Is it better to list with low initial price even if you would be unhappy with it?

[cluttered]

Sorry for this naive question, I am just thinking of selling for the first time on ebay despite buying loads over the years. My question is, I want to sell a bundle of baby clothes and notice that most have a starting bid of 99p which may be something to do with the fact that it is free to list at this price?

I have seen advice to start with a low bid to get the auction going, however what if you would be unhappy if the items went for only 99p for the whole bundle? Can you withdraw them or could you bid for them yourself (eg via a friend's ebay account) to push the bidding up and/or stop them going for below their true value or is this against ebay rules? Obviously if your friend "won" them they wouldn't actually have to pay for them and you could try to sell again later.

Or should I just expect to win some lose some over time ie some things will go for more than their true value and some for way less?

Advice please!

Another different question is, if you have feedback as a buyer does this carry over in any way to being a seller so it shows you aren't a complete unknown?

Thanks!

don't whatever you do bid on your own items. It is totally against ebay rules and you will be reported. It's totally dishonest too.
Only you can decide whether you wish to take the risk of selling at 99p, but if the bidding ends at 99 then really you have to sell at that price.
feedback is feedback really, unless someone (like me) looks into it and sees how much is for selling and makes a judgement on that. Buyer feedback is in my opinion pointless as buyers can only receive pos. Just trade fairly; no shilling and no withdrawing and you will soon build up good seller feedback.

It depends on whether you want a good price or whether you want to just get rid of your items. I always start at a price I would be happy with but still low for the item, clothes and bundles usually at 99p because I just want to get rid of them and don't care how much they go for - I bought them because I wanted them for my dc so any money I get for them is a bonus.

Bidding or getting a friend to bid on your item is illegal, dishonest and I think it's stealing.

A lot of people will just look at your overall feedback percentage and if it's high enough they won't look in detail as to whether it's for buying or selling. I always check out the last few feedbacks whatever the situation and if it's lower than 100% see what it's for as it could be just the odd moaner. Under 99% and I would rarely bid.

I would suggest searching for what you're selling and looking at completed listings. If the item usually sells for a decent price you might decide to brave a 99p (I have done this for e.g. video games which then get bid up to £20). With something like baby clothes, there are so many on ebay, I would start the bidding at the minimum you would be happy to get, as you may only get one bid.

You can't bid on your own items! Nor can you get a friend to do it - someone will notice and you'll get reported.

It's a bit of a gamble listing at 99p. I just did it for something and although I was expecting around £10 the item went for £1.01 .

I generally don't start low for good things - you never know if the sun will shine, there'll be no bidders around and you'll be stuffed. Also people sometimes think (I know I do!) that a 99p start might mean the item is crap.

OK thanks for your feedback. I hope I haven't upset anyone, I definitely don't want to do anything against the rules, I was just wondering whether some people did do this because otherwise starting at 99p seems a gamble.

I have seen some really nice nearly new bundles of eg Baby Gap starting at 99p and only one bid and I know I would be disappointed with that, I have previously paid approx £5 for bundles of children's clothes (excluding postage) which are by no means new but still have a lot of wear left for everyday use, and so that is the sort of price I was hoping for, but maybe I have just been paying above the odds? The items I would be selling are VGUC, but they are baby/toddler whereas I have mainly bought older children's bits, so maybe these are rarer and command a higher price as in my experience the clothes get more wear with older children.

I rarely start anything at 99p, unless I would be happy for it to go at that price. Why don't you wait for the next free listing day and try your luck then? Put a starting price at, or just below, the minimum you would accept for it. Assuming you don't choose any listing upgrades, if you don't sell, you haven't wasted any money. Then, if necessary, you can drop your price a bit for the next time.

I start all my items at 99p, things are only worth what people are willing to pay for them.

jinglebelly - I agree that things are only worth what people are willing to pay for them, BUT starting at 99p you have to have at least 2 people bidding on the item before it can possibly reach its true worth. If only 1 person bids then they will get it for 99p, even if they put in £10 as their maximum bid!

If there is only one person bidding on it from the whole of ebay perhaps it's true worth isn't what the seller imagines it to be.
I find starting at 99p gets more people interested, so my items usually end up going for more than the same items which start higher, people love the whole bidding game and will often stick with the item they are watching even if the price goes up in the final few minutes