My ebay rant of the day.....

RichG

Good morning all:
I currently have a Babe Ruth psa/dna slabbed auto listed on ebay. The high bidder at the time (reserve not met) emailed me and wanted to know how much I wanted to end early. I replied that he should tell me what is best offer is. He said that he won't go down that path because he doesn't want to get into the "game playing". This irritated me because I'm a firm believer that if a buyer is going to request a seller to end an auction early, he better at least give an offer. I felt like he was the one playing games with me. In my final relpy to him I made my feelings very clear to him. I also canceled his bid for attempting to play games with me.

What are your thoughts on ending an auction early? Since it's against ebay rules to do so, I'll only end an auction early if I'm offered an amount of money which is more than I think I will get if I let the auction run its course. From what I can see, most bidders who want me to end an auction early are doing so because they are either looking for a steal or are afraid that the auction will end for more than they are willing to pay.
Rich

theczar

rich,
i concur with your thoughts. i am not certain on the rules of ending it early but if you set a reserve your intentions were to have the auction run its course with a minimum price. if you wanted to end it early you would have set a BIN price.

if he wants to deviate from your auction rules he should make an offer.

goose3

I will not end any baseball card auctions early.....I cannot because they are not my cards. When I have a coin or 2 listed and if someone offered to buy it outright and agreed to pay what I wanted, I'd probably sell it if the auction was only a day or 2 old and had not yet generated many bids or much interest.

I saw a coin this morning that was listed overnight. I just asked for some larger pics. If it looks nice, I am going to throw an offer out there. There are no bids on it. If the seller doesn't take it, I'll keep it in my watch list and possibly bid on it. My reasoning for doing so is not out of fear of paying more than the starting bid.

Rich....you should have just thrown some crazy $ amount at him and if he wanted it that bad and agreed, sell it. This is assuming that the auction is not well into it's 7? day course and well on it's way to market value.

WinPitcher

A seller can end an auction early. It is his/her property and can do with an item as they wish. is it right? That is for another discussion. I agree though that the buyer is the one trying to play head games. he contacted you and thus is obligated to make the offer. Or, I would have done what Goose mentioned and threw double what i wanted at him and then see what happened.

Steve

jimq112

I was offered $200 to end early, 48M olsonoski psa8, passed, and it brought 610.
I was offered $150 to end early, nevers auto 1/13, passed, and it sold for 575.


Sometimes I wanted to end early and save all the fees, but the fees are only 10% or so, and if the card with the $150 offer sells for more than $170 I left money on the table.


I agree about give him a high number, a premium that he should pay for eliminating competition.

jmbkb4

Nice looking card though!!!

goose3

RichG

why 50.00 for shipping? Don't you use "Registered/Insured" mail on items that go over 1,000 or so? The insurance rates are MUCH more reasonable and it is THE most secure method for shipping that the USPS has.

I don't know what that card is worth but I just mailed a 4,000.00 watch to a friend via USPS Registered and Insured in a decent sized box for 22.00.

I mailed a 10,000 coin not too long ago registered and insured for around the same in a small mailer.


Cool card by the way!

itzagoner

I echo Goose's thoughts 'bout shipping, but, dang that sure is a cool item....I wouldn't even consider ending any of my auctions early, firm policy, and if somebody tried to get me to bail on anything Ruth, I'd politely refuse....Ya gotta let that thing ride!! Good luck Rich

nightcrawler

Rich, I think you are right to block him from your auction.

This guy sounds like trouble, and if he didn't want to play games, he shouldn't have started the game in the first place.

I missed a Reg Leach rc the other week and contacted the winner with a fairly good offer. He declined my offer and I would have sent another but he clearly said he wasn't interested in selling it so I left him alone.......no games, good, done, easy.

If your guy was a straight shooter, he would have provided a more than reasonable amount, and be willing to deal.

I don't blame you for ranting about him.

Nice AUTO

RichG

Goose and Iza:
What you guys mean by "registerd/insured"? I recently sold a Pujols Bowman chrome rookie card for $3,500 and the shipping was $43 with insurance. I must be doing something wrong?

Regarding the Ruth auto, The only reason I'm willing to part with it (for the right price) is that I already have a framed Spalding Sport Show program signed by Ruth and framed along with a 1926 World Series ticket stub.

Thanks
Rich

larryallen73

I wouldn't have blocked him because you always need to have TWO willing bidders to get a good price in an Ebay auction! I would have said, "no thank you I do not end auctions early. Good luck." I believe it is against Ebay policy to end an auction early but I could be wrong. You are allowed to if the "item no longer exists" (or some such language) but I think that presumes you sold it in some way other than through Ebay. Everybody morals are different. For me, I just don't end auctions early. I just let the auction go as it may....

onlyanumber

I never end auctions early--let em ride as the most action happens in the last 30 seconds. I do use Buy It Now on certain items that I know what I want for them.

registered mail is the most secure way to ship something via the USPS. They check it at every stop along the way and it has to be signed for at the end destination. I know it will cost less via registered than via priority/overnight etc with the insurance coverage. Gotta figure PSA wants your subs sent registered, and they send it back to you registered for a reason.

Allen

That sig could make a nice cut....Wonder if UD is watching it?

goose3

Rich.

As I suspected, you were not aware of "registered" mail.

First, most PO"s will make you use a BOX.

Then all openings on the box must be covered with the tape that has the strings in it or something like that....the kind that you wet down to apply. You canNOT use clear tape.


USPS link to Registered Mail

More info on it from USPS.

with the rates of insurance on normal mail, registered usually becomes the method of choice around 800-1000.00 because it is actually cheaper AND more secure!

That Pujols card would have cost you less than than the 2200 it cost me to send a Rolex in a large box registered/insured for 3500.00.

RichG

goose:
Much thanks for the link. I'll without a doubt I'll start using registered mail on all higher end items. Actually, I think I may have used it a long time ago (I remember something about covering each opening and not using clear tape), but I totally forgot about that service.
Thanks again.
Rich

Wizardsguildcards

The rule on ending an auction early is pretty simple a seller has a right to end an auction at anytime up until the last 12 hours unless it has no bids then they can end it anytime.

If you choose to sell the item the only way to be legal in Ebay's eyes and it is for yours and the buyers best interest is to relist the item with a BIN for that person only..

The one tme I accepted an early offer I listed the item first with a BIN of 400.00 for the buyer only. Once he hit BIN I ended the original auction and moved on, I was not about to end it and them the buyer not pay up.

montanafan

i've done it that way too wg... if it's possible, you two should coordinate and you can do it while you've got him on the phone and make sure he's at his computer so no one else grabs it.. happens all the time

Stone193

<< <i>What are your thoughts on ending an auction early? >>


Rich

Tough question. Some believe it's not a good business practice since it pisses some people off.

I don't sell so I'm not in a position to say much. From all the discussions here over the years, I say most would let the auction run it's course and one makes out better in the long run - both in the end price and the "good will" that it promotes.

Now, the auto.

That pic/auto is off the chart! Absolutely beautiful - if I could afford it? I'ld hit it!!

Have ya got a scan of your other auto? I would like to see it.

Admiring from a distance...
mike

Boopotts

<< <i>Good morning all:
I currently have a Babe Ruth psa/dna slabbed auto listed on ebay. The high bidder at the time (reserve not met) emailed me and wanted to know how much I wanted to end early. I replied that he should tell me what is best offer is. He said that he won't go down that path because he doesn't want to get into the "game playing". This irritated me because I'm a firm believer that if a buyer is going to request a seller to end an auction early, he better at least give an offer. I felt like he was the one playing games with me. In my final relpy to him I made my feelings very clear to him. I also canceled his bid for attempting to play games with me.

What are your thoughts on ending an auction early? Since it's against ebay rules to do so, I'll only end an auction early if I'm offered an amount of money which is more than I think I will get if I let the auction run its course. From what I can see, most bidders who want me to end an auction early are doing so because they are either looking for a steal or are afraid that the auction will end for more than they are willing to pay.
Rich >>




I totally agree. The person who orginally solicits to buy or sell should be the one to make the first offer. Obviously the person making the first offer is at a disadvantage, but hey-- someone has to do it. And the person who does it might as well be the first person who wanted to strike a deal.

Can you imagine a dealer setting up at a show with no price tags on his stuff, and telling people to 'make an offer' every time someone came by and inquired about one of his cards? Give me a break.

GOODLIEU

I think its only fair to at the very least send a reasonable offer to a seller when requesting a early end to his auction. This at the very least gives the seller a idea of what his item would be worth to a buyer and helps him in his decision to weigh what he would get at the end of the auction verses what he would get immediately. Also if the offer was not acceptable he may in fact send back a counter offer which would give the potential buyer a real good idea of what he expects to make on the item. If the item is something that a collector truly wants for his collection what does he have to lose? The worst case scenario is that he would still be able to bid on the item and also be aware of the ceiling price the seller is looking for.

RichG

Larry:
I didn't actually block him but instead canceled his bid. He can still place a bid if he wants, but know he knows that i'm not going to allow him to play games with me. In all honesty, I don't think this item will sell as my reserve is set VERY high and I'm more or less testing the waters to see what it's real value is (for insurance purposes if nothing else). I'm not sure about you guys, but I have each and every item in my collection insured...which I update every 4 months or so.
Rich