Online Auctions - Pet Peeves & Positives

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As A Seller
I would Love to have the 'Automatic Auction Extension' on Ebay like they have in the Yahoo Auctions of Japan. For those not familiar it works like this... If anyone bids on an item with five minutes or less in an Auction the ending time is automatically extended for an additional five minutes and can happen again and again depending on how many keep bidding. I am not sure if there is a limited amount of 5 minute extensions of its unlimited. Imagine, as a Seller, the battles that can be had in the last minutes of your Auction driving up the price and your profits. Imagine a Newbee War where they are are nickle and dime-ing each other up and up and up. Puts a real damper on those who wait to the last second to Snipe bid and run away with your item without letting others have a chance to bet the bid. I would imagine I would have made maybe hundreds of dollars more in profits than with the current hard ending time.


As A Buyer
I would Hate to have the 'Automatic Auction Extension' on Ebay like they have in the Yahoo Auctions of Japan. This would drive me crazy. I love the challenge and excitement of making a very last second bid at the end of an Auction and then waiting a few minutes to see if I have won. I would just hate to have the nickle and dimers in there bumping up the bid fifty cents at a time and at the same time extending the auction. It probably wouldn't affect me as much since I don't nickle and dime and place my bid as the absolute highest I would be willing to pay for an item but it would take away my challenge and excitement. I liken this to showing your poker hand to your opponent at the last minute so he can raise you. I wouldn't like this because its like showing your hand to the other bidder so they then have extra time to bid fifty cents more.

I am by far more of a Buyer on Ebay than a Seller so...Pssst... don't tell Ebay about this and give them any ideas.

[Super]

As A Buyer
Sellers that add the 'Best Offer' option but will not respond to any offers you make and lets those Offers time out after a couple days. Why on Earth would you even use that as an option if you weren't looking to entertain negotiations. Is it that hard to just click a box saying you 'Decline' the offer or better yet submit a counter offer. Not only is it a poor way to list an item if you aren't going to respond, its downright rude.

As A Seller
Buyers who make an offer on your 'Best Offer' Listing and doesn't respond to your counter offer or respond to a message to what you can do for them. Once again, is it that hard to just check a box to 'Decline Offer' than to let it expire after a couple days. Are people that lazy? When I add 'Best Offer' To a listing of mine means that I will entertain what you have to offer or will Decline or counter as quickly as I am notified of it. Just rude on this side of the fence too.

At least give the ptential buyers a counter offer

[Super]

As A Seller On Ebay
I really don't understand why, when making a listing for an Auction that includes a "Buy It Now" does the Seller have to go over 30% of the Auctions starting bid for the "Buy It Now" price? Whats the big deal to Ebay or who does this benefit at all? Surely not Ebay as they make their money no matter what. It certainly doesn't help a Buyer who may want to grab an item before anyone starts bidding because the "Buy It Now" is too high. And certainly doesn't benefit a Seller who wants that quick sale. So what is the purpose Ebay? If I start an Auction at $30 I have to make the "Buy It Now" $40. Why can't I make the $35 to encourage a Buyer to grab it? Whats the big deal? And to make it more confusing to understand, the minute someone places a bid for the opening price then the "Buy It Now" option goes away anyway and Ebay will get a lower commission. I don't get it Ebay...go back to the way it was and take off that limit all together.

i guess ebay wants to make some fast cash. The import duty set by the International Priority Shipping to Canada turns me off. A product sells for $25 US and i have to pay $7 on import duty :O

[Super]

i guess ebay wants to make some fast cash.

Thats what I am talking about, I don't think they make more money. If I list an item in auction starting at $75 I am forced to at least make the "Buy It Now" option at $100. So how many times does a buyer look at that and say, thats too much, I will just make the minimum bid of $75 and take my chances. Then once they do that the option to "Buy It Now" is removed from the listing so Ebay misses out on commission if the auction price ends less than $100. I think its much better for both the Seller and Ebay if I could make the "Buy It Now" at a closer to the opening bid price and almost guarantee a higher than starting price. If I am a Buyer looking at a listing for something I want and see the auction starting at $75 with a BIN of $85 I am more likely to pay the $85 to get what I want and bypass the bidding than I would at the $100. Now in the Japan Auctions they do not remove the "Buy It Now" Option when the bidding has started, it stays up the entire listing time. But they don't put a limit on the BIN, I just saw an Auction that starts at 7499yen with a BIN for 7500yen, now whats the logic behind that? In this case I can see a good reason for the 30% minimum but......please don't tell Ebay about that because as a Buyer I would not like it....but then again as a Seller...........

[Super]

As A Buyer

What I call 'Cute-see' Sellers. These are Sellers, that for some reason or another, feel the need to stage their photos in their listings with stuff that is unrelated or not part of the sale. These include holiday trimmings, diorama's, staged scenes or stuff they think is cool. I don't know what these Sellers do this for unless it may be due to a lack of self esteem and they want others to like them, think they are imaginative or possibly want others to view them as cool. If Its Not part of the Auction or sale STOP putting stuff in the listing to try and make yourself look good. I have seen, stuffed animals, Xmas Trees, Dragons scenes with trains inside a diorama of a station or on tracks all of which are not part of the sale and they don't even bother to mention this in the description. I have seen it so bad as to make you have to look just to see where the item for sale is. It has gotten so bad with some sellers that the scene they create takes up two thirds of the photos and the item only a third. Now there is times that it is helpful to show the item that is for sale in use to either get the scale of said item or to view it in use but then it should state that preferably right on that picture or at least in the description and its not necessary to do it in all of them. This way its easier for a Buyer to get a close up of the item without the distraction of unnecessary things.....Seller, if you feel the need to do this or have low self esteem talk to a friend but don't bother us with what you thing makes your item look better....it doesn't.

[Super]

As A Buyer

Sellers that list Online Auctions with a Reserve Price, especially those that start at a low price like .99 cent. Frankly I see no sense in even having this option for Online Auctions. Whats the use in it? Online Auctions are not like a live auction at an Auction House where bidding is live and a Reserve price encourages higher bids. If a Seller wants at least a certain number for his item in an Online Auction why not just start that Auction at that price and quit wasting everybody's time. Why the secret? It will be revealed if someone bids that high anyway so why? How can this possibly benefit the Seller at all? Just start the Auction at the minimum price you want and then let any bidding go up from there. I just don't get it. Most of the Reserved Price Auctions I have followed never get to the Reserve price and go unsold.

The seller wants a bidding war hoping getting higher than his/her expectation. This is like buying a house where the seller wants a bidding war. Sometime it can backfire. Ebay has a reserve price if the bid doesnt meet the threshhold the item will not be sold.

[Super]

See, thats the point.....those bidding wars work in a live auction where your bid is actual instead of just a dollar over the previous high bid. This way you could bid anything you want and that bid then becomes the new bidding level. In the Online auction that can run for up to 10 days the Seller isn't going to get anything if the buyers don't reach the Reserve price. The only time a bidding war can happen is for the win AFTER the Reserve is met so every bid before the Reserve is a waste of time. If the Seller starts his auction at the Reserve price then a war can start immediately with those who see the value in bidding at that amount. Now, the only reason, the ONLY reason I can see any benefit is that the Seller just puts a ridiculously high Reserve just to see what interest and at what price the bidders will reach before dropping out under the Reserve which is a waste of time for any bidders. But even then, why not start the auction at the ridiculous amount in case somebody takes it in which case both the buyer willing to pay the price and the seller win.