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Question on Ebay selling manners, ethics, whatever
SarasotaFrank
Posts: 1,628
I truly don't know the answer to this question.
If an auction ends for an item identical to an item I am selling, is it inappropriate to email unsuccessful bidders to inform them of the availability of the same item?
If an auction ends for an item identical to an item I am selling, is it inappropriate to email unsuccessful bidders to inform them of the availability of the same item?
"I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my Grandfather did, as opposed to screaming in terror like his passengers."
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even after the auction on which they bid ended?
obviously so, just seems strange to me
The bidder was probably a shill.
We ARE watching you.
In this situation, they fear that you could be letting other sellers do all the work (and paying ebay fees), while you sit on the sidelines and pick up sales from the underbidders while ebay gets nothing.
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
New collectors, please educate yourself before spending money on coins; there are people who believe that using numismatic knowledge to rip the naïve is what this hobby is all about.
Cheers,
Bob
1) If it's an item you have listed on ebay, go ahead and contact the underbidders. Ebay uses this practice all the time by telling me of the availability of similar items when I have lost on an auction that has closed.
2) If it's an item you have for private sale, also contact the underbidders. It's business. It's legal and there is nothing unethical about it. Ebay may not like it, but they solicit us all the time and besides, how do they know who you are?
yeah, right!!!!! the next time you need to sell a coin, just go hang out at the local dealer's store and sell to people outside, or better yet, go linger at the counter.
why is the subject of ethics so difficult to understand sometimes??
al h.
your example is not quite accurate. Ebay is not a coin dealer with a storefront.
don't get hung up on semantics. eBay facillitated the location of the coin as another has already pointed out. as a seller there, it shouldn't be hard for you to understand these things. just consider it from the point of view of any business. it's really not tough to understand, for me at least.
al h.
have you ever sold a coin outside of Ebay that was listed on Ebay?
.......yes, if i understand the question correctly.
al h.
al h.
I saw an coin item on ebay - of which I have the exact same item. It was drawing a large price with a number of different bidders, and sold for $80.00. I LISTED the same item and paid the listing fee.
I do not see the harm in informing non winning bidders of the availability of the very same to pump up my own auction for which I have already paid the fee as well.
Should I be looking into the camera a la Richard Nixon (one of the great presidents of our time, by the way) saying "I am not a crook"?
underbidders that you have an identical item. (Other than some
people might say that it is a violation of their privacy to send them
unsolicited email when they are able to find your auction on their
own.) But that is a different issue. You aren't violating any rule, and
you aren't interfering with someone else's sale.
<< <i>I hear ya but I still don't think it is the same as owning a coin store and having a live person standing there. Ebay is a online flea market that over charges for their services. They are pretty much the only place to sell online that will have any chance to create profits.
have you ever sold a coin outside of Ebay that was listed on Ebay? >>
If you believe eBay overcharges, stop using them (as much). eBay's "behavior" should not dictate your own.
If you believe eBay is unethical in their practices, so be it. That shouldn't influence you or justify you to be unethical in yours.
peacockcoins
If you look at my statement you will notice I said they are pretty much the only place to sell online and make a profit. What I am saying is IF there was a profitable online way to sell my coins that so many people would see then I would use the other way but there is not. How many times have we talked about the profits on Ebay being small for coins? What Ebay "behavior" is dictating my behavior?
<< <i>If you believe eBay is unethical in their practices, so be it. That shouldn't influence you or justify you to be unethical in yours. >>
I assume you mean this in a hypothetical situation and not towards me directly. Just want to clarify.
this is a quote from the above link from CNN.
I guess this means Ebay prices will rise to absorb the higher Ebay fees. bummer
<< <i>I was reprimanded by eBay for contacting a bidder to let him know that "electrotype" means copy. It was 1793 half-cent, and the bidder had gone up to $4500!!!
The bidder was probably a shill. >>
And he was probably trying to get you NARU'ed. It is best to just leave other auctions alone on eBay. Don't try to be a hero.
The better question would be, "Why is it that the unethical cry the loudest when they are treated the way they treat others?"
Or, "Why do ethics only apply to a specific segment of the poulation?"
Jim
Since Ebay allows the seller in an auction to offer the under bidders a second chance thru Ebay, perhaps the seller has more than one or perhaps the original sale fell thriough, I would have to say NO. It's not right to make the offer. Besides the seller has done all the leg work in the first place.
Larry
Dabigkahuna