A ? Re: Ebay

**PrairieRose** · 11-11-2002, 10:26 AM

Ok I *think* I get what a reserve is....it's the lowest price that the seller will take, right? Well I notice that on a lot of auctions that even though there is a reserve there are still bids lower than the reserve. Does that mean that the seller will sometimes sell at a lower price than the reserve? Someone please explain. I'm a bit simple minded.

**Sara Noel** · 11-11-2002, 10:44 AM

The reserve is the minimal amt the seller will accept. The bids are lower because the seller set the starting bid lower than the reserve. (to attract buyers) This ensures the seller gets what they want for their item and not less. (ex: like in case there is only one bidder)

Sara

**PrairieRose** · 11-11-2002, 10:55 AM

So even though on some items the reserve is say $299. he will set the beginning bids at $149. or something like that?

**Sara Noel** · 11-11-2002, 11:04 AM

yup. This way if one bidder bids at 149$ or even 2 bidders etc, he doesn't have to sell his product because it didn't meet his minimal reserved price to sell. The reserve isn't publicly known until a bidder reaches the reserve too. (then you will see it say reserve has been met)

Sara

**PrairieRose** · 11-11-2002, 12:18 PM

Ok so when you're looking at say the "ending today" auctions in the first pages, before you look at each particular item say...... when it says "price" under there ofcourse down the page, say $399. and there are 0 bids does that tell you the reserve price, without actually telling ya?

**Sara Noel** · 11-11-2002, 12:45 PM

No. As a bidder you don't know what the reserve price is at any time. (unless of course you are bidding in increments and finally it says reserve has been met)
Here's an example.
I am selling a lego. I am starting the bidding at $1.00 with a reserve of $5.00. ($5.00 being the least amount I ideally want for my lego) A bidder comes along and wants my lego. He sees the bidding starts at $1.00 with a reserve. Hmmm, he thinks the reserve might be $1.25, so he bids. Right away he sees the reserve has not yet been met. The interested bidder can then keep bidding in small increments until he reaches the "hidden" reserve price or maybe someone else will bid and meet the reserve price.
Once the reserve price has been met, the seller is happy because they know they have at least reached their ideal minimum price for their item. If the reserve price isn't met, then the seller is happy that a low bidder didn't win their item. They aren't obligated to sell their product because the reserve price protects them from having to do so. This gives the seller an opportunity to relist the item again too. They now have a safe assumption on how much it may bring in when it's relisted too, so they might relist differently without a reserve next time.

Sara

**PrairieRose** · 11-11-2002, 12:50 PM

So what does it mean on the first page (where you choose to look at items in the auction) under price, if there is no bid? I'm sooooo confused!!!!!!

**Sara Noel** · 11-11-2002, 12:51 PM

I wanted to add. Ok, if you see an item with zero bids and the price looks like this:

$5.00 and then under it
$200.00

The $200.00 indicates buy it now. Meaning you can just buy it for that amount without bidding. This is an option available if the seller decides to offer it. It is only an option for a buyer if no one else has bidded on the item. Once a bid has been made on the item, the buy it now option ceases to exist.

Sara

**PrairieRose** · 11-11-2002, 12:56 PM

I know you're about ready to brain me....sorry. So is that what I'm seeing then....? Even if it doesn't say BUY IT NOW under the "price"? I think I'm about to catch on, I told you I'm slow.

Thanks a bunch Sara.

**Sara Noel** · 11-11-2002, 01:00 PM

I'm not sure if it's what you're seeing. LOL
I am assuming you are on the main page listing of similar items and not clicked into an actual auction. You would see the buy it now image to the right of the prices.

Sara

**PrairieRose** · 11-11-2002, 01:05 PM

Yeah that's what I'm talking about.....Gee I didn't think anyone could make this THIS complicated. I think I must be short one sandwich or something....

**Sara Noel** · 11-11-2002, 01:11 PM

No, it is overwhelming until you are used to selling or bidding.
When I first went to ebay, it was nowhere near as huge as it is today.

Sara

**PrairieRose** · 11-11-2002, 02:42 PM

Thanks Sara, you made me feel better.......

**dolphin** · 11-13-2002, 12:01 AM

Thank you PraireRose for asking all of these questions and thank you Sara for answering them.

Sara, you explained everything so well.

I have not posted my first item yet and am so scared but I finally did figure out how to bid on something the other night. But I didn't know about the reserve till now.

Thanks again you two.