Can you end an ebay auction early so the current high bidder wins the coin?

jmski52

I've put a bunch of auctions up on ebay and I had forgotten just how many offers to do the deal "on the side" would keep popping up.



Can you end an auction that already has a bid so that the current high bidder wins the auction? I've got one guy trying to get a coin before it gets some bids.



On another note, I got an offer on another coin from a guy who wants it at a discount, but he didn't bid on the auction. Should I assume that he wants an off-ebay transaction, and since this violates ebays T&Cs would I be jeopardizing my own ebay status if I took his contact info and proceeded with an off-ebay deal?



I get it that people want a better price, but my whole purpose in doing an auction format is to bring out the higher bids. Sheesh.

TigersFan2

What's the advantage to you of ending an auction early and foregoing the opportunity to receive higher bids? I don't understand why you're asking the question.

TopographicOceans

You can end an auction early.
When you do, you are offered two choices:

1) Cancel all bids

2) Sell the item to the highest bidder.

You are charged FVF's either way.

But what benefit is it to you to end it early? How many watchers are there that are planning to bid more?

You risk your account being suspended (or worse) if you do a transaction outside of eBay.

JeffMTampa

Yes, you can end the auction early and set up a "Buy It Now" at a predetermined price. Don't ask me how I know.

jmski52

What's the advantage to you of ending an auction early and foregoing the opportunity to receive higher bids? I don't understand why you're asking the question.



The only advantage would be if I thought that the item wouldn't receive any bids at all.



However, that is not the case with most of the items I listed in the past day or two.

davewesen

I won an auction a couple weeks ago that would of had 6 days left - I bid and the seller closed the auction giving me the win - they had offered it twice previously at same starting price with no bids and must have decided to turn it into a BIN.

Christos

I would only end if the potential purchaser made an offer significantly above the current bid. You can cancel all bids individually and then cancel the auction due to an error in the listing if it is before 12hrs of it ending.

jdimmick

I have often done this, especially if one of my local customers has bid to a level in which I'm okay with, I usually end it with them high bidder and handle it locally.



If you are getting inquiries about ending an auction early, there is usually pretty good evidence that there is a reason, and I would not do it as most likely it will bring far more at auction ending.

Yorkshireman

I have the same question as an earlier responder. Why would you want to?

mustangmanbob

I have done this for people who I want to cultivate future sales.



For example, a person is bidding on 6 of my items, and has bid them to a point where I am good with it. I end all of them at his bid, so he can get all of them, combined shipping, happy customer, future business.



Another case I have ended is when I do not like a bidder, and I like a different bidder. When the favored is in front, assuming the bid is good, I will end it. Why would I not like someone? I check feedback given, when I am bored, and I see a person with a 7 feedback who has given 3 Negatives, 3 neutrals, and 1 positive. Although I can block him, it seems these people have multiple accounts, so he just "loses" and can go off and be unhappy with someone else.



A lot of my business goes overseas, so it is more important for those customers to know the item is SOLD to them, to combine shipping. Nothing like a $50 items costing $80 to ship.

ricko

Yep... I think I will continue to not do business on ebay....Cheers, RickO

19Lyds

What Benefit" folks are asking.



Simple, end the auction with a guaranteed buyer as more bids simply might not occur. But then, depending upon what the bidding increments are, another bid, maybe two might come in for an additional 50 cents to $10 along with the higher Final Value Fee's.



I'd be inclined to end the auction and just send the buyer an invoice through PayPal to may avoid those seemingly silly Final Value Fee's and the possibility of adverse feedback for some unforeseen reason.

ebaybuyer

avoiding the "seemingly silly" FVFs can get you kicked off ebay

ebaybuyer

if no one else bids on the item, you already have a sale, I still see no advantage to sending it early unless there are unique circumstances. If you have a high bidder it will automatically sell to that person for that amount if no one else bids

TwoSides2aCoin

A buyer can do what he wants, just as a seller. Ebay gives people a lot of leeway with respect to that. They typically get paid either way.

TwoSides2aCoin

Originally posted by: Yorkshireman
I have the same question as an earlier responder. Why would you want to?

I would not want to , nor have I. However, just last week a potential buyer of a coin sent me a message that if I were to take my $.99 auction and make it a BUY IT NOW for $15, he would purchase the coin. I opted to run the auction. The item sold for $4. And though I'd contacted the potential customer of his potential windfall and "discount", he still did not bid.

I could and maybe should have (in retrospect), taken him up on the offer.

msch1man

Just my personal opinion, but I think if you start a $.99 true auction with no reserve, you're making a commitment to roll the dice and let the chips fall where they may. You may win, you may lose, but you committed to letting it ride and have to be ok with and willing to make good on whatever the result may be; otherwise, I think you should set a reserve.

TwoSides2aCoin

Originally posted by: msch1man
Just my personal opinion, but I think if you start a $.99 true auction with no reserve, you're making a commitment to roll the dice and let the chips fall where they may. You may win, you may lose, but you committed to letting it ride and have to be ok with and willing to make good on whatever the result may be; otherwise, I think you should set a reserve.

Yes, I agree. If ebay hadn't gone to the "store shelf" type listings, more activity may exist on that venue. However, it's still a great search engine for "things" to buy. And of course they've got plenty of competition from AMZN, BABA, and a host of other online venues for coins and stuff. Yet, the original question is "can a guy end the auction", and essentially the answer is "YES". He can circumvent all those house rules to deal with someone bidding on his items. In a legal, lawful, or business sense it may not be "fair", but all is fair in a market full of fees after renting the table.

astrorat

Ending an auction early eliminates sniper bidding. Don't forget that some buyers don't bid until the last minute and ending an auction early may leave money on the table.

TwoSides2aCoin

Originally posted by: jmski52
I've put a bunch of auctions up on ebay and I had forgotten just how many offers to do the deal "on the side" would keep popping up.



Can you end an auction that already has a bid so that the current high bidder wins the auction? I've got one guy trying to get a coin before it gets some bids.



On another note, I got an offer on another coin from a guy who wants it at a discount, but he didn't bid on the auction. Should I assume that he wants an off-ebay transaction, and since this violates ebays T&Cs would I be jeopardizing my own ebay status if I took his contact info and proceeded with an off-ebay deal?



I get it that people want a better price, but my whole purpose in doing an auction format is to bring out the higher bids. Sheesh.

I respect your post, as a seller. And oddly, I listed an item with the lowest price I could go, just to beat the competition, with a "modern, NIB" item, recently. (trying to use a spark of some kind to boost sales ).
Instead of the person taking the "BUY IT NOW", they offered $10 less than my BIN which was $10 lower than other like kind "mint products" selling for $10 to $20 higher , in abundance.

I declined the offer and increased the price $5. Dust will wipe off the outer box.

winky

Beats me. I don't know why you would want to.

LanceNewmanOCC

.

yup and done it a few times.



options are nice.

.

LindeDad

Had a Cheery Picker want me to end one early and do a direct sale the other day. Getting that inverted "S" ready for a trip down south the first of the year.