WestKentucky
Member
Let us know what you ended up doing. I’m curious to know how this saga ends.
$621 is more than fair for that Brobdingnagian BT-99.Sold for $621; with that horrendous stock, that seems to be a fair price
I suspect he wasn't getting the moral support he was hoping for from this crowd for his screw-up"So the key question is ..." All quiet on the OP front ...
I have won a couple of those stupid low auctions, and now I am considering moving a couple items. My thoughts at this point is to start the bidding at that point where if I saw the item for sale for that, I would consider it. Remington 700 .308 at $400 I’m probably not going to even notice, but at $200 I’m noticing it. If I want to sell it then I know I’m going to get bids at 200 and it will go up from there.I learned my less on after my first auction. I started it at .01 and sold it at .01 The guy paid more in postage then the item cost. I wouldn't do an auction now that didn't start at the least amount I would accept for the item. If it doesn't sell at that you need to reevaluate and decide if your willing to take less.
WB
I'm curious, what were you selling? That's a factor in deciding whether or not to start the item at a very low price such as $.01.I learned my less on after my first auction. I started it at .01 and sold it at .01 The guy paid more in postage then the item cost. I wouldn't do an auction now that didn't start at the least amount I would accept for the item. If it doesn't sell at that you need to reevaluate and decide if your willing to take less.
WB
Lots of free advertising though.I suspect he wasn't getting the moral support he was hoping for from this crowd for his screw-up
That's... insane.A good example...
I VERY rarely will even put an item with a reserve on my watch list. I think most savvy sellers have learned not to put a reserve on their items because the number of auctions with reserve prices have gone from perhaps 20-25% or so 3-4 years ago to very few today. If you have a reserve, just start the bidding there. You're MUCH more likely to get some action on the item that way. I've noticed that items with an unknown reserve often don't reach more than about 60 - 70% of what would be a reasonable price for the item. It's a great way to avoid sales.I hate reserve auctions, especially those that then state in the description, "The reserve price is $X." Just set that as your starting bid and have done with it.
I've bought and sold quite a few items on GB, and have studied the patterns pretty carefully. I think it depends upon the item, and if it's a gun, it depends upon what gun it is, but for many items, starting at $.01 is pretty safe, and is also the way to get the most $ from the auction.
I'm curious, what were you selling? That's a factor in deciding whether or not to start the item at a very low price such as $.01.
I've bought and sold quite a few items on GB, and have studied the patterns pretty carefully. I think it depends upon the item, and if it's a gun, it depends upon what gun it is, but for many items, starting at $.01 is pretty safe, and is also the way to get the most $ from the auction.
If it's not started at a very low price ($.01, for example), then the next best approach may be, as WestKentucky indicated, start it at a painfully low price, but one that you could manage to live with (not commit suicide) in the unlikely event that it only brought that much.
What you want to do is to get as many people watching it as possible, have at least two of them get more and more comfortable during the course of the auction with the idea paying up for the item, and then run the bids up. A good example (albeit an item that a LOT of people are chasing right now) is here:
https://www.gunbroker.com/Item/878267346
I went on GB today just cruising to see what was available from a S&W revolver standpoint for either 14, 17, or 617 standpoint. ALL of the auctions with high minimum bids had ZERO bidders; all of those that started at .01 or a low number had bids. IMO, some of those sellers are either wishful thinkers or know nothing about the gun business. I can understand a rare or very high-end gun that normally goes in the tens of thousands, but basic guns like this OP was trying to sell (and a Frankengun at that), should be started at .01.Another thing I consider is who the seller is. My LGS is a GB seller and almost everything he sells starts at $0.01. And he gets top dollar for almost everything he sells. But I and I assume several others follow him and know what to expect. The exceptions are those niche items that by nature have a limited market. He will start those out at a minimum price. If you don’t have a following your just another guy selling his personal firearm.
The home defense shotguns are big right now, seeing Mossbergs go for over 1000I'm curious, what were you selling? That's a factor in deciding whether or not to start the item at a very low price such as $.01.
I've bought and sold quite a few items on GB, and have studied the patterns pretty carefully. I think it depends upon the item, and if it's a gun, it depends upon what gun it is, but for many items, starting at $.01 is pretty safe, and is also the way to get the most $ from the auction.
If it's not started at a very low price ($.01, for example), then the next best approach may be, as WestKentucky indicated, start it at a painfully low price, but one that you could manage to live with (not commit suicide) in the unlikely event that it only brought that much.
What you want to do is to get as many people watching it as possible, have at least two of them get more and more comfortable during the course of the auction with the idea paying up for the item, and then run the bids up. A good example (albeit an item that a LOT of people are chasing right now) is here:
https://www.gunbroker.com/Item/878267346