Knives not selling...any advice???

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TooManyKnives101

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I'm currently selling a large collection of knives on Ebay and other places. I'd been doing pretty good until these last auctions. At the request of the owner, all the auctions have a reserve price. I had disagreed with this, thinking it would scare off potential bidders, but after these last auctions, I'm glad I had reserves in place. I always place the reserves just under the average price of completed auctions on the same knife in similar condition.

Might anyone have any advice?

Is there such a thing as being too honest about the condition of a knife on Ebay?

I have a large number of Case and Queens as well as all kinds of other knives. Do you think they would sell well on this website?

*I removed the links to the inactive auctions so as not to violate any forum rules*

This is just a sample of my last round of auctions. Any advice?
 
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I buy a lot of stuff on eBay, been a member since 1998.

I never could understand why anybody would bother using 'reserve' pricing, why not just set your minimum sales price and stop wasting yours and my time?

If something is valued by many, the base or reserve price never matters because many people will bid to whatever the final price will be. I would strongly doubt that anyone cares what a reserve amount is. It will always be: 1-too low, 2-fair; or 3-too high. -what's the secret? The true market will decide if it is worth more or less than your expectations.

I typically don't bother with reserves anymore since I don't know what your minimum is. I feel that you are wasting my bidding time because I can still 'lose' even if I win the auction.

Based on several of my experiences, here's how a setting a 'reserve' can actually prevent you from getting a sale:
A. You want to sell a knife and your reserve is: $25 but your initial price is $5.
B. I want this knife and I am willing to pay $30 for it so I enter my max bid of $30. This is received by the system and enters me for the initial price of $5.
C. No one else bids, so the auction ends at only $5. I don't get it because it didn't meet your reserve. You don't sell and have wasted my time.
D. Even if some other person bids $10, my bid is auto-raised to $11, but still under your reserve and my time is still wasted.
E. Maybe you relist, but I have changed my mind, or I don't bother to bid again.

If you had set a real expectation or "buy it now" amount, I would have purchased and you would have sold.

Make things easier for yourself and others, just tell us how much you want and let us decide if we want to pay that or more.
 
I agree with CWL. Just set the price for the minimum amount you'll sell it for. And, be as fair as possible with your shipping fees. Good luck.
 
jwsmithandsons said:
PLEASE DO NOT QUOTE SPAM, it just makes twice the work for the mods to clean up[/URL]
Click to expand...

Thanks for the SPAM!!!!

*********************************
Your pictures seem fine
I agree with NO RESERVE price
Plus, you PAY MORE FEES (the seller) with a reserve price
 
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This thread will most likely get canned because you are cross promoting but here's my advice anyways, it works for me.

List your items with the "fixed price format" but make sure your price is competitive with others. You can also list the auction for 30 days or till it sells.

Next, use the "Best Offer" feature in the listing so ppl can make offers on your knives. Then you can decide the ultimate price they sell for.

Good Luck:thumbup:
 
I hate reserve auctions and usually don't even bother to bid in them.

It's not an auction to me if it has a reserve. I got tired of researching something, putting in a bid and the item never selling, so I just run right by them now.
 
Thanx for the advice. I hope I'm not breaking any rules. I figured it would be okay to post links to the auctions since they are not active. Does anyone know what the forum rules are concerning this?
 
For 25.00 dollars here you can do a few things you can't on eBay....
You can list all that you want no extra charge (for one year)
You can change the price anytime you please...
You can withdraw the entire posting anytime very easily...
You can add pictures no extra charge...
Something you can't do is run an auction which can be something of an disadvantage if you are selling a especially desirable piece. (auctions tend to make people competitive for what they want badly) But, as you have found out (by listing many knives that didn't sale at all and running up fees anyway) an auction isn't always the best way to unload all knives.
Here you pay the 25.00 and can list all you want for 1 year. eBay you must pay as you list and sell. The more you get out of an item on eBay the more you will pay. At least if you don't get your asking price here you can drop it a little and if it doesn't sell at all you owe no extra listing fees. 25.00 dollars a year isn't exactly a huge amount compared to what you'd pay eBay.
I think a lot of nice knives get overlooked at eBay because there's just so many for sale. People tend to look for certain brands and models and leave some nice items alone. Here at least you will get careful consideration of what you offer and won't be out reacurring fees if they do, or don't sell.
 
TooManyKnives101 said:
Thanx for the advice. I hope I'm not breaking any rules. I figured it would be okay to post links to the auctions since they are not active. Does anyone know what the forum rules are concerning this?
Click to expand...


You NEED to read the rules regarding
selling and E Pray links on this forum.
 
I ignore reserve auctions also. Go Gold and see what happens. Be aware that prices fluctuate normally, so good economy=people have disposable income=income disposed. Bad economy=no disposable income= no sales on luxury items (hobbys.)
 
TooManyKnives101 said:
Is there such a thing as being too honest about the condition of a knife on Ebay?
Click to expand...

Is there such a thing as karma?

Do buyers express their dissatisfaction through the eBay feedback process?

Is there a rating criteria that speaks to "item as described?"

Do potential buyers consider seller feedback percentage and detailed ratings in their decision making process, including the highest price they are willing to bid?

The answer to all of the above is a resounding yes.

Ultimately the market dictates final price and being an efficient market (at least as it relates to auctions of items in demand by a significant number of informed bidders) eBay's final selling prices plus shipping can provide a fair barometer of the value of the item. But then again, maybe I am :jerkit:

When I am having difficulty getting "my price" for an item (in significant demand) on eBay, chances are that my expectations are too high.
 
I don't really believe in Karma but have to admit his idiot brother "What goes around comes around" is the real deal.

I am probably going to get a gold membership here so I can sell some stuff. I usually just sell on a Canadian gun forum with a good knife page but with the economy like it is a lot of people have put a LOT of nice knives up and there are more sellers than buyers.

The main reason though is the Canadian dollar is at below 80Cents. Which sucks when I bought the Spyderco Mule the other day but is also going to mean some good deals when I sell my knives to some Yanks.

Actually you Americans should be checking out the Canadian exchanges now that you have a 20% off everything deal. If the item is made in North America there is no duty.

I HATE HATE HATE E-BAY. Unless you have something like a really nice Loveless ,a real
Vietnam SOG dagger with perfect provenance or some uber desirable piece you are much better off selling here.

Just set a fair price. Take a good couple photos. No you can't be to honest. I think that if I am overly cautious in pointing out any faults the buyer will be more likely to trust that
he won't find a huge flaw I covered up. It also makes for a happy customer when the flaws you pointed out are not as bad as he had imagined.

The rep system is not flawless but it is very good. I worked really hard to build up my rep score on the CGN exchange and it is not worth any 1 transaction to lose it. I will generally even offer their money back if they are unhappy although it has not happened yet.

I like to have shipping included in the price or at the very least let them know how much it is going to cost in total in your ad thread.

Unless you are really desperate take trades but only if they are substantially better than what you would get in cash.

Treat people really good. I would bet that more than 2/3ds of my buyers are people I have sold to before.
 
I've been an "EBayer" for years and I absolutely hate auctions with a reserve price. Just set your minimum price at the least amount you need to get for the item and do away with using a reserve. You will most definately get more bids. Thats MHO anyway.,,,VWB.
 
Since this is a commercial discussion rather than about knives themselves, GB&U might be a better place.
 
I agree first and foremost to go gold.

As for eBay, I personally don't do reserves and I set the minimum slightly under what everyone else ends up buying it for. I think people will tend to keep and eye on the item because they'll consider it a possible steal and maybe create a bidding frenzy at the last second. Worst case scenario aside from it not selling is that it sells for just under what it would normally sell for.

But if you do have fair prices and you go gold, there's no time limit and eventually someone will pick up the item if it's priced right.
 
One of my biggest gripes is shipping charges. If you're selling a lot of knives, make it easy for people to buy more than one and get a decent shipping price. I seldom buy just one knife and pay the full shipping. Selling a knife for $29.95 and then charging $12.95 shipping and only offer to refund the base price is a tactic too many people use. Advertising a low price and then making it up on shipping just pisses people off.

At some point you may want to sell the knives in lots and see if that works. As far as honesty goes, yes, be very honest on the condition of the knives or you'll find people leaving you poor feedback and, worse, having to go through the pains of processing returns.

People on eBay are looking for bargains. Also, with the stock market crashing, the economy is going to suffer in a major way. Eventually, inflation is going to be a major hassle and then, high prices with tight money—well, you get the point. It'll be a buyer's market for those who have resources. It's better to get rid of stock now, get the cash and bow out.
 
TooManyKnives101 said:
I'm currently selling a large collection of knives on Ebay and other places. I'd been doing pretty good until these last auctions. At the request of the owner, all the auctions have a reserve price. I had disagreed with this, thinking it would scare off potential bidders, but after these last auctions, I'm glad I had reserves in place. I always place the reserves just under the average price of completed auctions on the same knife in similar condition.

Might anyone have any advice?

Is there such a thing as being too honest about the condition of a knife on Ebay?

I have a large number of Case and Queens as well as all kinds of other knives. Do you think they would sell well on this website?

*I removed the links to the inactive auctions so as not to violate any forum rules*

This is just a sample of my last round of auctions. Any advice?
Click to expand...


Well the problem is (if you haven't been paying attention) the world is in a economic crisis. People stop buying toys when they are in the middle of losing their jobs, homes, cars, money in their 401's. This may be the reason for the reserves not being met, or the reason the auctions aren't bringing more.... Just a thought
 
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