Ebay "Reserves"

pipebaum81 · Mar 15, 2015

This community is loaded with both Ebay buyers and sellers, and quite a few who are both. In the past I have heard a couple of folks speak about pipe sales with a set reserve price. Here is my question.
Say a pipe sale's current bid is $300 and has a hidden reserve set at $350. Bidder "A" makes a max bid of $400. Bidder "A" is now the high bidder and the bid now sits at $325 still $25 under the set reserve. Since bidder A's max bid exceeds the reserve, does the "Reserve not met" label leave the auction page?
Also, if the auction were to close at the $325 mark missing the reserve I presume that the item would not sell despite bidder A's willingness to pay up to $400?
Thanks for the help and guidance,
j/B

raevans · Mar 15, 2015

As long as the reserve is not met, the reserve label will stay up. The reserve price has not been met even though buyer A is "willing" to pay more, the auction does not know that until someone else makes a bid and buyer A's price then increases. If the auction closes with the leading bid still below the sellers reserve price, the auction closes with no winner and both the seller and the bidder are under no further obligations.

dustmite · Mar 15, 2015

As long as the actual bid (your $325 example) is under the reserve bid, the reserve is not met. The actual bid needs to go above the reserve in order for the item to sell. I don't quite get why people don't just set the starting bid at what they want to sell said item for in the first place.

pipebaum81 · Mar 15, 2015

Thanks for the helpful info. It's about what I figured.

I don't quite get why people don't just set the starting bid at what they want to sell said item for in the first place.

+1 dustmite, all I could suggest as a possible explanation is that the seller hopes to create the "I WILL WIN THIS" mentality amongst bidders forcing the price to not only meet but exceed the set reserve price. Just my curiosity of what the reserve is makes we want to bid but without a second bidder cutting into the ground made by my max bid there is no telling what the reserve is...

ericusrex · Mar 15, 2015

Under your scenario the auction bid would jump to $350, not $325. If a bid is ever over the reserve ($400 in your scenario) then the auction automatically jumps to the reserve and "the reserve not met" goes away.

pipestud · Mar 15, 2015

What ericusrex just said. If the reserve is $350 and someone bids $400, then the reserve is met and the auction now sits at the reserve price until someone tops it or until the auction ends. If an auction ends with the reserve having been met, then just like any other auction, there is then a binding contract. The seller sells for the winning bid price and the bidder pays his/her winning bid price.

raevans · Mar 15, 2015

I stand corrected, thanks for clearing that up guys.

Chasing Embers · Mar 15, 2015

Why even have a reserve and just have the starting bid closer to the amount that you desire to get for said item?

pipebaum81 · Mar 16, 2015

I knew pipestud would chime in on this one. Thanks for the clarification.
j/B

kcghost · Mar 16, 2015

The cost of having a high starting price is more than having reserve put on it. Personally I rarely bid on a reserve auction if I can't see the reserve amount in the auction description. I just don't want to waste my time.

sablebrush52 · Mar 16, 2015

The reserve serves as a safety against an item going for less than the seller is willing to accept. So why not just list the item as a "buy it now"?
Here's my take.
A lot of people come to eBay dreaming of "something for nothing" deals. A "buy it now" prevents those dreaming of finding for something for nothing, or something for practically nothing, from realizing that dream. In order to avoid losing those potential bidders, the seller posts a low opening bid price to get the ball rolling. The seller hopes to lure in bidders, getting sufficient action that he will eventually get his price, while ensuring that he won't suffer from insufficient bids.
The purpose of an auction is to get as much as possible for an item by pitting buyers against each other. It is not the purpose of an auction to give anyone a deal. Once bidders get invested in an auction they often lose perspective and focus on "winning". A low starting bid helps pull in the suckers.

ssjones · Mar 16, 2015

I'm with Jesse, for the few pipes I sell on Ebay, a BIN listing works for me. I suppose an auction with reserve might yield a slightly higher selling price. Is there a difference in the listing and final fees? Ebay and Paypal zap you for everything, so it's probably a moot point in my case.

phil67 · Mar 16, 2015

Many people, including myself, will quickly move on as soon as they see a Reserve Price. You do have the right to ask the seller what the reserve price is albeit he or she is not obliged to divulge it. Also the buyer can, if they so choose, opt to show what the reserve price is when the item is listed. Personally, I think the reserve price is ridiculous and the seller might just as well opt for the Buy it Now option.

cosmicfolklore · Mar 16, 2015

+1 sablebrush52, most people who use ebay think that they are getting such a great deal. In the auctions that I've participated in, I usually take a look at what the current prices are at various estate sites, and then set my highest bid to that. Except for a handful that I did win, which isn't much, most pipes sell for way over what you can find at an estate dealer, and typically, I will just run to the estate dealer and buy his for way less after losing an auction. Like most gambling, it's a sucker's game.

daveinlax · Mar 16, 2015

most pipes sell for way over what you can find at an estate dealer, and typically, I will just run to the estate dealer and buy his for way less after losing an auction.

I find the exact opposite of the pipes I bid on and collect. Most dealers are at least a third to half again as much.

My question is when does your max bid get placed to make the reserve? If I place a $400 max bid on a pipe with an unknown $350 reserve with 3 days to go (I would never do this) will eBay bid wait till the end or will they bid the reserve when I place the the bid? 8O

beefeater33 · Mar 16, 2015

Personally, I think the reserve price is ridiculous and the seller might just as well opt for the Buy it Now option.

With the buy it now the seller is locking himself in at a set price- With a reserve, the seller can set the reserve at his (in his mind) buy it now price, and has a very good chance that 2 or more bidders may get in a bid war. When this occurs, the seller gets more than he actually wanted, and if the reserve is not met, he's out nothing.
I've been to LOTS of real, in person farm auctions, where it is standard for the owner to place a reserve on the big ticket items, House, real estate, tractors etc...... but the chattels normally sell sans reserve..............
Just a FYI-- I've seen it hundreds of times at farm auctions-- people pay 2-3X what an item is worth. I saw a 20 foot log chain sell for $75 once, back in the 80's, one could get the exact same thing at the local hardware for a third of that.
I often wonder though, if the charity aspect didn't come into play, because oftentimes the auction was a forced one, and someone was losing the family farm....... most were pretty dismal atmospheres in the 1980's......sad.

ericusrex · Mar 16, 2015

Dave, the auction price immediately jumps to the $350 reserve when you place your $400 max bid, regardless of how much time is left on the auction. The price will not go up again unless someone bids higher than $350 on the auction.

ericusrex · Mar 17, 2015

And for the sake of added clarity:
Let's say the hidden reserve is $400 and there is an existing bid of $300 (reserve not met of course). If you put in a $350 bid the auction will then go to the next increment above the existing bidders high bid. If he only bid $300 then you are then the high bidder at $302.50 (I think at this price point the increments are $2.50 ...it could be $5 but it really doesn't matter for your understanding). If the existing bidder's high bid was $340 you will then be high bidder at $342.50. If his high bid was $370 he will still be high bidder but the auction will now be at $352.50. Since the reserve still hasn't been met the bidding will only go up in increments. Now with the above scenario if you had put in max bid of $450 the auction will then jump to the reserve, $400. Make sense?

daveinlax · Mar 17, 2015

Yes, Thanks! 8O

pipestud · Mar 17, 2015

eBay is going to make it harder for reserve auction listers starting this spring. Among their upcoming changes, here is what they have to say about reserve auctions -

Reserve price will increase. This feature fee will increase in price to the greater of $3, or 2% of the reserve price (the minimum price that must be met for your item to sell), with a cap of $100

Ebay "Reserves"

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