posted on March 29, 2009 07:31:45 PM new
I listed a real photo postcard of a stagecoach at a small town train depot on a 7 day auction - starting bid 24.99. I had high hopes for it. 4 days left, it had 1 watcher and no bids. I got an ASQ offer to end the auction early and sell it to him for $52. Usually I ignore such offers, but he referenced that we met at a postcard show 2 weeks ago (probably true, I probably bought cards from him) and that he is president of a midwest postcard club (I am active in mine and am not hesitant to offer discounts to fellow club members). Since he offered a reasonable amount and I felt obligated to extend him the courtesy of accepting his bid, I struggled with how to do it within eBay. I couldn't find any way of enabling a BIN offer with only one eligible bidder. I finally opted for a BIN price of $100 Make Offer, emailed him with the new item number and told him I would accept his offer of $52. That leaves it open for someone to secure the item by accepting the $100 BIN price. Is there a more elegant way of handling this?
[ edited by pixiamom on Mar 29, 2009 07:41 PM ]
posted on March 29, 2009 08:29:40 PM new
I think you handled it well. I don't think there is a way to set up a private sale any more. I have emailed the item # to people and they BIN it but there is always the risk that someone else will snatch it. Putting the Make Offer leaves it in your control and if you DO get a $100 sale - boo hoo.
-------------------------------------
posted on March 30, 2009 03:58:52 AM new
I think you can set it up with only one 'approved bidder' but I haven't done it for quite a while. Good luck, sounds like a great card!
posted on March 30, 2009 08:34:38 AM new
No, the pre-approved bidder option is no longer available UNLESS ....
"Occasionally, for certain high-profile listings, we allow a seller to create a pre-approved bidders list to restrict their listings to a specified group of buyers."
Next time just end the listing early from eBay, then go to your closed section and click to relist it. On the relist page click to edit the item, then scroll to the bottom of the edit window and check the box labeled:
Sell ____ more items like this at my Vendio Store for $____ each.
Enter your quantity and price, then click the save button.
At this point it will be available to purchase from your Vendio storefront, so you can send the buyer a link to either the main store page or just to that specific item.
Another option is editing the listing to just say something vague where only you and the buyer know whats really being purchased. "reserved postcard" or something to that effect (with no images), where its very unlikely that someone else would buy it, and even if they did - they wouldn't know what to expect so you can send them anything you feel like.
