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North Electric

Started by Dan/Panther, November 12, 2009, 01:58:24 AM

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Dan/Panther

Just found this on ebay. Enough said.
D/P

http://tinyurl.com/yamvfpc ( dead link 08-04-21 )

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

contraste

Nice phone.

I don't like sellers on ebay who set the starting bid so low when their reserve is a high number.

foots

$200 reserve  :o  No thanks.
"Ain't Worryin' 'Bout Nothin"

bwanna

i do not understand the object of a reserve price.  why doesn't the seller just start the bidding at the minimum amount he will accept ???
donna

McHeath

Yeah that's kinda odd on starting at 10 bucks for the bidding but not taking it will it reaches 200. 

It's a very pretty phone, and has that curious dial wheel with the cutout. 

LarryInMichigan

According to my limited understanding of auctions, reserves are not supposed to be advertised.  A reserve is a protection for the seller so that he/she will not have to sell an item for less than it is worth.  The big difference between a reserve and a starting bid is that a large starting bid may scare away prospective bidders whereas a reserve, being unknown to bidders, will not.  Setting a low starting bid and, at the same time, advertising a large reserve is pointless.

I have no problems with people setting reasonable reserves for their items.  If I were to pay $20 for a phone and spend ten hours and $25 on repairs, I would not be happy selling it for a $25 bid.  I might therefore place a $100 reserve on it.


Larry


Dennis Markham

If there were also a Buy It Now price on there, perhaps just over the Reserve price then there is still hope that someone can get it under the Buy It Now price.  But I think most people in the auction setting want to think they can get it cheap.  Say it starts at 99c rather than $9.99, people will bid and theoretically begin a bidding war---a seller's dream (right Finlover?) :)

So a low starting bid, a Reserve to cover the item (left unknown) and a Buy It Now price works.  If one sees a BIN price of $200 then the Reserve is often just less than that. 

Those confident sellers of fine work will put something out there starting at $9.99 with no Reserve and KNOW it will bring what they need.  Like Finlover has done with his phones.  Starting it at $59 to probably covers his expense (minus the work) he is rarely disappointed.  A quality item seems to sell.  Mr. McMurdosilver does the same thing.  He lists his phones with no Reserve and gets hundreds of dollars when they sell.  But it's a tough pill to swallow when the item sells for less than the original purchase price, not considering labor, parts, etc.

I think sometimes people like to bid to reach the Reserve Price.  It's part of the mystery of the auction.  Reserve prices scare away some bidders.  They may figure the price is high and there is no chance of getting a bargain, moving on to the next one.

This North looks great on the outside.  It could use a little work "under the hood".  But I'm just picky.  If I were going to spend $200 on a phone I'd like the inside to be show the same quality of work that was put to the exterior.


finlover

#7
My thoughts exactly, Dennis!  I think having a reserve on an item discourages bidders (I know it does me!), and often times the reserve price is unrealistic.  As a buyer I like the Buy It Now option, but as a seller I prefer not to put an upper limit on what an item will bring.

In my experience the best tactic is to start the auction at the absolute minimum you'd be willing to accept.  The opening bid has to be low enough to get the ball rolling, but I don't have the guts to start an auction at 99 cents.  If one of my phones ends up selling for the $59 starting bid it would be disappointing, but at least I wouldn't have lost money (usually).

Dan/Panther

I garee with Fin, To open an auction at .99 on a high dollar item, something may go wrong.
If you start it at a price, say the item is worth $100.00, and you have an opening bid of at least enough to cover your initial expense, say $59.99. I think that a real collector should realize, that the opening bid is just insurance. I agree that I've always said, Ebayis a place where you can expect to get what an item is worth, and usually you can get a little more. The reason is, I don't think any collector is going to let an item go cheap, and just stand by, someone will see the bargain, even if only to speculate.
Ebay now has an option that you can type in your item, and it will tell you the average selling price for like items. Of course not Restored.
D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson

bwanna

makes sense to me to start the bidding at the lowest amount you would accept. as a buyer the notation of reserve might keep me from bidding at all. revealing the reserve price kind of defeats the purpose.
donna