A Beginners Guide to the Different eBay Auction Types
How often do you find yourself saying: "I wish I knew how to
learn more about eBay auction types"
Well, we were listening! And this article is the result.
Enjoy.
Over the years, eBay has introduced all sorts of different
auction types, in an effort to give people more options when
they buy and sell their things on eBay. For every seller who
doesn't like the idea that their item might sell for a far lower
price than they intend, theres another who wants to shift
hundreds of the same item quickly. eBay tries to cater to all
tastes. This article gives you an overview of the different
kinds of auctions and their advantages for you.
Before we go on, a quick reminder... You'll discover some
interesting stuff on this website listing informative,
educational and entertaining resources, along with other
material to help you. Please take a look at them when you've
finished reading this article.
Normal Auctions.
These are the bread-and-butter of eBay, the auctions everyone
knows: buyers bid, others outbid them, they bid again, and the
winner gets the item. Simple. Reserve Auctions. Reserve auctions
are for sellers who dont want their items to sell for less than
a certain price a concept you'll know about if you're familiar
with real auctions. They work just like normal auctions on eBay,
except that the buyer will be told if their bid does not meet
the reserve price you set, and they'll need to bid again if they
want the item. If no-one is willing to meet your price, then the
auction is cancelled, and you keep the item.
Fixed Price (Buy it Now) Auctions.
Buy it Now auctions can work in one of two ways. You can add a
Buy it Now button to a normal auction, meaning that buyers can
choose either to bid normally or to simply pay the asking price
and avoid the whole bidding process. Some sellers, though, now
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.
Recently, eBay added a twist to fixed price auctions: the best
offer. This means that buyers can contact you to negotiate a
price, which could be a good way to get sell some extra stock at
a small discount. The only downside to reserve and fixed price
auctions is that you pay a small extra fee to use these formats.
In general, it is more worth using reserve auctions for
higher-priced items and fixed price auctions for lower-priced
ones but remember that you can combine the two formats.
Multiple Item (Dutch) Auctions. These are auctions where
you can sell more than one of a certain item. Dutch auctions can
be done by bidding. Buyers bid a price and say how many items
they want, and then everyone pays the lowest price that was bid
by one of the winning bidders.
If you have trouble getting your head around that, then dont
worry everyone else does too! These auctions are very rare. What
is more common is when a seller has a lot of one item, and lists
it using a combination of two auction types: a multiple-item
fixed price auction. This just means that you can just say how
many of the item you they have, and offer them at a fixed price
per unit. Buyers can enter how many they want and then just
click Buy it Now to get them.
Now that you know about the different types of auctions, you
should make sure that the items you plan to sell dont violate
eBays listing policies. The next article will let you know whats
allowed and what is a big no-no. Staying Out of Trouble with
eBays Listing Policies
Now that you've learned something about this topic, maybe you
want more information or need greater detail about certain
specific issues.
I encourage you to explore this site, read a few more articles
on related topics, and get even greater insight into the
subject.
And if there's any way I can help you, please write. We welcome
feedback and thrive on your support.
About the author:
James Mahony is the founder of Online Auction
Handbook - Learn How to Make Money on eBay
Make Money on
eBay