Calling all trademe experts

[Mystic13]

I'm thinking about running a $1.00 no reserve auction. I think it'd be a bit if fun to see what happens. Of course the down side is if there are no bidders then.... someone gets a cheap bike.

The bike is a GN250 2006, 25k's. Other than a muffler and brake lever scrape the bike is mint. Chrome work and engine is in showroom condition. If these bikes aren't looked after they can look a little worse for wear. INOX is my friend.

So what do you all think... do it or not?


Cheers

[Anarkist]

I run the majority of my auctions with no reserve. I don't have any factual information to back it up, but I believe it gets more views and attention that way, and can lead to some pretty fierce bidding wars toward the end of the auction. They tend to fall around average market price by the end of it if not a little higher should you have a lot of interest.

The only thing to think about, is whether prospective buyers will bid without viewing the bike. No reason why they can't, it's just a lot have a budget and know they can spend 'x' amount. This makes it a tough choice for them as essentially they've wasted time viewing a possible purchase should the bidding eventually get out of their range of cash to spend.

I say go for it.

[steve_t]

First check out how much interest there is in other listed GN250's. You can see the view counter at the bottom of each auction. If there's heaps of interest at the moment, it might work out OK.

But in general, I vote not to.
Set the reserve at the lowest you would part with the bike for, but set the starting bid ridiculously low if you want to get some attention. If there are people looking for GN250's, the bids will dictate how much they want to pay.
If you don't care if someone might possibly buy your bike for $200, then a $1 auction might be fun for you. It's really up to you. The people I know that tried $1 reserve auctions for cars have not gone very well... but cars and bikes might go differently...??

Just my opinion but let us know if you do list it for $1 start as it will be interesting to watch :yes:

[The Pastor]

this is how $1 auctions work.

They work well for cheap things, things that people belive to be cheap. For example my 1983 honda civic, bought it for $900 put it on TM for $1 and sold it for $1890.

They do NOT work for stuff that apares to be at good quality/ should fetch a resonable price the magic number is about 2k - under 2k you're best to $1 res it, above 2k you should not.

a classic example is the unfinished project bike with 3 engines on TM it went for 8k on a $1 res. If the project was finished and looked a million dollers and went on $1 res i'd be surprised if it would of gone for more than 4k.

Dont ask me why this is, i have no idea, it just is.

In your situation, i would not put the GN on $1 res.

[allycatz]

Well as a long time TM bidder I only ever bid on auctions in the last 5 mins anyway. I think youd get a lot of watchers. If ya lucky youll get a bidding war between a couple of people and that will push it up a bit.

[PeteMun]

I watched an auction for a gn250 at $1.00 res last month. Same milage and a few nicks and got $2,750. There were heaps of bidders.

Someone even wanted $4.5K for a gn, score at only $1200 more than the new price !

[Blatman]

The $1 reserves have worked for me, I've sold 2 cars and a jetski on there. The cars went for what they were worth and the jetski went for about $1500 more than I thought I would get.
You can always withdraw it if the bidding doesn't reach what you want, it's not a good look but perfectly legal.

[Blatman]

BUT you need to put up lots of good photos and spend time to write a good ad with lots of details and a bit of salesmanship.
I can't believe the crappy photos and crappy ads some people put on there.
Dey cant evun spel proply! :argh:

[AllanB]

I'd be more inclined to do this - set yourself a minimum acceptable price for the bike and start a no reserve auction at that price.

Presuming that your minimum acceptable price is very good for the bike you'll have some interest in people getting a 'bargain'. You in turn will get at least your minimum acceptable price, opposed to the possibility of selling me a mint GN that started at $1 for say $125. :woohoo:

If you like I can save you the hassle and give you $350 for in right now...

Trademe tips.

Write a honest and informative listing. Lots of good quality photos. Start the Auction at around 8.00-8.30pm (not on a Friday) - it will also end at that time and apparently TM has a greater viewing audience around then.

And for F's sake do not put down 'genuine reason for selling' - pisses me off that phrase. Everyone has a genuine reason from selling a bike - from moving up cc, or the wife is withholding favours until it's gone, or I've crashed the crap out of it and the shit photos don't show this, or even I've stolen it and need to unload it urgently. All are 'genuine' reasons for the seller to get rid of it, but not necessarily a good reason to buy.

[elevenhundred]

Exactly what Blatman said.
Clean the bike, take it to a nice location and take heaps of good photos (good meaning: on a proper camera, with good light, in focus and from angles that flatter the bike)
Don't skimp on the text either, write as much as you can

[tigertim20]

Go-on! do it!!!

[Conquiztador]

I have sold a few $1 auction bikes on TM, the ones where I have set the reserve price at what is the minimum I would expect and a few as set price (no auction).

The ones I have sold as $1 auctions have been "low value" bikes that have sold at approx $500 +/-. A few times I have got more then I expected, but also some have not reached what I really wanted.
Pros: Creates more interest.
Con: A chance you end up giving it away. (I have picked up some real bargains this way)

The ones I have had a starting price I can live with have been "middle range" in price. $1000+. Not as much interest. Normally end up doing the auction more then once to get what I want.
Pros: You will not risk giving it away.
Cons: Less interest and often just reaches reserve or you end up offering it to sell.

The "set Price" ones have been more expensive ($2K+) where they will attract only a certain buyer. Will take more time.
Pros: You have the power to select the buyer.
Cons: Can take time and people want to come for testrides.

I currently have a SR250 that if not sold before next week I will put on TM. She will have costed me approx $1300 to get on the road, so that is the minimum I would want. Would I do her as a $1 auction??? Only if I was desperate to get some $$'s.

Good Luck!

[avgas]

Autobid = $1000
or you could just sell it to me for $1000

[ynot slow]

If it looks like you're not going to get what you want remove the bike,tell trademe motor blew or something,but don't relist next week,no fees charged.

Know someone who did that as the car was getting traded for more than was on t/m,the people thought that no trade might be better but were surprised with trade in value.

[Mystic13]

I watched an auction for a gn250 at $1.00 res last month. Same milage and a few nicks and got $2,750. There were heaps of bidders.

Someone even wanted $4.5K for a gn, score at only $1200 more than the new price !

Where was that bike located?

_________________________________________

It looks like the majority so far are do the $1.00 auction.

_________________________________________

and post 400 done.

_________________________________________

I'm leaning to the $1.00 auction based on the above. If and when I do i'll let you know so you can all;

- enjoy watching it sell for heaps.
- enjoy watching me make a mistake
- bid on it and get the price up early on..... lol.

Thanks for the posts they've all been worth reading.


Cheers

[short-circuit]

GN250?

Make it a $1 buy now listing

[CDFloss]

Go for it. ;)

The biggest things you can do to get attention are:

Take decent photos (i.e. nice and big, good light, in focus)
Do a search for tips and tricks on how to write a good auction description (there's heaps out there, Google is your friend)
Answer all questions ASAP (nothing says dodgy listing like heaps of unanswered questions)


There are not nearly as many $1 auctions on TM that sell for silly money (as in low $) as people think. So the odds are with you. :yes:

Oh, and get the auction ID once the listing is running, and plaster it around the web as much as possible (like on here for starters). The more views/watchers on your listing, the more likely it is to be recommended in places like the "more stuff you may like" section, etc.

[Conquiztador]

Go for it. ;)

The biggest things you can do to get attention are:

Take decent photos (i.e. nice and big, good light, in focus)
Do a search for tips and tricks on how to write a good auction description (there's heaps out there, Google is your friend)
Answer all questions ASAP (nothing says dodgy listing like heaps of unanswered questions)


There are not nearly as many $1 auctions on TM that sell for silly money (as in low $) as people think. So the odds are with you. :yes:

Oh, and get the auction ID once the listing is running, and plaster it around the web as much as possible (like on here for starters). The more views/watchers on your listing, the more likely it is to be recommended in places like the "more stuff you may like" section, etc.

What the man said! Bling

[mynameis]

Wheres the link man ?

[Dodgyiti]

BUT you need to put up lots of good photos and spend time to write a good ad with lots of details and a bit of salesmanship.
I can't believe the crappy photos and crappy ads some people put on there.
Dey cant evun spel proply! :argh:

Yeah, good advice. Say as much as you can, be honest, good photos etc.

I advertised a Triumph for 4 weeks at 9K start price on a bike with a market value of about 11K. No one bid. I then put it on for $1 reserve. In the first 2 days it went up to 2K, then nothing. It was the longest 10 days of my life until it was about to close, then it ended up selling for $11,170

Great for me, new owner was happy but I would never do it again, the stress of the waiting game was too much to handle. I guess it would be ok for something of a lesser value

[sleeqe2000]

Go with the $1 reserve - it's only blown up once in my face.

Put some computer equipment on worth around $60-70 and it got the one solitary bid on it of a dollar. The funny thing was I charged $2-50 for postage but then thought I had to make the money up somewhere so used a free postage envelope from work. The bloke I sold it to then left me negative feedback complaining what I charged for postage considering that I'd used a free enevelope - some people are never satisfied.

You'll get a feel for how well the auction is being recieved by the number of watchers and if it isn't going too well I think you can pull the advert before the last 24 hours....(it might even be the last hour)

[Brian d marge]

If ever there was a good reason not to take drugs , then tard.co.nz must be it , if its priced right it will go quickly but some people have gone and smoked themselves into the next universe...

if you want a quick sale go for it ....


Stephen

[JacksColdSweat]

My dad's car - 318i 1995 I think - put it on for $1600 no reserve - had 120 watchers and it sold for $3700

I recommend knowing what you want for it - what the demand is - and then putting yours on for a cheaper figure with no reserve

But ONLY if you know there's a demand - I had baggie bummed 20 year olds lining up to view the beamer - right car at the right time

No reserve works for the right items

[Mystic13]

My wife's done it, taken your advice thanks to me and gone with the

$1.00 auction.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Motorbikes/Motorbikes/Other/auction-216263341.htm

I hope you folks were right.... lol.

It should be a bit of fun to see what happens.

Any comments on the auction that you feel would help would be much appreciated.

Cheers

[Mystic13]

I see a few people refer to trademe as "tardme".. so I wondered if a site had been set up... and it has. Some people have too much time on their hands.


www.tardme.co.nz



and note what happens when you click on a link.

[steve_t]

I bid $2 hoping to win but someone's already bid $500. Good luck with the auction ;)

[grusomhat]

Congratulations on taking the risk. You've certainly put in the effort to making the auction and provided more than enough info to make the purchase simple for anyone. It's already up to $500 which is an awesome start!

Oh and I can assure you it won't go for that, I've got $501 waiting just in case it does :) And that's the beauty of $1 reserve auctions, most people will have the same thought.

Good luck

[Matt_TG]

Good on ya ... she's a shiny GN, I reckon you'll do ok out of this :)

[YAMASAKI]

Top marks for a nicely composed trademe listing.
Good pics, clear info. Really good that you listened to all the advice given. I wish all people would go to the effort.
I don't think you'll have any problems getting what you want for it. Even I was tempted to oput a bid on it... and i hate GNs :)

[Mystic13]

I bid $2 hoping to win but someone's already bid $500. Good luck with the auction ;)

Thanks for that.. sorry you missed out. I'll let you know next time we do the $1.00 list, just in case.

Cheers.

[Mystic13]

Top marks for a nicely composed trademe listing.
Good pics, clear info. Really good that you listened to all the advice given. I wish all people would go to the effort.
I don't think you'll have any problems getting what you want for it. Even I was tempted to oput a bid on it... and i hate GNs :)

Buy it.. the GN. You owe it to yourself to overcome your hate. Buy it then sell it and make a profit and retain that good feeling.

One thing I notice when I ride the bike is that there are a number of cylinders missing. A bike really does need bigger capacity.

Cheers.

[mynameis]

Good on ya ... she's a shiny GN, I reckon you'll do ok out of this :)

Mate there's a fly

[Anarkist]

I see a few people refer to trademe as "tardme".. so I wondered if a site had been set up... and it has. Some people have too much time on their hands.


www.tardme.co.nz



and note what happens when you click on a link.

Dear Jeremy,

We'd appreciate you shutting down tardme.co.nz at your earliest
convenience. This will help us to aviod us taking any legal action against
you.

Regards,

Nigel Stanford

Trade Me Support
================
http://www.trademe.co.nz



:laugh:

[YAMASAKI]

Buy it.. the GN. You owe it to yourself to overcome your hate. Buy it then sell it and make a profit and retain that good feeling.

One thing I notice when I ride the bike is that there are a number of cylinders missing. A bike really does need bigger capacity.

Cheers.

there's nothing wrong with a single cylinder (my KTM always has me grinning ear to ear :yes:) but yeah, double the capacity at least :)

[short-circuit]

Good luck with ya dollar listing - big ups to the guy with the even bigger GoNads

[elevenhundred]

I see a few people refer to trademe as "tardme".. so I wondered if a site had been set up... and it has. Some people have too much time on their hands.


www.tardme.co.nz



and note what happens when you click on a link.

Yeah whats up with that??

Good work on the auction btw

[Mystic13]

Thanks everyone for your guidance. (or mis-guidance, I'm never sure with you lot) lol.

I'm a lot less nervous about the $1 thing now that it's at $905. And the lead bidder is in Oz. I had that on another auction and the person actually picked up from me so at this point I'm thinking they're moving to Aucks or are buying for a friend.

Thanks for the help and we'll see how it goes.

[ynot slow]

Good dollars at the moment.

[FROSTY]

Mystic--I sell ALL of oure trade in cars on $1.00 reserve auctions. Never had an issue and never got less than expected.

[Mystic13]

I always cover the number plate when selling a bike. I just don't want anyone turning up having done a search at the post office. But then I'm happy to have people come through and inspect.

In that case at least I've seen them and have phone numbers for them. So what do you do cover the palte or not and hand out the number or not if asked?

And yes it's a GN250 so does it matter...

[jaymzw]

I always cover the number plate when selling a bike. I just don't want anyone turning up having done a search at the post office. But then I'm happy to have people come through and inspect.

In that case at least I've seen them and have phone numbers for them. So what do you do cover the palte or not and hand out the number or not if asked?

And yes it's a GN250 so does it matter...

Well it's usually just wanted for Carjam.co.nz

To check that the bike does actually have a current WOF and REG like you say.

That it hasn't done a million km's and had the speedo wound back 998,000 km's

Pretty harmless stuff really

[quickbuck]

Well it's usually just wanted for Carjam.co.nz

To check that the bike does actually have a current WOF and REG like you say.

That it hasn't done a million km's and had the speedo wound back 998,000 km's

Pretty harmless stuff really

Yup,
All falls apart (for the asker) when the bike isn't vinned in the country yet though....
Obviously not the case here... but you know :whistle:

Anyhow, looks like the GN Auction is a success.

[Mystic13]

Anyhow, looks like the GN Auction is a success.



It's going okay. Success would be a sale at $3,000. Or is that wild success. It'll be interesting to see where it gets to.

Any guesses on the final bid amount?

[Conquiztador]

It's going okay. Success would be a sale at $3,000. Or is that wild success. It'll be interesting to see where it gets to.

Any guesses on the final bid amount?

$2,498.00 10char

[motorcyclesonline.net]

List it on KB - the way this thread is going you'll have it sold with no sellers fee
What are you replacing it with ?

www.motorcyclesonline.net

[Mystic13]

List it on KB - the way this thread is going you'll have it sold with no sellers fee
What are you replacing it with ?

www.motorcyclesonline.net

dunno. It's my wifes. She likes being out on the bike and pillions to the ends of the earth with me. The problem for her with learning is she can't do what she wants with the bike in terms of going for long rides at a skill level she'd like etc. It's easier to stay pillion. Of course I want her off the back and on another bike because i see that as being more fun.

We'll see.

$2380

[sil3nt]

I doubt you would get $3000 but i could be wrong of course.

My guess would be $2500 tops.

I hope you prove me wrong as the bike looks mint!

And no offence but i thnk your being a little bit silly with the whole numberplate thing! People like to look up a bikes history on carjam before buying and nobody is interested in your home address!

[Mystic13]

I doubt you would get $3000 but i could be wrong of course.

My guess would be $2500 tops.

I hope you prove me wrong as the bike looks mint!

And no offence but i thnk your being a little bit silly with the whole numberplate thing! People like to look up a bikes history on carjam before buying and nobody is interested in your home address!

No offence taken. I notice a fair few bikes don't show plates and a fair few do. I am looking for other opinions because it's not something I'd considered before and I'm uncomfortable having the thing posted for anyone and everyone. Of course it's just a GN250.

If I get more comments like yours I may reconsider. After all I guess if that was an issue you could just pick numbers off the street.

I can think of a lot of reasons to support your argument.

Maybe you're right.

You could have been a little kinder on me though. lol. I've had a hard morning.

Thanks for posting up.

[sil3nt]

:hug: :bleh:

Have you thrown your numberplate into carjam to see the sort of info they get too look at? Even if you just put some of that info onto trademe they wouldn't need to know the plate.

[Mystic13]

:hug: :bleh:

Have you thrown your numberplate into carjam to see the sort of info they get too look at? Even if you just put some of that info onto trademe they wouldn't need to know the plate.

Yep did the carjam thing and it's all good. So you're thinking post up the rego?

Or post up the report as a secondary option?

Cheers.

[Patch]

I just don't want anyone turning up having done a search at the post office.
easy enough to do - another good reason not to have your residing address listed


Well it's usually just wanted for Carjam.co.nz

To check that the bike does actually have a current WOF and REG like you say.

That it hasn't done a million km's and had the speedo wound back 998,000 km's

Pretty harmless stuff really
pretty harmless until the scum of the earth turn up when you ain't home and take it.


How many comments do you need to make on yer auction :gob:

[sil3nt]

Yep did the carjam thing and it's all good. So you're thinking post up the rego?

Or post up the report as a secondary option?

Cheers.
Just post up the juicy bits of the report that why no one needs to know your rego. Or even take a couple of screenshots and upload the images onto trademe with the rego blurred.

[Mystic13]

Just post up the juicy bits of the report that why no one needs to know your rego. Or even take a couple of screenshots and upload the images onto trademe with the rego blurred.

Screen shots.... wish you posted that a little earlier. I've popped the carjam info in full into the comments. that took a fair bit of time.

Thanks for the comment.

Patch, the comments are looking seriously long now thanks to the carjam report.

But at least it's all there and done. argghhhh! screen shot would have been brilliant.

Cheers.

[grusomhat]

So, 14 minutes left and it's at $1,810. Good to see it has moved from $1,510! Hopefully you get a bit more though!

[Mystic13]

I was surprised it didn't sell for more. What happened?

On the bright side there is now a free bike space in the garage and we all know what I need to do to fix that. And someone got a good buy.

A good result all round. Personally I did expect between $2200 and $2400.

I'm happy to have a result though. I see a fair few re-lists.

Cheers.

[Conquiztador]

I was surprised it didn't sell for more. What happened?

On the bright side there is now a free bike space in the garage and we all know what I need to do to fix that. And someone got a good buy.

A good result all round. Personally I did expect between $2200 and $2400.

I'm happy to have a result though. I see a fair few re-lists.

Cheers.

Not many $1 auctions get relisted... Well done.

[Tink]

bugger.... :cold:

[Bow-Down]

Your better off putting it up as a asking price for more than you want and say ONO and let the buyer put a offer in which they think is cheap but is actually what your looking for. Works great because the buyer feels as if they have bargained you down.

[quickbuck]

Your better off putting it up as a asking price for more than you want and say ONO and let the buyer put a offer in which they think is cheap but is actually what your looking for. Works great because the buyer feels as if they have bargained you down.

Oh, Great... You tell him that NOW! ;)

[quickbuck]

List it on KB - the way this thread is going you'll have it sold with no sellers fee
What are you replacing it with ?

www.motorcyclesonline.net

Hmmmmm...... What do you reckon his other half wants ;)

[steve_t]

Ah well... not quite as much as you'd hoped for. It was an interesting exercise. You've no doubtedly been hammered by this shite weather :(
Moving forward, whatcha gonna get to go in that space?? :cool:

[Creeping Death]

Betcha it was one of these fullahs reading this thread that took it off ya...:buggerd:

[Okey Dokey]

I don't want to upset people by bringing up an oldish thread, but I wanted to thank everyone who put their comments up here. You see, I referred back to this thread in setting up my very first trademe auction. I've sent out a bit of bling in appreciation.

I went with the $1 no reserve theory, and I have to admit it has been kind of fun checking in to see what is going on. Many thanks; you all helped me get this auction started.

Socket set from Timaru-Oamaru, if anyone wants to look. Cheers!