When you’re creating an eBay listing, one of the decisions you can make is whether to sell the item through an auction or list it at a fixed Buy It Now price.
I’ve sold thousands of items on eBay, and I’ve never used an auction to sell one.
That’s not because auctions don’t work.
They absolutely can.
I’ve just never felt like I needed them.
For the kinds of things I sell, I prefer knowing approximately what an item is worth, choosing my own price, and adjusting it from there.
The biggest reason is simple:
I like having control over the selling price.
Here’s why I almost always choose Buy It Now instead.
The Biggest Difference Is Control
With Buy It Now, I decide what I’m willing to sell the item for.
If I research an item and think it’s worth around $100, I can list it toward the higher end of the market and see what happens.
Maybe somebody buys it outright.
Maybe I send an offer.
Maybe I lower the price later.
Either way, I’m making the decisions.
With an auction, you choose a starting price and then buyers determine where the final price ends up.
That can be great when several buyers really want the item.
But it also creates uncertainty that I don’t need for most of my inventory.
My Biggest Concern With Auctions
The thing I’ve never liked about selling through auctions is the possibility that something simply goes under the radar.
You may have an item that’s actually worth $100.
But what happens if only one buyer happens to see the auction and bid?
Or two people bid against each other briefly and then stop?
The final price could end up significantly lower than what the item normally sells for.
Obviously you can protect yourself somewhat by choosing a higher starting price.
But once I start doing that, I personally start wondering:
Why not just use Buy It Now and list it for what I actually want?
That’s been my approach.
Auctions Need Multiple Interested Buyers
An auction is much more appealing when you know several people are likely to want the same item at the same time.
That’s what creates competition.
If one person wants it, there isn’t much of a bidding war.
If ten people badly want it, that’s a completely different situation.
This is why I think auctions can make sense for certain hot collectibles or highly desirable items.
But there’s an important distinction:
Rare does not necessarily mean desirable.
You could have a 100-year-old object with only one other example on eBay.
That sounds rare.
But if almost nobody wants it, an auction isn’t necessarily going to create some huge bidding war.
For an auction to work really well, I would want something that is both unusual and has strong buyer demand.
I Usually Know Roughly What My Items Are Worth
Most of what I sell today is electronics.
Phones, iPods, cameras and similar items usually have enough sold listings that I can get a pretty good idea of what buyers are actually paying.
That makes Buy It Now easy for me.
I’ll look at comparable sold items, condition, current competition and what similar items are listed for.
Then I choose a price.
I go into that process more deeply in How I Price Almost Everything on eBay (Without Overthinking It).
When I already have a reasonable idea of what something is worth, I don’t see much benefit in letting a seven-day auction decide the value for me.
I Usually Start on the Higher End
I don’t necessarily list everything at the cheapest price.
If my item is clean, tested, photographed well and accurately described, I’m comfortable starting toward the higher end of the realistic market.
The important word there is realistic.
There can be a huge difference between what an item is actually selling for and what somebody happens to be asking for it.
If a phone normally sells around $100, somebody can list theirs for $200 or $300.
That doesn’t mean the phone is worth $300.
I care much more about actual sold prices than someone’s optimistic asking price.
That’s especially important in highly competitive categories like used electronics.
Competition on eBay Can Be Brutal
Used electronics are extremely competitive.
Large sellers may have dozens or hundreds of similar devices and can sometimes price aggressively.
I recently bought a used iPhone on eBay for a family member that was significantly cheaper than comparable phones I’d seen elsewhere.
It only had minor cosmetic wear, and the battery health was still excellent.
That’s the kind of competition you’re dealing with.
You can’t just pick whatever price sounds good and expect buyers to pay it.
That’s another reason I like Buy It Now.
I can research the market, choose a competitive price, and keep adjusting as conditions change.
Buy It Now Doesn’t Mean the Price Never Changes
I think this is important.
Choosing Buy It Now doesn’t mean I list something once and stubbornly wait forever.
I’m actually pretty aggressive with pricing.
I’ll start toward the higher end.
Then I may send offers.
If something should be moving and it isn’t, I might lower the price.
Sometimes I’ll end the listing and relist it at a lower price within a week or even sooner.
I explain that strategy in When Should You Lower Your eBay Price?.
So Buy It Now still lets the market influence my price.
I’m just deciding when and how that happens.
Offers Give Me the Flexibility I Want
Another big advantage of Buy It Now is offers.
Maybe I list something for $100.
If somebody sends me a reasonable offer, I can accept it.
I can counter.
I can decline it.
If somebody sends me $50 for something I know is worth around $100, I’m probably not accepting it.
And sometimes while you’re going back and forth with offers, another buyer simply comes along and pays the full asking price.
That happens.
I like having that flexibility.
It gives me room to negotiate without giving up control over the sale.
Buy It Now Also Gives Me More Time
With an auction, you’re depending on buyers showing up during a specific window.
With a normal fixed-price listing, I can wait.
Maybe the buyer who wants my item isn’t shopping today.
Maybe they find it next week.
Maybe it takes a month.
That isn’t necessarily a problem.
I’ve written about this separately in How Long Does It Take to Sell Something on eBay? My Experience.
If I know there’s demand and I’m comfortable with the inventory, I’d rather keep adjusting a Buy It Now listing than depend on the right group of bidders happening to show up during one auction.
Auctions Can Make Sense If You Just Want Something Gone
There are situations where I can understand using auctions.
If your main goal is simply getting rid of inventory and you’re not especially concerned about maximizing the price, an auction can be useful.
I’ve seen thrift-store and liquidation-style eBay sellers use auctions for this kind of inventory.
Their economics can be very different from mine.
If merchandise was donated or acquired extremely cheaply, getting inventory sold may matter more than squeezing every possible dollar out of each individual item.
In that situation, letting buyers determine the final price can make sense.
That’s just not how I normally sell.
Auctions Can Also Be Annoying as a Buyer
I’ve bid on auctions before even though I’ve never sold through one.
And honestly, I’m not a huge fan of them as a buyer either.
You find something you want.
Then you have to remember when the auction ends.
You come back at a certain time.
Other people are bidding.
You may have to keep increasing your bid.
And after all that, you’re not even guaranteed to win.
Sometimes auctions can be fun.
But if I’m sourcing inventory to resell, I usually prefer finding something at a price I already like and simply buying it.
I don’t want my sourcing process to feel like I have an appointment with an auction every night.
What About an Auction With Buy It Now?
eBay also allows sellers in many situations to put a Buy It Now price on an auction.
That gives buyers the option to purchase immediately instead of waiting for the auction to finish.
That format can work.
But again, for the way I sell, I usually don’t see much reason to complicate things.
If I already know the price I’m willing to accept, I’d rather create a normal fixed-price Buy It Now listing and work from there. eBay currently says a Buy It Now price added to an auction must be at least 30% higher than the auction starting price and generally remains available until the first bid is placed.
When I Think an Auction Could Be Worth Trying
Even though I’ve never sold through an auction, there are situations where I could see myself considering one.
I’d want an item with:
- Strong demand
- Several likely buyers
- A lot of excitement around it
- A value that’s difficult to determine from sold listings
- Enough buyer competition that bidding could realistically push the price upward
A genuinely hot collectible could fit that description.
Something where collectors are actively waiting for one to appear could be interesting.
But I wouldn’t choose an auction simply because something is old or rare.
I’d want actual demand.
What Should a New eBay Seller Use?
If you’re new to eBay, don’t feel like you have to use auctions.
I’ve sold thousands of items without ever selling one through an auction.
If you’re selling something that has plenty of sold comparables, I think Buy It Now is much easier to understand.
Research what people are paying.
Choose a realistic price.
Take good photos.
Write an accurate listing.
Then adjust based on what happens.
If you’re unsure whether an item is even worth buying in the first place, I explain my research process in How I Know an eBay Item Will Sell Before I Buy It.
For unusual items with strong buyer competition, an auction may be worth experimenting with.
But you definitely don’t need auctions to successfully sell on eBay.
Final Thoughts
So which do I use: auction or Buy It Now?
For me, it’s Buy It Now.
I’ve never sold an item through an eBay auction.
I like researching what something is actually worth, listing toward the higher end of the realistic market, sending offers, adjusting the price and waiting for the right buyer.
Could an auction occasionally make me more money?
Absolutely.
Could an auction occasionally sell an item for much less than I expected?
That’s exactly the uncertainty I prefer avoiding.
For the kinds of used electronics and one-off items I sell, Buy It Now gives me the control and flexibility I want.
Auctions aren’t bad.
They’re just a tool I’ve never needed for my business.
New to Reselling?
If you’re just getting started, these guides cover more of the process I use:
