katmommy
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posted on March 3, 2002 08:04:29 AM new
Scenerio: Auction listing for a lot of boys clothing. The 4 Items are in like new to excellant condition and are well known brand names. Seller starts the minimum bid at $5.00 and with 10 minutes left in the auction, the price is only at $6.50 (much less then the seller wanted to sell for)
Question: What would you do as a seller? Let the lot go so cheap? Cancel bids and end auction early?
MEOW
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kyms
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posted on March 3, 2002 08:14:15 AM new
I'd just let them go...I never end auctions early. We take a risk when we list low, it is a gamble...I can't change my mind at the end of a horse race, can't change my mind at the end of an auction either... just my opinion...
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NanasTurtles
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posted on March 3, 2002 08:14:44 AM new
I don't think it would be fair to the buyer to end the auction early......I think if you wanted a certain price for them, then you should have put a reserve on them when you originially listed them......
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trippys
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posted on March 3, 2002 08:16:52 AM new
Two ways of looking at this. If the seller wanted more for them, he or she should have started with a higher minimum bid or put a reserve on it. Secondly, it's not fair to the bidders to end it early just because the auction isn't going where he or she wants it to. And isn't it against eBay policy? I know I'd be ticked as a bidder if I had my heart set on something and that happened. Certainly wouldn't go back to that seller again!
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katmommy
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posted on March 3, 2002 08:20:11 AM new
I dont know if against policy. All I know is that my bid was cancelled and the seller told me that she couldnt let the items go so cheaply. I guess I can kind of understand because I've had items that sold way below what they were worth and I always got pretty bummed about it.
MEOW
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litlux
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posted on March 3, 2002 08:53:55 AM new
The seller is really shortsighted to end an auction with ten minutes to go. As a bidder, I would not bid on the relist, so the seller may have turned off their most interested buyers.
The seller also completely ignored the fact that there can be snipers at the end. In fact, some auctions I bid on can have a sniper bidding war (I use a proxy with my snipes) and end up with a pretty healthy final bid.
But it is not against ebay rules, and sellers can do as they see fit. Perhaps they will relist at a higher starting price, and sell, and feel they came out ahead. Who knows. That's why there are so many opinions about ebay methods.
[ edited by litlux on Mar 3, 2002 08:57 AM ]
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Libra63
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posted on March 3, 2002 09:56:11 AM new
You can't list an auction with a low starting bid and hope that it will get higher bids. They have to remember the clothes are used. I thought you weren't supposed to end an auction within 12 hours or so of the ending, well I think that was rather tacky of them and I hope the next time they put them on they get no bids
I listed an auction for my granddaughters clothes, and I received 1 bid. I was happy to sell them as I got a couple bucks more than a rummage sale and the person that received them was very lucky. I am sorry to hear about that katmommy
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ahc3
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posted on March 3, 2002 10:20:09 AM new
It does seem unfair that the buyer is in a binding contract when bidding, yet the seller can remove the item for sale for any reason they see fit. I've had some lots sell for below what I wanted, some way above. That's the way it goes. If good deals were not out there, then I suspect there would be quite a few less bidders at ebay.
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professorhiggins
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posted on March 3, 2002 10:25:28 AM new
I would let the auction run it's course and sell the item cheap. However, I will be honest and say that in the end it is all related to money.
If the item net me a loss which was under $100,
I might be disappointed but I would complete the sale. If it was over $200-$300 I would
probably end the auction early.
Losing $10-$30 on an item has happened to me before and I don't sweat it.
It's actually nice if you are running multiple items at the same time.
Let's say that you have 5 items worth an investment of approx $20 each ($100 total)
Items A, B, C, go for $10, $12, $15
Item 4 goes for $32 and item 5 goes for $50
Of course you lost money on items 1-3 but
sold all 5 items for a combined price of
$119.
If an item is consistently doing poorly that may be a good sign to sell what you have and move on to another item---markets can dry up.
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tomyou
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posted on March 3, 2002 10:59:22 AM new
You should keep copies of the e-mails from the seller saying they could not sell them that cheap and e-mail everything to safe harbor and should be narued.
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trippys
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posted on March 3, 2002 11:16:53 AM new
Yes, I did find something in looking and Safe Harbor is who you contact. Thought it was a no-no. It is rotten that this happened to you -- what size were you looking for?
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katmommy
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posted on March 4, 2002 06:52:20 AM new
I was looking for size 5/6 summer boys clothes.
MEOW
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uaru
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posted on March 4, 2002 07:03:21 AM new
All I know is that my bid was cancelled and the seller told me that she couldnt let the items go so cheaply.
Obviously you weren't dealing with a very classy seller. Such practices shouldn't be allowed, and if a seller engages in such practices it should be noted in their stats.
If a buyer cancels a bid it goes against his record on their feedback page. Why should a seller be able to cancel an auction and bids and not have it go against their record? Only eBay has an answer for that.
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trippys
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posted on March 4, 2002 07:38:46 AM new
I think if you go to the Trust & Safety section at the bottom of the eBay page and click on trading voilations you can get some info, insight and help - it's eBay's dicipline of sellers like this. People like this are who give the rest of us a bad name and leave potential buyers with a bad taste in their mouth. Can't help you with 5/6, though.
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joycel
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posted on March 4, 2002 07:45:21 AM new
Sorry, but I have empathy for that seller as I've been in her shoes and canceled an auction for basically the same reason. Had an old Yellowstone Park book that was bringing $50-$60 on past eBay sales. I started the bidding at $9.50 and figured it would end in that neighborhood. With 30 minutes left to go, the bidding was still at $9.50 so I canceled it. I knew I could auction it off locally and receive at least the $50 so I wasn't going to let it go for $9.50. I emailed the high bidder and explained the situation, and then canceled the auction. Yes, I may have got snipers at the last minute but I wasn't going to chance it. I never heard from the bidder and he may have been upset--in fact, probably was because he knew what this book's actual worth was. But--so did I, and I couldn't financially let it go for that amount. So--give the seller a break--stuff like this happens and depending on the value of the item there's a good chance any one of us would do the same thing.
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bettylou
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posted on March 4, 2002 07:55:00 AM new
Wrong-o.
If you thought the book would go for over $50 and you needed to sell it for that much, you had the option of starting the bidding in that neighborhood.
Instead, you opted to pay 30 cents and open bids at $9.50.
I know someone who no longer buys on eBay because a seller pulled an identical stunt on him. He says, "Why should I bother to bid when there's no chance of getting a good deal?"
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Libra63
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posted on March 4, 2002 07:55:01 AM new
Just because an item received high bids in the past doesn't mean it will get high bids again. That is what auction is all about. If you wanted $50.00 for the book then that is what you should have put on it and sold it under a BIN. When I have something that I feel should go higher I always put a reserve on it or a BIN. If I don't get any bids then I have lost. Chalk it up to profit and loss. But to pull an auction because it isn't getting bids in my estimation is wrong. If that ever happens to me, which it won't, I would report to someone. I think when something like that is done the buyer doesn't want to pay the ebay fees.
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bettylou
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posted on March 4, 2002 07:58:02 AM new
One more thing.
Under one of our seller IDs we start all auctions at one cent. A few of them end at one cent. We don't cancel these auctions because we didn't get what we would like; we figure it's great advertising for the rest of our stuff.
I've never cancelled bids and ended an auction early because it wasn't getting enough. That's unethical, even if it is allowed in eBay rules.
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joycel
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posted on March 4, 2002 08:12:18 AM new
Right or wrong, classy or not, eBay allows auctions to be ended early if the seller decides to. The following is copied and pasted from eBay's "Help" section:
End the Auction Early
You may miss out on just the bid you've been waiting for if you end your auction early. Still, there may be times when you have a valid reason to end an auction early. You may end your auction if you decide not to sell the item. To do this, you must choose the option to cancel all bids on your auction. You may also choose the option to sell to the high bidder.
The key sentence is "You may end your auction if you decide not to sell the item."
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