Auction to buy it now - help please

emski1234

I've not been in this situation before and was wondering what should normally be done. My partner wanted to purchase an item on ebay, but made an offer early directly to the seller, rather than wait for the auction to end (there was no buy it now option).
They have accepted and have asked to pay the money straight into their paypal account now. I would have assumed that they will need to end the auction, relist as buy it now, and let us know straight away so that we can buy it via the buy it now option. Am I right? Surely if I just pay money into their account with no link to ebay or a checkout scenario, there's no back up or cover for me if something goes wrong. They could just disappear with our money? I'm not saying they would do that, and they have been polite and friendly with contact and no negative feedback etc, so no reason to not trust them. But surely it has to be done through ebay?
Although what if they list it as buy it now and don't tell us quick enough and someone else buys it? Is there a way to avoid this? Or is it just tough luck?
Any help would be gratefully received. Thanks loads in advance!

theonlywayisup

Paypal now covers on and off Ebay purchases. So as long as you don't GIFT the payment, you will be covered under buyer protection, if the item is not a prohibited item.

To be ultra safe. Ask them to end the auction and relist as 'listing reserved for emski1234', this is what I do in this situation. However, I fear, they are trying to save on their Ebay fees.

emski1234

That's great, thank you for your help.

guitar63

Copied this from ebay:

Note: It is acceptable for sellers to end a listing early and sell an item to the highest bidder at their current bid price. Bidders are permitted to contact sellers with requests to end a listing early for this reason; however, sellers are under no obligation to do so. To end a listing and sell to the current high bidder (at their current high bid), go to the End My Listing Early form and select "Sell to the high bidder".
You can't end a listing less than 12 hours before the end of the listing if the item has a winning bid:

• You may cancel bids, but not end the item unless you are selling the item to the high bidder. To do this, go to the End My Listing Early form and select "Sell to the high bidder".
  
• You can't add to or change the item description.
  

The seller can amend the invoice to correspond to the BIN price. If there are no bids, the seller can add a BIN price by revising the listing. I always let the buyer know when I am going to do this so they don't miss out!