Just as price guides can drive the prices of collectibles, fixed-priced listings can influence the outcome of auctions. Not only that, but I find that I often end up selling a book right after someone loses an auction for the same book on eBay. I have to wonder what would have happened in the eBay auction had I not had one up for sale.
Recently, a dust-jacketed copy of The Outdoor Girls in the Air in the original Grosset and Dunlap edition sold in an eBay auction. The book closed at $67.89, which is remarkably close to the price of my book, $64.99, which has been up for sale on Bonanzle for many months. Coincidence? Absolutely not.
The under bidder of the eBay auction promptly came to my Bonanzle booth and purchased my book at $64.99. That person apparently set his high bid with my book in mind, so my book potentially kept the price of the eBay auction down. This is smart bidding, since many people bid huge amounts without checking to see whether other copies are available.
How would the eBay auction have fared if I had not had one up for sale?
Recently, a dust-jacketed copy of The Outdoor Girls in the Air in the original Grosset and Dunlap edition sold in an eBay auction. The book closed at $67.89, which is remarkably close to the price of my book, $64.99, which has been up for sale on Bonanzle for many months. Coincidence? Absolutely not.
The under bidder of the eBay auction promptly came to my Bonanzle booth and purchased my book at $64.99. That person apparently set his high bid with my book in mind, so my book potentially kept the price of the eBay auction down. This is smart bidding, since many people bid huge amounts without checking to see whether other copies are available.
How would the eBay auction have fared if I had not had one up for sale?
1 comment:
I've done that before. I bid on a Girls of Central High book and got outbid, so I just went head and purchased a fixed price copy of it. I usually determine how much I am willing to bid on a book based on what kind of fixed price books are available on ebay, Abe, Amazon, etc. and compare that with how much I am personally willing to spend (Like if a copy of Beverly Gray at Worlds Fair come up for auction on ebay, just because the cheapest price I could get elsewhere is $600, that doesn't mean I'm bidding $600 on the book).
As for the Outdoor Girls book, I would think that auction price could have gone higher if your fixed price listing wasn't available. I guess how much higher would have depended on how much more that underbidder would have been willing to go.
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