Quote:
Originally Posted by Hypersion
Ship international; take advanage of the weak US dollar.
"Start your auctions at the lowest price possible. $0.99 is perfect. If the item is worth more, it will get bid up to a fair price. If it doesn't, it just wasn't as valuable as you thought or wasn't in much demand."
I disagree, you should start your auctions off that the lowest your willing to sell the item for.
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I agree about shipping worldwide. So many people seem to be afraid to do this and it is really quite easy and greatly expands your pool of potential buyers. I have sold to buyers in virtually every major country around the world over the past 10 years. Certain items that are quite common here in the US are rare and desirable in other countries.
As for starting price, you're right. I should explain my thinking there. It really depends on what you are selling. If it is an item that is in good demand, the starting price really doesn't matter. In fact, a low starting price may give your auction an advantage over folks who start the bidding higher.
For example, if you list a Wii today at $.99, I guarantee you it will get bid up to fair market value.
On the other hand, if you are selling something that isn't in great demand or of particular value, starting the bid higher is probably appropriate.
The other factor is how much you have invested in the item. If you are selling something you found at the back of the closet that you don't want or need anymore, get whatever you can for it and be happy. If, however, you bought an item specifically to resell it, then certainly you don't want to lose money and need to start the bid higher.
Just keep in mind that ebay works pretty much the same way as live auctions. I've been to hundreds of live auctions over the years. The auctioneer can be showing an item worth $5,000 and try to get the bidding started at $1,000, then $500, then $100 and nobody will jump in with that first bid until he gets down to twenty bucks. Of course, the item ultimately sells for something close to actual value (or more) but you can't start the bidding that high because nobody will bid. People want to feel like they've gotten a bargain even when they haven't actually.