Seller 'pulls' item before end of auction.

Strapped

Norma_Desmond wrote: »

Sorry, but isn't that just wrong and unfair to all the legitimate bidders?

Yes, it's completely unfair to all the random strangers who may or may not want to bid a higher amount than someone pressing cash into your hand.

sham63

mgdavid wrote: »

really? that would be excellent, get rid of the timewasters and leave it for people who are happy with the way it works. I must drop them a suggestion....

Well, the way it works is that Ebay allow you to end an item early, so yes, I'm very happy with the way it works - no need to change anything.

Sellers sell on Ebay for their benefit - not the buyer's benefit.

Bootlegger

As a seller, there are two sides to this.
We recently had a car to sell, and because of the problems of insuring two, had to get rid of quickly.
Put in on at a fair price, no interest at all from ppl wanting to pay that or close, so decided to put in local paper as well.
More time wasters from that, but out of the blue a private buyer from sons work asked if still available and wanted to buy.
We did let the auction continue while they applied for finance and arranged for insurance, by that time the 30 days was nearing its end on Ebay and suddenly several ppl emailed to view.
Did feel sorry to disappoint them, but did get in touch apologising and promising to let them know if the other buyer let us down, and only ended auction once it was paid for.
My point is that if you need an urgent sale, goods may be advertised I locally as well.
It would put me off if I couldn't end an auction early, accidents happen, things get damaged, and if I have good bids on other items I just might think I don't have to sell something at a low price that week and end it for that reason.

George_Michael

As with any auction, mock auction or indeed, any other type of sale, up until the point that a contract has been formed between the seller and buyer, any goods belong to the seller and it is their legal right to do what they wish with them.

I would be more than happy for ebay to insist that all auctions had to run to the end and that all goods were sold for the "hammer" price, provided that buyers were also forced to pay for goods they won and those that failed to do so, kicked off ebay immediately.

spike241

alykatz wrote: »

Ending a listing because your not getting enough money for your item is the same as a reserve price not being met.

I diasgree. The reserve price is a separate thing altogether on eBay and has it's own fees (I think 3% of reserve). You pay that whether the item sells or not so eBay are saying you can't cancel a listing to avoid paying the reserve fee if the item doesn't sell.

Norma_Desmond

Just to say I've now joined the 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em' club.

I asked a seller if he'd got a BIN price for his item even though there were already 3 bids on it - he said yes, we agreed a price, he cancelled the bids and I bought it.

How disappointing for his 'legitimate' bidders though, I hated doing it.