on-line auctions

Discussion

9 replies

Posted by Pete D on January 6, 2011 at 2:44 PM

I'm trying to sell a couple of odd-ball photo items at an on-line auction site. So far, there are 8 people "watching" and no bids. Is this normal?

Pete D.

Posted by SandyRichardsBrown on January 6, 2011 at 2:52 PM

Pete, If the item is something people would want, there will usually be more action toward the end. I've had things listed for 6.5 of the 7 days with no bids at all , then in the last hour, it went to way more than I was expecting.

You just never know, so keep the faith.

Also, if it doesn't sell, see what KEH and/or Adorama will give you. Not much from them, but at least it's gone..

Good luck -

Sandy.

Posted by Pete D on January 6, 2011 at 4:40 PM

I just called KEH, they're not buying what I'm selling! I'll hang in there and see. Maybe a couple of those sneaky "watchers" will jump into the fray in the last moments.
Pete D.

Posted by Pete D on January 6, 2011 at 7:17 PM

I guess I should have made it a shorter auction.
Pete D.

Posted by David Rogers on January 6, 2011 at 7:26 PM

Unfortunately, I still have a butt-load of odd-balls. Otherwise, I would certainly be interested in your odd-balls

Posted by SandyRichardsBrown on January 7, 2011 at 2:25 PM

Maybe we should suggest to Jim that we have an "oddball stuff I really eant to get rid of" forum! We could the trade back and forth...

Sandy

Posted by Pete D on January 7, 2011 at 5:30 PM

"We could the trade back and forth... " like we do with fruitcakes? Just kidding. I actually like fruitcakes. That's why I'm hanging out in the Member Lounge. Ha cha cha cha cha! I got a million of 'em.

Pete Durante

Posted by Don George on January 7, 2011 at 6:37 PM

Pete, I use E-Bay to sell most of my equipment. I usually do a 3 day auction that runs through the weekend ending Sunday night. My experience has been that the real bidding starts just before the auction ends on Sunday.

Posted by Pete D on January 10, 2011 at 5:38 PM

I went crazy and put something good on the "bay" as well as my odd ball stuff. Oddly, no bids at all on the good thing, I couldn't really bear to give it away, so I started the price at what KEH would give me. Maybe a mistake, but it's not over yet - will be in 2 hours though.

Posted by Pete D on January 12, 2011 at 5:03 PM

I may never use an online "auction" to sell a relatively expensive item again.

First, why I tried it:
KEH would sell my item in BGN condition for $465. Mine was better than BGN, but to be conservative...
KEH would buy my item for $349.
local buyer offered me $300.
seemed like a great time to take the plunge and "auction" it. (Quotes because these things are NOT auctions)

So what happened?
I listed and sold at online auction site: final price $429 (with $20 of that for shipping allowance)
charges: $0.45 for adding pictures to listing, $36.81 auction site sale fee, $13.58 actual shipping, $12.74 for using PayPal

MY NET: $365.42

I had all this headache to get $16.42 more than I could have by just selling it wholesale to KEH!

Furthermore, as a "new seller" my funds will be held hostage for up to 21 days before I can get them.

For my little off-beat items, on-line auction seems to be the way to go, but not for everything. Oh well, I live to learn and I just had a learning experience.

Pete D.