do you ever close an auction within day because of email offer?

sinin1 · December 25, 2003 10:51AM

You list a coin, start it at 1 cent (worth in the $150-250 range) and you get an email asking if you would be willing to close it early-to sell it to them

Do you ever agree to such an offer? and what kind of price do you respond with to them, if they did not give you a price but asked for your price?

Wisconsin · December 25, 2003 10:56AM

Generally I don't end auctions early and just tell the interested person that I don not do this in fairness to all other interested parties. I have to admit that on some occasions when the person sent a too good to turn down offer I ended the sale and sold it. In general I would say you would most likely do better letting the auction run its course and only you will know if the offer is too good to say no.

tlhoy · December 25, 2003 11:40AM

If I bid on an auction & the seller ends it early, I'll note the sellers ID and NEVER bid on any of his auctions again!
This practice is UNETHICAL.

Glenn

Edited to add: It's OK to end an auction with no bids.

sinin1 · December 25, 2003 11:52AM

I agree with you tlhoy, so what should my response be to the person emailing me asking me for this favor?

I want them to stay a potential bidder - even if they are only underbidder or watching to see that coin gets fair value.

I said something like "thank you for your offer, but since there are already bids on the item, and more people probably watching it, with no reserve - it would be unfair to them - just be the highest bidder when it closes in 5 days, and it can be yours"

razorface1027 · December 25, 2003 11:57AM

I agree with you tlhoy, so what should my response be to the person emailing me asking me for this favor?

I tell them, sorry but I let the bidders dictate the sale price. Please feel free to bid to win.

tlhoy · December 25, 2003 12:13PM

I said something like "thank you for your offer, but since there are already bids on the item, and more people probably watching it, with no reserve - it would be unfair to them - just be the highest bidder when it closes in 5 days, and it can be yours"

Excellent Answer! It tells me your honest, fair & of good character!
Way to go Sinin1,
Glenn

BigD5 · December 25, 2003 12:21PM

My experience has been similar to Wisconsin. Generally I don't do it. I can count on one hand the times I've ended an auction with bids, and each time it was to a board member. If a board member has interest in something, especially a member I've done business with in the past, I'll listen to an offer, or quote a buy price.
I have no problem with doing that.
Depends on the coin too.

lordmarcovan · December 25, 2003 1:19PM

I generally will not cancel an auction. Not only is it questionable ethically, you can also shoot yourself in the foot and shortchange yourself, because who's to say what the final few seconds of snipertime will do to the price? I have done low-start auctions with a BIN that rapidly disappeared, only to see the final bid vastly exceed what I had originally asked as a BIN! So why leave money on the table? If somebody wants it bad enough, let 'em bid on it!

However, I would consider ending an auction early for a fellow board member, IF there were no bids, and IF the offer was tempting enough.

Money talks. Loudly. Knowhutimean?

DCAMFranklin · December 25, 2003 1:25PM

<< <i>I'll note the sellers ID and NEVER bid on any of his auctions again!This practice is UNETHICAL.
Glenn >>

Well, you'll have a hard time getting along with members here. They LOVE to make such offers to sellers on Ebay.

lordmarcovan · December 25, 2003 1:36PM

The practice certainly USED TO be considered unethical, but wouldn't it fall into a "grey area" now? I mean, eBay no longer lets you post an explanation when you end an auction- it just lets you select from a list of canned options. I notice one of them is "The auction was ended early because the item is no longer for sale". To me, this implies that the seller is entitled to change his mind at any time up to the last, what, twelve hours or so? Or is that just for auctions with no bids? I forget.

Anyway, I don't do it. I did it just one time, but I forget the circumstances.

TayTay · December 25, 2003 1:43PM

sinin1, I also believe your response to be a very good one, and I would have done the same thing.

braddick · December 25, 2003 3:07PM

To me it's a simple rule: If there are NO bidders and a request comes to purchase the coin outright I'll kill the auction. Once bidding has begun I let it roll.
That seems to be fair to everyone.

How much do we hate it when you're ready to snipe an auction only to find it's been ended early for whatever reason? For me, lots.

Tassa · December 25, 2003 3:22PM

<< <i>I agree with you tlhoy, so what should my response be to the person emailing me asking me for this favor?

I want them to stay a potential bidder - even if they are only underbidder or watching to see that coin gets fair value.

I said something like "thank you for your offer, but since there are already bids on the item, and more people probably watching it, with no reserve - it would be unfair to them - just be the highest bidder when it closes in 5 days, and it can be yours" >>

I would have done something similar. I will only consider it if no bids have been placed.
It's rather frustrating to bid on items and then have your bid canceled because the seller decided to sell it outside of Ebay. A lot of times I place a lower bid at first and then watch it. If it's an item I really want then I'll likely bid again later. I prefer to do this rather than put items on my "watch list" because I have an easier time tracking the auctions. I often forget about the items on my "watch list" but I keep track on the items on which I have placed bids. There may be quite a few others out there who do the same.
I now avoid bidding on items if I know that the seller is known for ending auctions (with bids) early to sell outside of Ebay.

Dukie101 · December 25, 2003 11:24PM

If I don't have any bids,yes I'll kill an auction if I have an offer,especially from a board member.

Boom · December 25, 2003 11:48PM

There have been a couple of instances in which I would kill an auction...#1) I simply change my mind because a top notch coin is at risk of literally being stolen from me.(I'm not out to LOSE money) #2) A board member wants it.."One hand washes the other!" 3#) If it's a real pricy item and I can avoid all the final value fees and pay pal fees. I don't consider this unethical, for me it's being practical! If I can help out a friend and NOT pay more fees than I already have or if I decide I'm not going to take a beating...I will and HAVE pulled the plug!. It's the same in my book as a proprietor posting a sign that says."We have the right to refuse service to anyone!" Be careful about killing an auction because somebody you don't even know has made you a good offer. It's best you check that person out or you could very well be left holding the proverbial bag! Just this past weekend I sold 2 key coins AT A LOSS ...but to established, repeat customers. I have a couple right now that I'm eyeballing. If business doesn't pick up within a certain time frame-I WILL pull the plug! I know for a fact that manofcoins could have pulled the plug on an item a while back yet he allowed it to go on and let me win it at approximately one third of what it should have gone for. I would do the same for him!

tlhoy · December 25, 2003 11:49PM

eBay should post in red Auction pulled in the feedback of any seller, each time he or she pulls a NO RESERVE auction WITH BIDS! With some exceptions like misidentified item, or the item is not authentic ect.
Same thing with buyers who retract their bids.
Glenn

UncleJoe · December 26, 2003 12:04AM

Sorry fellow board members but I never would nor have I ever ended one of my auctions early despite getting many e-mails to do so.

I don't think it is right to end an auction early and I personally like keeping it simple and staying within the eBay system. To date, I have not had any problems following this course.

Joe.

itsnotjustme · December 26, 2003 12:11AM

If an auction has no bids, I will end it early if I get an offer I wish to accept.

I recently had a person ask on an auction with bids. The individual had already bought a several hundred dollar coins from me, and offerd about $100 for the one on auction. Since it already had bids--including a leading bidder who has bought from me before--I did not end the auction. I told the person I'd gladly wait on payment and shipping of the first coin until this auction had closed. The person bid an won the auction, within a couple bucks of the offer price. All is well.

CarlWohlforth · December 26, 2003 12:15AM

I have only closed auctions early if I made a big mistake in the listing.

I get two kinds of emails offering to buy the coin outright if I end the auction early. One kind offers about what I expect to realize, the other offers me much less than what I expect. I have never received an offer to close an auction for more than I expect, and my answer would be the same if I ever do.

My reply is always the same. I thank the emailer for their interest in my auctions. I then state that I'm sorry but it is my policy to not end auctions early unless I've made a mistake in the listing. Sometimes I have another similar item in inventory which I can offer instead.

joeyuk · December 26, 2003 12:18AM

I agree with thloy. An auction is a place to let the market determine the price. There are options for the seller to protect themselves from a low price. Perhaps the only reason e-bay does not list pulled auctions as they do bid retractions is the seller pays their salery. Joe

MrMoo · December 26, 2003 12:19AM

This usually happens to me.

Them: Will you end your auction early?

Me: Sure if the price is right. What is your offer?

Them: $20. (Insert low offer here)

Me: No thanks I will see how it turns out. (said item sold between $50-$75 which I knew it would.)

So basically I have never ended an auction early. If someone offers a stupid price I might consider. But mostly I get stupid offers.

EVillageProwler · December 26, 2003 12:26AM

This is slightly OT, but I've noticed that there's a lot of eBay lurkers who are quite happy making an offer below the opening bid. Oftentimes, they will wait until the lot has closed before making the offer. I guess they feel that the seller would be more likely to come down on the price.

It seems to me that ending an auction early (for the right reasons) ought to negate some of that wait-and-lowball attitude. I mean, if the potential buyer is really interested in that coin, then they better not get too clever for themselves and then lose out!

EVP

Boom · December 26, 2003 12:54AM

Exactly....everybody that buys on ebay(myself included) is looking for a bargain! So that I no longer get soaked, I place my starting bids at around what I paid for it...this $1.00 with a Reserve, I'll never comprehend. Since, in most cases, I have bought such and such at a good price...starting it at that price is fair! If the buyer is serious he'll buy it-if not...Oh well-we live to fight another day! By doing this I make sure I don't take a beating and no longer have to pay fees for Reserve. I have pulled maybe 3 items before coming to the aforementioned conclusion. I'd rather lose fee money than give something away -losing substantial amounts of money. I notice a lot of sellers are doing it this way now. Why start a $20 item at .01c with a reserve? WE ARE ebay....just the same as WE ARE PCGS!

do you ever close an auction within day because of email offer?

Comments

Leave a Comment