eBay Auction or Buy It Now? How Prelo Suggests a Format

You've written the listing, and one choice is left: auction or a fixed price? Prelo suggests a format for each item when it writes the listing, and tells you why. This guide covers how it decides, how to change it, and what each auction setting means. The shop in the video uses example data.

The suggestion

Open an analyzed item and scroll to Listing Format. The box at the top shows what the AI recommends, how sure it is (high, medium or low), and the reason.

The rule it follows:

• Buy It Now for common items with an established price.
• Auction for rare, vintage or collectible pieces, where demand is uncertain but could be high.
• It's told to be selective: fewer than one in five items get an auction suggestion.

In the video, a leather crossbody bag is a common item with plenty of similar listings, so the suggestion is Buy It Now. A vintage wooden train set is the kind of toy collectors bid on, so the suggestion is Auction + BIN, with medium confidence. Medium or low means it's a close call, so take your own look.

Changing the format

The three formats sit side by side, and your choice saves straight away:

• Buy It Now: a fixed price.
• Auction: bidding only.
• Auction + BIN: takes bids, with a Buy It Now price as well.

Auction settings

Choose an auction format and Auction Settings opens:

• Starting price. When the AI suggests an auction for an item worth $20 or more, it fills in a starting price, usually between $0.99 and $9.99. Otherwise the start is $0.99.
• Reserve price (optional). The lowest you'll accept: if bidding doesn't reach it, the item doesn't sell. eBay charges a fee for reserves, and the reserve has to be above the starting price.
• Duration. 1, 3, 5, 7 or 10 days. Seven is the default; the AI may suggest three for something trending.
• Buy It Now price (Auction + BIN only). It also has to be above the starting price.

Switch back to Buy It Now and the auction settings are cleared. The item goes up at its normal price.

Publishing

The publish button changes to match: Start Auction on eBay instead of Publish to eBay. In bulk publish, each row shows its format, auction rows show the starting price, and the summary lists the formats in the batch.

Best Offer is set in Settings under Pricing, and it only goes on Buy It Now listings. Auctions go up without it.

Once an item is live, the Listing Format section is gone, so choose before you publish.

Try it

Try Prelo free: 20 free listings, no card needed. More walkthroughs are on the tutorials page.