Question
OK - this is my first & only dutch auction. I have a feeeling I am doing it wrong
http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.d...tem=6506587905
I have 2 sets of Harry Potter journals. So they are listed as "set of 2 HP journals" --- I have 4 total, so I have it listed as Qty: 2
I had one bidder til this afternoon, & they (apparently) bid on both sets.
The only way I know this is because in "my ebay" it shows a sell total of $14.00 (2 books are $7)
Now, I have a second bidder....
So how come Bidder#1 "wants" 2, but only wins 1, and Bidder#2 wants 1 & will win 1? They both have the opening bid of $7.00 ---- How come Bidder#1 now only gets 1 set if they bid first, and Bidder#2 bid the same price?
I are confused...... Did I screw up?
Answer
My guess is that eBay has changed the way Dutch bids are recorded on the bid history page.
I think the second bidder has bid more than $7.00 but since the 2nd place bid is $7.00 that's what he is getting it for.
It's not a bad change actually, it should make the final bids on dutch auctions less confusing.
Answer
I guess the end of auction page will specify who gets what.
Hoping that each bidder knows how they work (since I am not clear). Anyway, I could probably cover both of them if one of them gets snippy or confused too.... like me!
Huh, if I get this one completed OK, I may try it again, but it sure is a lot of mental confusion.
Or maybe the flu is hitting me harder than I think. <yuk>
Answer
Yes, it does appear that eBay has changed the way they show bids in dutch auctions:
Bids are displayed when you click on the "Bidders list" link. Bids that are not currently winning show their bid prices, but bids that are winning show the price that they would pay if the auction ended immediately. This means that, in the Bid History, all winning bids show the same price per unit – the lowest winning bid.
From here: http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/buyer-multiple.html
Answer
So if no more bids are forthcoming, each bidder wins one.....?
And what happens if there is yet a third bidder at $7.50?
Who loses out? Man, I am even more....
I need to just wait til the end of auction notices, or "my ebay" will tell me who won. I don't think I'ma gonna fool with these again.
Luckily I have enough to please everyone.
Answer
Low Tide...if no more bids, each buyer gets one book...but, the guy who bid for two could refuse to accept just one.
If a third buyer comes in and bids $7.50 for two books then he gets them all and pays $7.50 each (the lowest price that allows all items to sell)
Once you get used to dutch auctions they aren't hard...price stays at the opening bid UNTIL the point where there are more items wanted than there are items for sale...then the price can move up.
In all the dutch auctions I have run, as soon as the number of items for sale has been spoken for (as your first bidder did), then any subsequent bid would have to be higher than the opening bid in order for another bidder to get any, so your second bidder must have bid more than $7 but since he only wants one, the price stays at $7. If another buyer comes in and only wants one, the first bidder gets none, the second and third get one each...at the price the second bidder bid, if that was the lowest possible price to sell all the books
Clear as mud?
Answer
Was the opening on the auction $7?
Answer
Commentary...Not sure th OP said what the opening bid was...but it really doesn't matter as the first bidder bid on all the items available (2), so any subesquent bid has to be higher than what the first bidder bid.
Answer
Well, it seems to me that if a third bidder comes along and bids $7.50 for 1 or 2 books, one have no idea who gets what and at what price.
The first bidder will definitely not win anything.
If third bidder bids $7.50 for 1, $7 > price <= $7.50, second and third bidder will each get one.
If third bidder bids $7.50 for 2, third bidder will get both if second bidder's max is < $7.50, otherwise second and third bidder each gets one *$7.50
I think that's how it will turn out.
Someone bid and let us see what happens.
Answer
Commentary...it all depends on what the second bidder bid. The only known is his bid had to be higher than $7. The bid increment at this price level ($7) is 50 cents, so the second bidder had to place a bid of at least $7.50 but since he only wants one, the price remains at $7.
If a third bidder comes in he will have to bid at least $7.50 to push the first bidder out of the picture...from there it depends on what the second bidder bid and how many the third bidder wants. If the third bidder wants both books he will have to bid more than the second bidder...if he only wants one then he can bid less than the second bidder, but, if I'm remembering correctly the dutch auctions I ran, he can't bid less than $7.50 (the bid increment above $7).
In other words...if bidder #2 bid $9 for one, a third bidder who wants one book could bid $7.50 and he and the second bidder would get one book each at $7.50...but if bidder #3 wants two books he will have to bid $9.50 in order to outbid bidder #2 and get his two books. Any other bid below the second bidders bid would only give #3 one book and would set the price for both books.
It was a lot easier to figure out a dutch auction as it was running when all bidder's exact bids showed!