posted on April 22, 2001 08:30:43 PM new
Hi again,
Well here's my little problem, I was bidding on a widget and I didn't met the reserve, so I figured oh well, I didn't want to bid any higher so I looked a little harder and found the widget item again and won the auction. Now today I get an e-mail from the 1st auction I was trying to win but didn't met the reserve sent me an e-mail stating I won, Now here's my question am I under any obligation to buy the widget even though the reserve wasn't met? Thanks for the help!
posted on April 22, 2001 08:39:17 PM new
No you are not. (and if the seller was using the reserve the way it was intended, you would have never gotten an email from him.)
posted on April 22, 2001 08:52:04 PM new
If reserve was not met, you weren't really the winner, just the high bidder. I suggest that you email [email protected] with this and they will set the seller straight. I really hate reserve auction because of the 9 auctions I bid on, only 3 of them ended above reserve.
Of the six that did not hit the reserve, I feel that the seller had their reserve too high because no other item of the same model of computer has closed anywhere near where it ended. For example, a particular model of computer normally closes around $200. When that auction closed, it had already passed $300. The only difference was that it had a modem already, but that only accounts for $40.
Of the remaining ones, while they may be worth whatever the reserve is in book value, the competitive market of ebay shows how book value is not a real measure of value.
I think that reserve auctions should be eliminated because it is just a waste of everybody's time if the sellers are going to think that they can get book value on nebay they are quite wrong. Unless you have a bidding war, it is not going to happen.
posted on April 22, 2001 09:14:57 PM new
mikeselis
>reserve auctions should be eliminated because it is just a waste of everybody's time
My sell thru on reserve auctions is about 80%. It isn't a waste of MY time. Of course, I KNOW I'm not going to get "book value", I sell on ebay because it's quick, not because I get better prices. (well, on somethings I do get better prices, but mostly not the stuff I use reserves on.)
posted on April 22, 2001 10:30:24 PM new
Fine, I agree with that, because you are realistic about the amount that you expect to get. Anything above your reserve is gravy.
I have seen people try to get book value on silver coins, but they fail to take into account that the price of silver is not what it was around Y2K, but people think they can get what they paid back in 1999 when they bought it in case of Y2K problems... It was around $7/oz and now it is around $4.50/oz. Of course they set their reserve based on the $7/oz price. There are very few sellers are willing to get about $4.50/oz and they are the ones who are getting the sales. (I am ignoring premiums related to the quality of the actual silver coins).
I've been using Ebay since 1998!
posted on April 23, 2001 07:04:09 AM new
Well i'm not too sure why she decided to let me "win" since the bidding was really low and it obivously wasn't the price she wanted for it since the reserve wasn't met, I mean if I didn't already buy one I would've gladly bought this one with no questions asked, I'll go e-mail safeharbor and see what they say. Thanks!
posted on April 23, 2001 07:30:51 AM new
Well, she may have an automatic e-mailing program that let this one slip through.
Before e-mailing safeharbor, I'd contact the seller. Tell them that you received their mail, but that it must have been in error, since the reserve was not met on the auction.
If she replies that you must purchase it, THEN mail safeharbor.
She can't leave feedback on the transaction, anyway.
