quick poll? end auction early?

Sets

What is the general opinion of ending auctions early? just curious, if you get what you feel is a fair price should you do it? I am not a greedy pig and I don't need to try to suck every last dollar out of someone. , What if it there are no bids, or bids aren't even close to your reserve, or the auction isn't half over. Would it deter someone from bidding on my auctions in the future? Is it fair? Will it hurt my reputation? Under what conditions should it be done?

The reason I ask this is because tonight someone offered me a fair price on an item and I am not sure what to do. I don't want to hurt my reputation at all, and I don't want to prevent people from bidding on my auctions. I never did it before, and I don't know if that hurts or helps me?

mercurynut

Nope

Vargha

Don't do it.

boggs301012

As long as no one has bid I dont see any problem.


James

murcerfan

wolfbear

Here's all you have to say :

"Thank you for the offer, but in fairness to bidders who like to track auctions,
and then bid at the last minute, I never end my auctions early.
Thanks for understanding."

Anyone asking to you to end your auction early is doing it for one reason only.
They're afraid the card will cost them MORE than their offer if they let the auction run till the end.

So who's being the greedy pig ?

kuhlmann

I agree with boggs301012. If no bids and you get a good offer take it. but tell him to pay before you pull it.

BugOnTheRug

Both sides of the argument are valid, but I agree with Wolfbear. If your going to be around on ebay for a while, don't tinker with your 'sellers reputation'. I'm a big fan of BIN, and while I don't use it all the time, I have used it successfully on numerous items. Make your BIN's comfortable to you, and all will pan out well.
BOTR

Vincecarder

If you know what your item is worth or know the range it's going to sell at and this person's offer is in that range...SELL IT. I've got offers that I couldn't refuse and I will cancel all bids on my auctions and sell the card private. You do save on Ebay fees (like Ebay needs any more money).

I love making private deals...have found plenty of friends and long time traders because of this practice. Sure you have some people that don't feel it's right or won't end an auction early....well sometimes auctions don't get the bids you want. I've had plenty of people email saying "Oh I really wanted to bid on the card.but (sniper didn't go off, thought it ended on another day etc) Let me know if the high bidder doesn't pay for it".

I say, if the offer is good, sell it. Could sell for more, could sell for less, could sell the exact same price. At least you don't have to pay Ebay fees.

dbj77

I wouldn't pull it. When I sell, most of my bids come near the auctions end. It shows low class to pull an auction once there are bids on it.

As a buyer, if I bid on an auction and it gets pulled (to sell offline, not because of listing error) I will never buy from that seller again. I guess you have to balance your reputation vs. profit margin.

Sets

very good points have been made on both sides, I sent the guy an email and told him I needed to think about it for 24 hrs. , I figure this way to I could see what intrest was in the item.............

pc

few page views and no bids = cya

murcerfan

RobE

If you are within your rights than you have done nothing wrong per order of the rules.

After the rules it's a matter of what you feel is good or bad business practice viewed by your fellow ebayers.

wolfbear

Agree that snipers snipe to save themselves money,
but at least it's a level playing field where everyone has an equal chance.

As to eBay in general :
It ain't new, it ain't going away, and it's only going to become a larger part of the hobby.
It has brought in a lot of new blood, and for better or worse, has taken card collecting to the next level.

AlanAllen

The only reason I snipe is to prevent shilling.

Joe

murcerfan

jparchitectus

I agree with the above...chances are if they are asking to end it early
they are affraidn it will go for more.

AkbarClone

<< <i>Now, what if a dealer at a show had a card you have been looking for for years.... you agreed on a fair price and were ready to close, he then says OK come back at the end of the show when all the other attendees have had a chance to look at the card and make me better offers. I want to be fair to them too................would you be understanding? >>



An auction is different from a card show. When you look at an auction that interests you--it has a clearly defined closing time. Unless it has a BIN option, the auction should remain open until that time. To compare the two does not make sense--they are different.

If someone really wants that card, then they can place a bid just like anyone else. Reasons such as sniping, shilling, desire to get the lowest price possible for those on a budget--all come into play when persons decide to place their bids and when they place their bids. I've sniped many a card, and have been sniped myself--but when I get sniped, it only agravates me for a little while because I know its just part of the auction process and if someone is willing to pay more than me, then thats just life.

If sellers end their auctions early, they not only lose a chance to benefit from a possible bidding war, but they may also lose potential future customers who won't waste their time with certain sellers because they do not abide by the established system of the auction.

Either include a BIN option on your auctions, or let the process play out.

HomerSimps0n

I NEVER end an auction early. First of all, technically I think it is against eBay policy to end an auction early to sell to item privately. But putting that aside, think about it this. If the winning bidder suddenly decides that they don't want to buy the card from you because they found a better deal elsewhere, you are going to get pretty mad and call them all sorts of names, right. Well when you pull an auction to sell it to someone on the side you are doing the same thing to the bidder. "I don't want to sell this to you because I had a better offer elsewhere."

Starting an auction is a commitment to sell the item at the resultant price whatever that is to the winning bidder, just like bidding on an auction is a commitment to pay that much for the item (if you win).

Tipem

No!!!!


Vic

Skycap

Never have.

murcerfan

First of all, technically I think it is against eBay policy to end an auction early to sell to item privately.

wrong Homer.

Sets

<< Now, what if a dealer at a show had a card you have been looking for for years.... you agreed on a fair price and were ready to close, he then says OK come back at the end of the show when all the other attendees have had a chance to look at the card and make me better offers. I want to be fair to them too................would you be understanding? >>


now this is a great point, so if someone see's it early they should make a fair offer, I agree it is maybe only to save money, maybe they don't want to wait or go through the hassle. I do agree that it should not be done when bids are on items as someone mentioned earlier. I never expected this kind of response. Wow, I guess it was a good question to ask.

When answering wear both shoes, as seller, and as buyer, and you will probably make a more fairer answer.

Remobolan

Sets,

I had a Roger Staubach Rookie on ebay for a 5 day auction. This guy emails after 3 days and says that if I end the auction now he will buy it from me for $150.00. I had never had this happen to me before and I went to my listing and saw that only 5 people had looked at it. At that point I thought well $150 in my pocket is better than nothing, but as I was emailing the guy to tell him ok something told me not to. So I told him sorry but I was going to let it ride and thanked him for the offer. It sold for $202 and no one bid on it until the last hour or two so I learned a lesson on that one. Let it ride. Plus I imagine people do pay attention to your auctions and if you end them early it might have some credability costs. Thats my 2 cents worth, sorry no change.

murcerfan

<< Now, what if a dealer at a show had a card you have been looking for for years.... you agreed on a fair price and were ready to close, he then says OK come back at the end of the show when all the other attendees have had a chance to look at the card and make me better offers. I want to be fair to them too................would you be understanding? >>

actually, it's a pretty weak analogy.

I will continue to make rediculously generous offers on cards i really gotta have, ones comes up every month or so. And I will continue to hook-up other collectors who e-mail me jonzing for cards I'm selling.
of course my opening bids are usually so high that it weeds out the cheapskates and reneggers.

Rainman

I buy and sell on EBay, so understand both sides. I’ve never asked someone to end an auction early and I’ve never ended an auction early (usually the offers have been laughable at best- i.e., way below ebay selling prices). While doing so may get you the $ quicker and may even get you a higher price, I like to give all buyers a “fair shot” at my auctions. Sometimes personal values/beliefs outweigh business values (and no, I’m not judging those who end auctions early).

iamthegreatcornholio

There is one important thing that I don't think anybody mentioned: Unless you either have a reserve or a high minimum bid, the BIN will go away after the first bid is placed. I always have BIN's on my auctions and I used to state what it was in the auction. Several times, a user would email me asking if he could buy it for that price. I hardly think it shows "low-class" to do so. Not everyone that offers to buy it early is a greedy sob trying to take advantage of the seller. Some people need the item asap or don't like the auction style and want to buy it for a fixed price, which is usually higher than what it would go for!
Brian

Bearsnum34

If its a 55 topps psa 7 or more and I need it..then yes by all means end it early and sell it to me....

But in all fairness I will watch an item and bid in the last minute or so, if I see a seller that ends his auction early more than once, I dont care how bad I want a card he/she maybe selling...They wont get my dollars...