Action versus buy it now

I’m preparing to list some stamps! My shop had some preliminary listings nothing special and haven’t sold anything yet . I have some other stamps that are decent quality and I just don’t know if I should list them as auctions with a reserve, or no reserve or just list them as a regular sale not sure what everybody’s experience has been or does it matter

Comments

  • 10 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • Bid auctions receive more viewers than store items.! That's my opinion.! I can't speak for others.!
  • Surprisingly, views does not = sales.
    And the ratio of the two is not predictable. (I've been doing this on line for almost 30 years now, before even eBay existed).
    I wouldn't dwell too much on it.
    There is a balance between sales from auction and sales from the store. You have to be ready to put items in the store if they don't sell at auction their first (or however many times you want to "cycle" them) through.
  • Don't ask here. Study the listings out there now. What has bids, what doesn't? How much? And just tossing things into an auction does not guarantee anything. Folks participate in auctions when they sense a bargain, they won't bid on full price items (although it is amazing how many stamp sellers here do not understand that simple caveat). Forget
    reserves, I don't think HS has
    that option. And make damn sure just how much hipstamp is charging you for auction items that sell, and how these auctions work.

    Please understand that I am a customer here, not a dealer. I do most of my business through auctions, but I only deal with a couple of gentlemen who constantly provide 100-500 items for auction. Even so, they might close sales in only 20%-50% of their offerings. You must work very hard to make auctions work as a business model. My hard two cents is to establish a store and a reputation first, see if this thing is even going to work for you.To dribble just two or twenty items into auctions would probably be a waste of time and a risk. Create a store that works first. Good luck.
  • Listen to what Phil says. He is customer and a really good one at that. He is wise beyond his years...which is really saying something. But he offers very good advice.
  • Oy, have I got years....You want some years? I'm rich in years...
  • Ok ok...ya got me! Decades! LOL!
  • Age before beauty or beauty before age????
  • Personally, even with very low starting asking price (ie $2) I've had most auctions end with no bids, and a few single bids. The stamps listed I was expecting to sell quoits a bit higher. No longer auction....just list and have option to make an offer. Just keep adding stamps and do some research before fixing a price. Hang in there.
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