This might explain why I received a Hamburger Helper box with a mailing sticker.
I understand what a reserve is. I was asking about what appeared to be a reference to a special fee when using one as a seller.
A reserve price fee is a special fee. It is charged to the seller by eBay in addition to the “final value” fee. As Big Daddy indicated, the reserve price fee is the greater of $5.00 or 7.5% of the reserve price.
Rich
I still use ebay, In fact I earn ebay bucks when I purchase a locomotive in the $100 range.
Many of us will not bid on anything with a reserve.
I’m afraid I don’t totally understand. Here is a real world example: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Atlas-Ho-U23B-Milwaukee-Road-5001-DCC-n1/383847365340?hash=item595f15fadc:g:rr8AAOSwAEJfzrxH.
It is for a used Atlas U23B.
Currently there are 6 bids and the currently bid price is $44.21. Looking at the bids, the starting price was $24.99. Where did the $24.99 come from? Was that the “reserve” price?
I’ve seen some Ebay auctions where there are bids on an item along with a “reserve price not met” statement. But no information as to what the “reserve price” might be. Is that the same reserve price as the $24.99 in the above example?
On those items with a buy it now price, does anyone ever bid on them? I understand that I as an individual would not bid more than the BIN price. But suppose someone really wants the thing. Would/could they bid higher to make sure they got the item? And suppose everyone thinks the BIN price is too high. Are bids lower than BIN allowed, or does the BIN price actually serve as a reserve price?
And on the subject of shipping, the shipping cost for the example above is shown to be $12.55. Is that set by EBAY, or does the seller determine that amount?
Looking at the bidder list and looking at the automatic bids, I see that there are several cases where it appears that a bidder has an automatic bid followed directly by another automatic bid. Why/how does that happen?
From what I read above, there is a 3% fee for using paypal. I presume that the seller pays that fee. Correct or not? Is there any rule that someone is forced to use paypal? And is there any advantage to doing so?
Thanks for taking the time to explain all this.
Dick
A reserve price used to be popular among sellers, but buyers hated it. So, eBay put a big reserve price fee on such auctions. Now, the reserve price is little used.
Rich
That auction is not a reserve price auction. That $24.99 figure was the starting bid set by the seller.
On a reserve price auction, it will be indicated to bidders, but the actual reserve price is concealed from bidders.
Rich
There are generally two types of eBay listings, an auction or a Buy It Now.
It is possible to combine the two so that the listing will be an auction type with a Buy It Now price. Inevitably, the Buy It Now price will be set higher than the starting bid. If a potential buyer wants the item bad enough, he will exercise the Buy It Now option rather than risking losing the auction to a higher bidder.
Should the bidding reach the point where the high bid exceeds the Buy It Now price, the listing continues as an auction type listing and the Buy It Now price becomes null. The Buy It Now price is not a reserve price. That’s because the listing may end up as an auction with the high bid winning.
Rich
A seller can offer Free Shipping or set a fixed price for shipping. However, many buyers use the option offered by eBay to determine the shipping charge on the basis of the buyer’s zip code and the weight and dimensions of the package. eBay has an automatic feature to calculate the shipping charge in that event.
Rich
An auction type listing is based upon an “incremental bid” system. Depending upon the amount of the current high bid, the required next bid to outbid the current bid is set out in a table provided by eBay. In order to secure the current high bid, the potential buyer has to outbid the current bid by the amount of the incremental bid.
Here is another twist. A bidder can bid an amount higher than the incremental bid, but that higher amount is kept secret since only the incremental bid will be posted. That’s why those automatic bids appear while a bidder’s maximum bid is kept secret.
Rich
Sorry for so many individual posts. I thought that it would be easier to address one issue at a time.
Yes, PayPal charges a 3% fee which is paid by the seller if the seller uses PayPal to complete the transaction. Technically speaking, a seller does not have to use PayPal but it is becoming more frequent. I believe that a Buy It Now option requires the seller to use PayPal.
There are advantages to PayPal. One, the buyer’s payment to the seller is immediate. Two, PayPal insures the transaction and will intervene on behalf of the seller where controversy arises.
Rich
I am one of those.
To me a reserve is just a way of saying “I don’t really want to sell this”.
Also, and this might not be the case any longer, a seller can lower the reserve while the auction is active. Then you can become the winning bidder unexpectedly after you went and spent your hobby money elsewhere.
-Kevin
Kevin, that is your point of view as a potential bidder. But, to the seller, setting a reserve price has a different rationale.
The seller wants to sell the item, but does not wish to take a “loss” if the bidding is not very aggressive. Some sellers like to set the “starting bid” at 1 cent or $1.00, but that is fraught with risk if the bidding is not very aggressive, so the reserve price is the seller’s protection against loss, loss being defined as an amount less than the seller believes the item is worth.
What I do when listing an item auction style is to select a starting bid equal to the minium price that I am willing to accept.
Rich
I think this is a much better approach than a secret reserve price that buyers need to guess at.
I would prefer a $160.00 opening bid over a $1.00 opening bid with a secret reserve price of $160.00 that never gets reached and the item goes unsold.
-Kevin
I agree with you on both counts.
Rich
I see. It is a charge on top of the normal fee.
Thanks
Rick
So then the real difference between selecting a starting bid equal to the minimum price you are willing to accept and a reserve price is that the reserve price is a secret?
That was okay. Made it easier for me to understand.
On the issue of hidden bids, when I first looked at them it appeared that there were two sequential bids from the same bidder. However, looking at the bidder list a little closer, I guess what happened was that someone else placed a bid immediately after the first bidder’s bid, so Ebay automatically placed an incremental bid.
Thanks for taking the time to answering my questions. It all seems pretty complicated to me, but if I ever feel inclined to use ebay to sell something I can get my daughter to come over to help. That would be partial payback for the college education I paid for.
Dick
I put a number of small MR items up for Buy It Now (BIN) last week, with “Allow Offers” unchecked. Every few days a number of them show “Make Offer”. I called EBay twice about this and they said that is just what I see when viewing, suggesting that I can make an offer to someone who looked or is watching. I checked today and some more items show to the public “Make Offer” and I have to go in and uncheck the “Allow Offers” box again.
Has this happened to others? I asked if there is somewhere where I need to set preferences to stop this automatic, undesired change to my listings. They said no. I am getting frustrated, as they do not acknowledge what is occurring. I know they do not like plain BIN, as offers and/or taking bids more ensures sales, which is good for them.