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A New Feature You Can Use To Increase Your eBay Profits

Until very recently, you had three ways to run an eBay listing for a single item.

You could either:

(a) Run an auction i.e. upload your item with a starting bid and leave it to the mercy of the bidders

(b) Decide how much the item was worth and list a Buy It Now (BIN) listing or

(c) Upload an auction but add an extra Buy It Now price to it so the auction finishes immediately if someone buys your item for the BIN price. If someone bids then the BIN option disappears.

However, eBay has now added a great new feature allowing potential bidders to Submit An Offer.

So, how can this be used to profit?

If you have read any of my previous posts you will know that I like to use BIN listings for almost all of my items.

There are two main reasons for this:

(1) Auctions are risky. eBay can be a very fickle place and one week an item may go for hundreds of pounds and the next it may go for pennies. Auctions depend on willing bidders, if there are very few willing bidders your item may be sniped at the last minute for next to nothing.

(2) Some users, those who know the value of the items I offer, are happy to buy at the price I determine as the BIN price. They buy and receive the item very quickly meaning that both parties are happy.

eBay has now added a new option allowing potential buyers to offer a price at which they are willing to buy.

This is great news for all eBay sellers. Now you can list an item with a high BIN price and ask potential buyers to offer their Best Price. If the price is acceptable, the seller can end the auction there and then and the buyer is obliged to buy the item at the price they offered.

Now, you no longer have to worry about your item being sold for next to nothing, you can invite offers and pick the winning bid!

For example:

Say you had a rare antique plate which you bought for 100. You know that the plate is worth 500 and you are not willing to auction it off for fear of it selling for pennies.

Because of this new ruling from eBay, you could list the plate with a Buy It Now price of 500 but also include the "Submit Best Offer" feature so interested parties can basically bid their highest bid.

If, during the duration of the listing, you do not receive the price you want, you do not need to sell it.

However, say 3 people submit their best offers, at 300, 350 and 400, you can pick the highest offer and sell to that person. Your item has now sold for 4 times what you paid for it and you are at no risk whatsoever of losing money.

The "Submit Best Offer" feature is like an auction where you can determine what the end price is. If no-one offers the price you want, let the listing expire and list it again. Wait for your best offer.

To use this new feature to its best ability I would set the BIN price to a little higher than what the item is worth. In the description, mark clearly that you are open to offers and steer the interested buyers to the Submit feature.

You never know, someone may just buy the item for the BIN price and save you a lot of work!

About the author:

Ben Catt is an active eBay buyer and seller and runs an eBay Tips and Tricks website found at http://www.BenCatt.com. He also runs a business opportunity information site - http://www.BizOppsUK.com