eBay sale price- never predictable

[helston90]

I have sold on a few bits on the bay in the past- and it always surprises me how much luck/ timing/ people online at the time can affect the price.

I've put broken stuff on (camera lens) which went for 50% of a brand new one and well worn clothing which I've nearly matched full price on- however I have just sold a brand new with tags Giro Air Attack helmet (RRP lots) and got £51 + p&p- someone got a bargain.

I always try to set my end time to be at high traffic times but alas I think it's all luck of the drawer.

I'll now go back on there and try to find myself a bargain to balance the universe.

 

[vickster]

I only ever do BIN with best offer

 

[swee'pea99]

I learned the hard way that despite the steep cost, it is worth putting a reserve on for anything worth anything. I sold my fixie for the reserve of £160, the week after bidding finished with reserve not met at £92. Like you say, there's a lot of chance/randomness about it.

 

[LocalLad]

I just bought a ride a long bike for my little one for £6...picking it up on the morning, but feel like I got a bargain!

I've had the same experience selling - either too much or too little. I think that's what makes it fun though

 

[biggs682]

no rhyme or reason

 

[Mo1959]

No way of proving it, but a pair of mtb shoes I won had no other bidders and I got them for £4.99 plus postage. Strangely enough she said they must have gone missing in the post and I could have a refund! I suspect she didn't want to let them go at that price.

 

[swee'pea99]

No way of proving it, but a pair of mtb shoes I won had no other bidders and I got them for £4.99 plus postage. Strangely enough she said they must have gone missing in the post and I could have a refund! I suspect she didn't want to let them go at that price.

I once won a telly at a great price but unfortunately the very next day her daughter managed to spill a cup of tea into the back and it, well, it just blew up. Just like that. Amazing.

 

[Cubist]

If you're selling, don't bother with a reserve price or a high starting price. Auctions with a high, especially over-optimistic start price attract no bidders. If your item is popular, start it for 99p. Your first bids will come in from chancers and reach a few quid pretty quickly. A 30 quid derailleur or whatever will then sit for three days with 10 bids up to half of what you might expect from it, all the time looking like a) a bargain and b) sought after. Watch the item, and if it sells for a pittance you can always spill a cup of tea on it.......

 

[helston90]

For fear of making a loss I worked out how much I it had to go to cover myself- and it managed that so I'm not completely bitter.
I was just surprised with 11 watchers that there were no bids in the last 12 hours and ended £20 lower than I expected.

I'm now struggling to get the money out of the bloke who can't sync his pre-paid credit card with his paypal blah blah blah- I keep suggesting cancelling it completely

 

[Broadside]

If you're selling, don't bother with a reserve price or a high starting price. Auctions with a high, especially over-optimistic start price attract no bidders. If your item is popular, start it for 99p. Your first bids will come in from chancers and reach a few quid pretty quickly. A 30 quid derailleur or whatever will then sit for three days with 10 bids up to half of what you might expect from it, all the time looking like a) a bargain and b) sought after. Watch the item, and if it sells for a pittance you can always spill a cup of tea on it.......

I'm the same, always do a 99p start price to draw in lots of followers, it's risky but tends to work. I recently put a nice 3 year old bike on for 99p, it attracted 120 followers and it went for over 60% of the original purchase price.

I also buy a lot of furniture by searching for stuff that failed to sell due to a high start price that scared bidders off, these sellers have softened themselves up to do a deal at a fraction of the original start price

 

[Dave 123]

When my lad was young he outgrew his first Alpkit down coat, it sold on eBay for 2 quid more than a new one.....

Yesterday we missed out on a Thorn tandem by 20 quid

 

[cyberknight]

Just bought a near as dammit new disc pannier rack for £8 + p and p as the seller had listed it as a rack for the bike they owned rather than the make which goes for £30 + new .