As a buyer, do you prefer auctions or fixed price?

General
1

Last week I bid in an auction, which made me realize I had not bid in an auction for years. When I search for cards I want, I filter by Buy It Now immediately and do not even look at the auction listings. If a suitable card is not available in this format, I do not even think to check the auction listings. I consider the card not available. Only when I am trawling the depths of auction sites looking for really rare items do I cast a wide net and pore over auctions. But for regular purchases, I always go for fixed price.

Even with this auction I bid on, there was a best offer option that I attempted to take advantage of. The seller rejected my offer, so I decided to just bid that amount and see what happened. I won it at a $2 difference. So for me, I just had to wait six days to buy the card I had wanted to buy at the same price I wanted to buy it.

I know that it is childish to admit this, but I do not like having to wait for auctions to end. When I am looking to make a purchase I want to make that purchase immediately. I do not like having to wait up to seven days for the listing to end, nor do I want to have to camp the final moments of the auction to make my offer. This is too much energy and attention for me to invest when the alternative is clicking one button. The instant gratification of buying a card immediately versus waiting for it also inclines me to spend more than I would otherwise bid because I ask myself if I would be willing to spend an extra $20, $50, etc to get the card right now and the answer is usually yes. Everything about the auction format is a deterrent to me. I am likely to bid lower amounts, if I remember to go back and bid at all, and the entire time I am waiting I will be looking for another option.

However I recognize this cannot be a universal experience, because it seems to have the opposite effect on a lot of other buyers. Time and time again auctions sell when fixed price listings donā€™t. They sell for higher amounts, too. I can sort of understand the psychology of this. People are drawn to the allure of maybe getting the card cheaply, and as the auction nears its conclusion people are invested and donā€™t want to let it go even if they donā€™t. But it surprises me still that the auction format is so lucrative when itā€™s something I find so unappealing.

As a personal experiment I listed a dozen cards or so at 99 cent auctions that I would normally list at fixed prices. These are low value cards, $5-$15 each, and itā€™s clear based on the watchers that people are more drawn to these listings than they would be if Iā€™d just listed them as my usual fixed price/offer combo. Is it just the fear of missing out? Do people not feel motivated to go for a fixed price listing because thereā€™s no ticking clock?

I know this is a weird question to ask, and obviously the auction format is preferable for high dollar high demand cards. But as a buyer, what do you gravitate towards? What do you think happens in peopleā€™s brains that makes the results of these kinds of listings so different? Highly established sellers swear by the 99 cent auction format. It is the basis of their entire business. The facts are quite clear in that respect. Why do we think this is, folks?

4 Likes
2

As a buyer in 2020 I mainly used buy it now because more sellers would underprice cards with out of date values as the prices quickly went up

Now in the falling market I notice that the opposite is happening where sellers tend to overprice cards with outdated prices

I mainly buy through auctions these days unless itā€™s a card I really want

Also as a seller I have had mixed results with auctions so stick to BIN to be safe (but can take ages to sell)

Iā€™ve started auctions for low level cards at Ā£0.01 and had them finish for under Ā£1 leaving me at a loss, but sometimes see people bid over BIN prices and wonder why. It could just be an overreaction in the moment or because some buyers only check auctions

5 Likes
3

It really depends, I prefer each one under different conditions. Fixed price/buy it now is definitely most convenient as you can just search around for a card and have it on the way pretty much within a day or 2 without having to wait for the auction and dealing with trying to win said auction.

However, I find I have often paid a premium for fixed prices over auctions where I have generally gotten much better deals in terms of prices. With fixed listings, it seems you are paying for that added convenience at times (i.e. readily available, no waiting).

On the other hand, it could also depend on various market conditions and the specific card you are shopping for. When a certain card has a ton of listings, the fixed pricing can continually drop and this is where it can be a great card to pick up because as a buyer you have tons of options to choose from. The sellers then end up having to compete more, and they end up pricing the cards down accordingly until the supply dries up. This sets them up to be a good deal, even compared to most auctions.

So overall, I think it can be a variety of factors that make me decide which to go for. If I can find a fixed listing at a great price where itā€™s comparable to recent auction sales, Iā€™ll generally go for it. At the same time, if I canā€™t get a good deal on a fixed listing, Iā€™ll try my luck playing the auctions to save money and try and snipe a deal. By doing this rather consistently, I have locked in many gains on just about every card I have bought so far and offset any short-term losses along the way.

4

For me it really depends on price. Iā€™ve seen auctions go for way below market, and auctions go way above market. Buy it now usually sits somewhere in the middle for what Iā€™ve seen. Iā€™ve been doing a lot of buying and selling this month of my own collection and brining new things in. My watch list and ended list is FULL of cards and one particular card Iā€™ve been chasing on my ended list about a month ago auctioned for Ā£14, there are only two buy it now options currently available and they are going for Ā£45 or Ā£90. This is incredibly frustrating but itā€™s just an exercise in patience (which I have very little of haha).

It depends what card you are chasing too. I love a good buy it now on a limited availability/listed card because if itā€™s auction I know itā€™s going to be way higher than what should be paid. Weā€™ve probably all been there on an auction. Itā€™s the card you want, the minutes tick down, you tell yourself you wonā€™t go higher than ā€œx amountā€™, someone outbids you, you make a snap decision and pop an extra chunk of change on your max bid. Buyers remorse kicks in as you see it cheaper on buy it now a few days later.

This is what I like about Japanese auctions and the 5 minutes rule and what I hate about eBay. If anyone plays fifa or other sports games youā€™ll know the bid rule. If someone bids within the end of the listing, then the timer extends a little bit. On eBay zero means zero and it induces not only panic buying, but margins for error due to connection etc.

Although from selling this month, Iā€™ve listed all my items as buy it now but with offers accepted. This is partly due to me not knowing the true value because there are limited compatible listings. But Iā€™ve been so tempted to switch to auction starting at 0.99 because I know I will probably get more for them.

Some sellers are reasonable; today I purchased a card for Ā£5. It was starting bid Ā£5 and had 8 hours left with no bids. Messaged the seller and asked if he would sell now to be for 5 and he did.
Some sellers are not: watched a card for a whole week with a starting bid Ā£40, nobody bid and it expired. Iā€™m not too pressed to want to get it, but decided the day it expired to ask if the seller would sell it buy it now for 40 to me. He refused and said he would resist and I would have to bid like everyone else. I could have sniped it but hadnā€™t decided fully, and a few hours later he was being what I deemed pretty unreasonable.

At the end of the day itā€™s a business for a lot of people, they are under no obligation to bend to demands the same way a retail giant would with the whole ā€˜customer satisfactionā€™ thing. But it can be incredibly frustrating, both as a buyer and a seller.

TLDR; I like buy it now better and auction only if it has a timer refresh

1 Like
5

Strongly prefer BIN, almost certainly to my financial detriment. I just donā€™t like tracking an auction across a week and often having to stay up until 3am GMT for a US auction, especially if I ultimately lose out. Once I decide to buy something Iā€™d just prefer to have it. The extra cost feels worth the time and effort saved

2 Likes
6

Iā€™ve personally not purchased a pokemon card via buy it now for probably a year

4 Likes
7

Perfected option 1 is a private deal thru a fellow E4 member or Instagram member.

Option 2 is Pwcc auction due to no tax

Option 3 is eBay auctions

Last option is buy it now or best offer. Usually I donā€™t find much listed at a price Iā€™d be willing to pay. Most buy it nows are over priced. Or like others have said. It got listed months ago and price was never updated

8

Unfortunately for me this requires having friends and associates and I have none.

1 Like
9

Lately Iā€™ve been throwing in max bids in auctions which I perceive to be low ball, shot-in-the-dark offers. Been winning about 30% of them

10

I only do it buy it now if its a hard to find card, like a Japanese unlimited card that only pops up once a year.

Auctions are great, I pay like 75% of the buy it now price and have some fun while doing so. To your point, most people just want to buy it now, so fewer people are involved in the auction, keeping the price nice and low.

1 Like
11

Buy it now, ainā€™t nobody got time for auctions.

1 Like
12

Buy it now. Bird in the hand.

When I first got back into the hobby a little over five years ago, auctions used to be my preferred method, but over time, I grew tired of waiting a week to be able to have a chance to get my item.

Not saying I donā€™t still participate in auctions here and there, but I would rather just click ā€œbuy it nowā€ and be done with it.

13

Recession inbound! :stuck_out_tongue:

14

in regards to not wanting to camp auctions until the final seconds, look into using Gixen to place snipe bids. Iā€™ve been using it for just a few weeks and putting lowball snipe bids on stuff im interested in, and a surprising amount of them are winning.

15

I prefer Best offer if possible, try to negotiate a bit the price with the seller and take the fast sale. Auctions in my previous experience rarely go my way. Actually i have to say that this past week got in open auction and as only bidder 2 spanish first edition heavy base set packs for a super cheap price so it really depends, but the most common and more convenient thing is the Best offer option for me

1 Like
16

I remember when this kind of service was newer. I forget the name of the website I tried but I queued up a listing I really cared about with a high bid because the auction was going to end at 2:30 AM for me. I woke up and discovered the bid was never placed at all. Not only did I miss out on the item, but it went for way lower than my maximum bid. That turned me off of sniping services for sure and I havenā€™t used one since.

But I also imagine they are a lot more consistent now. This is the first time Iā€™ve heard of Gixen, but you say youā€™ve never had a problem?

17

Typically auctions always go for less than BIN but i never do auctions for raw singles. Those typically are always not in good condition. But for things like sealed, I always try for auctions as thatā€™s where the value is.

18

As a buyer, I like Buy It Now for cards that donā€™t come up often so I can snipe them if the price is right, no competition, no FOMO, no waiting for the auction to end.

For cards that are common but a little pricey, I like open auctions so I can snipe the ones that are listed poorly or end at a bad time, etc. Thereā€™s no pressure to win any specific auction in this case, if it goes up too high I can wait for the next one or yoink one of the BINs.

19

Granted iā€™ve only used it for maybe 40 auctions but yes iā€™ve never had a problem. Its like $6 a year or has a pretty limited free version. From what I can tell quite a few people use it on here so maybe some other people can say if theyā€™ve had problems with it

20

I prefer buy it now but only because I donā€™t have too much disposable income and donā€™t feel like waiting 3-7 days to see if I won the auction. I donā€™t want to risk bidding on multiple items and winning all of them and having to pay more than Iā€™m comfortable with, if that makes sense