Bladeauction bids that start at 1.00?? Please advise!

scarecrow · Post by **scarecrow** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 4:22 am

I have been bidding on bladeauction for a while. I have noticed some bidding that starts at a dollor. It seems obvious that the knives being bid on are worth much more than that. What is the seller doing? Please explain why bidding on a 40.00 knife would start at 1.00?

Thanks beforehand,
George

sammy da blade · Post by **sammy da blade** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 4:42 am

they start them at $1 just to get the ball rolling! keeps you from putting a $5 bid on it 1 minute before the auction ends and winning.

Vagrant · Post by **Vagrant** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 6:00 am

The bidding may start at $1 but there is probably a "reserve" that the bidding must reach or there's no sale. If it has a reserve you will see "reserve met" posted once the bidding gets to a certain point. Most sellers will not reveal the reserve price before it is met.

Post by **natcherly** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 7:31 am

The $1 starting bid is just one way to attract bidders. The strategy for the seller in an auction is to attract as many interested bidders as possible thereby increasing the likelyhood of some spirited bidding. This can result in a much higher final sales price than would be achieved by only a couple of bidders.

mrbigg · Post by **mrbigg** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 7:47 am

also - on ebay - the cost of listing an item is on a sliding scale - lowest with $1 starts, and costs more as you raise the opening bid.

pretty sure BA works that way too...

sammy da blade · Post by **sammy da blade** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 7:55 am

BA fee's are a percentage of the sale price. they also have listing fee's, which are nominal. the last knife i sold on BA was about three months ago, i've never been billed for it. unless you sell something for a bizillon dollars it's pretty cheap to sell a knife on BA.

scarecrow · Post by **scarecrow** » Fri Dec 17, 2004 2:53 am

Thanks to you all for the info. I can always count on you guys to have the answers.

George