Buying & Selling Thru Ebay & Other Auctions/Open Auction & BIN

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Expert: Rob James - 10/24/2008


Question
Hi,
I make custom gowns and sell them on Ebay. Currently, I have one listed. I usually get alot of inquiries from buyers want to buy one on a BIN listing.  Can I offer a similar gown to the one listed on a BIN basis before the open auction has ended? Or would it be better to tell the buyer I can offer a BIN after the open auction has ended?
Thanks so much for your help!


Answer
Hello,

The option is really yours. My rule of thumb is if I have a buyer interested in my items and is willing to pay a price I feel is fair, I will make the sale. If they want to try to get the item for less by going through the auction then that is their choice. However, if you are willing to sell an item direct and the buyer is willing to pay, there is no reason to make them wait. You are better off making the sale quickly rather than risking losing the customer by making him wait until the other auction has ended.

Rob

Buying & Selling Thru Ebay & Other Auctions

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Rob James

Expertise

Hi there! After being a member of the eBay "community" for the past ten years, I have decided to look elsewhere to sell my items. Ebay has, and will agiain in the next month, instituted rediculous policies and fee increases that are not beneficial to the small seller. They are positioning themselves to be another site such as Amazon and are forcing sellers to reduce or eliminate shipping charges (even when they must pay to ship items) as well as preventing the acceptence of checks or money orders as payment. This is all geared to improve eBay's bottom line. I will still be happy to help answer most any question you may have regarding the buying and selling experience on eBay based on my experiences. However, I am looking at sites such as ebid.net that are much more favorable to us small sellers and buyers. You may want to check them out as well.

Experience

I've been an active member on eBay for almost ten years. I started buying and selling as a hobby and turned it into a business that I ran from home for a time.

Education/Credentials
Nothing special here. Some college. Went to work in the computer industry when the PC was just rolling out to the desktops of the world. I'm streetsmart and self taught in most things I know. Especially with eBay and online selling.

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