Getting a good price on ebay

[Hover Fly]

So, you've got something that is almost as rare as hens teeth, you've described it perfectly, photographed it so well that people will use the photos as wallpaper, now all you have to do is list it so that rich USAnians and Japanese are selling their livers to buy it. Any tips? Start low so that people are interested, or high because no one bids to the last minute nowadays? Put a Buy it Now so that someone makes the first bid early? Reserve or not? Best time, early hours of Monday/Sunday evening in USA or Thursday on a ten day auction (two weekends)?
(It's a pair of pre-war Brooks cycling shoes if you must know)

 

[LordoftheTeapot]

I used to always end my auctions at around 5:00PM on Sunday. I never had a reserve price, just started the auctions at my minimum price

 

[Panter]

Sunday evening is, apparently, the best time. I time mine so that they finish about 9:10 in the evening on the assumption that the kids will be in bed and the bored parents will be flicking the pc's on.

You do need to check the TV scedule for the date when your item ends though just in case it clashes with an extended episode of whatever may appeal to your target market, beginning of the tour de France or something.

IMO, start at 99p with no buy it now. That "Buy it now" option just dissapears as soon as someone bids and some bugger will put 99p on early just to remove the buy it now so you end up paying extra for nothing. Starting at 99p gives the false impression that it'll sell for a bargain price and get you more interest (IME only)

As you have something rare, I would personally list it over at least 2 weekends, but prepare yourself for all the emails of "how much to end it now, mister?"
If your item genuinely is rare and collectable then don't bottle out, let the auction run to the very end and you'll get your best price.
Its all in the description too, spark some interest and show as much proof of originality as you can.

Also, did you know that if you load your pictures onto photobucket or similar, you can copy and pase them straight into your text ad, the same as you can when posting pictures on a forum. It means you can have loads of pictures and only pay for the one, it also gives a far better advert as the pictures are all there in a nice large size which makes your ad stand out and saves the buyer having to open up thumbnails.

Good luck and keep us posted

oh, and link to your auction from as many relevant and non-relevant forums as your cheek will allow

Good luck

EDIT: Forgot to add, I believe the majority of people get paid towards the end of the month so try to not finish an auction at the beginning. And, only go the ebay route if you have good feedback and have been a member for a little while otherwise people won't be so interested.

Having read your post again, you're obviously targeting the World wide market too so I would guess (though I've never done it) that an even longer auction may be better as you'll be covered on more fronts.