Questionable Ebay Sales Tactic

Tootawl · February 24, 2003 9:14PM

I was looking at a few auctions and came across this in one of the auctions:

<< <i>If you are seriously interested in this coin, please don't delay entering your bid, as coins without bids are subject to prior sales and may be closed early at seller 's discretion >>

If you have an auction, then you should have the coin on hand ready to sell. If you have prior sales on a coin, it should not be for auction! This was on a 1986 SAE PCGS MS-69 so it wasn't one of those stupid presale auctions. The guy might as well say "I'll have it for auction until I get a better deal."

Russ · February 25, 2003 5:02AM

That would be Tom's Coins. I've never actually seen one of his auctions end early, though. Maybe has, just haven't seen one.

Baseball is correct. Many dealers (not just coins) have these items for sale at their regular shop or web site. It is not unusual for that item to sell directly from the store. There is nothing wrong with this.

Russ, NCNE

Tootawl · February 25, 2003 6:53AM

<< <i>It is not unusual for that item to sell directly from the store. There is nothing wrong with this. >>

..except for the fact that they have an auction for something they may or may not have. I will never bid on an auction that has this mess in it. Sellers all the time pull auctions at the last minute but God forbid when a bidder retracts a bid at the last minute.

Russ · February 25, 2003 7:02AM

<< <i>..except for the fact that they have an auction for something they may or may not have. >>

Tootawl,

Maybe you're misunderstanding what that statement in the auction means. He's saying that if there are no bids the item is subject to prior sale. If there are no bids and it sells, he closes the auction. Once the item has bids, he lets it run it's course. There is nothing morally or ethically wrong with this.

This is not one of those sellers, like e.mix for example, that yanks auctions at the last minute.

Russ, NCNE

semicycler · February 25, 2003 7:11AM

I take it to mean "if there are no bids after a reasonable amount of time, I will cancel the auction before it ends to save on eBay fees"

Russ · February 25, 2003 7:21AM

semicycler,

Cancelling an auction with no bids doesn't save any fees.

Russ, NCNE

relayer · February 25, 2003 9:29AM

I was about to rip a coin from e.mix the other day and he closed the auction.

He just got ripped on one that closed a minute earlier so he probably had enough for one day.

What a mean thing to do to the nice people on eBay.

Questionable Ebay Sales Tactic

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