I had one odd experience where the seller was unwilling to accept any offer less than his BIN price. Never figured out why he used the Best Offer feature and I don't think he did either!
I had one odd experience where the seller was unwilling to accept any offer less than his BIN price. Never figured out why he used the Best Offer feature and I don't think he did either!
My favourite are the sellers who state "No Reserve!" with a starting bid of $1500.
They crack me up.
I got my 210mm f/6.1 Caltar Pro (same as a Xenar) on a Best Offer auction by a brick and mortar photo dealer. I made a lower than I thought would work offer, and it was accepted.
Got the lens. It had a dent in the filter ring. I contacted the seller, who sent a UPS call tag to return it and repair it. They must have used a hammer on it instead of one of those gizmos that straighten out the dent, and I complained when they returned it. They offered me a big discount, so I tested it and it shoot fine. I slapped a step up ring to 52mm on it, and got it for a very low price. It is one of my favorite lenses.
After all the shipping back and forth, the labor (? more like brute force) to fix it, and the time having to respond to me, I am not sure that they made very much on the lens.
I think it's cheaper to do a no-reserve auction, that is why people did that with a high starting bid.
As a buyer, I use best offer when it's available and it's an item I am certain I want.
Often the seller has several of the same item and I want several, but don't want to do the BIY price, so I do a best offer on one to find what they accept for a price, then after paying (and establishing myself as a legit buyer) offer to buy more at a similar price and see if they can find some additional savings in shipping the remainder of their stock. I've done it with auctions too, but it takes longer, and if you get a better deal on the auction than they were hoping for, they generally want more $ (similar to a best offer arrangement) for the remainder of their stock.
Reserves scare away buyers. Many people won't bid if a reserve is in place.
I see nothing wrong with starting the bidding at whatever is reasonable. At least everyone knows the lowest price. Plus, some items might only get a few bids. As a seller, you really don't want to sell that $1500 lens for $2.57.
A low starting price with a reserve seems to work better for me as a seller than a high starting price. Some activity with folks nibbling until they hit the reserve is likely to happen if the item is at all interesting, and it moves the item up on every aggregator's radar.
Worst of all is a high starting price with a hidden reserve. In that case, a single bidder might snipe at a price that actually hit your reserve, but with no one to bid against him/her, it won't be bumped up beyond the starting price.
I don't ever use a reserve either. And, I'm not convinced that Buy it Now works all that well either (as a seller).
As a buyer it works fairly good for me IF the price is either on the low side or about the same as the "typical" auction price. Sometimes I haven't the patience to wait or try several auctions in the hopes of a bargain. I have noticed that even some well-priced BINs listing tend to be on the books for a long time.Originally Posted by Jeff Bannow
Yeah, BIN listings tend to sit for a while, unless they are super cheap.
It's like anything else...make an offer you're willing to pay, and either you get it or you don't. I've gotten some pretty good deals with make an offer, and been rejected plenty more. Never sold anything that way though...I pretty much only sell with BIN--lower fees than auction sales, and I pretty much always know the value of what I'm selling. If it's something unique enough I can't find a market value, I just make up a price I'd feel good selling it at.
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