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A screenshot shows a Nintendo Wii for sale on a red background. Researchers have found that red backgrounds lead to more aggressive bidding on eBay.
If you’re planning on selling something on eBay, make sure the background color in your ad is red.
Researchers have found that red backgrounds lead to more aggressive bidding, according to a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research.
A corollary to that finding: Don’t use red on the background if you’re opting for a Best-Offer sale. Then the aggression will be directed toward you, the seller, and buyers will be trying to wangle the best deal possible.
When we’re bidding in an auction, the red effect isn’t something we can protect ourselves against because we’re not conscious of it, said study co-author Rajesh Bagchi, an associate professor of marketing at the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech.
“I would suggest that you come up with a maximum price you’re willing to pay in advance so you won’t be affected by the immediate,” he added. “If you don’t, and you get into a bidding war, there’s nothing you can do to protect yourself.”
Bagchi and his co-author, Amar Cheema, an associate professor at the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia, ran several experiments to see how color backgrounds affect buying behavior.
In one study, the researchers looked at actual eBay sales of Nintendo Wii bundles. They found that buyers upped their bids in bigger increments when the background was red rather than blue.
To see whether that was a real effect, the researchers took their study into the lab and asked 78 college students to take part in a simulated auction of Wii games. The study volunteers were randomly assigned to see a page with a red or blue background. They were told that the current bid on the game was $225 and asked to enter their highest bid.
Sure enough, the students looking at red backgrounds bid much higher. Their bids jumped an average of $63.17 more versus $35 more for those looking at blue backgrounds.
The students also filled out surveys designed to ferret out levels of aggression and arousal. Those who were looking at red reported much higher levels of aggression. And that, Bagchi said, is because red makes us feel more aroused.
In another experiment, the researchers looked at how people behave when they are in a situation where they are negotiating directly with the seller — a situation comparable to the “Best Offer” feature on eBay. Those who looked at red backgrounds offered less than those who saw blue.
“In an auction, you’re trying to outbid others,” Bagchi said. “It’s a competition to acquire the item. And your aggression pushes you to bid higher. In a negotiation you’re not competing with other bidders. Instead, you’re competing with the seller to get the best deal possible, so that pushes the price down.”
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Wow! That's not one of those small effects, where you wonder whether it's just a random thing, like 2% higher. I think we're going to see a run on red drop-cloths, and a big shift in the look-and-feel of eBay auctions!
What I have come to dislike about Ebay is that often times you're bidding against a dummy bidder, concocted by the seller or someone they know, to drive up the price. When you look at a bidder's history and you see that 100% of their bidding history is with that ONE seller, walk away. I don't know how they can stop it or slow it down but it has cut my use of Ebay by more than half.
No wonder eBay has been slow not enough red, now this study is like global warming full of BS. Just shows you what you have running eBay if Linda Carroll is part of the eBay group, I like to see a study on how eBay is is screwing the small sellers. the small sellers are what made eBay want it is today. By the way I use Black background for the past 12 years and make good money selling on eBay.
In theory, shill bidding isn't tolerated on eBay. If you see it happening, report it.
Ummm I have.......The silence is deafening.
So now that the secret is out, everyone will be using red backgrounds, and it will now be the green backgrounds that stand out and get the attention.
I find that all the major watch sellers from Singapore on Ebay employ dishonest practices. You bid on a Seiko watch, strting really low, and in the last day and hours, you see a flurry of bids from bidders with hidden identity. They are working for the seller to drive up the price. Just because of that, i will never buy from them. i.e. "TimeParadise" and "PremierWorld" are the biggest offenders
That is shocking! Next I suspect we'll see red at McDonald's, Krystals, Burger King, Target, K-Mart, Logan's, Mastercard... everywhere.
Unless its a southwestern themed and then it will be orange.
I bet blue works pretty well too like Wal-Mart, Visa, Enterprise...
But those colors probably only appeal to a certain market segment.
For jewelry, you probably want something more like black, lavender, etc.
Someone should really look into this as a marketing tool!
Oh, yeah, they did. Yawn
Frankly, I stopped listing anything on eBay whenever I got several extremely low bids. No one has money these days, so I just barter through trading at a local flea market whenever I need to sell something. The credit card fees, insertion fees, and final value fees pretty much make it NOT worthwhile to sell on eBay, although I do make purchases from time to time.
More stupid psuedo-science from MSN!
Bottom line is a clear picture of an object and if the item is unique or one of 10 million. Would love to see the data but doesn't sound like the sample size was large enough in a controlled situation to actually have meaningful results (i.e.-78 college students pretending to buy? BS.)
I've been fortunate on eBay; have had over 1000 transactions, but score is ~750 because of so many repeat purchases and repeat buyers; probably around 350 to 400 sales. I've only had 3 "bad" transactions:
1) about 5 years ago bought a high end cell phone and paid by check. Tried contacting seller continuously then reported to ebay. Ebay did nothing and said it was because it went over 30 days - they told me I couldn't file a claim for 30 days! I was out $200 and the idiot that sold to me returned my check - CANCELLED after he already deposited the money. eBay did nada. (Moral-if buy through eBay-use Paypal)
2)bought Adobe CS4 from seller for $500 thru Paypal. When I tried to register the software-Adobe said it wasn't a real serial#. eBay wouldn't refund my money-but they did remove the seller as they apparently sold many fake CS4's. I did get a notice a week after that the seller was flagged for selling copies and not to pay - but that was a little late and I was out $500.
3) about 2 months ago sold an item for $50; buyer said item was broken when received and even before saw email, turned psycho and used horrid language accusing me of lying, etc. I apologized for the breakage which was minor and not actually visible for the display of this product, and offered a return and to pay for return shipping - but instead buyer opened a case and began lying about the issues and my responses. I called eBay and told them something was really strange and they agreed but said had to wait until received product back before they could take action. When I received the product back it was a used item that didn't match the photograph. Although just $50, eBay froze my account, refunded the buyer their $50, debted my account. I was allowed to escalate the case and challenge the ruling, but they just refunded my $50 also and released my paypal so I could use. They didn't ask for my proof or anything nor do anything to the buyer which switched my brand new product with a dirty broken item. Yes, I got my $50 and received "an item" back - but it has no value. Thought it was interesting that my 750 didn't matter against 27 feedback score - but by the same token, was only $50.
yes, I've had maybe 3 or 4 other returns but no issues and the buyers were nice. I've maybe bought 2-3 items which were not as pictured or matched the description, but as I only purchase small items now around $20, never take a big hit anymore as just not worth the "savings" because 1 or 2 bad purchases invalidate the rest. Same on sales; I've just about stopped selling regularly because the items I sale though unique have a market that the economy has not been kind towards so few really nice new items have not come out lately.
I listed 5000 red dropcloths just now. Wish I didn't put them against a blue background....sigh
That's going to make the bidders' heads explode, like some evil computer on an old Star Trek episode that's been fed a logical conundrum.
"compute the exact value of PI..." the problem used to drive jack the ripper out of the computer.
It would seem that computers 100's of years in the future, with all the advanced algorithms that will be developed by then, that it's likely they would at least be programmed with the basic ability to break out of an infinite loop ...
It is not advisable to try this before the singularity. :-)
That's funny vermontguy! Red doesn't do a thing for me, more like a warning, a stop sign. I figure what I would pay, bid that amount, then don't go on ebay until the day after the auction ends. Problem solved.
*flat mechanical voice* red backdrop ... on blue .. bid low ... must bid high .. low ... high ... nooooo .... imperfection ... imperfection ... sterilize ... imperfection ... sterilize .... *explosion*
Very useful and interesting, I'll give it a try.
another one of those "I found what dumb people on Internet do" article
I tried selling a Mario Edition Nintendo Wii with a red dropcloth and everyone thought I was a scammer. WTF?! This article is BOGUS!
very interesting. I was bidding on a red collectable item just the other night and the bidding was much higher than I expected for a the piece that had damage. It was a beautiful piece and the photo was eye popping but it was still damaged. Could have been other factors but makes you wonder.
Now that people are aware, the red background won't work as well anymore!
who the hell uses ebay anymore? Craiglist is the way to go. No fees!!!
Too many scammers on Craigslist and mostly it's for local sales. Ebay reaches a bigger audience.
Craigslist sucks. Here are examples:
"47 inch LED HDTV for $200!!!! I'm joining the military and the storage costs would be more than the TV if I get it out in another 6 months after training is over , this must go now!"
Response #1: "Would you take an xbox arcade and a bag of weed for your item?"
Response #2: "I am interested in your ITEM. Please advice me as to where to send money to. I have cashier's check for more than item, please give item and change to my account. I will pay extra for your trouble."
Response #3: "Will you sell the TV for $50?"
Response #4: "I want this TV!".....no show.
Response #5: "I want this TV!".....no show.
Response #6: Your item has been flagged and removed.
Seriously...craigslist SUCKS. eBay isn't great, but on some goods it definitely is better than craigslist. I've sold a quantity of 200 of an electronic item I had at a good price on eBay. I subtracted shipping fees, paypal fees, and eBay fees and offered the same product locally and didn't even have one single response on it.
Screw craigslist.
Craigslist has some of the worst buyers I have ever come across. They want stuff for little or nothing and they turn around and ask about warranties. Ebay is much better but the holding of payments by Paypal is ridiculous.
Red vs. Blue........... We just can't get away from the stupid election.
I was thinking the same thing but took it a little further. Red induces bidding wars and the prices go off the chart, a la Citizens United opening the door to the likes of Tea Party sponsors David & Charles Koch, Republican financier Sheldon Adelson, etc.
Blue inspires a bit more resolve on the part of buyers, holding to a more firm ceiling. Perhaps that's why the right always asks "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?"
Either way, eBay is the only certain victor. It is, after all, a corporation. Talk about microscosms!
Wonder what happens when you use hot pink?
Naw, don't think I want to know!
When did eBay start carrying personal ads? ;)
FK ebay. I sold on there for 8+ years. It's become so anti-seller, it blows my mind. And this report is a joke. But everyone believes what the media tells them. I won't even shop on eBay. And wherever I shop online, I'll be avoiding anything with RED backgrounds. That'll just mean to me....NEXT!
I have been selling on ebay for 12 years and this is complete and utter CRAP! There is no magic formula for getting bids, making sales, etc. You need to provide complete and accurate descriptions (including measurements) and honestly describe any flaws. You also need a high percentage of good feedback. If this was true every seller with a red background would be rolling in money but there are already MILLIONS of sellers with red backgrounds who arent getting the sale - high prices, undesireable items, bad feedback, etc. (PS-I use red backgrounds and it is a crap shoot as to whether or not people bid or bid more than the minimum.
The only thing I have found that increases bid prices and sales on eBay is taking good photos. Inexpensive lights, a light box, and a decent camera you know how to use will pay for themselves in no time.
i sell on ebay and don't like the fees! I have recently bought a fake bracelet and ebay made the seller refund the purchase price (over $400), you can't get that on Craig's list! I recently sold a ring and 461 people clicked on it before it was sold. I'll stay with ebay!
Just another pseudo-science research from the insulated walls of academia, lending further credence to the old axiom, "those who do do and those who can't teach."
I am going to sell pennies laying across a red background on Ebay.
i'm sorry but that's just B/S...i don't care what color the background is as long as it's a good picture of the item.if it's something i need or just want i bid...within reason and if it has reasonable shipping...hoping i win it.
After this article the effect will be the opposite. Go with purple.
I hardly buy on ebay anymore. What the sellers are charging for shipping has gotten to be ridiculous. If I find an item to bid on the first thing I look at is shipping which would make me determine if I bid or not. Not a red background!! Double and triple dipping on shipping makes me see red!!
You need to realize that ebay now charges final value fees ON SHIPPING! So how is a seller supposed to MAKE A PROFIT? Is that such a BAD WORD ANYMORE? I used to make a PROFIT and that helped me stay in business. That helped me earn SOME INCOME, but now ebay decides to further rake in more fees, forcing a seller to CHARGE MORE to cover those raping fees. It's just not worth selling on there anymore and if a buyer bitches, ebay will refund the money and put a HOLD ON A GOOD SELLER'S ACCOUNT! Even if the buyer is a lying sack of CHIT! So no...people like you are why I am DONE with ebay. They suck and so do you. Now go back to your little minimum wage job--but don't get too comfortable. You might be EARNING TOO MUCH AND WE CAN'T HAVE THAT NOW CAN WE?!
Most of us are charging the US POST OFFICE RATE for shipping. Also consider the cost to the seller of the box to ship it in and some have poor mail service and must drive to the PO. Check USPS and add 10% (5% for EBAY'S cut and the other 5% for shipping supplies and handling).
If you dont like the shipping cost THEN DONT BID! Some buyers think we can ship a pony from NY to HI in a flat rate box for $3. The boxes are TINY so hardly anything "fits" and EXPENSIVE! Keep in mind that in spite of those commercials you see on TV for "flat rate shipping - if it fits it ships" the shipping is a RIP OFF and way over charges but it is also not as cheap as the commercials lead people to believe.
I think Ebay used to be great...back before 2005. Now it is full of fees and regulations. Have to be careful on there....lot of greedy, dishonest buyers that have no qualms about making false accusations against sellers for their own personal enrichment.
EXACTLY MY POINT! Thank you!
I have been selling on ebay since the beginning. It is better now then it was back then. I do not try to capture a huge market share like low sellers do. I provide after sales service and advice. Only sell high quality items. Most I have tested my self to make sure the manufacture is telling the truth. If a buyer is not happy, I will give a full refund. In all the years, I may have only given 5 refunds. I also have 0 negative feedback. I also give an honest description and will back that up with a video of the item working. No BS my buyers come first. HUmmm might need to put this in my offers.
There's a lot of greedy, dishonest sellers, too. Seems to be a general trend across the population. I've bough plenty of items from eBay, and my "buyer" rating is 100% positive. This latest transaction, seller sent wrong item (and it arrived two weeks after "estimated arrival date") then when I contacted the seller, apologized for error, said correct item would ship immediately. It's been a week now, and the tracking number still shows only "electronic information received." This is supposedly an eBay store. I have never given anyone a negative review, but I'm definitely going to do so after this nonsense.
The problem is on both sides.
I'm calling B.S. on this one.
What was the sample size? Anything less than 10,000 sales would be suspect.
What about other factors? Time of listing, day of week, time of year?
Things sell on eBay for different prices at different times for no reason at all.
I listed four identical wheels on eBay using the same listing, selling them one at at a time. One sold for $185, another for $55.
The difference? One time there were two bidders, another time, only one.
I think this "study" is a classic case of confusing CORRELATION with CAUSATION.
And if the sample size was fairly small, just plain old variations in pricing could result in an APPARENT CORRELATION to occur.
I searched for the article online, but found only the Abstract, which does not list sample sizes. Since the articles were $149 each, I suspect their sample size was not very large, unless they had a million dollars to throw at this specious "research".
But I suspect you will see a lot of RED backgrounds on eBay next week!
The first study used actual sales by other people - which is flawed. Why? Because in addition to color of background, people list things differently. The description could be different and even the condition not the same.
The only way to do this in a CONTROLLED environment would be to run the auctions yourself - and have hundreds, if not thousands of them - 10,000 really, and see if the EXACT SAME LISTING with different colored backgrounds made a difference.
The second part of the study is bogus as well - they asked 78 students (huge sample base here - NOT!) to do "pretend bidding" on an item. OK, that motivates them to make real-world decisions, right?
And 78 students is enough to spot a trend?
Sorry, I'm not buying it.
Another press-release news story from MSNBC.
To test this theory, I decided to do my own experiment.
I took two pennies, and painted one blue and the other red. I flipped each penny 78 times.
The results were startling!
The red penny came up "heads" 43 times!
The blue penny came up "heads" only 36 times!
Clearly, if you want a penny to come up "heads" you should paint it RED.
Of course, someone blathered on about standard deviation from the mean, but I ignored them.
Clearly there is a correlation here, and obviously a causation as well. Red pennies come up heads more! The experiment proves it!
Whatever...
Popularized by the great Samuel Clemens, original credit is generally given to British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli for the brilliant observation ... (Our Great Uncle Edwin knew Will Rogers, and claimed he said this best of all)
' ... there are three kinds of lies in the world.
White lies.
Damn Lies.
... and ... statistics!'
As a power seller for 11 years now, the only thing that makes me mad is when people don't read descriptions. All eBay auctions happen within 5 minutes of closing. The other 7 days are just to get people to see your listing.
Forget Craigslist, that's great for selling a table and chairs but nobody looks on there for small stuff and how do you get ex-poser to all 50 states when you have to list city by city.
Try eCrater. The more people that go there, the better it will grow. NO FEES and great tools for search engines. And on your descriptions, try using a LARGE, COMMANDING FONT! Force your customers to READ. Another reason I'm done with ebay. Nothing but a bunch of idiots anymore, both the buyers and the management of the company. They're biting the hands that feed them (SELLERS) and it won't be long before many more catch on.
Ess.... I was an ebay power seller and proud to be one. I sold quality coins and collectibles. The fees both ebay and pay pal charge and the 14 day return policy have finally done me in! (I mean really...a 14 day return policy....who needs that much time to decide? (Only a thumb sucker! ...or somebody that is going to try for a quick re-sale) I agree with other posters here, the Red background "trick" is fruitless.....hello!
There once was a time when you could actually contact other bidders... no more. You could actually report an item with a comment... no more. People are selling dirty socks and underwear for kinky customers and ebay permits this. I really dislike Meg Whitman but I have to admit the company she championed is long gone. They don't even care that categories are polluted with hundreds of items that do not belong there. As long as they make their commission, anything goes. ANYTHING.
Actually, casinos have been well aware of this effect for a long time. Kinda explains Imperial Palace, Las Vegas... which judging by the property ironically makes the effect seem suspect...
Ebay has lost its way.... and lost its class! Red backgrounds won't save anything, especially if your not a "newbie" to the ebay selling experience!