Replies

1. 
   sueb | Oct 30, 2003 03:33am | #1

   I've been "ebaying" for a while now and here's what I've learned about how people bid.  When people buy something on ebay they want to feel like they're getting a bargain and I think a lot of the draw to buy on ebay is the whole bidding against  someone else and then "winning" the item.  I looked at your item and a couple of things come to mind.  Your starting price is really high.  You might be better off lowering your starting bid and putting in a reserve.  If you start the bidding at the price you want to get you lessen your chance of getting an opening bid which get's someone else to look at it and then someone else etc... 

   My other experience has been that the smart bidders who really want an item wait until the last moments before an item is going to end before they'll bid.  This keeps the end price lower for the buyer because it eliminates the bidding wars that happen.  I myself when I'm buying on ebay will put things on my watch list and I won't bid until literally minutes before the item ends.

   It's also been my experience that a lot of items don't sell the first time around but almost everything I put out for the second time sells. 

   I see that you've done a lot of business on ebay based on the amount of feedback ratings that you have (way way more than me) so I'm probably not telling you anything you don't already know but I thought I'd offer some thoughts anyway.

   sueb

1. 
   Heidistei | Oct 30, 2003 04:13am | #2

   Thanks Sueb. I originally started out with a $79.99 price, but then i was worried about "giving it away". i put in a call to an auction house in NYC to try to get an estimate of its value, but haven't heard from them. i raised the price, because it was hardly getting any looks, and i was worried (did i say that already?). since then, i posted about it on this board, and also on the Threads magazine board--the looks have gone up since then, so i would like to think that it has helped. i did get one question about the sweater this morning, and i am assuming that if somebody is asking a question, they are taking my auction seriously.

   ......so.......

   i think for now i'll leave it at the expensive price, and see how it plays out. i guess my other line of reasoning was that before i "gave it away" at $79.99 (which really wouldn't be giving it away), i would prefer to donate it to a museum or some knitting collection, which i think would be a really cool thing (an editor at interweave mentioned the Victoria and Albert Museum in London). i'll test the waters and see what happens. it's so difficult when you have expectations--i've read so much about these sweaters, and how "sought after" they are--but i don't know if people expect to find them, and so, may not look for them on ebay.

   thanks so much for your insightful comments. i was so excited to see that somebody read my post! and took the time to respond! I told somebody at some knitting publication that it is more fun to sell sweaters than Manolo Blahnik shoes--the buyers are more appreciative, and the folks that are in to it are really in to it!!!

   good luck with your ebay sales! isn't it too much fun????

   Heidi