Ending auctions early

Tomi

I can't stand it. Another card that I need and the auction is ended after a few days. I know waiting is the only thing to do, but when sellers do this continuously it makes me not want to buy from them even if they are the only ones that have the card. Just saw the guy in front of me upgrade his set right after this, gee I wonder. I know its the sellers right to do what they want, but as a seller I think you should see the auction through once you make the commitment.

itzagoner

very simple math.

seller watches incoming bids until a plateau is reached. now the top bidder has a commitment in place, but might be willing to conduct a similar sized transaction off site.

boom.

card gets yanked. winning bidder wins card. seller gets money. eBay gets squirrel poop.

grote15

If there are no bids, I think it's perfectly acceptable for a seller to end an auction early, but if there are bids placed, I would agree it's lame.

Aric

I believe ebay now charges final value fees for auctions that are ended early but I'm not sure because I've never done it. When you see this happen for a card you really want its worth sending a message to the seller saying something along the lines that you were planning to make a strong bid, yadda yadda and at least get some dialogue going. You might be able to find out what price the seller was offered and then you could make a counter-offer if its in your range, assuming of course the seller hasn't already completed the offline sale.

itzagoner

Tim i'm pretty certain he's frustrated with the shenanigans being widely perpetrated on eBay right now. it's financially prudent for smart sellers to dangle hot ticket stuff like chum in a shark tank.

once their bid goal is met, the facilitator is no longer necessary. most recently, a '63 Topps Rose RC PSA 7 on my watch list got axed after the bidding moved close to VCP territory. it's happening with agonizing frequency.

so it goes. live to die another day.

mtcards

The more ebay nickel and dimes, raises fees, etc., the more I think this will happen. I have only ended one auction early in 12 years, but did it because the guy offered me 6 times what I was hoping to get.

mlbfan2

In the future, tell sellers not to end the auction early because you've set a big snipe.

mlbfan2

<< <i>once their bid goal is met, the facilitator is no longer necessary. most recently, a '63 Topps Rose RC PSA 7 on my watch list got axed after the bidding moved close to VCP territory. it's happening with agonizing frequency.
>>



If it happens so often then why not bid earlier so that you're the guy he sells it to?

itzagoner

<< <i>

<< <i>once their bid goal is met, the facilitator is no longer necessary. most recently, a '63 Topps Rose RC PSA 7 on my watch list got axed after the bidding moved close to VCP territory. it's happening with agonizing frequency.
>>



If it happens so often then why not bid earlier so that you're the guy he sells it to? >>



what if i had no intention of bidding, but still wished to track the full cycle and completion of a high profile auction?

firstbase23

I once ended an auction early because I accidentally listed it twice and I was charged a final value fee.

Matt

DanBessette

<< <i>If there are no bids, I think it's perfectly acceptable for a seller to end an auction early, but if there are bids placed, I would agree it's lame. >>



Same.

Tomi

<< <i>If there are no bids, I think it's perfectly acceptable for a seller to end an auction early, but if there are bids placed, I would agree it's lame. >>



Many auctions will shoot up in the last 20 or so seconds. I remember a Bobby Orr card go from $1200 to $5000 in the last 10 seconds. I always place one bid on a card, and that's at the last second. I know many people do this. If not comfortable with the auction, just place a reserve to protect your investment.

grote15

<< <i>

<< <i>If there are no bids, I think it's perfectly acceptable for a seller to end an auction early, but if there are bids placed, I would agree it's lame. >>



Many auctions will shoot up in the last 20 or so seconds. I remember a Bobby Orr card go from $1200 to $5000 in the last 10 seconds. I always place one bid on a card, and that's at the last second. I know many people do this. If not comfortable with the auction, just place a reserve to protect your investment. >>



Yes, but sellers aren't psychic and if no bids are placed and the seller chooses to end the auction early, I can't fault them for doing so. It's their decision with no bids in place, imo.

MULLINS5

Just happened to me yesterday! Book I wanted that would have reached $500 or more ended because the seller accepted an offer of $100!

DanBessette

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>If there are no bids, I think it's perfectly acceptable for a seller to end an auction early, but if there are bids placed, I would agree it's lame. >>



Many auctions will shoot up in the last 20 or so seconds. I remember a Bobby Orr card go from $1200 to $5000 in the last 10 seconds. I always place one bid on a card, and that's at the last second. I know many people do this. If not comfortable with the auction, just place a reserve to protect your investment. >>



Yes, but sellers aren't psychic and if no bids are placed and the seller chooses to end the auction early, I can't fault them for doing so. It's their decision with no bids in place, imo. >>



Absolutely right!

CollectorAtWork

Well, if the seller ends an auction early, they still need to pay the final value fee on the current price of the listing before it was cancelled. (You get one free cancellation per year.) Therefore, if they always do it, there's a cost to the seller also. One thing that I've done where I've seen that the price is really low where the seller may be tempted to cancel is to put a bid or two on the card, so that the seller knows that there is some interest in the card, and may be less inclined to take an offer off-ebay.