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New to ebay question, didn't know where else to ask.

wangchunggti337

wangchunggti337

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 14, 2007
208
0
If you sell an item on ebay are you able to not sell it if you don't get the price you're looking for? Or is that only with a reserve price?

Also, can you take the auction off after it has started?

Can you extend the number of days the auction lasts?

I am new to ebay and don't know much about selling. Wanted to check before I go selling anything.

Thanks!
 
Only sold a couple of things on there myself and that was a while ago so I'm not the best person to answer your questions.

From what I remember the help section of eBay is pretty good though and I'm sure you'll find the answers to your questions there, unless anyone here can help you.
 
a) Yes, that's only with the reserve price
b) You can remove the auction as long as no-one has bidded already I believe
c) I should think so, but perhaps for a price.

Hope that helps. :)
 
on the home page of ebay.com click on "Live Help" and you'll have a live chat with an ebay correspondent that will answer any of your questions.
 
Squonk said:
I didn't know that. This sounds like one way to avoid a relisting fee. Is that right?
Click to expand...

it's basically if you list it for 3 days and decide with 1 day left you want to list it longer and no one has bid....you can then list it as a 10 day auction. That doesn't mean it will be up another 10 days....it subtracts however many days the auction has already been running. Also works the other way around. If you initially list it as 10 day auction and decide that's too long you can just edit it to 3 days or whatever period you like.
 
wangchunggti337 said:
If you sell an item on ebay are you able to not sell it if you don't get the price you're looking for? Or is that only with a reserve price?

Also, can you take the auction off after it has started?

Can you extend the number of days the auction lasts?

I am new to ebay and don't know much about selling. Wanted to check before I go selling anything.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
you can also start your auction at the price you want. You can just put the starting bid at say like $800 if that's what you want and if one person bids then you got it. I think reserve auctions are a total hosejob bc they charge you like $20 to list it with a reserve when you can list it as a starting bid or a buy it now for what you want for it. Buy it now seems to work pretty good, or even a best offer too.
 
rmhop81 said:
I think reserve auctions are a total hosejob bc they charge you like $20 to list it with a reserve when you can list it as a starting bid or a buy it now for what you want for it.
Click to expand...

:confused:

Reserve fees are only charged if you item does NOT sell - 1% in fact. If it does sell, there is no difference in cost whatsoever. Its all based on starting price (with or without reserve) as explained on the eBay.com Fees page
 
rmhop81 said:
it's basically if you list it for 3 days and decide with 1 day left you want to list it longer and no one has bid....you can then list it as a 10 day auction. That doesn't mean it will be up another 10 days....it subtracts however many days the auction has already been running. Also works the other way around. If you initially list it as 10 day auction and decide that's too long you can just edit it to 3 days or whatever period you like.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the explanation! Good to know! :)
 
I like to list items at a fairly low price, then there is a lot of bidding to get up to the market price. Selling and buying on Ebay is actually quite fun.

-T
 
kingjr3 said:
:confused:

Reserve fees are only charged if you item does NOT sell - 1% in fact. If it does sell, there is no difference in cost whatsoever. Its all based on starting price (with or without reserve) as explained on the eBay.com Fees page
Click to expand...

I understand that. But say you want $800 for a laptop and you set the reserve at that and bidding only goes up to $700, well you just paid them around $15 to list your laptop and you have to pay to relist it again. If you start your bidding at $800 or do a buy it now you pay less of an insertion fee and if it doesn't sell you aren't out all that reserve money. Hence why I said reserves are a hosejob, unless it does sell. But what a lot of newbies to ebay don't know is....they are still charged all those fees eventhough it didn't sell. So that laptop you want $800 for now becomes a laptop you need to get $815 for.
 
rmhop81 said:
I understand that. But say you want $800 for a laptop and you set the reserve at that and bidding only goes up to $700, well you just paid them around $15 to list your laptop and you have to pay to relist it again. If you start your bidding at $800 or do a buy it now you pay less of an insertion fee and if it doesn't sell you aren't out all that reserve money. Hence why I said reserves are a hosejob, unless it does sell. But what a lot of newbies to ebay don't know is....they are still charged all those fees eventhough it didn't sell. So that laptop you want $800 for now becomes a laptop you need to get $815 for.
Click to expand...

If it doesn't sell, you pay $8 (1%) in reserve fees - not $15. Even including the original listing fees doesn't come to $15...While you are charged the reserve fees if it doesn't sell, you don't have to pay to relist it if it sells on the second attempt.

Starting your bidding at $800 will cost you $4.80, starting bidding at $.99 will cost you 25 cents saving $4.55 and has the added benefit of getting multiple bids which attacts attention to your auction.

I'm all with Trogloxene - an item is only worth what someone pays for it...Start it with a very low starting price and NO RESERVE and let the market decide what your item is worth. Thats the whole point of an auction, right?

OP, I would suggest you start here instead of relying on us for information.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/newtoebay/index.html

Better yet, sell on your local Craigslist.
 
kingjr3 said:
If it doesn't sell, you pay $8 (1%) in reserve fees - not $15. Even including the original listing fees doesn't come to $15...While you are charged the reserve fees if it doesn't sell, you don't have to pay to relist it if it sells on the second attempt.

Starting your bidding at $800 will cost you $4.80, starting bidding at $.99 will cost you 25 cents saving $4.55 and has the added benefit of getting multiple bids which attacts attention to your auction.

I'm all with Trogloxene - an item is only worth what someone pays for it...Start it with a very low starting price and NO RESERVE and let the market decide what your item is worth. Thats the whole point of an auction, right?

OP, I would suggest you start here instead of relying on us for information.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/newtoebay/index.html

Better yet, sell on your local Craigslist.
Click to expand...

For a newbie to ebay I wouldn't suggest a 99 cent auction with no reserve. Now it's a different story if you're a powerseller or have a lot of feedback.
 
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