what happens when I snipe on a reserve auction ?

shaolin13 - No. AuctionSniper will place your bid *once* (for the $50), at approximately the time you requested. eBay will determine if your bid has met the reserve amount exactly as if you placed the bid while sitting at your computer.

Many sellers will tell you what their reserve is if you ask.

Correct, BJ, and I always ask!

Here’s the mechanics of AS and reserve auctions:
http://www.auctionsniper.com/faqebay.aspx#faq_7a_lbl

With a BIN of $90, $50 might not make the reserve - just a theory. Regardless, one should always bid what they think the item is worth, not what the seller thinks it’s worth. Sellers sometime (I’m tempted to say, “many times”) have exaggerated expectations of the item’s worth.

Don’t be surprised if the seller won’t tell you the reserve price (some what reduces the psychological advantage), but it never hurts to try.

I never ask, Serenity. I just move on to other items with no reserve.

GG

GG, I know what you mean. If they don't tell me, I do move on because I don't like reserve auctions. If I know the reserve and it is below what I am willing to pay, then I might place a snipe.

Just to keep all the opinions covered, I like reserve auctions and I’ll bid on them. I’d rather bid $100 on a reserve auction than $125 on a non-reserve auction. Sellers need not always have inflated expectations.

BJ, have you ever thought how weird it is to have a reserve and then tell everyone what it is? I am not sure what the point is. Why not just start it at that # or just below it? If I have an item with a 500.00 reserve and start it at 50.00 , is it cheaper to list it that way or start it at 450.00 and no reserve? Of course if it is in the motors, it is a flat rate for the starting amount.

The reserve is just that, the minimum you'll allow the item to 'go' for. A low start will drum up interest, a high start might have the opposite effect. If people ask what the reserve is then tell them as they're obviously interested. It's all about marketing...

R2

A reserve auction is just like any other auction – the person that bids an amount more than anyone else thinks it’s worth, “wins” the auction.

What I don't like about a reserve auction is that the highest bidder may not win! To me, the reserve says pay what the seller thinks it is worth....or more!

quote:

Originally posted by Serenity:
What I don't like about a reserve auction is that the highest bidder may not win! To me, the reserve says pay what the seller thinks it is worth....or more!

“A reserve auction is just like any other auction – the person that bids an amount more than anyone else (including the seller) thinks it’s worth, “wins” the auction.”

Serenity - I agree! I would think more people would pass on a reserve auction that started at .01 than a no reserve auction that started at 30.00. But then, that's why I ask the seller what the reserve is! Most of the reserve auctions I see are where the seller is 'in the business' (see my much earlier post about 'I sell these for a living and know what they're worth'). More often than not the reserve price is retail and not an outstanding bargain unless the item isn't available to me locally.

One of the recommendations that is recommended so often on this forum is to “Bid the most you are willing to pay” (or something along those lines). Now, when someone complains that their lead-time on a snipe allowed a retaliatory snipe, then something like “But, that’s what you were willing to pay” appears as a rebuttal. That’s the same with a reserve auction. Bid the most you are willing to pay; if you get it for the most you were willing to pay, that only means you were willing to pay that most – if not, then bid less.

It may have something to do with how ebay handles the increments on reserve auctions that causes some people confusion.

Bj, yes I agree. I could not tell you how many reserve auctions I have passed on simply because they were just that. I am from the old school, I suppose, where an auctions means just that. The highest bid wins. The seller takes a chance it will be enough. The bidder trys for a bargain. On rare occasion I have bid on a reserve. But, only if the seller reveals the reserve and it is still under the auction value. It would tick me off to wait out an auction( and possibly miss out on a like product in a non reserve) only to find out at the end, the reserve was too high and it didn't sell!

Perhaps the concern of reserve auctions is that people fear they will pay too much (meaning, more than anyone else thinks it’s worth) for an item. There might be some/many that are less fearful when they win a non-reserve auction – after all, they can justify the price by telling themselves that it was “only” one increment (or less) above what someone else felt it was worth. With a reserve auction, it could be a whole lot of increments above.

That may be part of the appeal of a “private auction” (another topic we can “go to town” with) – no one will know you paid too much, except the seller, who now thinks you’re the greatest person on ebay.

As with all auctions, if you allow others to dictate the price (“herd mentality”, a.k.a. “safety in numbers”), then you haven’t valued the item by your own standards. Unfortunately, for some/many, worth can be highly impacted by others’ opinions (Google “Keeping up with the Jones” or “Fads”).

From a seller’s standpoint, a reserve auction only needs one passionate/obsessive bidder to cause a bidding war – not so with non-reserve auctions.

Another point – it’s would seem better to list an item with a minimum bid of $9.99 and a reserve of $100 than to list an item with a minimum bid of $100 (with the former, it’s easier for bidders to increment their way to the $100 because it’s done in “increments” and not one big WHAM, and that ever-present “herd mentality” has a better chance of kicking in).

quote:

Originally posted by Serenity:
It would tick me off to wait out an auction( and possibly miss out on a like product in a non reserve) only to find out at the end, the reserve was too high and it didn't sell!

My motivation for bidding on something isn’t whether “anyone” won the auction (“it didn’t sell”), but whether “I” won the auction. Waiting to find out that no one won the auction is the same as waiting to find out that I didn’t win the auction.

P.S. Missing out on a like product in another auction is just as possible in a non-reserve auction as it is in a reserve auction (if either is a possibility).

Okay, as a seller, I will rarely list an auction with a reserve. When I do, this is the reason: I have something fabulous and I want people to keep going back in and looking at it. So I will start an auction for $9.99 with a reserve of whatever it is (never would I do a reserve auction for under $300). Then instead of just looking at a $300 starting bid and moving on to something else, people keep coming back to look at the fabulous pictures. It increases the "drool factor." It works. I do not ask sellers their reserve but then again, I hardly ever bid on reserve auctions. What I wish Ebay would do is have an icon that would let us know that an auction is a reserve auction, it would save time browsing ~~ if you're not interested in them, you wouldn't have to click on them.

quote:

What I wish Ebay would do is have an icon that would let us know that an auction is a reserve auction, it would save time browsing

Good idea for the buyer, but if you are using it as a seller, it might very well cut down on your traffic.