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A
Beginner's Guide
to the Different
eBay Auction
Types |
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A Beginner's Guide to the Different eBay Auction
Types.
Over the years, eBay has introduced all sorts of
different auction types, in an effort to give people more
options when they buy and sell their things on eBay.
For every seller who doesn't like the idea that
their item might sell for a far lower price than they intend,
there's another who wants to shift hundreds of the same item
quickly. eBay tries to cater to all tastes. This email gives
you an overview of the different kinds of auctions and their
advantages for you.
Normal Auctions.
These are the bread-and-butter of eBay, the
auctions everyone knows: buyers bid, others outbid them, they
bid again, and the winner gets the item.
Simple.
Reserve Auctions.
Reserve auctions are for sellers who don't want
their items to sell for less than a certain price - a concept
you'll know about if you're familiar with real auctions. They
work just like normal auctions on eBay, except that the buyer
will be told if their bid does not meet the reserve price you
set, and they'll need to bid again if they want the item. If
no-one is willing to meet your price, then the auction is
cancelled, and you keep the item.
Fixed Price ('Buy it Now')
Auctions.
Buy it Now auctions can work in one of two ways.
You can add a Buy it Now button to a normal auction, meaning
that buyers can choose either to bid normally or to simply pay
the asking price and avoid the whole bidding process. Some
sellers, though, now cut out the auction process altogether
and simply list all their items at fixed price. This lets you
avoid all the complications of the auction format and simply
list your items for how much you want them to sell
for.
Recently, eBay added a twist to fixed price
auctions: the 'best offer'. This means that buyers can contact
you to negotiate a price, which could be a good way to get
sell some extra stock at a small discount. The only downside
to reserve and fixed price auctions is that you pay a small
extra fee to use these formats. In general, it is more worth
using reserve auctions for higher-priced items and fixed price
auctions for lower-priced ones - but remember that you can
combine the two formats.
Multiple Item ('Dutch')
Auctions.
These are auctions where you can sell more than
one of a certain item. Dutch auctions can be done by bidding.
Buyers bid a price and say how many items they want, and then
everyone pays the lowest price that was bid by one of the
winning bidders. If you have trouble getting your head around
that, then don't worry - everyone else does too! These
auctions are very rare.
What is more common is when a seller has a lot
of one item, and lists it using a combination of two auction
types: a multiple-item fixed price auction. This just means
that you can just say how many of the item you they have, and
offer them at a fixed price per unit. Buyers can enter how
many they want and then just click Buy it Now to get
them.
Now that you know about the different types of
auctions, you should make sure that the items you plan to sell
don't violate eBay's listing policies. The next email will let
you know what's allowed and what is a big no-no.
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