Over priced buy it now!

[fentonfrk]

Can someone please expain to me why some dealers on ebay leave their items at an overpriced buy it now for YEARS! Doesnt it makes sense to reduce until it sells? There are some auctions on ebay that have been re-cycling over and over for years. I dont get it.

[hosman321]

I know what you mean! I see some things at 10 times their worth. I can't believe it. Is there some kind of membership on ebay where a seller pays a set amount and can post unlimited items? That's all I can think of. Because I believe you pay the insertion fee even if the item doesn't sell. So why would you keep paying the fees for months or years on end? They think, "Someday, somebody will come along and buy this." Not true.

[waywardangler]

I see the same happening in retail antique shops where stale high priced stock is there year after year.  I am not sure how this works on eBay but I think the insertion fees are very low for BIN and they probably hit one now and then that pays for all the dead stock that just sits there.  Maybe ironlord knows how this works.?

[ironlord1963]

    Not really see this all the time too.  I figure that they hope that someone will come along and really want it bad enough to pay.  I had a friend that tried to convience me it was a way a Laundry bad money, but really don't think so.  Image the buyer bonus point you would get though 

[fentonfrk]

I have noticed that at antique shops as well. I've been going to the same stores for a few years now and its getting to the point where there isnt anything new to see. Just the sae old over-priced crap that they think is worth a fortune. I dont get how people can stay in business when they never sell anything.

[hosman321]

I wonder how some stay in business, too. Especially the ones that are full of "vintage" items from the 60's-70's. And even those things are priced way too high. I think the owners must have a decent amount of money and the shops are their hobbies or are just supplemental income. Or, they inherited the building and have no monthly payment. So they just make make enough to pay the electric bill. But you know what? Most shops rent out their spaces. Most spaces around here are $200-$500 per month. Get 40 renters and you make a good income. The building owners don't care if the stuff sells, they still get their money. If a renter shuts down for not selling much, there will be another to move right in.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Buy it Now is a funny thing. I've also seen items that were fair and reasonably priced that just sit, sit, sit and other times when people pay more in their bids when they could have picked it up cheaper on Buy it Now. I suppose it is possible that bidders missed the duplicate listing, but I think part of the allure of Ebay is the thrill of the hunt and winning your bid. It can become an addiction, that is for sure!

[talesofthesevenseas]

Talk about bad moves on the part of a seller- I have been watching this one seller who had a quite nice, if not terribly valuable Victorian two-piece sideboard. They gave away the bottom half in the free section. It needed considerable restoration/refinishing. But they were asking $125 for the mirrored upper half that is in good shape. In the original listing the seller said they had hung it on the wall by itself. Well, it should have come as no big surprise that some industrious antiquer took the bottom of the sideboard and left behind the $125 mirror. Now they are trying to sell the upper half by itself without the sideboard it belongs with!
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/atq/1826176896.html

[Slappy Finds]

Most likely they do it because it costs them little, and one day, someone is gonna need one of those items at any cost for whatever reason, and it gets bought, or it is just for someone who does not do their homework before making an online purchase(believe me there are many people who just go online and buy from the first seller/reseller they see).