Advice needed on early end of auction

Well, you know you are not supposed to do that , I think....BUT it is done all the time and I mean often. Personally, if it were me, yes I would do it if I really wanted it and the person offered. ..and I said, if it we me...won't advise you to do anything.

rsmiller40

Has there been a bid on it? If so, they will have to pay Ebay anyway.

rsmiller40

I really didn't know if the seller was allowed to make that sort of offer or not, but it looks as if it's a first time seller (they've got 0 feed back and that shiny person icon) so perhaps they don't know that they're not supposed to ask for offers.

There are already nine bids on it, so if it suddenly disappeared all those people would be a bit miffed!

I'll play by the rules and snipe it - I'm too boring sometimes.

I'll let you know what happens (of course). Thanks!

SS

They can end it and notify eveyone that the reason is..it was stolen,,broken, and such. Now, that is supposed tol be the fact, you know, however, if they sell it after that..well. Most everyone has bought something like that at one time or another..well, a lot of people..don't want to start a new topic here.

rsmiller40

I have people do it allll the time!! When you cancel an auction early it gives you the option of "this item is no longer available"...done deal. The seller isnt lying.

When I said I have people do it all the time - I meant I have people requesting me to cancel an auction early so they can buy it. I have done this before - for various reasons - like they are going away before said auction ends and they *really* want to take the widget with them. LOL - well I chose to believe that anyways

I canceled an auction early ONE time because someone made me an offer and there were NO bids on the auction. And I worried about doing it after the fact. I won't do it again. I do not want to risk losing my right to sell on eBay.

I've decided in the future, however, that if I really want to take someone up on their offer and ONLY if there are not bids, that I will revise the auction and put in a "buy-it-now" price. That person can then go buy it for the price we agreed. If they change their mind and don't follow thru, then I've only lost 5 cents, and I've not technically violated eBay policy. Ebay gets their fee, I get my $, and the buyer gets their widget.

diva (aka Dag)

Diva, there have been so many people selling things off auction after bids, by ending the auction, I believe all catagories are charged once a bid is submited now, even if it ends early. I certainly will NOT tell this person to do it. Guess it is something the two will have to decide, but I know it is done a lot. I have never done it in my auctions, but have as a buyer on an item with no bids.

rsmiller40

I've only cancelled an auction once, and that was because I changed my mind about selling the item and there were no bids anyway.

I recall that the option I selected for my reason for cancelling was "The item is no longer available" and surely this covers the whole gamut of possibilities. eBay doesn't ask why the item is no longer available and I doubt they care - they got paid.

I'd never do it if there were bids however.

GG

If you will look under seller's guide at the top of your My Ebay page, it will tell you about closing an auction early. You do have to give a reason from the list to your bidders. It states if you are chronic about ending in the last twelve hours , it will be addressed. ANyway, it does not look like it is a big deal to end early. However, it probably does not make friends of the bidders you cancel.

rsmiller40

quote:

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Diva, there have been so many people selling things off auction after bids, by ending the auction, I believe all catagories are charged once a bid is submited now, even if it ends early.

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I don't know exactly what happens when there are bids and an auction is ended early. The one auction I ended early had no bids. However, I don't think there are any additional fees incurred. You lose your listing fees, of course.

Here's what eBay says about it:

Ending Your Listing Early

Sometimes something goes wrong and you can't complete your listing as planned. If needed, you can choose to end your listing before the scheduled date. If there are bids on your item, you can cancel them.

Reasons for ending listings early include:
The item is no longer available for sale.
There was an error in the starting price or reserve amount.
There was an error in the listing.
The item was lost or broken.

To end your listing early, follow these steps:
Type your item number into the Ending Your Listing Early form. (You can get this number on your listing, on your confirmation email, or on your My eBay page.)

If there are bids on your item, choose between:
Cancel bids and end listing early
or
Sell item to high bidder(s) and end listing early
If your item has no bids, you'll skip this step.
Choose the reason you're ending your listing early.

Now your listing will end and will no longer be displayed on eBay. If there were bidders, they will be emailed that their bid was canceled and the listing ended early.

NOTE: Sellers are not permitted 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 reserve fee circumvention. Although there are legitimate reasons for ending a listing early, abuse of this option will be investigated.

diva (aka Dag)

In Policy,if you end an auction early, you cannot circumvent the fees, thus, if you have a bid on the item, you will pay the final fee based on the highest bid. This is what I understand the policy means. I really believe when I sold a camper recently, it was stated exactly thus.

rsmiller40

Hi again:

This question has been bothering me, so I wrote eBay to get their answer, since (of course) I couldn't find anything in their Help area that referred to final value fees on auctions ended early with bids. Their response was:

"You are only charged a final value fee if an auction sells. If you have to end it early and cancel the bids it wouldn't have sold."

Hope that helps. Thanks,

diva (aka Dag)

Diva, I wonder if this also applies in ebay motors?

rsmiller40

Good question. I don't know the answer to that one, and of course I can't find the answer in Help. I don't know anything about eBay Motors and it certainly could have a whole different set of policies.

diva (aka Dag)

Diva, I think this is where I picked up this bit of info, when I listed my last camper. Anyway, I emailed them this PM and asked for us.

rsmiller40

Diva, I found the answer to the fee in list your auto on Ebay motors. Ebay charges a fee that is NOT refundable of $40. for vehicles and $25. for motorcycles once there has been a bid, whether it sells or not. It is called a transaction fee. I would say it is because a lot of them have been taken off in the past and sold "under the table" to save final fees.

rsmiller40

I emailed the seller and enquired about making an offer. He told me what he was wanting to get for the item, and it was well above what it would normally go for on eBay. Just now the amount he is wanting is more than double what the highest bid is sitting at!

Because of this there was not really any point in my making an offer because my highest bid is a couple of hundred pounds less than what he's looking for, so I'm taking my chances in the auction. He hasn't set a reserve, so I suspect that the widget will sell for quite a lot less than he hopes. With any luck, I'll be the high bidder, too!

Only a few hours to go now. Sadly I'll be travelling when the auction ends so I won't be able to see all the excitement happening.

SuperSqueaky

quote:

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Originally posted by SuperSqueaky:
Only a few hours to go now. Sadly I'll be travelling when the auction ends so I won't be able to see all the excitement happening.

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I see that AS will send you a message about your snipe via a phone #. I've never tried it. Also, I "think" ebay will do the same?

Right, Rick, you can also set it up through Ebay.

rsmiller40

quote:

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Diva, I found the answer to the fee in list your auto on Ebay motors. Ebay charges a fee that is NOT refundable of $40. for vehicles and $25. for motorcycles once there has been a bid, whether it sells or not. It is called a transaction fee. I would say it is because a lot of them have been taken off in the past and sold "under the table" to save final fees.

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Hey, thanks for the update RS!

diva (aka Dag)

Well, my hunch was right and the widget (it's a super-duper PC with all the trimmings... ) went for around three hundred less than the seller was hoping. The really GREAT news is that the high bidder was me, by five seconds - I think I beat a manual sniper!

I was already pretty addicted to eBay before I discovered AS - now I'm much worse: it's bad for my bank balance.

Thanks for all the support gang!

SuperSqueaky

Great !!!

rsmiller40

Well maybe not so good after all....

I mailed the seller to say that I was delighted to win the auction, and then later to ask for the amount I should add to my payment for shipping, and I've had no reply.

During the auction he was very quick in replying, but now there's a loud silence.

How long is it normal to wait for a response from a seller before you can consider an auction void? This has never happened to me before. I am really desperate to get a new PC, but obviously I can't bid on another one until I am sure that this chap isn't going to get back in touch with me.

I have a sneaking suspicion that he's not happy that he didn't get the amount he wanted for the machine.

SuperSqueaky

Squeaky,give him a little bit. It is the weekend and sometimes these auctions are run from businesses that are closed on Sat. and Sun. or sometimes people just aren't as prompt as they should be. I just had one that didn't respond for almost a week! He is supposed to respond within 3 days. If he answered you at first, it was probably an automatic reply. Hang in there.

rsmiller40

I'm just all excited.....barking and chasing my tail! You're right I'm sure - he's probably off having a nice weekend and sleeping off a hangover or something.

Thanks for answering so quickly, btw, it's great to know that there's always someone around to chat to.

SS.

Congratulations, Super Squeak!!

AS Rocks!

rsmiller40

quote:

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Originally posted by SuperSqueaky:
This has never happened to me before. I am really desperate to get a new PC, but obviously I can't bid on another one until I am sure that this chap isn't going to get back in touch with me.

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SS,

I think it's some kind of Murphy's Law thingy. It seems to happen to auctions that one is really excited about. Also, you might be feeling some guilt because you sniped, or you might think the seller is upset with you. That was my feeling when I started, and I was very anxious to close each transaction. After awhile, I realized that no one was upset. They knew the rules, and knew someone could snipe them. (They can always use a reserve if they are concerned about the closing price.)

I have a couple of sellers that I even asked if they mind if I sniped. Of course they didn't.

So after awhile, I stopped worrying about it and haven't gotten stiffed.

Computers have problems. Servers have problems. Communications have problems.

I usually give them 2 days to respond. Then I'll send them a "reminder". The reminder will apologize for the duplicate email, but state that I was worried that perhaps they didn't get the 1st one.

Good luck and I'd like to hear how it goes. This has come up before, and they have all turned out successfully.

Thanks for the advice, Rick. Since it's now five days since the end of the auction, I've sent a message just as you suggested, and I've got my fingers crossed.

I wasn't feeling guilty at all about sniping - after all my bid was the highest, but I will admit that I feel rather sad for the seller that the machine has gone for so much less than he thought he would get.

I really hope that things are OK. You are so right about Murphy's Law! The only other auction I have any worries about at the moment is for a widget that I could really do with just now, and although paid for has not arrived yet.....

SuperSqueaky

SuperSqueaky

The chances are the seller is having an unexpected problem (I guess most problems are unexpected) that prevents him from getting to his computer. See if he's does any of the following since you sent your 1st email:
1) Leaves any feedback.
2) Places a proxy bid (sniping could be thru a service).
3) Lists anything for sell.
These would all require that he still has access to a computer and therefore should have seen your emails.

Also, see if he's receives feedback for an item that closed on the same day as yours, or after.

I did once have a seller that claimed he didn't get my emails thru ebay. It seemed kind of lame, especially after I sent him something like 8 emails. He then lied about when the item was shipped - but in the end, I got the merchandise. "No pain - no gain" (what ever that means).

How's his feedback?

If all else fails, you may also want to request the sellers personal information from eBay.
This gives you (and the seller) access to the address and phone numbers of bothe parties.
You could then call the seller to find out if there is a problem.
I have used this on a couple of instances and it has worked out well.

In one instance, the buyer contacted me because they were having computer problems, in another, I contacted the seller for the same reason.

So far, no one has taken offense and all was resolved successfully.

Best wishes,
bjt

My 2 cents is this... when I list on Ebay, I am aware it is an AUCTION, not a set priced item in a store. You take a chance and sometimes you gain more than you think, sometimes you lose more than you think. Usually, I find that people that set buy it now prices along with an auction, have that price inflated anyway..just in case some bidder gets a little anxious. Hmm maybe that was 3 cents worth!

rsmiller40

I had a look and the seller had three auctions running at the same time. All were for PCs. One ended without reaching it's reserve, and the other sold.

Nobody has left any feedback for him - he's 0 feedback with a "new user" icon. How would I find out if he's placed a bid on an auction or if he's placed feedback for anyone else?

I hope he has got access to a working computer - one of the three he's selling is supposed to have been mine, and it's meant to be in working order!

I'm glad I checked his other auctions. As he put a reserve on one of the laptops I don't need to feel worried that he was a newbie who didn't understand that he could avoid selling for less than he wanted by putting a reserve on....ooh I am a sensitive soul you know.

SuperSqueaky

quote:

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Originally posted by SuperSqueaky:
How would I find out if he's placed a bid on an auction or if he's placed feedback for anyone else?

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Search by bidder:
http://pages.ebay.com/search/items/search_bidder.html

Search feedback left:
http://cgi2.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedbackMemberLeftLogin

SS, this guy is making me feel nervous now. Will he accept escrow on this? If not, paypal credit card? I don't know if I would want to send him anything else. What if it is DOA or something? He has no history..there are a lot of scams in the eletronic section from BOTH buyers and sellers! Be very careful.

rsmiller40

PErsonally I wouldnt have bought an expensive item from an unproven seller.

I think the best bet would be to post a cheque rather than pay electronically. That way you have their postal address (unless its a P.O. box I suppose)

RM

You're quite right, Rob - it was a bit silly to bid on an auction with an unproven seller, but I thought about it like this - the machine was just wonderful, and everyone has got to start somewhere. I'd also just bought a camera from an unproven seller who was a really decent person and the transaction was great. I just thought things would go smoothly.

I took the group's advice yesterday and got the seller's phone number. He wasn't in when I called. I'll try again this evening but I don't hold out a great deal of hope.

I am seriously thinking about calling it a day on this one. Luckily I haven't sent any money because I needed him to confirm postage before I went to Paypal. I'd be very, very nervous sending money now! I'll need to email him and let him know that I consider his lack of contact voids the bargain, and I suppose I'll have to leave feedback to that effect too. It's not something I want to do, but I really need a new PC.....

The day the auction ended a most peculiar message arrived which I just read and deleted - it was titled similarly to the auction and it said (badly spelled) "you have been outbid check and review" or words to that effect. As I have had a lot of mail from people I don't know offering me items off-ebay since I started bidding in the electronics area I really didn't think much of it, but I'm beginning to wonder if this was a rather amateurish attempt by the seller to make me think I wasn't the high bidder. I'm annoyed with myself that I didn't pay more attention to the message and where it came from. It's easy to be wise in hindsight though.

It's all really odd. I'll keep you all updated (of course!)

SS

SS,

It is very odd. If it's a scam, why doesn't the seller wait until they get the money?

I'd suggest the seller wasn't happy with the price he/she got.

I have a similar situation at the moment except the seller is an old hand with feedback over 1000. I waited for information re payment (as seller requested in his instructions) but it's been 9 days now. I've sent two emails politely requesting information and have been met with total silence.

Obviously I'm not out of pocket and the amount is trivial anyway, but it's the principal (or lack of principals, perhaps), of the thing. Some sellers with high feedback figures might reckon they can cop a few negatives without too much damage.

Perhaps eBay should increase the % lost if a genuine negative occurs after the seller reaches a higher figure (such as 1000). That might "keep the bastards honest".

I will be watching and if the seller relists these items at any time in the future I will email each and every bidder on every single item he ever lists with the details.

GG