Need input on Ebay

[Chiefy]

I intend to list my trike on Ebay most likely tonight.  Trying to decide what format.  Wondering which works best for sellers, and which buyers prefer.  I could list a straight auction, starting at the lowest price I'm willing to take.  I could start low, with a reserve, or list a set price with best offer.

Seems to me that buyers don't like reserves, and they don't like to start high (at my lowest acceptable price) so I'm thinking listing higher then I need, and let buyers make offers.  What do you think?

[KY,Dave (AKA Misunderstood)]

I hate reserves and think the other 2 options you mentioned are better. Setting a fixed auction starting at your price will not get as much attention as going higher then you want with a buyitnow and best offer feature. I would recommend the later. Wish you the best with the sale. 

[R J]

My son sells and buys a lot of stuff on eBay and has had very good results.

When he sold his son's Lincoln, he wanted $3,200 for it.      He started the bidding at $2,800 with no reserve.    It went to Washington state, and it brought $3,950.

The new owner flew in, we picked him up at the bird port. 

[Chiefy]

Motorcycle season is winding down in many parts of the US.  Ebay takes a pretty big commission.  Have you considered advertising in Florida first?

Good point, it's on cycletrader as of an hour ago.  Big commission (on ebay,) yes.  But the listing is free, and if I get what I want, no problem on the fee.

[DarkMeister]

I've bought and sold several bikes on eBay. When selling, I found the "Make Offer" approach the best. You can counter, negotiate, etc.
Be prepared for stupid offers, too, ones that make the blood boil. I never know if they are the "Heck, worth a shot!" types, or cruising kids playing games. What I did with those was to let'em sit 'till the offer expires (48 hours?) to stop them from bidding elsewhere. 

[Chiefy]

I've bought and sold several bikes on eBay. When selling, I found the "Make Offer" approach the best. You can counter, negotiate, etc.
Be prepared for stupid offers, too, ones that make the blood boil. I never know if they are the "Heck, worth a shot!" types, or cruising kids playing games. What I did with those was to let'em sit 'till the offer expires (48 hours?) to stop them from bidding elsewhere. 

LOL I really don't care about the stupid offers.  But will follow your tactic if that happens.

[PAVALKER]

Motorcycle season is winding down in many parts of the US.  Ebay takes a pretty big commission.  Have you considered advertising in Florida first?

Good point, it's on cycletrader as of an hour ago.  Big commission (on ebay,) yes.  But the listing is free, and if I get what I want, no problem on the fee.

You can post it for free on CL in a few different areas as well....   would try those FREE methods first before I went to Evil Bay.

[Rocketman]

You can post it for free on CL in a few different areas as well....   would try those FREE methods first before I went to Evil Bay.

That depends.  When I had some football tickets for sale, I posted them in both the town the game was in, and the hometown of the visiting team.  Somehow, it got flagged as "cross-posting", both were removed, and I couldn't post anything similar from my IP address again in either place.

[Rocketman]

But, for what it's worth, I ignore reserve auctions.  If you're posting a low price just to get me to look at it, but won't honor my bid until it goes above some mysterious unknown number, you don't deserve my business.

I say set it for your minimum, and let her ride.

[highcountry]

I have had good luck on CL selling three bikes in the last two years.  One was bought a Canadian chap and another by an airman returning from the sandbox who lived a couple of states over.  I would guess trikes are a much harder sell than bikes and might need multi-state or national coverage.  Things like Cycle Trader might work well as you will hopefully find out without the high ebay fees. Put it on CL too.

[ricoman]

But, for what it's worth, I ignore reserve auctions.  If you're posting a low price just to get me to look at it, but won't honor my bid until it goes above some mysterious unknown number, you don't deserve my business.

I say set it for your minimum, and let her ride.

+1, very good point
When the ad shows a starting bid that does not even meet reserve-I look no further, figure the seller has unrealistic hopes.
Setting a Reserve or Buy It Now carry higher fees.
Set the starting bid at your absolute (and realistic) rock bottom and go from there.

[BigBod]

As a buyer I like the option to make an offer, I like to haggle for everything..sometimes offer to do a deal outside of ebay so no commission payable. Just bought a pair of Valk leather panniers and contacted the guy and as he was close enough for me to collect, we cut out ebay, I got a good deal and he got cash in his hand...luvverly jubbly.

[Tundra]

Did you try riding it to your local bike night and hanging a sign on it?
Craig's List is free and works well too?

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Not the greatest time to sale a motorcycle / trike with winter knocking on the door. My suggestion would be use CL and run it in several major cities near you ( it's free ) ....If that fails go with flea-bay in Feb. / March when the income tax checks start hittin' the mailbox.Is it a secret how much you want for it ? Gotta picture you can post ?  Is it worth what you want for it ?

[Chiefy]

But, for what it's worth, I ignore reserve auctions.  If you're posting a low price just to get me to look at it, but won't honor my bid until it goes above some mysterious unknown number, you don't deserve my business.

I say set it for your minimum, and let her ride.

+1, very good point
When the ad shows a starting bid that does not even meet reserve-I look no further, figure the seller has unrealistic hopes.
Setting a Reserve or Buy It Now carry higher fees.
Set the starting bid at your absolute (and realistic) rock bottom and go from there.

I never did/still don't understand most folks strong feelings about reserve auctions.  But, it is what it is.  I ended up listing on CL and Ebay.  Same price, and on ebay I listed it as best offer.  Seems like that's what most buyers like, similar to an ad in the paper.  Over the years I never had any luck starting auctions at my minimum, and have been burned starting them lower hoping to start a bidding frenzy.

[bigfish_Oh]

see if you can get an ebay free classified first, no fees, but only 250 mile radius.

[designer]

Ebay has done allot of research on buyer habits.  The auctions that seem to do the best are the ones that start at .01 and work up with no reserve.  The psychology behind this is there becomes bidder ownership even before the bidding has ended and bidding wars and snipping takes over.  The problem with this is obvious; you might not get what you want for the item.  Next comes with the above mentioned with a reserve... stating the reserve in the body of the selling document so the bidder knows what the light at the end of the tunnel looks like.  I like using everything, including a buy it now price and a make offer.  Nevertheless, there is no sure way to get what you are asking for on Ebay.  But you can cancel the auction before it ends... but most of the serious bidding take place in the last minute.

[Bama Red]

Chiefy, I am seriously considering a trike. Can you PM/e-mail me info on yours? Might be we could do each other some good.

[Hoser]

How about a post in the classifieds here?  Add some pics, we'll take a look at it.     Hoser

[Chiefy]

How about a post in the classifieds here?  Add some pics, we'll take a look at it.     Hoser

It's been posted here for 2 weeks   2nd page in the classifieds.

It's a VTX.

[Hoser]

I'll take a look, was expecting a Valk.  My bad.    Hoser

[Chiefy]

I'll take a look, was expecting a Valk.  My bad.    Hoser

If you mention it to someone and they buy it, I'll send you a bird-dog fee......

[gordorad]

Another great thing about ebay is the sellers who advertise "no reserve" but have the starting bid way high......It is a reserve of that amount.  Having an opening bid say at 7000.00 (probably the lowest amount they will take)  is really stupid.  It is a reserve of types.

Then you will find folks who have a high opening bid with a reserve.  Why they bother with that is crazy too.  Might as well be .99 opening if a reserve is high.  I've often bid on Rune's that have a high opening bid with a reserve.  Just for fun.   They rarely sell, and most never hit the reserve.   Now some sellers will lower their reserve in the middle of an auction.  But ebay will also lower the top bid to 1 dollar under the "new" reserve so a buyer will never be "forced" into hitting a reserve.

List buy it now with accepting offers.  You can also automatically decline low offers, and automatically accept offers.

Craigslist is great as well.  Nothing to lose there......And if you are lucky, you might be contacted by a Prince or some other type of dignitary that needs your help

[Rocketman]

I never did/still don't understand most folks strong feelings about reserve auctions.  But, it is what it is.  I ended up listing on CL and Ebay.  Same price, and on ebay I listed it as best offer.  Seems like that's what most buyers like, similar to an ad in the paper.  Over the years I never had any luck starting auctions at my minimum, and have been burned starting them lower hoping to start a bidding frenzy.

It just makes me feel like they are wasting my time, and it feels like a bait and switch.  I search for auctions under a certain amount, but it's not under that amount.  If I search for all items under $100, it means I don't want to spend more than $100.  If your listing is for $99, but a reserve of $150, I have to filter through the high reserve auctions to find ones I am really interested in.  yes, I could eliminate all reserves, but then anything with a reserve of 75 gets filtered out too.
I dislike the implication that even though I've made a decision to not spend over $100, if I just see that auction, I'll be swayed into spending more.

I understand that auction prices rise, that's their nature.  I can put in my bid for my limit, and hope I get it.  But, if I don't even have a CHANCE of getting it for under my limit, I don't want to waste my time.