Ebay rant!!!

[fireman17]

Why is it that some Ebay people just don't get it. My wife and I have auctions going on Ebay and in the last week we've had at least four people email us and ask us to end the auction and they will pay whatever price we want. Now today I received three emails from the same person who first asks what is my reserve price, I tell him that I can't give out that info but, the reserve hasn't been met yet but, the reserve isn't that high and he is more than welcome to bid. He then emails me and asks to end the auction and he'll pay whatever I am willing to take for the item, he also says his reputation on Ebay speaks for itself. Well I check him out and he's only been on Ebay for over a year he's purchased only five or six items and has a rating of five. Go figure!!!!
Now why is it that people need to make side deals instead of getting in on an auction and taking the chance of winning the item.
Rant over...

 

[Cindy's Mom]

I'm curious as to what you are selling, sounds like its something that's in demand.

 

[Chicago526]

Block those bidders and report 'em to ebay.

But I agree, there are a lot of dumb people who shop on ebay. I've been lucky, I haven't run into any yet (although I don't sell much, either!).

 

[stinkerbelle]

hmm...i've emailed sellers and asked what their reserve price was. They've told me no problem.

is that a big no-no?

 

[Republican Rapper]

Same, I'm a PowerSeller and an occasional bidder. I refuse to bid on anything with a reserve unless the seller will reveal the reserve price. They will usually tell me. I refuse to play a guessing game where I have no idea if I'm wasting my time bidding at a certain amount.

Rather silly if you ask me.

 

[N.Bailey]

Actually, most sellers are more than happy to tell you what their reserve is. IMO, there is no need for it to be a secret. It's only an amount you want for an item before parting with it. Why ask a potential customer to watch your item for days to see if they're willing to pay that much?

Go to the eBay boards and I bet every one of them would have told you that while it's up to you, you should have disclosed the amount out of respect to those wishing to bid.

I personally sold 1 auction with a reserve price several years ago. It was a lot of over 200 hardback children's books. I put the reserve right in the listing.

As for those who want you to end the auction early. I've had my share of them over the years too. I simply don't respond to their emails. I'm not willing to end any auction for anyone. I don't think it's fair to those who invested their time up to that point to just yank it from them. If they want it that bad, they'll make sure they are the highest bidder.

 

[disneymom3]

The main reason I can think of for asking to end an auction early is that they may not want to wait until the auction ends for the item. For instance, I decided to get another Leapster for our drive down to WDW next week. I looked at auctions that were ending in the next 5 hours and auctions that had a buy it now only. Some people, especially if there aren't as many items up for auction, will ask to end it early so they can have it sooner.

Then of course, some of them are hoping you have not done your homework and they can get the item for a good price.

As far as the reserve goes, I refuse to bid on any auction with a reserve price because they just annoy me. My theory is, list if for the price you are willing to let it go for. Never thought of asking the seller for the reserve price and I may consider doing that in the future.

 

[C.Ann]

I won't bid on items with an unrevealed reserve either.. Can't be bothered wasting my time when normally there are several others up for bids with no reserve at the exact same time..

As for ending auctions early, I had been trying for weeks to win a specific printer that can no longer be obtained locally.. I must have bid on at least 4 or more and usually lost out by 2-cents; 51 cents; $1.07; etc.. One day I was sitting here and saw one that had JUST gone up for auction.. I immediatley emailed the seller - requested what she felt would be a reasonable BIN amount - agreed to it - she changed the auction to BIN - I made the purchase - and 3 days later I had the printer here at my home.. She had no problems with my request and in return for her cooperation and SPEEDY shipment, I made sure I gave her a VERY glowing feedback - AND I have added her to my favorite sellers list to boot..

As an occasional seller myself, I often go out of my way to accomodate my bidders/buyers and it has always worked out to my advantage.. I have been able to maintain a 100% positive feedback for several years now and work hard to keep it that way.. As my mom always said, "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.."

 

[Pamlur]

I have never had a problem letting people know what my reserve price was; sometimes I even put the amount right in the description. It's just to keep from selling something worth a lot of money for $.99 (or something like that).

Usually when somebody wants you to end an auction early, they hope to get it for less than what they think you'll get at the end of the auction.

 

[N.Bailey]

I can definitely see putting a BIN price out there if the item has just been listed. I have no problems with that at all. I do have a problem with a seller pulling his auction after he's gotten 10 or so bids to sell it to someone else. Automobiles I can understand because in the listing, many state if someone buys it from the lot before the auction ends, they'd pull it. That's given fair notice and I have no problems with that. If it's not stated in the listing though, IMO, it's wrong, unless as someone else stated, the auction was just listed.

I've emailed people to buy things that didn't sell because I for whatever reason forgot to bid or wasn't home to do so. I've had sellers put the listing back on with a BIN price that we had both agreed upon and I've just bought that way. I don't feel I cheated anyone by doing so.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

I don't really see a problem with the request C.Ann made of a seller (to redo the auction as a buy it now so she could purchase it without going through the bidding) - BUT, asking a seller to pull an auction and sell it to them off auction is cheating eBay of their commission. Any seller that is doing that is risking losing their selling rights on eBay.

 

[fireman17]

I'm not really jerked about the request for the reserve price, after reading how most of you will reveal that and I probably will in the future. What I will agree on is the request to pull my auction and sell it to the person asking me to do so.
If I wanted a certain price on it I would have listed a buy it now auction. I think if I had bid on an item and the seller had pulled it to make a side deal and I found out about it I would be so jerked.

 

[dcentity2000]

Hey - it's your stuff to sell how you like within the bounds of the law.

If you don't want to give out your reserve price then you are perfectly entitled to stand your ground.



Rich::

 

[C.Ann]

If I wanted a certain price on it I would have listed a buy it now auction. I think if I had bid on an item and the seller had pulled it to make a side deal and I found out about it I would be so jerked.

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I don't agree with pulling an item after there is already a bid (or bids) on it - however, if there are no bids and it's something I am really interested in and need quickly (as was the case with the printer) I have no qualms about emailing the seller and seeing if we can come to a mutual BIN price..

 

[N.Bailey]

Hey - it's your stuff to sell how you like within the bounds of the law.

If you don't want to give out your reserve price then you are perfectly entitled to stand your ground.



Rich::

I see he's changed his mind about revealing the reserve price and I am happy to hear that. No one argued that he didn't have that right. If you choose to exercise that right however, you'll be turning away many potential bidders. Again, it's your right, but personally, I do not see the benefit in that?

 

[N.Bailey]

-------------------------------------

I don't agree with pulling an item after there is already a bid (or bids) on it - however, if there are no bids and it's something I am really interested in and need quickly (as was the case with the printer) I have no qualms about emailing the seller and seeing if we can come to a mutual BIN price..

I'm not kidding you, I've literally gotten several that needed my item to give to a dying child or what not. LOL I can't tell you how many times I've been emailed to sell and the person tried to play on my sympathies.

I have no problem with what you did though. I just think it's funny the lengths some people will go to.

I just don't see how my Pokemon Gameboy game was really going to change the outcome for some young boy who was terminal?

 

[arkansas mom]

I just don't get the whole reserve thing. If you won't sell it for less than say, $50 then why not just have the starting price at $50? The only thing I can think of is so you have lower listing fees, but won't that be negated by a reserve fee? And yeah, I know a low starting price will attract more bidders, but they aren't stupid...if there's a reserve, they know it's not going to go for that cheap. Please enlighten me!

 

[robinb]

I just don't get the whole reserve thing. If you won't sell it for less than say, $50 then why not just have the starting price at $50? The only thing I can think of is so you have lower listing fees, but won't that be negated by a reserve fee? And yeah, I know a low starting price will attract more bidders, but they aren't stupid...if there's a reserve, they know it's not going to go for that cheap. Please enlighten me!

I use a reserve when I have a BIN. The reserve protects the BIN so someone can't just bid the minimum and do away with the BIN price. The BIN sticks around until the reserve is met. If the auction ends without meeting the reserve, I can always offer the item to the highest bidder anyway at his/her price. However, neither one of us is then required to go through the transaction if we don't wish to.

 

[arkansas mom]

OK, that makes sense!

 

[Cass]

I deal with high end scientific antiques on eBay... things that go for thousands of dollars - I sell and also buy.

I usually have to have a reserve because of the value of the piece and I don't reveal it simply because I want a bidding war between 2 or more perspective buyers. If they want my item, then they usually all come in the closing minutes and the $$$ really takes off.. sometimes the price goes through the roof. It is the name of the game.

Other times I don't have a reserve and just start with the price I want.. like 1500.00 or whatever... or if I know the piece will sell because it is rare/desirable I start at a penny, no reserve and still get what I would have expected or hoped for.

I always have people trying to make side deals with me and have me cancel early... once I did because it was museum and the curator wrote me and offered me a price that was too good to refuse for my antique anaesthesiolgy equipment. I cancelled the auction and he Fedexed me the check the next day.

I had so many people write and give me hell for doing that - they were really upset that I cancelled and said they would have paid ever more than what the museum did. But thats okay, cause I like the fact that a museum now has it for people to see for years to come rather than a private collector.

I have also once or twice asked a seller to cancel their auction and sell to me simply because I wanted to surprise DH with a gift of this piece and didn't want him to see me win the auction.. After explaining to the seller it was a surprise and offering them a fair price they have cancelled.

This is all here nor there because the scientific antique market has taken a nose dive and items that used to sell for 1200.00 +++ are lucky to get half of that