Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Reserve Price Listing?

Some listings may be run with reserve prices. The reserve price is the lowest price at which a seller is willing to sell an item. The reserve price is never disclosed to bidders. A seller might specify a reserve price if he/she is unsure of the real value of his/her item and would like to reserve the right to refuse to sell the item if the market value is below a certain price. During an auction, an annotation will be displayed in the item information screen if the seller has specified a reserve price.

The seller specifies the reserve price when he/she lists an item. This price should be above the minimum bid price. The auction begins at the minimum bid price. When a bidder's maximum bid is equal to or greater than the reserve price, the item's current price is raised to the reserve price. At this time, the item information will indicate the reserve price has been met. The bidder is also notified that his/her bid met the reserve.

On eBay.co.uk, sellers who wish to use a reserve price must set the reserve price to be equal to or greater than £50.00. It is not permissible to set a reserve price level to be less than £50.00.

If the reserve price is not met, neither the seller nor the high bidder is under any further obligation.

Please note, Reserve Price Listingss are not available for Dutch Auctions, nor are they eligible for display in the Hot Items section.

What is a Private Listing?

A seller may specify that an auction will be a Private Auction. This means bidders' email addresses will not be disclosed on the item screen or bidding history screen. Only the seller and the high bidder will be notified via email when the auction is over. This option is useful when the seller realises that potential bidders may not want their identities disclosed to the general public. This option is not available for Dutch Auctions.  

What is a Dutch Auction?

Dutch Auctions are a special auction format where a seller has multiple, identical items he or she wishes to sell. The seller specifies the minimum price (the starting bid) and the number of items available. Please note that sellers must list a minimum opening bid of at least £0.99.

Bidders bid at or above that minimum for the quantity they are interested in purchasing. At the close of the auction, the highest bidders purchase the items at the lowest successful bid.

Here are some examples of how Dutch Auctions work:

• A seller has 10 pens for auction at £1 each. 10 people bid £1 for one pen each. In this case, all 10 bidders will win a pen for £1.

  OR

• Let's say that 5 people bid £1.25 for one pen each and 10 others bid £1. The minimum bid for the pen will be raised to £1.25 because demand exceeds supply. Because the £1.25 bidders bid higher than the £1 bidders, they will be guaranteed a pen. The other 5 pens will go to the earliest £1 bidders. The final price for each pen will be £1 (even though someone placed a high bid of £1.25) since all winning bidders pay the same price -- which is the lowest successful bid.

It might sound complicated, but the majority of Dutch Auctions are simple: Most users win the items they bid on at the minimum asking price. However, there are some special instances you might want to know about:

If you are the lowest bidder in a Dutch Auction and you specify a multiple quantity, you may not get to purchase all that you specify. Why? Because there may be little left over after the high bidders get their share.

In other words, if the lowest bidder requests a quantity of 3 pens, she may only get one since the first 9 pens have already been allotted to the higher bidders. The only way to avoid this problem is to make sure you are not the lowest bidder!

In Dutch Auctions (Multiple Item Auctions), successful high bids are displayed when you click on the 'High bidders' link. The complete bidding history (including any unsuccessful bids) is displayed when you click on the 'Bid history' link.

Note: In order to sell with this auction format, you must be either:

Note: Proxy bidding is not used for Dutch auctions