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Reminisce32

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 13, 2009
221
1
Selling an iPad 1 on ebay and was wondering what are some of the opinions here on:
(1) List type: auction and/or buy it now
(2) Duration: how many days to list (1,3,5, or 7)
(3) when is best time to end listing

Which of the above have you had most success with?
 
Auction vs. buy it now: your choice. Buy it now assures you that the buyer is paying your price. The potential downside is that you might not make a sale, but you can always re-list your item and adjust the price at that time. The way I see it, you're more likely to sell the item with an auction, but you run the risk that you won't get as much money for it as you were hoping. If you're new to selling or to eBay in general, note that auctions these days tend to be fairly dull up until the final few minutes. Whether they're doing it manually or using bid-sniping software, many people won't enter their true price until the very end, in an effort to prevent others from one-upping them by a dollar. On the seller's end, it can be a it nerve-wracking to see your item on its last day going for a price far below what you were hoping for, knowing that you have to keep the faith that there are bid snipers out there who will drastically raise the price before the auction ends.

Duration: the longer it's listed for, the more people will see it. For well-known and high-demand items like the iPad, though, you don't benefit from longer listings. Most people are probably looking at iPad auctions that are ending soon. There's no harm in listing for a full seven days, but I don't think you'd be harmed by going with a shorter auction, either. The one- and three-day auction time periods always make me nervous, though... if you're not in a rush for the money, go for at least five days.

Best time to end: there are probably statistics on this, but it's difficult to say. I always try for weekends, because I figure that people are more likely to be free and it gives you a bit of extra time to package things up and plan for getting it to a shipping service. Weekdays can work, as long as you avoid the working hours. Just remember to account for all time zones.
 
Auction vs. buy it now: your choice. Buy it now assures you that the buyer is paying your price. The potential downside is that you might not make a sale, but you can always re-list your item and adjust the price at that time. The way I see it, you're more likely to sell the item with an auction, but you run the risk that you won't get as much money for it as you were hoping. If you're new to selling or to eBay in general, note that auctions these days tend to be fairly dull up until the final few minutes. Whether they're doing it manually or using bid-sniping software, many people won't enter their true price until the very end, in an effort to prevent others from one-upping them by a dollar. On the seller's end, it can be a it nerve-wracking to see your item on its last day going for a price far below what you were hoping for, knowing that you have to keep the faith that there are bid snipers out there who will drastically raise the price before the auction ends.
How do you feel about an auction with a BIN price as well? As in starting the auction at $0.99 but also having a BIN price similar to what recent auctions have ended with at a price that I would be satisfied with? Any reason why I shouldn't have both?

I don't see many listings with both but the way I see it is if I list it as an auction only I can miss out on folks who would like to get it at a price that many auctions recently ended at without the bidding hassle.
 
How do you feel about an auction with a buy it now price? As in starting the auction at $0.99 but also having a BIN price similar to what recent auctions have ended at that I would be happy with? Any risk in doing this?
As a buyer, I never understood the point. Most people aren't going to eBay because they need something quickly, they're going because they're trying to get a deal. Unless the BIN price is really phenomenal, it seems obvious that people will go for the auction option.

As a seller, I really can't say. I've never used BIN, only pure auctions. If you do both options, the risk is the same as with auctions: that you'll get less than what you were hoping for.

You don't have to start your auction at $0.99. You can start it at what ever you like. If you're hoping to get $300, go ahead and start it at $200 or even $250. You won't get as much attention as if it were at $0.99, but it might make you feel better.

As I said before, the iPad is a known thing at this point. It's a hot item, it's in high demand. Make sure your photos of the item look sharp (none of those crappy blurry photos in poor lighting and amidst a desk full of other junk), and take care of your grammar and spelling when you write the item description. That's the type of thing that will really make the difference in whether your item ends up slightly above or slightly below the average that iPads are selling for at this point in time.
 
As a buyer, I never understood the point. Most people aren't going to eBay because they need something quickly, they're going because they're trying to get a deal. Unless the BIN price is really phenomenal, it seems obvious that people will go for the auction option.

I would have to disagree. Most items I've purchased are through BIN. There are plenty of sellers selling at the going price. I would rather purchase one of these knowing I'd get it sooner and at a reasonable price instead of waiting days only to be outbid by a few pounds and having to start all over again. Also there's too many time wasters on eBay these days, bidding and pushing prices up with no intention to buy.Most auctions for iPads tend to go for near the BIN price anyway or more if there is a bidding frenzy.

Personally for an iPad and if I wanted a quick sale I'd put a BIN price slightly higher then the average selling price and allow option for buyers to submit offers and accept as close to my asking price as I'm comfortable with. If you've priced it well, it will sell quickly. If I didn't mind waiting I'd just leave it as an auction starting at 0.99 and wait it out.

No point putting BIN and an auction at the same time because as soon as someone places a bid your BIN option will disappear unless you put a reserve but you have to pay more in fees. Don't forget your eBay selling fees and Paypal fees, they are high!

Hope that helps.
 
you could always do a BIN and have the best offer option available. I sell on eBay all the time and when you do an auction or even best offer many times I have had buyers not pay or they take a week or more to pay. Nothing but wasting my time. I always use BIN with immediate payment that way the person has to pay to purchase the item, not just click buy now and pay whenever they want. I wouldn't recommend doing an auction especially if you are new to eBay. Most items sell for so much less than what you hope it will sell for. Plus there are buyer's out there that prey on newbies and will buy to even resell on eBay again. Hope this helps....

Also, I want my items sold as quickly as possible. When you do an auction if you do it for 7 days for example...if the person takes 4 days to pay you, it will have been 11 days since you started your auction. For me, I'd rather sell an item quickly than wait a week or 2 to pull out a few more dollars. I do things a little differently...but i've been selling for a few years. I list the item at kind of my "dream" price that would be awesome if I got, but i know is too high. I take really good closeup photos of the item and it does attract a lot of watchers. Depending on how quickly i want the item gone, i will lower the price once i see there are quite a few watchers. The watchers see it go lower and will quickly buy it. Sometimes, I've actually had people buy at that high price I first list it for which is awesome...but it doesn't always happen.
 
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I have had great success using the Buy it Now option.

I do a 3 day listing, starting sometime Friday.

Seach the sold listings to see what your exact model is selling for.
As long as your price is competitive it should sell quick.


My ipad 3 sold in less than 20 minutes.

I just don't have the patience for the auctions.
 
Do a Buy it Now 3 day listing. Buy it now is good because you can require immediate payment and don't have to worry about buyers not paying. You can adjust the price through the listing duration if you have to. I sell almost everything buy it now on eBay these days so as to avoid having to worry about non paying buyers and get the amount of money that's acceptable to me for my items.
 
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