Ebay reserves

[Ariel Badger]

I am bidding on a bike on ebay. The starting bid is £500 and I have bid £650 max. It has a reserve price that has not been hit and my bid stands at £510.
If no one else bids my max bid will never come up even if it is over the limit. I feel reserves hamper a lot of auctions especially when they are vastly over the sellers opening bid, I have seen a machine attract 18 bids and not hit reserve.
Comments please
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[Barker-CBR 600]

Could always email/message the seller and ask what the reserve is and that you'd pay it (if its under your max) privately or on a buy it now deal if it doesnt get there.

I am in two minds about reserves, situations like this they are annoying but then in the sellers mind they might not want to let it go for less than (say for example) 600 or thereabouts... Depends whether they are after any sale or a certain amount.

Just like buying private, if they didnt have a minimum they could always be argued lower!

Annoying though
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Previous - Gilera DNA50 / XVS125 Dragstar/Honda CBR 600F/GSF 650 Bandit
Current - 2013 Suzuki VZ800 Intruder
'Is this a rhetorical question?'

[TheShaggyDA]

There's a difference in fees between starting low, but having a reserve, and starting higher with no reserve. Some people aren't prepared to pay the difference, I prefer to start auctions at what would be my reserve, so I know it sells on the first bid for the minimum amount I am willing to accept. However, starting lower attracts more attention, and gets some people into a bidding frenzy which can potentially generate a higher final price.

I think it all balances in the long run, and have stopped worrying about it.
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Current: CB500 Previous: CB100N, CB250RS, XJ900F, GT550, GPZ750R/1000RX, AJS M16, R100RT, Enfield Bullet

[i:6e3bfc7581]But still I fear and still I dare not laugh at the madman...[/i:6e3bfc7581]

[Louise]

I normally just ask the seller what the reserve is. Some tell you some dont.
Some people place a reserve at a stupid ammount, so if it sells at a nice price the seller will offer a 2nd chance to the high bidder.

[angryjonny]

What if I'm prepared to pay the reserve but no-one else is? I need someone to bid against me to get my bid up to the reserve, but if no-one else is willing then where does that leave me? Does Ebay have a mechanism for handling this, or is this where I have to start negotiating with the seller?

[NSR Mick]

[TheShaggyDA]

It's what second accounts are for
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Current: CB500 Previous: CB100N, CB250RS, XJ900F, GT550, GPZ750R/1000RX, AJS M16, R100RT, Enfield Bullet

[i:6e3bfc7581]But still I fear and still I dare not laugh at the madman...[/i:6e3bfc7581]

[Ariel Badger]

It makes a mockery of the system though.
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[TheShaggyDA]

If there are aspects of the system you don't like and can work around them, then go for it. IMHO.
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Current: CB500 Previous: CB100N, CB250RS, XJ900F, GT550, GPZ750R/1000RX, AJS M16, R100RT, Enfield Bullet

[i:6e3bfc7581]But still I fear and still I dare not laugh at the madman...[/i:6e3bfc7581]

[The Tot]

My mate gets me and my other mates to put bids on items he's selling to try and find out what the maximum bid of a genuine bidder is. We tend to go by fractions of his intended selling price and try not to go past it. Once, it backfired on him when his friend put in 3 quid and 47 pence too much and actually won the item. what came next was pretty funny as he put

"Congratulations for winning your 42nd feedback score " in his feedback column!
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
Never argue with autism

[JGY6000]

your getting confused, if the reserve is say £700 and you have bid £650 max, it will go up to £650 and say reserve not met, if you bid 750max it will go to the reserve price of £700 and will leave it as reserve met and leave you £50

[Louise]

I know few mates put in a stupid high bid. Then you see the reserve, then you retract the bid. But, some sellers might ban you from that auction. Hence, as it was said a second account is worth having.

[Colin G]

If your highest bid is above the reserve price then it automatically puts your bid upto the reserve price and removes the reserve.

Ie, if the starting price is £100, reserve is £250 and you stuck in a £350 bid, then it would put your bid at £250 and the reserve taken off, making you the current highest winning bidder
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Speed doesn't kill. The sudden stopping does.
Current Bike: Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird
Previous Bikes: 1989 Honda Vision(Sold), 1983 Honda H100 (Sold), 2000 Kymco Stryker 125 (Sold), 1991 Suzuki GS500E (Blown Up), 1994 Suzuki GS500E (Blown Up), 1993 Kawasaki ZZR600 E1 (written off), 1999 Suzuki GSXR750 SRAD (Sold), 2003 Aprilia RSV1000 Mille (Sold)

[G]

It never used to bid up to the reserve price unless someone already had.

I've been in situations where I've bid over reserve, but not won the auction in the past.

I generally avoid reserve auctions unless I know the reserve - otherwise it's too much of a waste of time for me.

Anyway, always leave bidding to the last seconds, so the confusion is soon cleared up about whether or not I've won within five seconds.

[Bishbash]

Jose, you beat me to it, that is exactly how it works, in theory the reserve is like a phantom bidder, you can always send an offer to the seller.

I know some sellers do not like to reveal the reserve. I dont know why but they dont!

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

if you bid 650 and it's at 500 reserve not meant, then the reserve is higher than 650. If your maximum bid is higher than the reserve then it jumps to the reserve price.
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[G]

Anyone know when they changed to this behaviour?

Does it just happen at the end, or while bidding?

[Blau Zedong]

[Bishbash]