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!
About the author:
Ben Catt is an active eBay buyer and seller and runs an eBay
Tips and Tricks website found at
http://www.BenCatt.com. He
also runs a business opportunity information site -
http://www.BizOppsUK.com
