Seller ended auction within seconds to go?

kiwi_fruit

Thought I've seen it all but alas- 99p auction with one bid, was about to place a bid closer to the end, 30 seconds to go and it freezes- then says "This listing was ended by the seller because the item was sold." I never actually thought it was possible to end an auction this close to finish but more bewildered as to why would a seller rob themselves of a higher finishing price? It doesn't appear to be a case of shill bidding as person that won also bid on other stuff from about 20 different sellers. Thoughts?

19lottie82

I didn't think a seller could end an item with less than 24 to go?

mrsHall2b

It obviously wasnt reaching as high as the person wanted, With 30 seconds to go it wasnt going to get much higher and I guess they wanted more. Instead of putting a reserve or higher starting price they just pulled the auction.

jeffuk

Maybe the 1 bid was by a friend (free reserve), seller ended item early and sold to the highest bidder. (minimal fees to pay?)
Keep an eye on the sellers items for sale, it will probably reappear.

Flyonthewall

mrsHall2b wrote: »

It obviously wasnt reaching as high as the person wanted, With 30 seconds to go it wasnt going to get much higher and I guess they wanted more. Instead of putting a reserve or higher starting price they just pulled the auction.

The last 30 seconds is often when items go up in price. Sometimes by loads! They may have assumed it wasn't going to get much higher, but it very easily could have gone much higher. OP wanting to place a bid proves it certainly would have gone for more and we've no idea what max bids would have been or if anyone else was planning on bidding at the same time.

I think Jeffuk is probably right about ending it and selling to the highest bidder.

RFW

19lottie82 wrote: »

I didn't think a seller could end an item with less than 24 to go?

I thought similar, that a seller couldn't end an auction with less than 12 hours to go.
Sounds more like an Ebay glitch to me.

kiwi_fruit

So this is the reply I got: "I just checked with eBay help and they said "it seems the buyer was trying to bid on the item on the last minutes and that is the reason they were not able to bid on your item"

next time don't leave it too late !" No kidding!

And this is the actual auction http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Cardigan-Pink-One-Size-Grunge-festival-statement-topshop-urban-/121690586624?nma=true&si=MXGWwj1XRYMi%252FIQbsVOhpWjAyMk%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

kiwi_fruit

Hm- just checked the completed listing and it's not the only item they've done it to! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/J-Lindeberg-Short-Sleeve-Summer-Me-039-s-Shirt-Grey-White-Vertical-stripe-Size-L-/121690587073?nma=true&si=MXGWwj1XRYMi%252FIQbsVOhpWjAyMk%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
But not the same bidder! Different friend? What a bizarre thing to do.

soolin

RFW wrote: »

I thought similar, that a seller couldn't end an auction with less than 12 hours to go.
Sounds more like an Ebay glitch to me.

The item was sold to highest bidder, not ended, it's a way to get round the inability to end an auction early. I can't imagine it is a very satisfactory way of running any sort of business though.