EBay Introduces A New Way To Increase
Your Auction Profits Without Risk
A New Feature You Can Use To Increase Your eBay Profits
Until very recently, you had three ways to run an eBay listing for a
single item.
You could either:
(a) Run an auction i.e. upload your item with a starting bid and leave
it to the mercy of the bidders
(b) Decide how much the item was worth and list a Buy It Now (BIN) listing
or
(c) Upload an auction but add an extra Buy It Now price to it so the
auction finishes immediately if someone buys your item for the BIN price.
If someone bids then the BIN option disappears.
However, eBay has now added a great new feature allowing potential bidders
to Submit An Offer.
So, how can this be used to profit?
If you have read any of my previous posts you will know that I like
to use BIN listings for almost all of my items.
There are two main reasons for this:
(1) Auctions are risky. eBay can be a very fickle place and one week
an item may go for hundreds of pounds and the next it may go for pennies.
Auctions depend on willing bidders, if there are very few willing bidders
your item may be sniped at the last minute for next to nothing.
(2) Some users, those who know the value of the items I offer, are happy
to buy at the price I determine as the BIN price. They buy and receive
the item very quickly meaning that both parties are happy.
eBay has now added a new option allowing potential buyers to offer a
price at which they are willing to buy.
This is great news for all eBay sellers. Now you can list an item with
a high BIN price and ask potential buyers to offer their Best Price. If
the price is acceptable, the seller can end the auction there and then
and the buyer is obliged to buy the item at the price they offered.
Now, you no longer have to worry about your item being sold for next
to nothing, you can invite offers and pick the winning bid!
For example:
Say you had a rare antique plate which you bought for £100. You
know that the plate is worth £500 and you are not willing to auction
it off for fear of it selling for pennies.
Because of this new ruling from eBay, you could list the plate with
a Buy It Now price of £500 but also include the "Submit Best Offer"
feature so interested parties can basically bid their highest bid.
If, during the duration of the listing, you do not receive the price
you want, you do not need to sell it.
However, say 3 people submit their best offers, at £300, £350
and £400, you can pick the highest offer and sell to that person.
Your item has now sold for 4 times what you paid for it and you are at
no risk whatsoever of losing money.
The "Submit Best Offer" feature is like an auction where you can determine
what the end price is. If no-one offers the price you want, let the listing
expire and list it again. Wait for your best offer.
To use this new feature to its best ability I would set the BIN price
to a little higher than what the item is worth. In the description, mark
clearly that you are open to offers and steer the interested buyers to
the Submit feature.
You never know, someone may just buy the item for the BIN price and
save you a lot of work!
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