4 Things You Never Knew About Ebay Auctions

Posted by Nick Niesen on November 1st, 2010

This article is for every seller who hates the idea of their item selling for a lower price than they intend. Not everyone fully understands the many features on eBay. Here are the four different types of auctions you can use to sell your items.

1) Normal Auctions

These are by far the most popular on eBay. Almost everyone who has sold on eBay recognizes this format. You post an item, set up a bid for it, and wait for the customers to come to you.

2) Reserve Auctions

Reserve auctions are for sellers who do not want their items to sell for less than a certain price. They work just like normal auctions on eBay, except that the buyer will be told if their bid does not meet the reserve price previously set. If no one is willing to meet your price, then the auction is canceled, and you keep the item without any further charge.

3) Fixed Price Auctions

These auctions are only used when you want to sell an item for one fixed price only. You just simply add a Buy it now button to a normal auction. This shows that buyers can choose either to bid normally or to simply pay the asking price and avoid the whole bidding process. Some sellers just cut out the auction process altogether and simply list all their items at fixed price. This lets you avoid all the complications of the auction format and simply list your items for how much you want them to sell for.

Keep in mind that sometimes this will turn many buyers away. They will feel discouraged due to the fact that they cannot bid lower than the fixed price. In many instances the fixed price are much higher than they can afford.

Just recently eBay added a twist to fixed price auctions known as the best offer. This means that buyers can contact you in order to negotiate a price. The only downside to reserve and fixed price auctions is that you pay an extra small fee to use these formats.

4) Dutch Auctions

These are auctions where you can sell more than one of a certain item. Dutch auctions can be done by bidding. Potential buyers bid a price and say how many items they want. Afterwards, everyone pays the lowest price that was bid by one of the winning bidders. These auctions happen to be very rare due to the complications involved.

The more common issue is when a seller has a lot of one item and lists them using a combination of two auction types. These include Dutch and fixed price auction formats combines. You can just say how many of the items you have, and offer them at a fixed price per unit. Buyers can enter how many they want and click buy it now button to get them.

The eBay auction site has been a highly successful website in comparison to others. Just remember to pick the most appropriate auction format for your items.

Copyright 2007 Donald Mckenzie Jr