evan price wrote:
I am totally opposite. Most sellers have an over inflated value and on Gunbroker you see right away if others have sold and for how much. Starting at a dollar vs an unknown reserve just makes it appear in the top of a price search but savvy bidders know the reserve is probably too high so interest and bidding fades quick. Its all about knowing what it's really worth not what you want.
If you must put in a reserve make it the absolute rock bottom possible to keep out single bid wins and in that case just start it at that price with no reserve. If it doesn't sell adjust the price because renewals are Free.
The key to selling is getting the most eyes on it as possible (low initial bid), protecting your sale (the reserve), and encouraging impulse buys (buy it now). The really clever ones set up the auction to end on a Sunday night, when more people are home, and are thus able to bid. As for "savvy buyers", most of them don't give a rats ass about either the reserve, or the buy it now, they use a sniper, with the absolute most their willing to pay, and then ignore it. If they win, hey great, if not, we'll, it didn't cost them anything. and oh, never bid a round number, always bid up an odd amount, as most people bid in nice round numbers.
The seller doesn't care about the savvy buyer, he just wants his shit sold for the most amount of money, and the tactics above tend to help do that.