I would like to auction something on ebay, how do I know the satrting price?

Question

I am wanting to put up for auction a pink pair of pants from Hot Topic, that have little wear that I got autographed by 3 different bands; Less Than Jake,New Found Glory and another band I can not remember off the top of my head.

What should I ask for the starting price?

Answer 1

A lot of sellers start the bidding at 99 cents for a lower ebay fee and to promote bidding. But you can do an advanced search and see what similar items have already sold for and what the starting bid was.

Answer 2

Cool! I would recommend putting the pants with starting price of a penny. That way, many people get interested and it starts a bidding war. People get attached to the product and often end up paying more than they originally wanted. If you are afraid you won't get enough money for them, then put the starting price of a penny but put in a reserve price. That way, people will get excited, start the bidding war, but no one wins if it doesn't reach your desired price. I would say around $20.

If you put too high a price upfront, people will glance over it without realizing what it really is.

It's the psychology of auctions. :)

Answer 3

i agree with tidbit. search for a similar item, then do an advanced search. check the "completed sales" box. that's what i do to get an idea of where to start my prices. of course you'll have to add more for the autographs. (that amount could be a bit tricky to decide). i use "reserve" pricing often. others don't. but i've had good luck that way. and if bidding is slow, i reduce the "reserve" towards the end. (you can do this until there are only 12 hours left.) that seems to spark the bidding!

Answer 4

That a difficult one. You could try looking for similar memorabilia on other auction sites to get an idea. A site like Auction Alfie http://www.auctionalfie.com would be useful in that circumstance.