Question about "Buy it now" on ebay

[KS Toronado]

Last time I had something on ebay I had a "buy it now" price but when the first bidder bid.
the "buy it now" price disappeared. Getting ready to put a pre 1930's Jayhawk Oils wall clock
up for bids. I have looked and looked for another one on line and never found one. They only had
about 2 dozen truck stops/cafes in Kansas in the 1920's, so I'm guessing that's probably about
the number of clocks they had made.

Really nice examples of their 1 quart oil cans bring $2,500 to $3,500 so I'm thinking the last wall
clock known to exist ought to be worth around $10,000.

How do I get the "buy it now" price to stay up? Or do I put a reserve price on it same as my "BTN"?

[MichMan]

1. You can't. BIN is only active as long as there are no bidders

If you are firm on the price and don't want to sell it less than BIN, put a reserve on it.

People won't know what the reserve is however, so that may depress bidding

[KS Toronado]

3. Was thinking it should go for around 5 grand

and I'd be happy with that. Was wondering if ebay would allow me to say in the description
that I would stop the auction and sell if I had an offer of $5,000?

[MichMan]

5. I don't believe you can do that

Once the BIN is gone, there is no way for someone to bid $5000. Their bid would only be enough to be one increment above the last bid.

You would want to put on a $5000 reserve then. I think you are allowed to mention the reserve in the description, but most people don't

[taxi]

2. There is a possibility that the potential buyer

placed a maximum bid that was equal to, or higher than, the buy it now price.
That would trigger his bid to be placed as the lowest acceptable, and because an offer exists (his maximum bid) that is equal to or greater than the buy it now price, the buy-it-now option disappears. His bidding in this manner would prevent others from purchasing the item as a buy it now, and he potentially gets it for the minimum posted bid. (I'm just guessing here)

[MichMan]

4. There are a few ways to look at it

Last edited Mon Mar 3, 2025, 06:53 PM - Edit history (1)

With a reserve, people won't know what it is. A potential bidder will place a bid, get a message "reserve not met" and will have no idea if they are even in the same ballpark. That tends to make people give up as they start thinking their chances of winning at a good price isn't going to happen.

The other mindset is to put no reserve at all. You are taking that risk that someone can "steal" it for much less than you want, but on the other hand, if it truly is that desirable, you will have multiple bidders wanting it and they can get auction fever. Easy in that case to keep going back and forth by bidding just a little more than the last person and ultimately get much more than you thought.

The third option, is to list it only with a Buy It Now price instead of allowing any bids. I think this is called a fixed price auction

[KS Toronado]

6. Thanks for that info MM