Question Re: Changing a reserve price? in Selling on eBay DND

Changing a reserve price?

wilful_3042 — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 20:37:31 GMT

Hey does anybody know about reserves, you pay a fee for setting a reserve price which is kool.

If you then lower or increase the reserve price do you have to pay another fee for your new reserve? It doesn't make it clear in the help pages, it does however say you cannot get a reserve fee credit.

Some help from another user would be appreciated...

Re: Changing a reserve price?

m25jet — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 20:52:08 GMT

A far easier solution to the problem is to list the item without a reserve, starting the auction off at a price that would ensure that you got the minimum amount that you were happy to accept once eBay and PayPal have taken their cut of the selling price. That way if somebody places a bid you can guarantee that you'll definitely get the very minimum price that you'd be happy with, or more if you've got two or more bidders regularly placing bids for the item and driving up the final selling price.

With regards to whether or not eBay charge extra fees for increasing or lowering the reserve price I couldn't say for certain whether they would as it's not a feature I have ever used on any of my listings, although there are some things that eBay charge you for and other things that you won't incur any extra fees for. As an example of this, eBay would charge you a bit more if you wanted to include Gallery Plus on your listings so that potential buyers could get a really good zoomed-in look at the shots so as to get a decent close-up and inspect the item thoroughly, whereas if you were just doing something such as adding an extra postage option, such as Royal Mail Guaranteed Next Day Delivery, then eBay wouldn't charge you any more for doing that.

At the end of the day the best option is always to start your auctions at the lowest possible price that you would be happy to accept once eBay and PayPal have taken their cut of the selling price. That way you can ensure that your reserve price has already been met the moment somebody places the first bid. If the item doesn't sell then you don't pay any selling fees, whereas with the reserve price option you have to pay the fees for using the reserve option on the listing, even if the item doesn't sell. To me it seems daft to sign up to something which is, in effect, like voluntarily signing up to hand eBay more money from the listing than you need to.

Re: Changing a reserve price?

tobiasd4 — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 20:53:41 GMT

Reserve fee is charged as soon as listing goes live.

Although ebay say you can lower reserve, people say they never actually manage to do it.

Re: Changing a reserve price?

plpmr — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 20:55:09 GMT

its nearly impossible to alter a reserve once set - no extra fee for lowering it but there's seemingly a fee for increasing it and that cannot be done if there are bids.

Reserves are a waste of money just start the auction at the lowest you want.

Lowest reserve is £50.

Re: Changing a reserve price?

wilful_3042 — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 21:00:01 GMT

Thanks for the reply, I was looking to lower so I will give it a try. Appreciated

Re: Changing a reserve price?

wilful_3042 — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 21:01:15 GMT

Thanks man, much appreciated...

Re: Changing a reserve price?

wilful_3042 — Tue, 17 Nov 2020 21:03:55 GMT

Many thanks for taking the time for the detailed reply, it's the first time I have used a reserve. Now Im looking to lower it as at the end of the day I just want rid of the item... cheers

Re: Changing a reserve price?

m25jet — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 18:53:30 GMT

If you just want to get rid of the item then if the item doesn't have any bids yet the best option would be to cancel the listing, citing "Error In Listing" as the reason why and then relist it for sale again, setting the start price at an amount that would guarantee that you got the minimum amount that you wanted for it if you only received one bid. If, however, the item already has bids on it then ending then if the auction reaches the point whereby it hits the reserve price you could either allow the auction to run its course to see how much you could potentially get for the item, especially as a lot of people bid right at the end of an auction in the dying seconds, or alternatively if you choose to end the auction early while there are still more than twelve hours left to run then you could end the listing early to sell to the person who is currently the highest bidder. None of these options would result in you breaching eBay's rules relating to selling on the site so you won't have to worry about picking up a black mark on your selling account if you do decide to implement any of these suggestions.