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Author Topic: WTF do people set reserve prices but low opening prices??!??  (Read 2267 times)

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Offline mgericsTopic starter

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WTF do people set reserve prices but low opening prices??!??
« on: October 05, 2005, 06:42:04 PM »
Ok, another gripe. Maybe we (I) spend too much time complaining, but give me a break! Life in general can be hard enough as it is, don't MAKE things harder than they need to be! There's no reason for this!

EBayers, you know what I mean!

I don't care that you set a reserve price; none of us wants to give something away that is truly useful (at least as far as we're concerned).
 But don't set your reserve for $255.00 then set the opening bid at $0.01. That is a bleeping waste of resources, not the least of which is time. Set the damn opening price to the least that you'll take for it (you're RESERVE, get it ??!??); if the item is worth it, it'll sell. If it ain't, it won't period.

Am I way off the mark here, or just a self centered conceited idiot? (No, honey, you can't answer that last one)

I mean, I see item X. I'll willingly pay the D bucks for it that the market says it's worth. I see one for .01!! A deal! Ok, I bid 5.00 for it, rats below reserve. Since everyone wants a deal, I'll bid less than D for it in $5 increments a few times - still below reserve. Then I bid D, because I think it's worth it. 79 bids later the thing FINALLY gets above the reserve to 2.5 times what it's worth! All those bids wasted to even GET to the guys reserve price. Just set your opening price to the reserve price - if anyone's stupid enough to pay too much for the thing,is the low price of .01 really gonna make him bid differently?

Or is it an EBay sceme I'm not supposed to realize, just keep bidding a hundred times because it must be worth it if I haven't reached the reserve yet!

It just seem spiteful to list something at such low prices that you'd never sell the bleeping thing for in a million years anyway.

Comments?
 

Offline odin

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Re: WTF do people set reserve prices but low opening prices??!??
« Reply #1 on: October 05, 2005, 06:46:33 PM »
Er....right.

You answered your own question. Setting a low bid price makes it easier for more people to get cought in the bidfrenzy. Thus a higher endprice.

If you're so pissed off with the low bidprice then don't be a cheapskate trying to get an object for cheap (which you won't anyway); just use the Buy-It-Now if it's a realistic price.

Seems to me pot, kettle, black :p.

-edit-
D'oh  :oops:. I should learn to read better. On the reserveprice thing I kinda agree...

Offline X-ray

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Re: WTF do people set reserve prices but low opening prices??!??
« Reply #2 on: October 05, 2005, 06:56:19 PM »
They might be doing it to see what the general public's estimation of the item's worth is. And for that you have to have bids.
 

Offline Turambar

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Re: WTF do people set reserve prices but low opening prices??!??
« Reply #3 on: October 06, 2005, 11:04:56 AM »
Setting a high start price costs more.