|
Understanding
the Different
eBay
Auction Types |
News:
"Work From Home
-
Wholesale Product
Sourcing"
eBook Available
- click
here |
Understanding 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. There are
many people who don't like the idea that their item might sell
for a far lower price than they intend. Equally, there are
people who have hundreds of the same item and don't want to
sell them individually. This email gives you an overview of
the different kinds of auctions and how to spot
them.
Normal Auctions.
These are the bread-and-butter of eBay, the
auctions everyone knows: you bid, others outbid you, you
outbid them, 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 you will
be told if your bid has not met the reserve price set by the
seller. If no-one is willing to meet this price, then the
auction is cancelled, and the seller keeps the item.
You can spot these auctions by looking out for
'Reserve not met' or 'Reserve met' written next to the current
bid on an item's description page.
Fixed Price ('Buy it Now')
Auctions.
Buy it Now auctions can work in one of two ways.
A seller might add a Buy it Now button to a normal auction,
meaning that you 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.
Recently, eBay added a twist to fixed price auctions: the
'best offer'. This means that you can negotiate a price to
someone who offers their items using Buy it Now, which could
be a great way to get a bargain on things that don't seem to
be selling.
Fixed price auctions are easy to spot, as they
have a little 'Buy it Now' logo either next to or instead of
the current number of bids on the search listings
page.
Multiple Item ('Dutch')
Auctions.
These are auctions where a seller is selling
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 they say how many they have, and offer them at a fixed
price. You can enter how many you want and then just click Buy
it Now to get them.
After all this, you might find yourself facing a
dilemma: when you have the option, should you bid, or should
you just use Buy it Now and save yourself the hassle? That's
what the next email will be
about.
|