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Re: ebay auction cancellation's
sellers of all kinds (not only memorabilia) are approched every day on ebay and asked to end their listings early. as a matter of fact, ebay makes the process of ending a listing early so easy (even if the listing has multiple bids) that it's a miracle that it doesn't happen 90% of the time.
the funny thing is that it has become so rampant that i have actually seen sellers end an auction early after accepting an offer only to quickly relist the item because another potential buyer contacted them and said "i hope you didn't accept less than "x" for it because if you did you got robbed!"
frankly, i'm sure that there are many people that conduct at least a part-time business checking new listings on ebay every day and making low-ball offers to unsuspecting sellers and then reselling the items. while such an approach is certainly not consistent with the spirit of an auction, is there really anything morally wrong with it assuming that you don't attempt to circumvent ebay's fees? i mean isn't it ultimately the responsibility of the seller to know the value of what it is he/she is selling?
i've made many wonderful contacts on ebay and often have sellers that i have purchased from in the past contact me to let me know that they will be listing something on ebay that i might be interested in - or that they have something already listed and would be open to an offer. what never ceases to amaze me is how many of these contacts are willing to forego a couple of extra $100 bucks for a quick and uncomplicated sale. i mean they know very well that their item would most likely go for much more if they let it ride but dealing with someone they can count on (as opposed to a new ebay buyer that they don't know who may renig after two weeks of b.s.) and making a quick transaction seems to outweigh the extra cash as far as they are concerned.
one ebayer in particular, who is one of the kindest guys you will ever want to meet and who always has the highest quality merchandise available has struck several mid-auction deals with me in the past. but unlike other sellers that end auctions early and then sell the item to a buyer behind ebay's back thus avoiding fees, he will accept my offer and then have me bid a huge amount to ensure that i'm not outbid. then, regardless of what price the auction eventually ends at, he honors our agreed price, pays ebay their fees based on the ending price and sends me the item. several times it has been embarrassing as the item would have gone for 2-3 times what we agreed on. but this never seems to bother him as he never fails to contact me when he gets something he thinks i might like. of course it probably also helps that i have spent thousands with him in the past and that he also picks up all of his stuff at estate sales for incredible prices.
last year i came across an authentic 2004 rams game helmet on ebay - these are very rare and being a huge rams' fan i didn't want to lose out on it. i contacted the seller and offered him a very fair price as i didn't want to queer the deal by getting greedy. the seller responded that the helmet was being auctioned to raise money for a st. louis high school and, as such, he didn't feel right ending the auction early. i wrote that i understood entirely and that i would probably just bid on it. well the seller, clearly new to ebay, did a horrible job on the tem description and the helmet attracted only 3 bidders including myself - i ended up winning it for $200-$300 less than what i had originally offered. and, get this, the seller contacted to me to ask if i would consider honoring my original offer, the offer i made to end the listing early, given that it was a fundraiser for a high school! i passed.
gotta love ebay!
sellers of all kinds (not only memorabilia) are approched every day on ebay and asked to end their listings early. as a matter of fact, ebay makes the process of ending a listing early so easy (even if the listing has multiple bids) that it's a miracle that it doesn't happen 90% of the time.
the funny thing is that it has become so rampant that i have actually seen sellers end an auction early after accepting an offer only to quickly relist the item because another potential buyer contacted them and said "i hope you didn't accept less than "x" for it because if you did you got robbed!"
frankly, i'm sure that there are many people that conduct at least a part-time business checking new listings on ebay every day and making low-ball offers to unsuspecting sellers and then reselling the items. while such an approach is certainly not consistent with the spirit of an auction, is there really anything morally wrong with it assuming that you don't attempt to circumvent ebay's fees? i mean isn't it ultimately the responsibility of the seller to know the value of what it is he/she is selling?
i've made many wonderful contacts on ebay and often have sellers that i have purchased from in the past contact me to let me know that they will be listing something on ebay that i might be interested in - or that they have something already listed and would be open to an offer. what never ceases to amaze me is how many of these contacts are willing to forego a couple of extra $100 bucks for a quick and uncomplicated sale. i mean they know very well that their item would most likely go for much more if they let it ride but dealing with someone they can count on (as opposed to a new ebay buyer that they don't know who may renig after two weeks of b.s.) and making a quick transaction seems to outweigh the extra cash as far as they are concerned.
one ebayer in particular, who is one of the kindest guys you will ever want to meet and who always has the highest quality merchandise available has struck several mid-auction deals with me in the past. but unlike other sellers that end auctions early and then sell the item to a buyer behind ebay's back thus avoiding fees, he will accept my offer and then have me bid a huge amount to ensure that i'm not outbid. then, regardless of what price the auction eventually ends at, he honors our agreed price, pays ebay their fees based on the ending price and sends me the item. several times it has been embarrassing as the item would have gone for 2-3 times what we agreed on. but this never seems to bother him as he never fails to contact me when he gets something he thinks i might like. of course it probably also helps that i have spent thousands with him in the past and that he also picks up all of his stuff at estate sales for incredible prices.
last year i came across an authentic 2004 rams game helmet on ebay - these are very rare and being a huge rams' fan i didn't want to lose out on it. i contacted the seller and offered him a very fair price as i didn't want to queer the deal by getting greedy. the seller responded that the helmet was being auctioned to raise money for a st. louis high school and, as such, he didn't feel right ending the auction early. i wrote that i understood entirely and that i would probably just bid on it. well the seller, clearly new to ebay, did a horrible job on the tem description and the helmet attracted only 3 bidders including myself - i ended up winning it for $200-$300 less than what i had originally offered. and, get this, the seller contacted to me to ask if i would consider honoring my original offer, the offer i made to end the listing early, given that it was a fundraiser for a high school! i passed.
gotta love ebay!
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