Something I'll never understand about sellers on Ebay

[thewayne]

There are two types who bug me. The first are the ones where the minimum bid is $X and the Buy It Now price is $X+1. Never made sense to me. I've bought a couple of things like this where I just make the minimum and wait for the auction to expire, usually they have multiple quantities of the item offered.

I saw a specific example of the second one that bugs me just a minute ago. The guy is selling a light meter, he has a Buy It Now of something like $150, which I think is an insane price. Then he has a minimum bid of $50ish with a Reserve Not Met. Now, I can understand the Buy It Now price, but why set a starting auction price below your reserve? Why not be up front about it and set your starting price at your reserve and be done with it?


People are weird (*looks in mirror for case in point*)

Comments

[deborak]

There is a legitimate reason for doing the routine you cite in example 2 -- if you are selling something on consignment for someone else who is demanding a base price and is covering the reserve and buy-it-now add-on fees. The owner of the item may need to make a higher amount on the item to pay the consigner his cut.

The X+1 simply plays on impulse buyers, and is a legitimate strategy for wholesalers with lots of inventory.

[cardigirl.livejournal.com]

Weird Buy-It-Now prices I understand... I do it selling art at conventions. However, for me outrageously high Buy-Now prices are almost always a reflection of the fact that, for whatever reason, I'd really rather NOT sell it at this time -- it's here for display purposes. But if you reeeeeeaaaally want it THAT badly, then okay, make it worth it to me.

In an eBay context, though, I don't get it.