Burned and learned

john o'neil

Having very slow activity ( both sales and new views) of late, I decided to try posting some auctions. Posted several stamps with low starting bids ($2- $3). The stamps were not cannon fodder (IMO). The result was two sales, and the rest no bids. The two sales sold at starting bids. Both were unused Ascension high denom with combined CV's of around $70. Combined sale price for both...$5. I mailed them this morning and congratulated the buyer. Think I will just stick to being patient.

Michael Generali

Be patient and keep adding more to your store as you can.

john o'neil

In process...thanks!

Alan Jacobsen

Buying collectable stamps is a luxury.
When sales slow down, Is this an indicator of a coming recession?

Dan Shilcrat

@john o'neil... My first online store was the old version of DelCampe. The site had an automatic pop-up screen, a Disclaimer before you could finalize an Auction Listing. It read to the effect of..'We are a new site with limited following.. be aware that your starting Bid may very well be your final Bid' I took it to heart & would set my start price at what I felt was my lowest acceptible 'Make a best offer' only with time & sales did I gain the confidence to offer a lower start price. You have a good store & no doubt will be succesful.. view from the Desert.

Bill O'Malley

Alan,

You are correct.

Scott Payton

Agree with Dan, in all platforms. We essentially set what we will accept as a minimum as our starting bid. "Sniping" is the main reason this has been a "race to the bottom". In my opinion, it has nearly crippled the stamp world, and driven prices low. Why? Because the "online auctions" aren't interested in getting maximum value out of the item, they are driven by getting the cheapest price to the buyer. I would qualify that as "unattended auctions", where the auction has a time limit, and when the time is up, he who bid the maximum minimum wins.

Live bidding auctions (can still be virtual) drive much better results. Why? Because when people are still bidding, there is no "timer". You sell when the bidding stops. I have suggested to every major platform to create an alternate auction type, where so long as there is bidding in within 5 minutes, the auction runs until the bidding stops. Yet no one has done this. I would pay a premium for listings for this type of auction. Not sure why it's always disregarded. This is an auction that favors maximum realization of the value of material.

john o'neil

Interesting thoughts all

Jerry.Burkhart

Stamp Auctions online have always been in the past 10 years a place where you state an opening price that you are ok with if it closes at that price. Anything else is a risk of not meeting your $$ final sale wants. :-) No out of site- automatic snipping on this site so i really doubt we can blame the auto snipers for the lack of bids? that leaves little to no interest in the item, low viewership of the auctions and a smart bidder that waits to the last second to bid? Any changes to this auction format to benefit the seller would most likely result in much less viewership, participation? :-) Buyers have gotten a lot smarter in the past 10 years and I doubt they will go backwards on what they learned. This includes seller shill bidding that was rampant on Ebay years ago with many getting charged criminally for fraud and theft.

I might add that personally, i do not even look at the auctions on this site. https://www.hipstamp.com/browse/?keywords=revenue&sort=started_desc&listing_type=auction example of what this site has to offer in "revenues" on auction format. the same search on Ebay pulls up 6,500+ results for revenue in Auction format.

john o'neil

Pulled it up Gerry.....50 revenue listings. Hardly a pittance compared to the 6500 you mention. Not quite sure how to, or if to, react to this. Obviously, Hipstamp is nowhere near in viewership size as Ebay. There sure seem some long time, knowledgeable, sellers on this site. One thought that comes to mind right away....If I have a choice of looking at 50 vs 6500 listings, I might just look at the 50 first....6500 is pretty daunting. Maybe some longtime sellers on this site might chime in with their thoughts.

I appreciate your input.

Jerry.Burkhart

I think the Auction format is fantastic.. as it is presented here. Maybe could use a few tweeks but seems ok to me. The issue as i see it is the Pricing and Quality of merchandise offered. The items that are priced well are low quality and not a lot of people looking for them but note the price is fine. then there is the insane constant relisting of the overpriced items 5x-10X to 100x overcharged value. with 50 items total listed these stand out and i do believe pricing is the seller's decision. solution? perhaps some sort of site wide bonus for sellers that list auction format and actually sell what they list? not sure but the solution rest with the management - if they want more traffic on this site the auctions are a great place to start. perhaps a fee to list Auction format then a double or triple (or even10x!) Auction listing fee refund if the item sells? listing # credits or cash? this resolves the insane pricing and rewards the ones that sell and attract buyers to this site through auction format?

Unless you are trying to attract buyers to your store through an auction low priced givaway (great idea) I suggest listing at a price that is not going to feel bad when and if it sells. :-) I do not think overpriced auctions will attract buyers to one's store- just the opposite!. Most sellers here have ok priced material that would be great for auction. the other ones are dreamers and have created museums of items that will never sell. I buy Revenues, Cinderellas, telegraphs and general unlisted in Scott catalog type of material. I prefer larger lots but i buy single items often.

Don Leischner

Does the hipstamp auction listing allow for a reserve? Where the opening bid can be low but if the reserve isn't met, the item doesn't sell?

Jerry.Burkhart

that would be a nice option.

Ted Tyszka

There is no Reserve option when listing auctions. I seem to recall Mark addressing this issue back in the early days. I don't remember what his explanation was, but I agreed with it. My take is that hidden reserves are borderline dishonest. Customers are bidding in good faith, and then being told, "I fooled you; I'm not really going to sell it at that bid." Reserves just jerk your chain and waste your time.

Jerry.Burkhart

i have to say i have never bid on a reserve auction or used one for selling.

Don Leischner

It's not dishonest if the fact there is a reserve is disclosed up front. Even live auction houses use this occasionally. In fact, a couple auctions ago, I watched a painting not sell because of a reserve. The closing bid was ridiculous, so I can't imagine what the reserve was. I don't have a dog in the fight, I don't do auctions. I was just curious. I do agree with the reasoning for not allowing it. I imagine it would also deter some bidders for the reasons mentioned.

Phil Merrill_

These are not "reserve auctions," they are "reserve bids," and be careful what you wish for.

Every reputable auctioneer in this country will advise you against reserve bids, but they won't stop you. If you put something up for auction with the minimum price you need for a profit and no one bites, then you have a no sale and you are only out the entry fee.

If you put something up with a hidden reserve bid, then you are essentially bidding on your own property to make sure it is not bought cheaply. The thing is, if no one bids over your reserve bid, then you are the lucky winner. You don't need to pay for your own property, but you still owe the auctioneer's commission.

So yeah, that's a great idea....For those who don't get the intent, I am being sarcastic.

The purpose of hidden reserves is for serious sellers of high-end properties to determine the market for unique items. If they don't make a sale, they discover where to start negotiations next time. Unfortunately, reserves are too often used by timid property owners who are not really sure if they want to sell. The auction house will let you, they still get a commission, but they would really rather not.

For most stamps on hipstamp, reserve bids would be an insulting waste of time and money. Dealers would be nickel and dimeing themselves to desth.For stamps that are worth a reserve, you would sell them at larger auction firms, not here.
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