N00b ebay question

[kalster]

I see a lot of auctions with a starting price of 99 cents

Is there a reason for it? Is it helpful in the auction?

Whenever I sell stuff I always start the auction with the starting price as the minimum price I want the item to be sold for

 

[TallBill]

cuz people are like.. oh wow.. i might win this cheap.. which drives the price up right from the start

 

[kalster]

Originally posted by: TallBill
cuz people are like.. oh wow.. i might win this cheap.. which drives the price up right from the start

I figured that much but when selling something worth 200- 250 i feel paranoid starting the auction for 99 cents, oh well

 

[boyRacer]

it doesn't matter... you'll probably get less bids if you start the item at the minimum you want to sell it for... i always start my auctions at $1.00 and they'll still sell for what they're worth on ebay.

 

[RIGorous1]

also, the lower the start price, the lower the insertion fee.

 

[zimu]

Originally posted by: RIGorous1
also, the lower the start price, the lower the insertion fee.

this is the main reason actaully, the others are really just side-effects.

 

[kalster]

another side question

when you get paid money with paypal and when you transfer to your bank, does paypal charge you for it?

recently i sold something for 26 dollars, when i transferred to my bank 1.05 was deducted as paypal fee?

is there a way to avoid this?

 

[Kipper]

The fee was deducted when you accepted the payment, since you have a premier account. There is no fee for withdrawing to a bank in USD, as far as I know. The payment fee is 2.9% and $0.30 per payment, as far as I recall. As far as the only way to avoid it...downgrade your account or don't use PayPal.

 

[konichiwa]

Originally posted by: zimu

Originally posted by: RIGorous1
also, the lower the start price, the lower the insertion fee.

this is the main reason actaully, the others are really just side-effects.

Not really. The insertion fees only vary at most by a few bucks. The end-price fees are where they gouge you, not on the $.35 or $1.00 insertion fee.

Generally people start auctions at $.01 or $.99 because it creates a base of bidders at the very beginning who will check back on your auction all the time, and some of those people will be the type who'll end up paying more just to "win" the auction.

So if you start @ $.01 you'll have 10 or 15 people bidding when it gets to the REAL selling price, whereas if you start it right below the REAL price you may only have 5 bidders. Odds of one of those 10 or 15 being that guy who's going to pay more to "win" are higher than one guy in 5.