ebay-do you tell your reserve

[miggy]

sorry ebay selling virgin here (although am very good at buying )
I have an item with a reserve and have had a question asking what the reserve is, do I say and if so does it automatically show as a question and answer on the item page?
Thought the reserve was meant to be hidden?

Your reserve is normally a secret until the reserve is met, and then it says next to the price that the reserve has been met.

You can answer a question without it being displayed on the listing, there are tickboxes to select if you want your answer to be just emailed to the questioner, listed on the item, and a copy emailed to you.

i dont understand reserves, even tho i have bought and sold lots. do you want to sell the item? if you are happy for it to go for the reserve then tell them and they might put a bid in. cant work out why people dont say how much they want anyway (feel free to enlighten me!)

A reserve is just a way of protecting yourself and selling the item for the minimum amount that you will accept. You dont tell people up front how much you want as if its goes higher thats better for you. If you tell people how much you want for it, it could just go for that amount and no higher.

but it could go higher than the starting price anyway. reserves always put me off bidding, i might be in the minority but i dont like people keeping secrets

I dont normally use reserves, because I normally sell kids clothes that have been outworn and am just grateful to get rid of them for however much the market dictates.

But I think reserves come into there own if you have something really valuable that you dont want to go for a silly price. You could either put it on with a starting price of the price that you would like or use the reserve. If you put a reserve price on the item and its not met you have the option of contacting the highest bidder and asking if the would like the item for the amount that they bid.

The danger of putting the starting price to high is that it will put everybody off bidding.

So I think a reserve only works well on possibly high value items.

hmmm, i see

how do the fees work with reserves? is it cheaper than putting a higher starting price?

The principle of a reserve is MO(mentum). In a rlive auction house when bidding 'gets going' it has the momentum to take the price higher: if bidding starts at a high (starting) price then fewer bidders join in and the interaction - competition never gets going.

With ebay it's not really thesame: lots of auctions happen in the last five minutes, so other constraints apply - will this bid arrive by the end time, for example.

So as a seller, if you have a real minimum price, then put that as the starting price: if you like the gamble, you can save ebay fees and have a lower starting price in the hope of exceeding your real lowest price in the bidding.

Then there atre those who sell the item for 50p and charge £8.75 p&p; that's not really allowed of course.

ebay fees (press the 'show' link against reserves) says that reserves are only allowed on items of £50 and up and it costs 2% (£1 on a £50item) which is only charged if the item doesn't sell.

I always just work with a starting price as the minimum I'll sell the thing for and avoid the complexities.

this forum might have useful selling info.

this selection has some question which are the same as yours.

Have fun.

I dont know the maths, but would guess that for something that would go for £100+ its cheaper to put a low starting price but with a reserve of whatever you want.

So for instance, if by some crazy chance I was giving a laptop as a christmas present that was say worth £500+ which I didnt want. I would put a low starting price and a reserve of £400. If the reserve wasnt met by the time the auction ended but the highest bidder bid £499, I could then contact that bidder and ask if they want the item for £499.

Is that clear, hope it helps a bit.

Sorry, confused it a bit then, I would set a reserve for £500 not £400

thanks, I wasnt sure whether to do reserve or start at higher price, thought reserve might encourage more people to look. Think I will send private reply to question.
Dont want to sell for silly price as its a pair of riding boots dh bought me from an ebay retailer last week (new) for £157, they dont fit and they wont take returns so am stuck with them and want to try and sort it before I have to tell DH!