elgato
Joined: 24 Feb 2005
Posts: 17241
Location: Texas
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| Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 10:00 am Post subject: Professor's Ebay Advice: Starting Price is the Key |
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Attention eBay auctioneers: Want to get a higher price for an item you're trying to sell?
Set the auction's starting price as low as possible.
Unless it is an item you don't believe there's a lot of interest in; in that case, start the auction at a higher price.
This advice is brought to you by PhD researchers at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. One of them is 37-year-old Adam Galinsky, associate professor of management and organization.
In June, Galinsky was co-author of a paper titled "Starting Low But Ending High: A Reversal of the Anchoring Effect in Auctions." It looked at combined data from completed eBay auctions, the findings from related research studies and results from a lab experiment.
Galinsky became interested in the economic and psychological aspects of eBay auctions after studying face-to-face negotiations.
In such personal bargaining, Galinsky found that "if you are a seller, the higher your opening offer, the higher the final price that you will get.
"Starting high was better because the number itself anchors you. If you want $100, start at $180, not $140."
Also, higher prices typically lead potential buyers to focus on a product's positive features.
"If a used car has a higher price, you focus on the leather seats," Galinsky explained. "But with cars with low prices, you notice the dents and the other problems."
So when he began looking at eBay auctions, Galinsky assumed the findings would follow the same pattern. To his surprise, this was not so.
Auctions, especially the online variety, are an entirely different animal.
more.. link to news article |
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