Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Ebay - buy it now or auction

38 replies

CadleCap · 01/01/2012 11:40

I have put a few things up for auction but I have been contacted by several buyers asking for a buy-it-now price. Most of my enjoyment of bay comes from the last few minutes of auctions and wathing the bids. I certainly don't enjoy the 10% they now take.

So AIBU in thinking that ebay is no longer an auction site but has changed into one big shop with stuff that is available now.

OP posts:

molepomandmistletoe · 01/01/2012 11:42

YANBU.

Ebay is nowhere as much fun as it was. Buy It now prices and Snipers have spoilt it. I dont get many bargins from there anymore and Amazon are usually cheaper.

You are right, it' is more of a shop now than an auction.

squeakytoy · 01/01/2012 11:48

A lot of people try their luck asking for a BIN price. Usually that means the item will go for a fair bit more than they are offering.

To give you an example, I listed something a couple of weeks ago, and almost straight away someone asked for a BIN, and as there were a few watchers on the item quite quickly, I declined. They offered me £50 and the item sold for £175 in the end.

I list some things as auctions, and some things as BINs (when I have checked what the average going rate for them is).

The fees are just something that have to be paid... it is the fact that ebay take their cut and then paypal takes it's cut too which annoys me, as they are the same bloody company.

FabbyChic · 01/01/2012 11:58

If you had something listed I wanted Id ask if you had a buy it now price.

Whats the problem. Get a grip, you only have to say no.

FabbyChic · 01/01/2012 11:58

And no the answer is not that it will go for more, Im always willing to pay a lot its just that I want the item and I want it now.

Original poster

CadleCap · 01/01/2012 12:08

Fabby. I did say no. Hence my AIBU - is it now more of a shop that an auction site. Can people no longer wait?

Squeaky I have been offered £30 for an item which has a starting value of £25 and has 31 watchers. A definite no to that one.

OP posts:

lljkk · 01/01/2012 12:12

When I get asked for BIN prices I usually name some absurdly high number (5-10% above what I could hope to get on auction). Never does the BIN-asker say "Oh fine, I'm willing to pay a lot, I just wanted it soon". Never. BIN-askers are definitely after bargains ime.

BIN auction is good for sellers if you have an item that sells rarely but you can hope to get more than 99p for it if advertised long enough.

olgaga · 01/01/2012 12:40

Just say no - I don't see a problem with people wanting things quickly! I've done this when DD needed something brown to wear for an assembly, to be dressed as a stick (yes, that's right, a stick!).

Sometimes I've contacted buyers to say I hope they will relist an unsold item if I've missed the end of the auction, and they have offered a BIN price which I've accepted - they then relist it as BIN and I buy it. Sometimes I will only look at BIN if I need things in a hurry.

I also sell and people do enquire about a BIN price, but usually I'm chuffed that anyone is interested! I'm always friendly and polite, and say if it doesn't sell I'll consider their offer, and sometimes they've bid anyway.

If it really bugs you I've noticed lots of sellers now say "Please do not ask me for a BIN price" in their listing. You might try that.

SiamoNellaMerda · 01/01/2012 12:41

Fabby you are being very aggressive and rude. Again.

SiamoNellaMerda · 01/01/2012 12:42

And squeakytoy is absolutely right - 99.9% of the time a buyer asking for a BIN on an auction item is because they know it will go for more than they'd like to pay and hope that the seller is too dumb to know this.

FabbyChic · 01/01/2012 12:43

Ive just been browsing eBay and if I see something with no bids and I want it I email the seller. However my offers are not as extreme as the OPs was offering £30 on an item that is up for £25 is really an insult.

LovingChristmas · 01/01/2012 12:50

I have to say it depends what I'm looking for, my FIL broke my MIL's green teapot with a gold rim, (i'm sure you know the type) she was gutted and none of the local shops stocked them, I popped onto ebay and a seller had one, with a jug and sugar pot etc starting at 99p, with no bids, I offered £5 as a BIN and it was accepted. My MIL was grateful as it meant she didn't have to wait long for it.

olgaga · 01/01/2012 12:52

Well I'm not sure why it's such a problem - of course lots of people are searching for bargains. Other than the convenience of being able to find stuff without flogging around the shops, that's the main reason for shopping on ebay!

Yes some of them are hopeful that the seller is a mug, but why take it personally?

SiamoNellaMerda · 01/01/2012 12:52

LovingChristmas - that's entirely reasonable in those circumstances. I was more meaning the Ebayers who know that you've got something worth more than maybe you know and try to slip in a sneaky BIN request when if the auction was left to run you'd make much more on the item!

Original poster

CadleCap · 01/01/2012 13:15

I don't think it is a problem, I don't need to get a grip, I have no issue saying no.

I am just intrigued as it has been a while since I have sold on ebay and I've never been contacted about a BIN on previous auctions. Yet I have been contacted on 6 separate occasions about 3 items I have for sale at the moment.

It now seems to be the norm rather than waiting for the auction to run its course. IMO it seems to have become a shop rather than an auction site.

OP posts:

gamerwidow · 01/01/2012 13:21

YABabitU no one has to take the BIN price and a lot of auctions do still run in full. Of the last 10 items I've bought on eBay its about 50/50 as to whether or not they were for auction.
I think its fair to say that ebay is moving more to BIN but theres plenty of auctions still available. There are all sorts of tactics people use to win auctions and offering a BIN is just one more trick for people to try if they want.

imogengladheart · 01/01/2012 13:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

lollygag · 01/01/2012 13:39

eBay died quite a while ago as a site you could get a bargain on.All it is now is a site with LOTS of stuff.It's the place you go if you want to find a gearstick for a 1992 fiesta or a rare Rick Astley picturedisc.But forget about using it to get a bargain.

SiamoNellaMerda · 01/01/2012 13:40

is there a method people use for this or am I just unlucky?

Bid late, bid once, bid your max. That's really all there is to it. Going up in 50p increments only benefits the seller. You know what your maximum is so bid to that and if you don't get it you couldn't afford it. There will always be another one of whatever it is on Ebay.

Tanith · 01/01/2012 13:42

I think people have just got more canny on how EBay can work in their favour.

I don't agree that snipers have ruined it. If anything, I think they have improved things. They mostly work on second hand items which ought to be sold for less than the new price. In the past, I have seen such items going for more than the brand new price and, while I'm sure sellers are delighted to see their old items sold for more than they originally paid for them, it's hardly surprising that bidders will try and get an item for less.

What I think has tarnished eBay is the con-artists and the ease at which they can operate. But that's probably another thread :)

I do agree that it's not really an auction site any more so YANBU in my humble opinion.

lollygag · 01/01/2012 13:50

Hey,Tanith,where did you get your name? I've always loved that name since I read Dennis Wheatly's The Devil Rides Out.I wanted to call my DD Tanith but was overruled.

Tanith · 01/01/2012 13:58

Is exactly where I got the name

I wanted to use it for DD, too, and DH said over his dead body - maybe not the best thing to say in the circs.

Jennie Lindon, a well-known child development writer, used it for her daughter.

(sorry for hijack, Op!)

lollygag · 01/01/2012 14:02

There's a Tanith Lee who's an author but haven't heard of many more.

(Sorry for hijack,also)

Acandlelitshadow · 01/01/2012 14:06

I won't do a BIN on a running auction now having had my fingers burned by an arse who asked for one and then didn't use it .

I love my sniper though. It avoids bidding wars and means I don't have to sit over an auction only to lose it in the dying seconds

Birdsgottafly · 01/01/2012 14:12

I have always sold at a higher price than a BIN that i have been offered. I can understand it thoug,h if it is something that the buyer needs in a hurry and there aren't many available.

Ebay is great for getting anything that you want and not everything is available on Amazon, also i have had card fraud tried, after buying off Amazon so i like the paypal system.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 01/01/2012 14:12

OP... You're not being unreasonable. I've asked for BIN prices before and agreed to pay the price the seller said. That's the price I'll pay and I'm happy with it. If you're asked for a BIN price, add whatever you want to it. Despite what fabby says, there are some buyers who really will pay it if they want it.

Flip

1 2