A trip to Ebay in my future, I guess

[kinzel]

Sigh...

I don't like Ebay all that much but it looks like the bet since we've come up with a few copies of some of the harder to find books, like I Dare and and Pilots Choice and the first edition Partner in Necessity among the miscellany I picked up ion Atlanta. We've had multiple requests for all this stuff...

so tell, do, what's the best thing for bidders? A 1 week deadline? A 24 hour deadline?
When I have multiple copies in different states (one signed/dated to a principal of the company, for example, and the others unsigned (but signable!) should I put them up at the same time or one after another...

Should I permit a "buy now" with some off-the-wall high bid?

Gah, can you believe someone's asking $127 for the Ace version of Agent of Change? Heck, I think I may have a couple Del Rey copies around here - should I put them up to?

Real questions: I find in these different boxes a couple of the out of print SRM chapbooks as well as some Meisha Merlin stuff. Should I just list one each of them as well? What kind of starting bids make sense -- don't want to scare people away...

We have a few odds and ends of other things around -- for example, I know have the (somewhat dinged up)cover - poster of Crystal Dragon and of Balance of Trade -- anyone interested in them?

Advice from experienced ebayers welcome, but as always we'll make up our own mind...

Comments

[robotech-master.livejournal.com]

One thing I've always heard is that it's best to time your auctions so that they end on weekends, which means they'll be right near the top of the list when the majority of people are home and surfing ebay on their computers. Depending on when you place the auction, that might be 3, 5, or 7 days, as long as it ends on the weekend.

Beyond that: don't set your minimum bid for less than you're willing to take for the book. Eschew reserve prices, they only cost you more listing fee and they're a dishonest trick to get people to bid because they think they see a bargain, when in actual fact the seller won't be selling unless he gets a much higher price than that.

Buy Now prices are tricky things, because if you set them and they sell right away, then you may feel down on yourself for not setting them higher, or letting the auction run. But on the other hand, they do get you the money, right away. Whether to use them is in the end up to you, though I think I would leave off on them until you get a sense of how much money people are willing to pay for your books.

And for the signable ones, mention that you'll personalize the inscription in the item description; that should push the bid up a little higher. :)

[(Anonymous)]

Also I woulf suggest you allow combined shipping. I sometimes will bid higher if I can combine the shipping costs to lower overall price but if I don't win it still has raised the price of the second item.

Thomas Monaghan