Setting the Slow Item Starting Bid Price

After finishing my Guide page regarding Buying and Selling Laserdiscs, I remembered that there was an important rule to be covered. It applies to not only laserdiscs, but most any “not so popular” item you plan to sell on eBay.

The starting bid price can be crucial!

When I first started with buying and selling on eBay in 1999, I was interested in Japanese Anime Cels. I loved ‘em … still do! I used to think that eBay was the great equalizer … that eBay would let the free market determine the true value of whatever you had to sell. When my cels for the anime “Tenchi Muyo!” went up for auction, people would snap them up. I could start my bidding at 0.99 and be certain that the competitive bidding would drive the price up to the cel’s true market value. If you have iPod parts or model airplane motors or something like that where the market is hot … eBay still works.

Today I am interested in laserdiscs and laserdisc players. (A lot of the best anime was released on laserdisc … and it is still out there to be purchased … on eBay!)

I have tried selling some of my laserdisc collection on eBay and WOW … the laserdisc market is SLOW. True … there may be 4700 or 6200 listings at any moment … but … many discs get no bids. I buy discs every once in a while and I am often the only bidder when I “win” the auction. (Maybe it’s just my peculiar choice of titles”:o). There is rarely any competitive bidding unless the disc is a known collectible … like “Song of the South” or a KISS concert. I found that if I tried to attract bidders by asking only a 0.99 starting bid … that’s what it sold for … one bidder … 0.99 + shipping.

Some guys already know about the weak market and try to charge high shipping to compensate for the probable low selling price. I do not buy from those guys. When I sell an item, I charge … and when I buy, I expect to pay … a fair, “close to actual” shipping price.

No … the only way around it is to know the value of what you are selling.

Do a little research. Search for your item … or a similar one … on eBay. Google it and see what comes up. Try to find links that might allow you to get a price idea. With laserdiscs, there is a database website that lists nearly all of the titles and all of their versions that were ever made. I am sure that other collectibles have similar data sources available. eBay has a market research tool that you can subscribe to. There are a couple of levels of depth that you can choose from. I have two eBay handles … one for my online business and one for personal “fun” stuff. I do subscribe to the Market Research tool with my business handle and I find it to be a very handy tool. Even with that tool … your view of the market can be skewed. If the last seventeen laserdiscs sold for 0.99 … that will be in the report. The report will not say that if the seller had asked for $5.95 … he’d have sold them for $5.95.

That’s what I am trying to say here: If an item is likely to be “not too popular”, the seller must put his starting price at the minimum value that you will accept for the item. If you just want your 0.99 … then ask for it. If you think it’s worth $50 … ask for that! Worst case … it doesn’t sell. That’s OK … you didn’t lose $49.01 by asking only 0.99. You can relist for a lower price or stand by your gut feeling and ask for the $50 again.

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