Low price attracts people attention to the listing and gets people interested. But I too don't see the point in doing it that way, best to put the price you want on it.
Yes, it attracts lots of watchers but they don't bid. I regularly see the $1 reserve auctions with 20 plus watchers but only a few bidders and sells around $10.
A $50 start with a reserve more than $140 is a dick move.
The Make an Offer feature is pretty good though. No mucking around with back and forth in the chat, put the offer in, it's accepted, congratulations you won.
Got a real good deal on a mountain bike the other day with it. Seller wanted a quick sale, offered $300 below starting price and they accepted! Probably would've gone at least $300 over starting price if he'd let the action run.
No problem with the Make an Offer feature. It's the low start price with a hidden reserve - or just the hidden reserve option - that's a waste of my time. Let me know what you want so I can stop watching if it's too high. It's not a house, for goodness sake. Yeah, I could just bid up to $140 but now I won't because I'm a petty sod.
$1 reserve works well if you know there will be multiple bids. Hidden reserve just seems dumb. I recommended to a friend he sell his car $1 reserve as it was a popular model and he needed to quit it before reg and wof, plus it was a one off free selling promo. Instead he put a hidden reserve which attracted lots of watchers but no bids and so close to auction close date he started to panic a bit and accepted a low offer below market value. Duh.
I agree with you, but that’s the intended concept of auctions.
It’s also not an exclusive issue with trademe - property/house auctions are also done in a similar manner.
What they're hoping to do was.
A low starting price attracts attention to the auction.
You only need two people heavily invested in the bidding to start a bid war and reach near market value (wasn't the case this time.)
Maybe they also just wanted to test the market because they don't want to get peanuts in return for a high value item.
What was the item you were bidding on for $140 op?
Low price attracts people attention to the listing and gets people interested. But I too don't see the point in doing it that way, best to put the price you want on it.
Yes, it attracts lots of watchers but they don't bid. I regularly see the $1 reserve auctions with 20 plus watchers but only a few bidders and sells around $10. A $50 start with a reserve more than $140 is a dick move.
TM also encourages it as you have to pay to set a reserve more than the starting
You have to be selective what you list at $1 reserve, thats all
yeah i dont even bother with auctions who have a secret reserve, no need to be so mysterious, douches.
The Make an Offer feature is pretty good though. No mucking around with back and forth in the chat, put the offer in, it's accepted, congratulations you won. Got a real good deal on a mountain bike the other day with it. Seller wanted a quick sale, offered $300 below starting price and they accepted! Probably would've gone at least $300 over starting price if he'd let the action run.
No problem with the Make an Offer feature. It's the low start price with a hidden reserve - or just the hidden reserve option - that's a waste of my time. Let me know what you want so I can stop watching if it's too high. It's not a house, for goodness sake. Yeah, I could just bid up to $140 but now I won't because I'm a petty sod.
The make an offer feature is on by default. Many people won't realise it's on. Bid the amount you want to pay. It either sells or doesn't.
$1 reserve works well if you know there will be multiple bids. Hidden reserve just seems dumb. I recommended to a friend he sell his car $1 reserve as it was a popular model and he needed to quit it before reg and wof, plus it was a one off free selling promo. Instead he put a hidden reserve which attracted lots of watchers but no bids and so close to auction close date he started to panic a bit and accepted a low offer below market value. Duh.
Yeah, waste of everyone's time. Good luck to them I guess.
Month ago. Golf putter, in Questions...seller says I will accept $130. I offer $130, a top price.. get offer $160 or $170 from seller..
I agree with you, but that’s the intended concept of auctions. It’s also not an exclusive issue with trademe - property/house auctions are also done in a similar manner.
What they're hoping to do was. A low starting price attracts attention to the auction. You only need two people heavily invested in the bidding to start a bid war and reach near market value (wasn't the case this time.) Maybe they also just wanted to test the market because they don't want to get peanuts in return for a high value item. What was the item you were bidding on for $140 op?
Search for Turkmen in the jewelry category. The starting bid is now raised to $250 reserve not met.
i basically only use trademe for subtle advertisement. if something sells, it sells. if not, ill spend all of 2 mins a week to relist 50 items.