Ethics question regarding selling on eBay

Oldnewbie · January 13, 2005 11:24AM

I need some advice from some of the seasoned eBay sellers around this joint.

I'm selling a few coins on eBay and I have received an offer through eBay's email system from someone that would like to buy a coin. I don't feel it's ethical to end an auction early, and I won't.

My question is, should I report the offer to eBay as they request, or just let it go.

XpipedreamR · January 13, 2005 11:25AM

I would forget it, but I'm neither seasoned nor a seller...

Barry · January 13, 2005 11:27AM

I'd let it go. Also, if there are no bids on the coin yet, I see no problem ending the auction and selling it off Ebay.

xbob · January 13, 2005 11:30AM

I'd write back and say "If you want it, feel free to bid on it."

Don't bother reporting to eBay unless the person gets abusive. I suspect once you say "NO" that will be all you hear from them.

(OT - Woo Hoo! - 100th post for me! My first small milestone on this board)

CoinOnTheCob · January 13, 2005 11:30AM

I, too, am not a seasoned seller. I am, however, an insatiable reader. I would respond directly to him telling him that that is against eBay’s policies. A sure sell sounds good, but you can’t be sure that he will actually go through with the deal. And, there are eBayers with a lot of time on their hands who have deputized themselves as eBay police and are on “patrol”, not only looking for problems, but starting them as well.

Russ · January 13, 2005 11:32AM

Report him? No. There are real problems on eBay that are a hell of a lot more important.

Russ, NCNE

ldhair · January 13, 2005 11:33AM

<< I'd let it go. Also, if there are no bids on the coin yet, I see no problem ending the auction and selling it off Ebay. >>

I feel it's common for folks to make offers and ask for sellers to end auctions early.
Not saying it is right or wrong.

Russ · January 13, 2005 11:33AM

PS: If you have no bids, you can add a BIN to the auction so he can buy it.

Russ, NCNE

Oldnewbie · January 13, 2005 11:35AM

<< I'd let it go. Also, if there are no bids on the coin yet, I see no problem ending the auction and selling it off Ebay. >>

I should have said that there are bids for the coin in question.

I don't think asking like the fellow did is all that big of a deal, so I'll drop it.

It seems to be a big deal to eBay. They sure are covering their "assets".

BAJJERFAN · January 13, 2005 1:33PM

If his offer is fair and he can PayPal the cash with no fees and there are no bids then go for it.

LincolnCentMan · January 13, 2005 1:40PM

I'd let it go...

David

boz · January 13, 2005 1:49PM

I agree with Bajjerfan

lordmarcovan · January 13, 2005 1:59PM

I'd let it go, but I agree with your decision not to end the auction early.

atarian · January 13, 2005 3:07PM

ive dealt on ebay for a while. not anymor since everyone believes now in neg feedback if you dont wnat to give neutral or neg feed back. but many times people said please bid on the item. and i do no problems. some say ok ill do a BIN or ok ill sell to you. but i dont see anything wrong selling early IF NO BIDS. minute theres a bid you gotta bid no choice. but if they say no its ok illjust bid like i have to anyway

relayer · January 13, 2005 3:22PM

<< ive dealt on ebay for a while. not anymor since everyone believes now in neg feedback if you dont wnat to give neutral or neg feed back. but many times people said please bid on the item. and i do no problems. some say ok ill do a BIN or ok ill sell to you. but i dont see anything wrong selling early IF NO BIDS. minute theres a bid you gotta bid no choice. but if they say no its ok illjust bid like i have to anyway >>

I wonder if doop(s) could translate that

stman · January 13, 2005 3:29PM

Relayer, perhaps if you downed a couple pots of coffee, you'd understand better.

BAJJERFAN · January 13, 2005 8:38PM

If you end it early and he backs out you can just relist with no hassle. If you add a BIN and he backs out you have to piss around and wait to get your FV fees back plus any other crap that comes along with it.

291fifth · January 13, 2005 8:52PM

Tell him you'll set a "buy it now" price for him if his offer is high enough. Let him make the offer and keep the transaction thru eBay.

DrWho · January 13, 2005 9:00PM

<< Report him? No. There are real problems on eBay that are a hell of a lot more important.

Russ, NCNE >>

Yep, Russ (as always?) is correct. Don't get worked up on it, if the offer meets your expectations, do it. Cancel the auction, no big deal. Save the fees too. Gary.

BAJJERFAN · January 13, 2005 9:45PM

If you have a willing buyer why try to turn him off by forcing him to overpay. If 9 out of 10 of your listings are consummated thru eBay who cares if the 10 th one isn't.

thebeav · January 13, 2005 9:56PM

You are morally responsible to your current high bidder. Even if it's a dollar bid on a 'no-reserve' thousand dollar item.
I have no respect for a seller that cancels a bid (s) to sell to an e-mail offer. Good for you for checking it out here.....

Paul

BAJJERFAN · January 13, 2005 10:19PM

If the auction in question had NO bids you are morally responsible to no one UNLESS you wish to reward eBay for raising their fees.

Scavenger · January 13, 2005 10:21PM

This also happened to me once- I replied and told the guy no.

When the auction ended three days later he was the winner

Dog97 · January 13, 2005 10:24PM

It's your coin and you paid for the listing so you can do whatever you want to and it's nobody's business but your own. There is life outside of eBay.

<<<My question is, should I report the offer to eBay as they request, or just let it go.>>>
First of all there's nothing to report. A bidder can ask a seller to end an auction early and you have an option to "sell the the current high bidder right now" or words to that effect, eBay still gets their fees, still have buyer protection etc, etc and all is legit. I've used that option and didn't feel like I was doing anything underhanded but did have some underbidders question me about it.

If you try to avoid the fees by ending the auction using the "Item is no longer for sale" option to sell it, that's fee avoidance & against the rules, has potential for fraud and it also makes the other bidders mad, some of whom may be going to bid a little later, and they will avoid your auctions in the future & post bad things about you on internet message boards.

I wouldn't report it because as a seller I want bids, bids, & more bids because the more bids = more $$$ in your pocket and I sure don't want to alieniate any bidders on my future auctions by snitching on them for a minor infraction.

I've also had sellers contact me about buying their coins on auctions where I didn't meet their reserve. It was funny because on top of the email it had eBay's warning about not buying items outside the system. Sometimes I said *L* yes, put it in the mail other times I just ignored them. If I want to buy coins in the real world outside the eBay system that's my choice.

BAJJERFAN · January 13, 2005 10:24PM

To answer the original question, Would I report the offer? No I probly would not.

Oldnewbie · January 13, 2005 11:19PM

Like I said in an earlier post, it's no big deal to me, it's eBay that asks for the incident to be reported.

If I hadn't had bids, I would have probably taken his offer. It was fair.

Thanks for all the input.

flaminio · January 14, 2005 1:10AM

<< I'm selling a few coins on eBay and I have received an offer through eBay's email system from someone that would like to buy a coin. I don't feel it's ethical to end an auction early, and I won't.

My question is, should I report the offer to eBay as they request, or just let it go. >>

If you don't want to sell it to him, just email him back a polite "No" and let him know that if he wants the coin, he has to bid.

Ethics question regarding selling on eBay

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