Re: [sell-3d] eBay and closing an auction early

["Hershel Saylor" <saylor@xxxxxxx>]

-------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~>
Free @Backup service!  Click here for your free trial of @Backup.  
@Backup is the most convenient way to securely protect and access
your files online.  Try it now and receive 300 MyPoints.
http://click.egroups.com/1/6348/8/_/520351/_/968677077/
---------------------------------------------------------------------_->

A seller's point of view on ending an auction early:

While I haven't ended an auction early yet, I have considered
it a time or two.   For example, I sell B & W photo paper
on the auction on a fairly regular basis.  It has a fairly steady 
selling price.  When I see someone bid 50% to 100% more than
normal for the paper, I am not pleased. (Yes, it is more money
in my pocket, but, being a bargain hunter myself, I hate to see
someone overspend.)  I have even tried to drop the final payment
price when someone over bids, only to have them send the 
full bid amount as payment. (Perhaps they are afraid of bad
feedback!) 

So, that would be my reason for ending an auction early.  Not 
all eBay users are greedy. (at least not yet!!!!)

I go to a lot of live auctions.  Once in a while there is a bidder
in the crowd who waits until bidding slows before they bid on
an item.  Sometimes an auctioneer will have trouble getting the
bid started on an item so he will say, "Sold!" on the first bid.
The late bidder will grumble, "I would have paid 10 times that
much."

At a live auction, very few people complain when an item sells
early.  They REALLY complain when a bidder retracts a bid though.

I have several complaints about the eBay process.  They are
too big to care what I think!  So I do the best I can within their
rules.

                                       Hershel



> A week or so ago I was interested in an item that was put
> up for a 5-day auction. Several (4 I think) bids came in on the
> first day but I decided to wait a day or two. On the second day
> when I checked, The auction was described as "ended".
> When I queried ebay about this, they were not at all suprised,
> said that any seller could retract his offering at any time without
> giving a reason and without disfavour or penalty from ebay
> whether or not bidding had already commenced.
> 
> One possible reason for retracting was given as the seller and one
> of the bidders (or a third party) doing a separate deal outside the
> auction (obviously unknown to the other bidders). They didn't
> seem to consider anything wrong with this.