Ending an auction early

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 Have you ever noticed an ebay auction and it's something you really want and is quite scarce, so you decide to put it on your watch list and definatly bid on it near the end of the auction maybe bid 150% or more of catalogue to be sure that you win.

Then the next day "the seller ended the auction early because of an error in the listing" and you know what that means he sold it outside of ebay because he got an offer that appealed to him.

I've only sold a couple higher priced notes and had a few offers to end early, it was very tempting but I knew how angry I've been to lose out on a note without getting a chance to bid and I refused to end it early.

Is this right? Is this a common practice? Have you ever made an offer like this or would you accept an offer to end an auction early?



 

I have had this before too.

Also as a seller, I have had MANY people make offers on items. My Policy is that if it is on Auction then that is where it will stay. I have told people who made offers on items that I am not Interested and if it does not sell then I will entertain offers.... I have never had that happen though...

I know your Frustration and in fact I passed up a chance on the same note from another individual then to find the one I wanted was pulled. 

Have you ever noticed an ebay auction and it's something you really want and is quite scarce ........ Then the next day "the seller ended the auction early because of an error in the listing" and you know what that means he sold it outside of ebay because he got an offer that appealed to him.

This is a highly annoying practice for sure and that's why experienced bidders will put in a low bid at the very beginning in order to "lock in" the auction. If no bids have been received after, say, five or six days then it is understandable that some (less experienced) sellers could get cold feet and get worried that their item will sell for next to nothing (in reality, this rarely happens because so many people use eSnipe these days).

I personally feel that it's unethical to play these "no longer available" games, unless of course a legitimate error has been made in the description. All of my eBay offerings for the last year or so have carried the following statement at the end:

"FINAL NOTE: I do not close my auctions early."

I practice what I preach and I always reject such offers outright. Anyway, I have found that in most cases (but perhaps not all) any such offers are considerably less than the final auction realization!

In the long run I feel that it pays in spades to be "upfront" by letting bidders know exactly where they stand and reassuring them that your auctions will be remaining open until the very end.

ok I will be the black sheep I have offered to buy items on occasion before there is a bid or to put a buy it now on to there options for bidding . It is usually for a note I would really like if the offer is not accepted I do not become upset I say thank you for the reply and watch the item and bid at the bell. I must also say I have also won many of the items at below my original offer which I say oh well sucks to be you, I offered you 20 % more. I belive if you get a fair offer at book or above and there is no other bids and you can still change it to a buy it now whats the harm.

I must admit I have ended an auction or two early only because there were no bidders after the X day  (usually 4th - 6th).  I have never ended an auction because I got an outside offer. 

R_P notes that ebay is a "discount" site and everyone treats it like that.  This is very true. Although I've started my auctions at face or below (99 cents) I've still had no bids up until a very late point, and I've sold some stuff for less than what I paid.  It only seems reasonable to protect my @ss on some of the auctions- esp when ebay can be so hot and cold.  With the fees, expense of PayPal, and so on, there are times where I must end an auction to cut my losses.  I just think its too bad that so many people sit on the fence instead of showing some interest from the onset of the auction.  With all these hassles, and then purchasing notes mis-graded, I've increased my face to face commerce and trading up notes.

It doesn't always (but you're probably right) mean that the Seller sold it outside of the Ebay realm.  Imagine selling or starting the bidding for something under what its worth, nobody's bidding but 20 people are watching it.  6 days go by, no bids.
Then Ebay sends you an Email advertising a  5 cent listing fee, One day only!
Always check to see if the item got relisted as the seller gets scared he/she won't get a good buck for it.
And of course, takes advantage of Ebay's promotion. 

so the question will be if you are the seller and after 3 days 4 days 5 days... nobody is bidding and someone offers to buy the note, at a reasonable offer, would you accept to put it on buy it now?

As a buyer, often you overpay on offers you make as you think the note is worth more than the market does so if sellers do not end a listing early, it often saves you money when it goes to auction.  Another seller had a best offer feature on their auction and refused an offer of $1200. I bought it later for $800. I think the $1200 offer was very generous and they should have taken it  .  As a seller, you really have to understand the true value of the note to make the decision to take the offer or to let it run, unless as a matter of principle you just will not end the auction as Ottawa noted, in which case it probably all evens out anyway.