EBay Question

[dman]

I placed a bid on an item Sunday and the person who listed the item made me an offer to end the auction early and have me pay an amount that was significantly higher than what my winning bid was at the time. I kindly thanked the person but told them I would take my chances at the auction running its course and see what happened. This person had no reserve nor did they have a "Buy It Now" price listed and they had no mention of the auction endeing early if the seller had not received a certain amount in bids. Today, I received an e-mail that said my bid had been cancelled and the auction ended. Can any type of EBay sanctions be imposed upon this person for this type of transaction? BTW, I do not have any negative feedback that would bring about a bid cancellation.

[macro]

ebay won't do anything to the seller for ending the listing early, but they prohibit offers to buy or sell items outside of ebay, once that item or one like it has been listed. About all you can do is report it and let ebay handle it as they choose. Did they email you through the ebay messaging/email system? I'm assuming that's the only way they could reach you. If so, you'll have proof of what happened to direct ebay to.

[TeamMorris]

Sounds like everyone who bid on the item may have got the same email you did from the seller and someone took him up on the offer. It is not right but it does happen. I as a seller don't think I would ever have the nerve to do it! By ending his auction early, it excuses him from the final sales fee and possibly the listing fee even though he obviously had a sale. Kind of makes me mad the more I think about it ! What was his seller name...I am interested in seeing his auctions and feedback if you don't mine. You can PM me if you want. If he does this often I would think ebay would catch on but then again...there are a lot of sellers to try and baby sit.

I would report him:thumbdown !

[Hap]

By any chance, would you mind giving us that seller's ID, so we will know to stay away?

[redsmetz]

It's possible they didn't want to pay for a Reserve price and were worried they weren't going to get what they hoped for or needed. It's low but there's nothing eBay would do with them unless they were found to be selling it off eBay. I'll join the others if you want to PM me, I'd be interested in looking at their feedback.

[dman]

Here's a copy of the link to the listing with all of the seller's info. I was the only bidder on the item. I think he knew he wasn't going to get what he thought he would out of the sale, but that's the price of doing business sometimes and a chance he took by not putting a reserve or buy it now price on the listing.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...ADME:B:DS:US:6

[redsmetz]

My guess is they were disappointed with the other prices they got and were hoping to get more. They listed the item twice and closed it early both times. They've only been on eBay two months with two completed sales. I think I'd just drop it.

[Dom Heffner]

Wish I still worked at Sporty's Pilot Shop- I would have gotten this for you half price.

[oneupper]

I've closed out auctions early for different reasons. Once because a family member asked me for the item, then because my daughter had lost the item, because the auction wasn't well categorized and so on.

eBay allows you to close out auctions up to 12 hours before they end IIRC. The message they sent you was wrong, but closing the auction wasn't.

[REDREAD]

nothing you can do about it.

Although it's usually a mistake to end an auction early because you fear the price is so low. A lot of people like me wait until the last minute to place a bid, so if you end the auction early, you never know what you could've gotten.

[TeamBoone]

If this person has a habit of doing this, ebay sure as heck can do something about it... they can suspend his/her account. Unless there is a very good reason for ending the auction early, such practice should be be reported to ebay by forwarding a copy of the email you received along with a brief introductory summary by you.

Believe it or not, ebay is very good about this stuff if it's a repeated offense. They don't want these characters giving their site a bad name.

[cumberlandreds]

I just saw the below in italics on EBAY. Someone e-mailed me asking what I would take for an item by ending the auction early. This popped up next to were I was responding to him in EBAY. I respectfully declined his offer.



Always remember to complete your transaction on eBay -- it's the safer way to buy.

Please do not offer to buy or sell this item through this form without completing the transaction on eBay. If you receive a response inviting you to transact outside-of-eBay, you should decline -- such transactions may be unsafe and are against eBay policy.

[REDREAD]

Always remember to complete your transaction on eBay -- it's the safer way to buy.

Please do not offer to buy or sell this item through this form without completing the transaction on eBay. If you receive a response inviting you to transact outside-of-eBay, you should decline -- such transactions may be unsafe and are against eBay policy.

I agree that it's not ethical to try to sell something outside of ebay to cheat them out of their fees. However, trust me, you have very little protection if the sale goes bad. If the seller is unwilling to refund your money, ebay/paypal actually covers very little.

[GAC]

nothing you can do about it.

Although it's usually a mistake to end an auction early because you fear the price is so low. A lot of people like me wait until the last minute to place a bid, so if you end the auction early, you never know what you could've gotten.

That's what I do too. If it's something I want, I determine what I am willing to pay for the item and wait until there is less then a minute left and submit my bid. If I don't get it, then fine. I was only willing to pay a certain amount to begin with.

What this person did IMO is unethical, but probably not illegal or against the rules. But I'm not that "hip" on what all Ebay dictates.

[Heath]

With the buy it now feature - many people will list the item and give you a heads up if they have mulitple items of one thing.

That way - the person gets what they need plus the security of ebay.

I've asked that before of people - and they are normally willing to do it.