What's the eBay etiquette for the seller

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Posted By: davidcycleback

when there are 0 bids on a lot and someone makes an offer on the item? Is it proper, when no one has bid, to place a BIN and let him buy it? I know people don't like it when the seller ends and auction when there are bids.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

If you and the buyer reach a satisfactory price and no one has bid, I see no reason not to either end the listing and sell it or put in a BIN if the buyer insists on an ebay transaction. But I am also of the faction that believes it is generally OK (though often kind of stupid) to end a listing and sell the item off line to an offeror, so what the %$@% do I know?

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Posted By: davidcycleback

It has always been my contention, often to a chorus of Net54 boos, that it's good practice for a bidder to place the low minimum bid on an eBay lot, only in part to ensure that the lot isn't pulled or the minimum bud raised because there are no bidders.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

I put a BIN on the lot and told the guy he could buy it at the BIN so long as someone didn't bid or buy it first. About three minutes later, someone else placed the minimum, I assume to make sure someone didn't BIN the lot before the auction ended (Which I beleive proves my point about the virtues of placing the min bid early).

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Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)

I used to hate it when auctions ended early but I found that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Who's to say that a deal wasn't in process when a bid was placed? Does that mean the seller shouldn't follow through with the deal that was agreed upon?

Twice this year I've been lucky enough to pick up a few items when the seller ended the auction early. In the last case all I did was to ask the seller to let me know if he was going to end the auction to sell the item to someone off line. I never asked him to sell it to me. The seller said he'd be interested in selling the item at a specific price which I found very enticing and I purchased the card. In less than 24 hours the seller received several emails telling him how "foolish" and "stupid" he was for selling the card to me. To the sellers credit he followed through with the deal. I figured that it must have struck a few nerves but then I thought about it again and figured it has happened to me so many times (in the past) that I didn't feel bad at all. By the way, NOBODY had bid on the item prior to the deal being made. The other deal I got was when the item wasn't near the reserve price and the seller popped out a price that was very fair for the item so I purchased it (in that case there were a couple of bids on the item). The funny part was that the seller had their phone number in the item description and I was only trying to get information on the item, not purchase it out right. I had emailed the seller a few days before and never got a response so I decided to call them. Luckily I got the card at a reasonable price.

Etiquette? Good question - I suppose if you're going to start an auction you should let it go to the end. If you are a seller and you get several offers to end the auction early then that should be a message to let the auction go to the end, not end it early.

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Posted By: Chad

If there are no bids on an item, then why shouldn't they end an auction early if they get an offer they like? I think it's asking a lot for people to count on a flurry of sniping at the end of an auction. If there are bids, then I think they're obligated to play it out, tho.

--Chad

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Posted By: davidcycleback

As a seller, I never end an auction early if there is a bid placed-- the rare exception being when I end the auction to sell to the one and only bidder as I feel the price is fair and it's been days without a second bidder. However, if there are 0 bidders, I do reserve the right to change the minimum bid (helpful hint: it won't go down), shipping cost (I often start with below my cost shipping to attract bidders) or end the auction early.

Sometimes, after say 5 days with no bids I end the auction early as I figure I might as well keep the lot if there is no expressed interest, the autographed ball is doing no harm on the shelf and I can bypass the trouble of packaging and finding where I put the LOA. Occasionally I will then get an email from someone who said he was watching the entire auction but didn't get a chance to place the minimum bid. I scratch my head and say to myself, "It takes how many days to place a bid?"

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Posted By: Martin Neal

I'm with Fred on this one. Within the last month or so, a t205 Moran stray line ended early and last week, a T205 Wilhelm (suffered) ended early. It is rather sad to anticipate bidding on an item only to discover it is not on your active watch list anymore. Some cards come up for auction so infrequently that it is especially tough for set builders.

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Posted By: leon

I used to hate folks that ended auctions early....now I am joining the crowd and asking as I have been burnt so many times....and yes, I used to ONLY ask before there were any bids....But since I have found that a lot of folks have no qualms about shutting auctions down with bids already on them, I have learned to be a Roman.........I still think it sucks though.....Ebay should find a way to ban folks for shutting auctions down..or boot them for good....I really hate it......so kind of a conundrum imo...

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Posted By: John S

I have stated this in a few other similar threads....protect yourself on the rare cards. Make a polite offer to the seller to end the auction early. If the seller declines then at least you know that there is a better chance that the auction will run to completion.

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Posted By: Sean

I see no problem with ending an auction early or adding a "buy it now" price if there are no bids on it or the person requesting a BIN is the only bidder.
I think with sellers being able to see how many watchers there are for their auctions is very helpful, usually I can guage from this if I will get the final 30 second bidding frenzy.

Like John said if it is a card you really want, e-mail about a BIN and if they don't give you one, there is a good chance the auction will run its course.

SeanBH

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Posted By: warshawlaw

One other etiquette point: as a seller I really do not appreciate low-ball offers. If I start an item at $149.99 I may take $140 but I am never going to take $75; I'd rather keep the damned thing...

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Posted By: Bob

I agree with leon with this caveat, I will not ask a seller to end an auction early unless there is a card, or a card in a lot, that is something scarce I collect and which will probably not be offered again anytime in the near future. I asked a seller recently if he would sell me one card in a 3 card lot and he told me to make him an offer. I did. The offer was very fair. He considered it but by the time he decided, a couple of people made bids on the lot so he decided to let the auction go through to finality. I sniped and won the 3 cards for less than I offered him for the 1 card so it worked out well for me.
If the card is not a really scarce one but one I still really want, once in a while I will email the seller and ask him to please let me know if someone offers to buy it and have him end the auction early as I'd like a chance to make a counter-offer and they always say they will do it although these few times have resulted in auctions going to finality so I don't know if they would have or not.

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Posted By: E, Daniel

.....about low ball or "insulting" offers. As a seller, I want to hear from anyone who is interested in the item I am selling, and gauge their interest and offers. I always know what I will or won't take for the piece, so it's just so easy to tell people the story straight-up and see how much they want what I've got!
I also believe wholeheartedly (is that really how you spell it???) as a buyer in offering a "post-but not during-auction" amount that is whatever I feel I can afford, or might be reasonable for the item. Let us not forget, some sellers are living on completely different planets when it comes to evaluating the worth of their chattels!!!!

Ending an auction early as in just pulling it with some lame excuse listed?
I think that's just a punk thing to do.
I wouldn't accept it at an auction for any other item, whether it was a house, or a car, or at the liveried establishments like sothebys.
Want to add a BIN that works for you and an interested buyer, great. But In my opinion it should have to be viewable but not operational for 12 hours minimum (with a start time listed for 'BIN-ING') - so that any troller has the opportunity as well to take advantage of the change in auction rules.

But thats me, way too egalitarian for the USA I'm sure!!!

Daniel



Edited to say:

OOoooh, I love my 12 hour BIN idea so much I've thought how to make it better, ie.....work.

So that not everyone snipes at the same second the BIN amount, the winning bid could be the highest over the BIN amount, in effect setting a new ending time for the auction with a minimum winning bid known by all.......kinda dutch and kinda straight ebay.....I like it, what do you all think?