posted on July 1, 2002 06:03:05 PM new
Last week an item had no bids and a man wanted to know if I would end the auction and sell to him for twice my opening bid. I said I would just prefer to let the auction run because I felt I had a rare item. He did bid towards the end and was outbid, I only came out about $10 ahead of what he offered. Then this week I have a small item I started at $3. A lady opened the bid then asked me if I would stop the auction and sell the item to her for $6. She has emailed me every day and sounds just frantic to get it. I haven't responded so far, I am still trying to figure out what to say to her. I am wondering if I should start putting things on Buy It Now which I have never done. One reason I hesitate to do that is because I can't know everything about everything. Last week I had an item I had paid $1 for and I thought it was worth maybe $20. If I had put it on Buy It Now, that's probably what I would have said. And it surprised me by selling for $75. I thought it was against the rules to end auctions early anyway because you don't pay final value fees then do you? Wouldn't somebody notice if I was ending my stuff early all the time. Why would I want to risk getting in hot water over $3? I like the AUCTION format, I think that is half of the fun. I suppose it should make me feel good that my items are in such demand. How do you respond to people wanting you to end your auctions early? Just send them an email that it's against the rules and let it go at that?
posted on July 1, 2002 07:07:29 PM new
AS long as no one has bid there should be no problem closing an auction, even if you do it a lot. Many bidders bid early to help "lock" the item in and help prevent the the auctions from closing early to sell off site to an email offer.
posted on July 1, 2002 08:26:08 PM new
No, he can end the auction and relist it under a BIN. I have done that often. Just hope the same person wins it as wants you to do it. Someone might come in a snipe it. You never know.
posted on July 1, 2002 08:34:46 PM new
If I read it correctly, this bidder has placed a bid already. Ask the bidder what you will take for the item and have them e-mail you there zip code so you can update shipping cost. If they agree, have them send payment via Paypal or billpoint ect...
Then go ahead and close the auction. Since this person has already bid, ebay will get the FVF's. If you sell it for more than the bid, who cares. Ebay gets a cut anyway. And the feedback system is still intact. I would do it in a heart beat, but not until payment was in hand.
posted on July 1, 2002 08:41:21 PM new
If the price is right, end the auction early, and do ebay's "Your Personal Offer" auction. Put this Buyer on your preapproved bidder list and relist the auction so that only this bidder can bid on it. Make it a 3 or 5 day and email them when you list it. ebay gets their fees and you get a quick sale. Others may search completed auctions and contact you to see if you're going to list more. It may lead to more sales.
There are lots of Buyers who are too impatient and in the summer don't have the time to keep watching auctions.
posted on July 1, 2002 09:23:59 PM new
hammerchick
Go ahead and put BINs on your auctions. It makes a difference. I set our BINs kind of high (a bid higher than I expect the item to sell for) but we still get 4-8 per week. That's not too bad.
posted on July 1, 2002 10:00:43 PM new
You wrote: "I like the AUCTION format, I think that is half of the fun."
I think that is a good response if you don't want to end an auction early. My personal opinion is, if an item has bids already, then it is better to let it ride. Chances are it is worth more than you thought. But, it is your business, and your call.
posted on July 1, 2002 10:25:08 PM new
If an auction has bid's I will not end early.
If it has no bid's I'll go in and add BIN that way if they really want it they can end it early!
posted on July 2, 2002 08:22:54 AM new
My canned response to anyone asking me to end the auction early, whether their are bids or not is:
"Thanks for your interest in my widget. My practice is to never end auctions early, so, you are more than welcome to place a bid at your convenience. Once again, thank you."
posted on July 2, 2002 08:50:02 AM new
You can end your auction early at any time with or without bids. No bids means no FVF's.
If it does have bids and you do not cancel them, you end the auction early with a high bidder and FVF's do apply.
You can revise your auction to add a BUY IT NOW price at any time prior to the last 12 hours.
posted on July 2, 2002 08:52:25 AM new
You are allowed to end an auction early and sell to the high bidder if you wish. I would not do so, because if one person is willing to pay $X.XX dollars, then probably several more are willing to pay at least that much.
You don't owe anyone an explanation. I just tell bidders, "bid what you think it is worth" and let it go at that. The few times I have received this request, the bidding has always gone way over the offered price.
posted on July 2, 2002 01:22:33 PM new
We have that happen a lot. Usually the person wants us to sell the item to them for just over minimum bid with free shipping. I think not!
