1 for the first 100 bids. And I set the reserve at $400 in hopes that it would reach that. If not, then I wouldn't sell it to a lower bidder. And since I didn't have a BIN option, the buyer couldn't buy it at $400, and instead it sold for $800, much to my pleasure. In this case, I'm glad I didn't use the BIN, although I don't think it existed then.
The bottom line with reserve auctions, is that the buyer doesn't have to sell it at a lower level, than his reserve. If you do a no reserve auction, and I'm not sure about this, but you might end up selling your item for less than you really hoped for.
And it really depends on the item, obviously. Small stuff that you don't care too much about, you might as well do a no reserve auciton, or use the BIN at a very reasonable rate. Expensive stuff like a car, you might want a reserve auction, especially if you are in no hurry to sell the item. Car dealers, especially those that sell wholesale, probably don't care to dick around too much, and the BIN option is a good one for them, since they sell more in volume. |
| There's value in starting the bid low... | jeskibuff
Dec 12, 2002 9:57 AM | | ...for a couple of reasons. First, it may generate more initial interest. Someone seeing a nice item at a ridiculous price may put a frivolous bid on it. That gets the item placed on their "I'm currently bidding" on list, gets emails sent to them from eBay whenever they are outbid or to notify them that the auction is closing soon. They could possibly do a little more research on the item and find its true value. There may be other auctions for the same item going on at the same time, but you may have focused the attention of the buyer on YOUR item, and the other items are getting much less attention because they're priced "so much higher".
Second, getting lots of little bids initially may be a good thing. When an item gets over a certain number of bids, eBay puts a little "flame" icon next to the item, indicating it's "HOT". They may have stopped this though, because I couldn't find any examples when I looked just moments ago. I thought the threshold was 30 bids, but I found an auction with 36 bids and no "flame". The icon could serve to focus someone's attention on your item, making them think it is better than the exact same item that has only 2 bids on it. HEY! You're competing for market share, aren't you?
Whatever, I've found 7-day auctions follow a certain pattern. Initially there's a decent amount of interest, maybe the first 2 days since the auction was listed. Then there's a lull. The final few hours are the best, when the serious bidders get in on the action. That is why it is so important to end your auction at the best time possible. If you're looking to buy, look for auctions that end on very bad times, like 3am Saturday (of course, depending on your time zone). |
| I don't agree... | jeskibuff
Dec 11, 2002 5:17 PM | | ...with using the Buy-It-Now option to set a reserve price. It has its own purpose and that purpose should be to capitalize on some people's desires for immediate gratification. It may provide a ballpark figure what the seller's minimum is, but is most likely higher than that threshold. The reserve price was maybe just one element that kept those speakers from selling. There were other, much bigger problems with that listing. The person who had the highest bid of $290 was either very naive or felt he could ensure that he wouldn't lose his money. Maybe he lived in the same area. |
| re: Listing speakers on Ebay | piece-it pete
Dec 11, 2002 10:36 AM | | HT Buff,
Gosh just about everything's been said. I'd add this:
1. Find a friend who buys/sells on eBay & ask him to list it for you. Feedback & experience will pay for you.
2. Here in the states, Rite Aid / kodak will post your pictures online for a low fee when you develop them. I use this all the time.
3. Buy it Now isn't a bad idea, particularly if you know the value, but there are feedback restrictions.
Good Luck!
Pete |
| re: Listing speakers on Ebay | Night Wolf
Dec 11, 2002 3:53 PM | | "Purchased new for $800 2 1/2 years ago, immaculate condition, black ash finish."
well, there's your proalem. me, if I know what I am looking for, and find an item with a very bad description, such as this, I use it to my advantage, becuase most other people would overlook it, while I, which already know what it is/has.
you really gotta describe the item, tell any and everything wrong with it, include alot of pictures, have some omph behind your word, put in your guidelines about bidding/buying and sending money etc...
my ebay name is ClubComet, and I have been on ebay for about 2 or 3 years now? (wow it's been that long?) not sure, anyway, it would say in my ebay page thingy, and, for the most part, everything has been smooth and good. |
| re: Listing speakers on Ebay | HT BUFF
Dec 11, 2002 5:09 PM | | I would like to thank everyone for their input. |
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