[Milsurplus] Re: Best time to end eBay auctions ? More questions

[David Stinson]

-----Original Message-----
>From: J Forster <jfor at quik.com>
>Subject: Best time to end eBay auctions ? More questions
>

>I had planned on going with ten day auctions as it gives more exposure
>time. Is there any downside to this? 

I agree with Robert and others on ten-days.
Not a good idea for auctions; people do loose interest and
forget.  The essense of a real auction is impatence and anxiety.
Though this has been blunted by sniping, shorter auctions still
retain some of that "if I don't go for it now, I might never
get another chance."  Ten-days give too much time for thinking
of other things we for which we could use that money ;-).

>How do you think a BIN price should be set? A multiple of the opening
>bid? And where do you think the opening bid should be set?...

I should have been more clear- I advocate either and auction or
a "Buy It Now," but not both.  In my experiance, having both
puts people off.  They see a low open and a big "buy now" and
that defeats the human tendancy to "get in on the action" at
the low starting price, which then leads them to stay with it
as the price rises.  When they see a "buy now," it fixes that 
value in their minds and they can walk away.

I used to advocate opening at $1 and
setting a reserve, but I've gotten away from that.
I'll still use it if I don't have a good idea of value
and if the item is too valuable to allow my ham-handed
listings to result in it going at a loss.
After all these years, I have a pretty good idea what
I need to get for most things and just start near that
figure, which is usually lower than you might expect.
I don't buy something to offer on Ebay unless
I can get it at a good price.
Guess that makes me a "dealer," but I don't mind.
We all have to find a way to pay for our hobby;
ain't nothin' free in this life.

73 Dave S.