AuctionCut

Is the buy it now option actually worth anything on just a regular auction. Say I'm selling something I find lying around my house...is it advantageoius?

Sure - it saves time and many times most users are in a rush to get it.

Just put a price as buy it now that you would be happy with, and that someone might buy. I know whenever I buy on ebay I look for bins first.

A lot of times I am actually looking at the buy it now items first as I can't stand being gazumped at the last second. The way I see it if you want £2 for something and I think that is a fair price then that has to be of benefit to both of us. Sure letting auctions run and hoping for a bidding war can be beneficial too but sometimes it works out that the seller ends up selling something at a real bargain price, not what they wanted at all.
I would seriously try the buy it now even for a few days if it doesn't work try the ordinary auction of a week or so.

It's worth checking completed listings for similar items first - I've listed a few BIN's that I later realised would have fetched at least double if I'd auctioned them.

But likewise I have bagged a fair number of under-sold BIN's!

As a buyer I quite like the Buy It Now option. The way I look at it is if I really quite like something and am happy with the price then the option is great.
I have been on auctions where I really wanted an item but the price just goes silly and I end up with notghing. I know this is what ebay is about getting the price agreed between buyer and seller, but for example I wanted a car and put in a fair price with 5 days to go only to see a new person come on with an hour to go and hike the price totally out of my range. I really think they were not happy with the money they were going to get and just put the price way up. There was no reserve so it just made me wonder.

hi debbie, how do you find out if they are just making fake bids on their own auction to avoid a cheap sale? would ebay be able to tell us?

As a buyer, I'm always checking the BIN's first. I will say that the determining factor for me isn't necessarily the final price, so much as how much I'm going to get screwed on the shipping.

Some U.S. sellers to Canada make it clear they don't want to ship to Canada, simply by having fees that would choke a horse.

So, they could have an attractive BIN price, but they don't get the ching ching, because of the ship price.

......I always look for BIN on cheaper items, I'll take a gamble with auction format on more expensive purchases, looking for the 'bargain'.

The one thing to be careful about with using BIN on
your auctions is that sometimes it creates a "ceiling"
for your auction in people's mind of what the value
of the item is worth.

For example, if you know something is worth $200
but are willing to sell it for $175, if you use a BIN
for $175 many times it will sell immdeiately with the BIN
and you got your asking price, but many times
it will get bid on, the BIN will disappear and then
anyone who saw the auction with the BIN wsill mentally
have told themselves not to pay more than $175 since
that was all you were asking in the beginning.

This is just something I have noticed over the last
9 years of selling on ebay. Each item and category differs
but something to keep in mind when you are offering
a good deal on an enpensive item (less of an issue
on other items).

Best,
Aryeh

On items that already sell frequently and have a very consistent selling price, then buy it now makes sense.

I also like to use it as a way to get a premium price on items that don't sell as frequently taking advantage of peoples' need for instant gratification - they can wait a few days and get it a little cheaper or get it now but pay a little more.

I used to use BIN on every auction I listed, but these days I use it a bit more strategically.

I sell some high priced services ($8k +) on eBay and have found that running the auction without a BIN price improves response.

Also, if the item doesn't sell very often, it can be dangerous to just arbitrarily set a BIN based on what once or two auctions in the completed items sold for.

I've had items that I've put up on eBay that have sold for twice what the only completed auctions I found were. If I'd have just set a BIN for a little above what the previous auctions sold for, I'd have missed out on hundreds of dollars.

I guess what I'm trying to say is BIN is great, but think before you use it as it's not appropriate in all cases. When in doubt, test.

Gary

gravtex wrote:
I guess what I'm trying to say is BIN is great, but think before you use it as it's not appropriate in all cases. When in doubt, test.

Gary

Good advise Gary, no doubt.

Keep in mind the Buy It Now will disappear after the first Bid

We use a BIN (Buy It Now) when we have several of the same items and wanted to move the items quickly...For example if we had 10 of all the same digital cameras.

In most cases the buy it now might result in a lower sale price, however, there are some exceptions...

Time Sensative items good for BINs...BINs alslo work great around the holidays. We had a lot of success selling items with BINs the week of Dec 15. Many bidders are willing to pay a premium price to get the item as soon as possible ...We have also had a lot of success using BINs for concert tickets.


Stan
vital auction info

BINs are ok if you think someone will pay that much. But the thing that is better is to list your starting price at what ever the buy it now price would be but put in your title that it is a no reserve. No reserve items attract much more attention. There have been studies that show that items that have a buy it now with a starting price of a buck vs the same item started at a buck and also no reserve differ in final bid values by very high percentages. The noreserve listings have even exceded the buy it now price of the other listing just because of the competition.

Must admit that the BIN feature is what I love the most about buying. I have no problem at all with it. If I think an item is priced correctly and I want it then so be it. Much better than taking my chances of not being outbid at the last second.