posted on April 13, 2002 03:38:42 PM new
Have been selling on Ebay for well over a year, artwork mostly, but always setting my starting price at the minimum I could take for the item.
As sales started to drop, I decided to take the advice of some people and start my items out at $1.00. Oh boy. Sales have picked up remarkably, but I digress.
I know that Ebay allows you to end an auction right before it closes, which means that if an item only has a couple of bids on it (say $2.50) I can legally cancel the auction and avoid taking a bath.
Am I right in this and what do you people think of this practice?. Is it ethical?
What do you think and do any of you guys do this.
posted on April 13, 2002 03:51:13 PM new
You'll get lots of various answers I'm sure, but I do understand why you would want to cancel an auction before close that will end up giving you a loss. It's not good business to sell at a loss! If you do it too often, your not selling as a "business", your selling as a hobby and unless you have lots of stuff and lots of money to "fund" your "hobby" you won't be on eBay or any auctionsite for long. You wouldn't be in a B&M business long either.
You have to give a reason for cancelling don't you? What do you put? Do you have anything in your auctions that state you have the right to cancel all bids and close the auction at early if their has been a lack of interest? Seems if you did, you would probably defeat the purpose of having the $1NR auctions in the first place which is to pick up your business. Bidders would get tired of bidding on a seller's auction that might get cancelled just moments before close due to a low price.
posted on April 13, 2002 04:05:13 PM new
Just my opinion!! As a bidder, if I was the high bidder and the auction was canceled without a very good reason I would never bid on your auctions again. As a seller, I would never start an item at $1.00 unless I knew it was a very hot item. I can't afford to start items at $1.00 and pay Ebay fees, Paypal fees, and AW fees. I think my items are very reasonably priced and have been disappointed sometimes, but I have never backed out of a transaction due to a low winning bid. Barbara
posted on April 13, 2002 04:33:12 PM new
I've seen others do this, including a couple of friends. They had a really good book set, started it quite low to attract bidders but no one came out, so they chose to end it last minute (literally) rather than lose the item. Understandably I felt but a real drag for the bidder.
For myself, I have ended maybe a half dozen auctions early, but always I would end them no later than day 5 or day 6 of an auction, and only if they have NO BIDS, and I re-list perhaps with some kind of revision, perhaps a different starting time, to attract bidders who for some reason have missed it the first time out, and it has always worked out fine the 2nd time around.
My personal policy is that unless I have protected my item with a reserve (which I almost never do) or with a sufficiently high starting bid, then once it has a bid placed on it, it is in play until the auction ends.
posted on April 13, 2002 04:50:14 PM new
From a seller's standpoint, I understand the financial reasons for doing it, although I wouldn't do it myself because of one reason: it's gonna make people angry!
Many buyers (including myself, admittedly) have a kind of "mental ownership" of an item when we're the high bidder. If I'm winning, in my mind, the item already "belongs" to me. If there was an item I wanted badly and the seller yanked it out from under me by ending the auction early, you better believe I'd be upset about it. I know that *technically* a seller can end an auction anytime he/she wants to (as far as eBay is concerned), but it's unfair to bidders.
Besides, you very likely are cutting yourself out of any last minute sniping wars. I've seen some amazing sniping wars in the past 4 years I've been selling (granted, sniping wars aren't as commonplace as they used to be ).
As a seller, what I do is start the bidding at the minimum price I'm willing to take (usually my cost plus a bit extra for the piggy bank), and just let it go. People recognize fair prices when they see them.
If nothing else, start it at $1.00 and put a reasonable reserve on it. The low price will pull bidders in to look, and the reserve price will protect your investment.
If I was bidding on an auction and the seller pulled it out from under me, rest assured he/she would hear my two cents about it.
posted on April 13, 2002 07:14:02 PM new
Cancelling bids just to end an auction early is against ebay rules. If I had a seller do that to me, I would turn them in with full information about the auction to safeharbor. A seller must have a legite reason for cancelling bids upon an auction. To end an auction early because the bids did not go high enough is not one of them. Ebay frowns upon sellers that do not follow through on auctions that were listed, had bids and not completed. They want there fees. It could also be taken as another way for a seller to avoid FVF. All items should be listed for the minimun a seller is willing to accept for an item. Not $1.00 and hope for the best.
JMHO
bp
posted on April 13, 2002 07:23:12 PM new
It seems to me that if a seller ends an auction because they didn't get the price they wanted then technically they have a "reserve price" in mind. Since eBay has an option for a reserve price, this type of activity would probably be considered fee avoidance...
posted on April 13, 2002 09:26:35 PM new
Ive been in your shoes, Listed a 90 dollar item for 5 dollars no reserve. I had listed and sold identical items many times before always getting at least 45 to 70 each time. this time 6 days in and the price was at 9 dollars. I thought about pulling it and didnt. The item closed at 18.00 I lost money on the deal. Lesson- should have put a reserve price on it.**** Pulling auctions from an active bidder before they close is a sure way to attract cyber stalkers. I guess you could do it but I sure wouldnt.
Canceling Bids You can cancel bids in an auction if one or more of the following circumstances apply: You have decided to end the auction early A bidder contacts you to back out of a bid You cannot verify the identity of a bidder after trying all reasonable means of contact Note: Since bid cancellations are publicized in the auction bidding history, you will be asked to provide a reason for your cancellation to bidders.
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.
You will need to provide a reason explaining why you have ended the auction early. This reason can be found at the top of the Closed item page. You may also provide additional details in your item description.
posted on April 13, 2002 11:36:02 PM new
If I close auctions early it's only when they have no bids. I haven't cancelled a legitimate
auction in a long time.
An exception to this rule occured around 8
months ago. I was offline for most of the night that an auction was scheduled to close.
When I logged on to see what was going on with the auction I discovered that both the 1st and 2nd highest bidder had retracted with
reasons like "bid to much." I thought that someone might be trying to do some bid shielding and felt overall that the auction itself had been comprimised. I had only about 10 minutes to end the auction.
I cancelled all bids except for the very last one because I ran out of time.
I wrote this person a nice letter explaining what had happened and why I had done what I did. Never had a problem.
posted on April 13, 2002 11:44:38 PM new
I have to admit I would probably do the same in a situation where I suspected bidder fraud, and having the #1 and #2 bidders retract would be a possible reason. I believe ebay changed their rules recently.
I don't think it is against any rules for a seller to cancel the auction as some person wrote. I believe you are allowed to do this if you cancel the bids, it is not against the rules, but it isn't the best way to do business in my opinion.
posted on April 14, 2002 01:11:39 AM new
It's not against the rules to cancel your auction, even if it is near the end. You still own the item so you can do what you please with it.
There have been several auctions that I bid on that sat there all week and then everyone came in at the end.
I wouldn't cancel an auction with bids unless it was an emergency and I had to leave town for an extended period or something like that. But I do understand why some sellers get nervous and do it.
posted on April 15, 2002 11:19:30 AM new
It is all in the numbers. I look at two numbers. My first is “lot sell through per cycle” (Lots sold per cycle divided by total lots listed per cycle, which give a percentage) and “dollar sell through” (Dollars sold per cycle divided by total dollars on minimum bids per cycle). I try to manage a cycle and not worry much about a particular lot. I NEVER list a lot for less than I am willing to sell it for. Sometimes I use a giveaway lot to get a message out to look my other lots over. Plan your cycles. The lots will take care of themselves.
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