T206 w/ no red ink ends early on eBay. GRRR!

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Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)

I've seen quite a few auctions end early. Do I like it when it's something I want - NO. To me it really doesn't matter whether there are bids on the card or not when an auction is ended early because the seller takes an offer on the card. Besides, what happens if you email the seller (to end the auction early) before there are any bids on the card and someone bids on the card by the time the seller gets to his email. What came first - the bid or the email to end the auction early? Semantics....

It's irritating when an auction is ended early but everyone has the opportunity to email the seller to do the same thing. I would have to figure that a smart seller might at least wait until there is a day left before accepting an offer to end the auction early because if ONE person is going to make some type of insane offer (which could very well be in line with the actual market value) then there might be others that want the card at the same price. Let'em slug it out in the auction arena, that's what it's there for. Besides, I will avoid a seller that continually ends auctions early.

If I see something that I really like I email the seller and ask them up front if they would end the auction early if someone gave them a great offer. If they say yes then I just watch the item, if they say absolutely not then I'll probably bid on it and watch it at the end of the auction (time permitting).

One last comment - if you email the seller to end the auction early and someone screws you by telling the seller that they could have gotten more for the card then that's just too bad, it's part of the game. I suppose if you're smart enough you'll tell the seller to end the auction and BIN it at your offering price so you that you have ebay backing you up if the seller attempts to reneg on the BIN offer. Besides, would you really want to deal with a seller that agrees to sell it off of ebay and then renegs because of an email from someone stating they could have gotten more?