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1. What is Lower Reserve? Sellers can now lower their Reserve Price on active listings after bids have been placed to help increase listing success. We have heard from sellers and buyers that their experience with Reserve Price Auctions can be frustrating, especially when the reserve has been priced high. This new change allows sellers the flexibility to lower their reserve, and let buyers know the price has been lowered. We believe this will result in more positive experiences, and increased successful sales. This option is being extended to all categories on the US eBay site after being previously available on in Motors categories on the US, France, Spain, Australia, Canada, UK, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy sites, and all categories on the India site. 2. How does the new "lower reserve" option work? If the reserve price is not met, a seller now has the option to lower the reserve price even if bids have been placed. However, there must be more than 12 hours remaining before the listing end time. If the seller chooses to reduce the reserve, all of the bidders will be notified of the change. Bidders will receive an email announcing that the reserve has been reduced, and see notification both in My eBay > Bidding and on the item page. Any visitor who has not yet bid on the item will also see a notice on the listing page that the reserve has been lowered for that item. 3. When can a seller change the reserve price? If the item has no bids
4. How low can a seller reduce the reserve price when there are bids and more than 12 hours left in the listing? The seller must choose a new reserve price that is:
5. Can the reserve price be lowered in any category? Yes. 6. As a buyer, can a seller lower the reserve below the maximum bid amount to create a winning buyer? If the seller lowers the reserve price below the high bidder's maximum bid (proxy) amount, the high bidder's maximum bid will be automatically lowered so that it is one dollar below the new reserve price. This prevents high bidder who was not previously obligated to purchase from being turned into a winning bidder without his or her knowledge. If the high bidder's maximum bid amount is reduced, the email notification will disclose the new reserve price to that high bidder so they may decide if they are still interested in the item. If they still want to bid, they can confirm by submitting another bid for any amount at or over the new reserve price. See example below. 7. As a buyer, why must the maximum bid be lowered in this case? The buyer's maximum bid is lowered to allow the high bidder to confirm interest in the item that he was not previously obligated to purchase. As above, if the high bidder's maximum bid amount is reduced, the email notification will disclose the new reserve price to that high bidder so they may decide if they are still interested in the item and bid again. 8. As a buyer, why must I bid again to meet the new reserve price when my proxy bid was higher than the new reserve price? The last time you placed a bid for an item (which was under the reserve) you were under no obligation to buy that item. The same situation applies here, so you need to bid again to confirm that you are still interested in the item. 9. As a buyer how can I turn my bid below reserve into a winning bid after the seller has lowered the reserve price? You must bid again, with a maximum bid amount that is greater than the new reserve price. 10. If the reserve is lowered and the bidder doesn't bid again, is the bidder still bound to buy the item? No. To purchase the item, the bidder must bid again at or above the new reserve price. 11. As a buyer, how does this change how I should think about bidding on reserve auctions? In general, you should continue bidding on reserve auctions as you do today, by bidding your maximum price for items that interest you. Not all sellers will chose to lower the reserve price. You will be notified if it happens on an auction where you have submitted a bid. Please keep in mind that if you are the high bidder, you may be notified that the seller has lowered the reserve price below your maximum bid (proxy) amount, in which case you may choose to bid again in order to meet the new reserve. If you choose not to bid again your current bid will still be below reserve, and you are not obligated to buy the item. 12. As a seller, how do I use the Lower Reserve option? To lower the reserve price on your listing you will Revise Your Item as usual. You will see an option to "Lower Reserve Price" located next to the reserve price in the Pictures & Details section of the Review & Submit page. Once you click the link, you may enter the new reserve price according to the parameters listed above (see "How low can a seller reduce the reserve price?") You may also choose the option "next bid meets reserve" and the reserve will automatically be reduced to the lowest allowed price, so that the next bid will meet reserve. 13. Will bidders know the seller's new reserve price? Bidders will not be told the new reserve price except in the following cases: If a seller lowers the reserve price below the high bidder's maximum bid, the lower reserve price will be revealed to the high bidder only. The maximum bid will be lowered to $1.00 below the new reserve. This allows the bidder to confirm their interest in the item. If the seller lowers the reserve down to one dollar over the current high bid, the new reserve will display on the item listing page, all bidders will be informed of the new reserve and the notation "Next bid meets reserve" will be displayed on the item listing page. 14. As a seller, what should I consider when deciding whether to use the Lower Reserve option? As a seller, you should carefully consider the bid(s) your item has received and the minimum price you are willing to accept. It is possible you could lower the reserve price below your high bidder's maximum bid amount, meaning that their maximum bid will be lowered. This could allow the high bidder or another bidder to meet the reserve, and ultimately win the item for less than the original bidder's maximum bid. To make sure that your original high bidder has every opportunity to bid again, you may want to consider contacting them to inform them that you are considering a lower reserve price that might be below their original maximum proxy bid. 15. As a seller, are there other options beside Lower Reserve for my item? Yes, you can choose to wait for the item to end and relist it with a lower reserve price or you may issue a Second Chance Offer to one of the bidders. 16. Can Second Chance Offer still be used on the listing after the reserve price is lowered? Yes. The rules for Second Chance offer are not changed by lowering the reserve price. 17. Illustrative Example A seller has a listing with a $100 reserve price. The high bidder Alex has a bid a maximum amount of $75, but the current bid price is only $51 because Kim, the next highest bidder, has bid a maximum bid amount of $50.
In this example, the seller may use Revise Your Item to lower the reserve to a price between $52 and $99. Scenario 1 If the seller chooses to lower the reserve price to $80, all four bidders will be notified that the reserve price was lowered. At this point the reserve is still not met, and any interested buyer is free to bid again, including Alex, Kim, Sam, and Chris. Scenario 2 If the seller chooses to lower the reserve price to $60, all four bidders will be notified that the reserve has been lowered. However, in this case the email that Alex receives would disclose the new reserve price, and notification that Alex's maximum bid has been reduced to $59 in order to ensure that his bid did not become the high bid without his consent. Note that the reserve is still not met and any interested buyer is free to bid again, including Alex, Kim, Sam, and Chris. Scenario 3 The lowest reserve price the seller could set would be $52. If the seller lowered the reserve price to $52, all four bidders would receive notification that: "reserve has been lowered and the next bid meets reserve." The new reserve price would be disclosed to all four bidders and any other interested buyer on the view item page. Again, the email that Alex receives would provide notification that the maximum bid has been reduced to $51 to ensure that his bid did not become the high bid without his knowledge. The reserve is still not met, and any interested buyer is free to bid again, including Alex, Kim, Sam, and Chris. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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