Auction and buy it now

[hellsbells*14]

Sorry probably a really basic question. I’ve listed an item for auction and had a message to ask how much I would want for it for buy it now. What is the advice on this? 

[papso22]

As there are no bids you can revise the listing and add a BIN if you want.  But you could just tell the prospective buyer to bid along with everyone else and take a chance.  Presumably you started the auction at the price you would be happy for it to go for?

[**peaseblossom**]

They are hoping for a bargain so for a start you should ask them how much they'd like to offer.   Get a clear idea of what you want for it using  advanced search - next to the blue search tab in My eBay - to find what similar items sold for.  

If you can both agree a price you can revise the listing to that price.   Once they've bid you can end it early via the dropdown arrow next to it and there's an option to sell to the highest bidder at their highest bid price.

On the other hand you might just prefer to let the auction run its course.   You can tell them that and say they are welcome to place a bid.

[tommystrezures]

My rule of thumb is if they offer a price double what they offer as they will get a bargain. However I always tell them that it’s unfair on other watchers etc if the item and if they believe an item is worth “xyz” then they should bid this amount. Invariably items sell for more than a cheeky counter offer at the beginning of an auction.

the other thing I would say if you want or are going to regularly auction items then withdrawing lots to accept a buy it now is a sure way of alienating potential customers in the future who may think oh I am not going to bother with that user as they may or may not auction the item!