Understanding the Different eBay Auction Types.


Over the years, eBay has introduced all sorts of
different auction types, in an effort to give people
more options when they buy and sell their things
on eBay.

There are many people who don't like the idea that
their item might sell for a far lower price than they
intend. Equally, there are people who have
hundreds of the same item and don't want to sell
them individually. This page gives you an overview
of the different kinds of auctions and how to spot
them.

Normal Auctions.

These are the bread-and-butter of eBay, the
auctions everyone knows: you bid, others outbid
you, you outbid them, and the winner gets the item.
Simple.

Reserve Auctions.

Reserve auctions are for sellers who don't want their items to sell for less than a certain price - a
concept you'll know about if you're familiar with real auctions. They work just like normal auctions on
eBay, except that you will be told if your bid has not met the reserve price set by the seller. If no-one is
willing to meet this price, then the auction is cancelled, and the seller keeps the item.

You can spot these auctions by looking out for 'Reserve not met' or 'Reserve met' written next to the
current bid on an item's description page.

Fixed Price ('Buy it Now') Auctions.

Buy it Now auctions can work in one of two ways. A seller might add a Buy it Now button to a normal
auction, meaning that you can choose either to bid normally or to simply pay the asking price and
avoid the whole bidding process. Some sellers, though, now cut out the auction process altogether
and simply list all their items at fixed price. Recently, eBay added a twist to fixed price auctions: the
'best offer'. This means that you can negotiate a price to someone who offers their items using Buy it
Now, which could be a great way to get a bargain on things that don't seem to be selling.

Fixed price auctions are easy to spot, as they have a little 'Buy it Now' logo either next to or instead of
the current number of bids on the search listings page.

Multiple Item ('Dutch') Auctions.

These are auctions where a seller is selling more than one of a certain item. Dutch auctions can be
done by bidding. Buyers bid a price and say how many items they want, and then everyone pays the
lowest price that was bid by one of the winning
bidders. If you have trouble getting your head
around that, then don't worry - everyone else does
too! These auctions are very rare.

What is more common is when a seller has a lot of
one item, and lists it using a combination of two
auction types: a multiple-item fixed price auction.
This just means that they say how many they have,
and offer them at a fixed price. You can enter how
many you want and then just click 'Buy it Now' to
get them.

After all this, you might find yourself facing a
dilemma: when you have the option, should you
bid, or should you just use Buy it Now and save
yourself the hassle?
That's what the next page will be about.
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All work is World copyright protected - P. Moring      2009
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