Ending Ebay listings early

[rainier2004]

Originally Posted by spec

This question comes up periodically and it always reminds me of the Golden Rule I learned as a child: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

I enjoy offers made on my cards...I'd love to have MORE offers made and let the buyers compete that way as well. Offering more than the card would receive at auction DOES happen sometimes so who is this screwing?

[Bicem]

I once made an offer and the Seller just raised the opening bid to my offer.

well-played.

[steve B]

When I was actively selling I never saw that. Every offer I got was at least 1/4 of what the item ended up selling for.

So put me in the camp of those who feel offers are simply lowball offers intended to get the item at a very low price from a seller who may not know what their item is worth.

Adding a BIN is probably within the rules, but my impression from items I'm watching that end early is that they are ended early and sold outside Ebay which isn't within the rules.

Steve B

Originally Posted by rainier2004

I enjoy offers made on my cards...I'd love to have MORE offers made and let the buyers compete that way as well. Offering more than the card would receive at auction DOES happen sometimes so who is this screwing?

[zljones]

The only time I think it is suitable to make a offer to end a listing is if you are going to offer a strong amount just to obtain a card because it is hard to find, not to get a special deal on it and pay the seller a fraction of the value. If I forecast a card will sell for 700 I will offer 750 to close it down, just so I do not risk stupid things like my computer crashing or freezing in the last few seconds, or ebay freezing in "Myebay" in the last few seconds, or someone outbidding me by a few cents. All these weird scenarios have happened to me believe it or not! And I swear by being a sniper bidder to prevent other bidders from overbidding. In order to prevent worries, an offer might be a good thing to do as long as your offering a decent amount.

[rainier2004]

I dont know guys, I didnt realize how bad this is. Ill admit I am wrong.

Whenever I make an offer to end an auction, and it is rare, I am offering what I think the card is worth and am trying to avoid a pissing match at the end, compter glitches, etc and zach said. Ive also made the offer if I find another of the same card and want to see if I can get one of the sellers to go lower than the other. I dont think its morally correct to try and lowball an unknowing owner though...this seems in the same category as finding a box of pre-war cards in a garage sale and spending $10 on them and calling it good.
I have received offers to end an auction early that was more than I had hoped to receive in the end. I wasn't aware of the problem being as bad as it is though. I feel it comes down to intentions and it is NEVER alright to take advantage of someone, but I feel its perfectly legit to try and buy the card before my compitetion realizes its out there and make a fair offer. Early bird and the worm story?

Jeff - I guess it can hurt just to make an offer....and I agree "well-played".

[bbcard1]

I only ended one early once. i suspected the offer was better than I was going to get if I let the bidding run its course. i could have been wrong, but I am basically a "break even" ebay seller. I sell duplicates and if I break even over the long run, I am happy. This was an offer that tripled my money on the item and decided to go with the bird in hand.

[Jayworld]

eBay states that a seller may end a listing early for the following reasons:
1. The item is broken, lost, or otherwise no longer available for sale
2. You made a mistake in creating the listing

Further, eBay states that if you end an auction within 12 hours or less of the auction ending, your only option is to sell the item to the highest bidder if the item has bids. If over 12 hours, you can end the auction and either do nothing or sell to the highest bidder.

Also states, which I find interesting:
Sellers are not allowed to cancel bids and end listings early in order to avoid selling an item that did not meet the desired sale price. This is considered to be a violation of our reserve price policy. Although there are legitimate reasons for ending a listing early, abuse of this option will be investigated.

I have bought and sold on eBay for 14 years, although hardly at all in the past two years. During that time, I have been asked twice to end an auction early, and both times I politely declined and stated that the auction would run until the end.

[rainier2004]

I see your point Zach and also agree with most of what you said and usually say - I have this story for you.

Im looking for 1915 CJ per norm, notice an HOFer for sale advertised as a 1915 but was really a 1914 with a starting price of 99 cents...informed seller who told me I was wrong, sent another email explaining my logic and reasoning. He ignored me, and I bought the card for about 40-50% of it worth. I felt he needed to know the truth and never understood his defensiveness. I would have thought making him an offer to end early would have been deceptive but we each are responsible for ourselves and actions and this guy obviously didnt know what he had, but nor did he care.
Where is the moral line here? I think we as collectors make our own rules...

[zljones]

Originally Posted by rainier2004

I dont know guys, I didnt realize how bad this is. Ill admit I am wrong.

Whenever I make an offer to end an auction, and it is rare, I am offering what I think the card is worth and am trying to avoid a pissing match at the end, compter glitches, etc and zach said. Ive also made the offer if I find another of the same card and want to see if I can get one of the sellers to go lower than the other. I dont think its morally correct to try and lowball an unknowing owner though...this seems in the same category as finding a box of pre-war cards in a garage sale and spending $10 on them and calling it good.
I have received offers to end an auction early that was more than I had hoped to receive in the end. I wasn't aware of the problem being as bad as it is though. I feel it comes down to intentions and it is NEVER alright to take advantage of someone, but I feel its perfectly legit to try and buy the card before my compitetion realizes its out there and make a fair offer. Early bird and the worm story?

Jeff - I guess it can hurt just to make an offer....and I agree "well-played".

I agreed with a lot of what you said earlier in this thread. It should not be considered morally wrong, and cheating a seller out of money. If a seller lets a $500 item go for $100, well that is the seller's fault not the buyer's fault. When selling on ebay, and especially selling a item one knows nothing about it is best to do research first before selling it. I completely agree with you about it not being the buyers fault. Most people on ebay are adults and should take responsibility for their own listings. In this economy there are people always trying to save a buck, so a seller has to protect themselves by doing their homework first, and not accepting low ball offers.

[freakhappy]

Originally Posted by rainier2004

I dont know guys, I didnt realize how bad this is. Ill admit I am wrong.

Whenever I make an offer to end an auction, and it is rare, I am offering what I think the card is worth and am trying to avoid a pissing match at the end, compter glitches, etc and zach said. Ive also made the offer if I find another of the same card and want to see if I can get one of the sellers to go lower than the other. I dont think its morally correct to try and lowball an unknowing owner though...this seems in the same category as finding a box of pre-war cards in a garage sale and spending $10 on them and calling it good.
I have received offers to end an auction early that was more than I had hoped to receive in the end. I wasn't aware of the problem being as bad as it is though. I feel it comes down to intentions and it is NEVER alright to take advantage of someone, but I feel its perfectly legit to try and buy the card before my compitetion realizes its out there and make a fair offer. Early bird and the worm story?

Jeff - I guess it can hurt just to make an offer....and I agree "well-played".

So in order to never take advantage of a seller, if we see a BIN at a low price, should we email the seller and tell him to bump his price up to current market value???

I get that you are honest and don't want to take advantage of anyone, but if someone lists their product for sale, it is their responsibility to know the facts about their item. If someone came up to me with a bunch of HOF rookies or such and asked for info on the lot and I told them that it is junk, that's where integrity and further issues come into play.

It may be against Ebay rules to ask a seller to end an item early, but how hard is it really just to say "no thanks" and move on. I don't blame anyone who tries to get an item for the price they want. I wouldn't insult the seller with a crappy price, but I don't think there is anything wrong with contacting them and asking. Everyone knows that Ebay is mostly like a huge flea market and the only reason they don't want anyone to use their site to springboard sales offline is because it takes away from their profit.

[tbob]

I only make an offer to end early if it is a tough and needed card I rarely find for a set. My purpose is to pre-empt anyone else buying it outright. If a seller tells me that the auction will run to the end, I email him back my thanks and that I will be bidding, which I always do. I have just done this a few times and usually the seller will put a BIN on the card for my bid.
I used to be in the camp that would never ask a seller to end early but that was before I watched it happen for others again and again.
Again, only on a much needed tough to find card for a set and only if there are no other bids already on the card.

[rainier2004]

updated story above to read
"Im looking for 1915 CJ per norm, notice an HOFer for sale advertised as a 1915 but was really a 1914"...that was a point lost there.

Mike I agree with you but I did feel the need to inform them of their error in regards to year...my story was missing that line above. Im completely in favor of making an offer to end things early though...