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Urgent! Cancelling an Auction

Question:

Advice from the old timers please? I have an auction that has two hours left. The item is a collectable in mint condition that has an appraised value of $150.00 to $175.00.  Last week, an identical item in poor condition sold for $180.00. I’m considering waiting until the last 15 minutes and if the high bid is not in the 150-175 price range, cancelling the auction. The current bid is $115.00. I’m sure this will p.o. the high bidder but I feel I’m justified…

Response:

Advice from the old timers please? I have an auction that has two hours left. The item is a collectable in mint condition that has an appraised value of $150.00 to $175.00.  Last week, an identical item in poor condition sold for $180.00. I’m considering waiting until the last 15 minutes and if the high bid is not in the 150-175 price range, cancelling the auction. The current bid is $115.00. I’m sure this will p.o. the high bidder but I feel I’m justified…

Justified because you didn’t put in a reserve? Didn’t market your item properly? Entered into a contract to sell and want to back out? And besides, if you cancel the auction you’ll miss all the last minute esniping. You could end up selling this thing at $275! Cancelling the auction because you didn’t get your price is poor  form. Suck it up and do a better job pricing, presenting or setting a reserve next time. Just my .02 Lee

Response:

I have an auction that has two hours left. The item is a collectable in mint condition that has an appraised value of $150.00 to $175.00.  Last week, an identical item in poor condition sold for $180.00. I’m considering waiting until the last 15 minutes and if the high bid is not in the 150-175 price range, cancelling the auction. The current bid is $115.00. I’m sure this will p.o. the high bidder but I feel I’m justified…

Depends on if you value your feedback ratings…. Sounds like you messed up on this one… count it as a lesson bought and well learned.. do some research next time perhaps before you price a starting bid, or at the very least this is why Reserve auctions exist….. Question still is… is it worth your reputation on eBay? Do you still plan on selling more later? I have done a lot of selling where I have noticed someone else getting more for identical items..I dont know why that is but eBay is funny that way at times..could have been worse, you could have gotten no bids… Seems that "the market" has decided(untill now anyway, hopefully you will get higher bids and you wont have to worry about not making your expected price..) anyway, the market on eBay has appraised your item at $115, this may be all you get even if you decide to pull it and try it later…. Just a few thoughts…

Response:

Why didn’t you set a reserve if you were so concerned about this? — ICQ-18369965; Y! Messenger & AIM-MFCrunchy I’d like to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Advice from the old timers please? I have an auction that has two hours left. The item is a collectable in mint condition that has an appraised value of $150.00 to $175.00.  Last week, an identical item in poor condition sold for $180.00. I’m considering waiting until the last 15 minutes and if the high bid is not in the 150-175 price range, cancelling the auction. The current bid is $115.00. I’m sure this will p.o. the high bidder but I feel I’m justified…

Response:

I’m sure this will p.o. the high bidder but I feel I’m justified…

You’re not.

Response:

I think the time to decide the minimum you’d be willing to sell an item for is when you post it, not after a week of bidding.  We aren’t talking about an eBay outage, we’re just talking about a case where the bidding isn’t going your way, and you didn’t use a minimum bid or reserve that you’d be willing to sell at.  No, the bidders can’t do anything about it, but if it is a collectible, you’ve just ticked off every collector who bid on the auction this time, plus every collector who was waiting to snipe.  What effect do you think that might have on your sales price next time around, removing those people from the bidding pool? Richard Ward – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Advice from the old timers please? I have an auction that has two hours left. The item is a collectable in mint condition that has an appraised value of $150.00 to $175.00.  Last week, an identical item in poor condition sold for $180.00. I’m considering waiting until the last 15 minutes and if the high bid is not in the 150-175 price range, cancelling the auction. The current bid is $115.00. I’m sure this will p.o. the high bidder but I feel I’m justified…

Response:

If a buyer decided he overpaid for an item won in your auction, would he be justified in not sending you any money for it? Sellers need to realize that there IS an element of chance in the auction business. — duach

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Advice from the old timers please? I have an auction that has two hours left. The item is a collectable in mint condition that has an appraised value of $150.00 to $175.00.  Last week, an identical item in poor condition sold for $180.00. I’m considering waiting until the last 15 minutes and if the high bid is not in the 150-175 price range, cancelling the auction. The current bid is $115.00. I’m sure this will p.o. the high bidder but I feel I’m justified…

Response:

If he cancels the bids first, his feedback isn’t in danger because he won’t have a completed auction.  However, if he waits till the last fifteen minutes, he greatly increases his chances of killing all the bids, having someone put in a sniping bid immediately before he ends the auction, giving him a completed auction not at $115 but at the opening bid.  He also runs the substantial risk of alienating all the prospective bidders on this particular item, which will really make posting it later a difficult proposition. Richard Ward – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have an auction that has two hours left. The item is a collectable in mint condition that has an appraised value of $150.00 to $175.00.  Last week, an identical item in poor condition sold for $180.00. I’m considering waiting until the last 15 minutes and if the high bid is not in the 150-175 price range, cancelling the auction. The current bid is $115.00. I’m sure this will p.o. the high bidder but I feel I’m justified… Depends on if you value your feedback ratings…. Sounds like you messed up on this one… count it as a lesson bought and well learned.. do some research next time perhaps before you price a starting bid, or at the very least this is why Reserve auctions exist….. Question still is… is it worth your reputation on eBay? Do you still plan on selling more later? I have done a lot of selling where I have noticed someone else getting more for identical items..I dont know why that is but eBay is funny that way at times..could have been worse, you could have gotten no bids… Seems that "the market" has decided(untill now anyway, hopefully you will get higher bids and you wont have to worry about not making your expected price..) anyway, the market on eBay has appraised your item at $115, this may be all you get even if you decide to pull it and try it later…. Just a few thoughts…

Response:

That is a real shitty reason to cancel an auction.  If you wanted more for it, you should have just listed it for more.  I have been selling on ebay for a couple of years not if that classifies me as an "old timer" and I can tell you that in my opinion I would let the auction run and call it a lesson should it go for under what you would have liked.  Besides, I have seen auctions climb the most amount in the last 5 minutes.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Advice from the old timers please? I have an auction that has two hours left. The item is a collectable in mint condition that has an appraised value of $150.00 to $175.00.  Last week, an identical item in poor condition sold for $180.00. I’m considering waiting until the last 15 minutes and if the high bid is not in the 150-175 price range, cancelling the auction. The current bid is $115.00. I’m sure this will p.o. the high bidder but I feel I’m justified…

Response:

It’s kind of funny….I’m the curious sort, and I went to see what sort of collectible it was that was on offer.  There were no auctions that end today for AuctionJunkie.

And you’re surprised? Lee

Response:

A lot of people here keep their newsgroup and eBay names separate.

: It’s kind of funny….I’m the curious sort, and I went to see what sort of : collectible it was that was on offer.  There were no auctions that end today : for AuctionJunkie. : : Carmen :

: I asked for advice, I got it…OUCH! : : Thanks for all the input.  I think I did all the right things in listing, : reserve, etc. I just believed that the bidding would go into the : approximate : price range. I considered all the consequences you all mentioned if I were : to cancel the auction. I’m sure I wanted someone to tell me not to feel : guilty about cancelling at the last minute. : : Bottom line…I let it run it’s course. The counter indicated some last : minute looking. There were a couple bids and finally a whimper, not a : bang. : : There’s a lot to be learned from the advice of experienced eBayers and I’m : grateful that you all took the time to whoop me into shape. : : On with the bidding! : : : :

Response:

Uh, the item was APPRAISED at $175?  That’s its fair market value.  No one is ripping you off. Good grief!  Another whiney-ass seller who is pouting because he didn’t make a killing on e-Bay.  Somebody please deliver me!! I think I’ve seen it all.  I thought I had seen it all what with the presidential election nonsense, but by God, I think this even takes THAT cake! Remind me never ever to bid on this yokel’s auctions again! — ROberto and JOni Madness takes its toll.  Please have exact change. Visit our website at: http://www.compassnet.com/rojo/

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Advice from the old timers please? I have an auction that has two hours left. The item is a collectable in mint condition that has an appraised value of $150.00 to $175.00.  Last week, an identical item in poor condition sold for $180.00. I’m considering waiting until the last 15 minutes and if the high bid is not in the 150-175 price range, cancelling the auction. The current bid is $115.00. I’m sure this will p.o. the high bidder but I feel I’m justified…

Response:

<Laughing  No, I have better things to do with my time than playing Tattle-tale.  I have a "thing" for oil lamps, and since they are a big collectible item, I was looking on the off chance that it was oil lamp (or medical collectible) related. I’m only a buyer, so it’s interesting to me to see things from the sellers’ perspective.  I wasn’t aware that there were so many people out there who appear to view Ebay as some sort of video game, where the "score" isn’t real.  I always run to the PO the next morning and send out a MO ASAP – it never occurred to me to send less than the agreed-upon amount, or to not send payment at all.  Apparently there are a significant number of bidders who do, though.  With some of the problems I see discussed here (especially vis-a-vis services such as PayPal) it amazes me that Ebay works as well as it does. Take care, Carmen

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Some people have made posts in the past mentioning problems with customers, only to get angry emails from the customers they were talking about when someone took it upon themselves to dig through their auctions and try and figure out who was being talked about, then email the customers and tell them they were being talked about on a newsgroup. Some people got very leery of letting anyone know their eBay ID, others just got very circumspect in what they said in the group, making sure that if they said anything derogatory about a customer, it couldn’t be tied to a particular customer no matter how much someone tried to dig. This is sad in my opinion, one of the wonderful things about a group like this is the ability to use it to let off steam when a customer is acting like a jerk, instead of letting your frustration out on the customer.  As long as the customer isn’t being referred to by a name or user ID, I think a person digging through someones completed auctions to try and figure out who is being talked about so that they can go an let them know what’s being said about them is pretty dispicable.  I’m not saying that is what you were trying to do, I am sure your intent was just to find out what the item was that wasn’t bringing the desired price.  However, when a few people nose around with malice as opposed to idle curiousity, other people start trying to protect themselves where they can.  I don’t hide my identity, so I make very sure that nothing I say about a customer can be tied to a given customer. Richard Ward I’m curious as to why.  My philosophy is that as long as what I’m doing is above board that there’s no reason for subterfuge.  Coming from that view point I find it difficult to fathom what reasons others may have for doing otherwise.  Perhaps you could help? Take care, Carmen A lot of people here keep their newsgroup and eBay names separate. : It’s kind of funny….I’m the curious sort, and I went to see what sort of : collectible it was that was on offer.  There were no auctions that end today : for AuctionJunkie. : : Carmen : : I asked for advice, I got it…OUCH! : : Thanks for all the input.  I think I did all the right things in listing, : reserve, etc. I just believed that the bidding would go into the : approximate : price range. I considered all the consequences you all mentioned if I were : to cancel the auction. I’m sure I wanted someone to tell me not to feel : guilty about cancelling at the last minute. : : Bottom line…I let it run it’s course. The counter indicated some last : minute looking. There were a couple bids and finally a whimper, not a : bang. : : There’s a lot to be learned from the advice of experienced eBayers and I’m : grateful that you all took the time to whoop me into shape. : : On with the bidding! : : : :

Response:

Some people have made posts in the past mentioning problems with customers, only to get angry emails from the customers they were talking about when someone took it upon themselves to dig through their auctions and try and figure out who was being talked about, then email the customers and tell them they were being talked about on a newsgroup. Some people got very leery of letting anyone know their eBay ID, others just got very circumspect in what they said in the group, making sure that if they said anything derogatory about a customer, it couldn’t be tied to a particular customer no matter how much someone tried to dig. This is sad in my opinion, one of the wonderful things about a group like this is the ability to use it to let off steam when a customer is acting like a jerk, instead of letting your frustration out on the customer.  As long as the customer isn’t being referred to by a name or user ID, I think a person digging through someones completed auctions to try and figure out who is being talked about so that they can go an let them know what’s being said about them is pretty dispicable.  I’m not saying that is what you were trying to do, I am sure your intent was just to find out what the item was that wasn’t bringing the desired price.  However, when a few people nose around with malice as opposed to idle curiousity, other people start trying to protect themselves where they can.  I don’t hide my identity, so I make very sure that nothing I say about a customer can be tied to a given customer. Richard Ward – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I’m curious as to why.  My philosophy is that as long as what I’m doing is above board that there’s no reason for subterfuge.  Coming from that view point I find it difficult to fathom what reasons others may have for doing otherwise.  Perhaps you could help? Take care, Carmen A lot of people here keep their newsgroup and eBay names separate. : It’s kind of funny….I’m the curious sort, and I went to see what sort of : collectible it was that was on offer.  There were no auctions that end today : for AuctionJunkie. : : Carmen : : I asked for advice, I got it…OUCH! : : Thanks for all the input.  I think I did all the right things in listing, : reserve, etc. I just believed that the bidding would go into the : approximate : price range. I considered all the consequences you all mentioned if I were : to cancel the auction. I’m sure I wanted someone to tell me not to feel : guilty about cancelling at the last minute. : : Bottom line…I let it run it’s course. The counter indicated some last : minute looking. There were a couple bids and finally a whimper, not a : bang. : : There’s a lot to be learned from the advice of experienced eBayers and I’m : grateful that you all took the time to whoop me into shape. : : On with the bidding! : : : :

Response:

I’m curious as to why.  My philosophy is that as long as what I’m doing is above board that there’s no reason for subterfuge.  Coming from that view point I find it difficult to fathom what reasons others may have for doing otherwise.  Perhaps you could help? Take care, Carmen

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – A lot of people here keep their newsgroup and eBay names separate. : It’s kind of funny….I’m the curious sort, and I went to see what sort of : collectible it was that was on offer.  There were no auctions that end today : for AuctionJunkie. : : Carmen : : I asked for advice, I got it…OUCH! : : Thanks for all the input.  I think I did all the right things in listing, : reserve, etc. I just believed that the bidding would go into the : approximate : price range. I considered all the consequences you all mentioned if I were : to cancel the auction. I’m sure I wanted someone to tell me not to feel : guilty about cancelling at the last minute. : : Bottom line…I let it run it’s course. The counter indicated some last : minute looking. There were a couple bids and finally a whimper, not a : bang. : : There’s a lot to be learned from the advice of experienced eBayers and I’m : grateful that you all took the time to whoop me into shape. : : On with the bidding! : : : :

Response:

Overall this group has a low percentage of the less desirable sorts than many others.  I’m the "give the benefit of the doubt" sort generally. I began reading this group to see if I could pick up any interesting tips, and have been pleasantly surprised that I appear to have found another group with a civilized bent. Take it easy, Carmen

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – It’s kind of funny….I’m the curious sort, and I went to see what sort of collectible it was that was on offer.  There were no auctions that end today for AuctionJunkie. And you’re surprised? Lee

Response:

Might want to check next time…there is an "AuctionJunkie" as well as an "AuctionJunkie!"  No sense ticking off *their* bidders either, right? <G Carmen

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – It’s kind of funny….I’m the curious sort, and I went to see what sort of collectible it was that was on offer.  There were no auctions that end today for AuctionJunkie. Carmen I certainly didn’t mean to mislead you but I felt it best to post my query anonymously. What if one or more of the bidders were reading here? Didn’t want to upset everything and p. o. anyone prematurely.

Response:

It’s kind of funny….I’m the curious sort, and I went to see what sort of collectible it was that was on offer.  There were no auctions that end today for AuctionJunkie. Carmen

I certainly didn’t mean to mislead you but I felt it best to post my query anonymously. What if one or more of the bidders were reading here? Didn’t want to upset everything and p. o. anyone prematurely.

Response:

Advice from the old timers please? I have an auction that has two hours left. The item is a collectable in mint condition that has an appraised value of $150.00 to $175.00.  Last week, an identical item in poor condition sold for $180.00. I’m considering waiting until the last 15 minutes and if the high bid is not in the 150-175 price range, cancelling the auction. The current bid is $115.00. I’m sure this will p.o. the high bidder but I feel I’m justified…

The correct technical term for this is called "pissing in the soup". — Many thanks, Don Lancaster Synergetics   3860 West First Street  Box 809  Thatcher, AZ 85552 Please visit my GURU’s LAIR web site at http://www.tinaja.com

Response:

It’s kind of funny….I’m the curious sort, and I went to see what sort of collectible it was that was on offer.  There were no auctions that end today for AuctionJunkie. Carmen

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I asked for advice, I got it…OUCH! Thanks for all the input.  I think I did all the right things in listing, reserve, etc. I just believed that the bidding would go into the approximate price range. I considered all the consequences you all mentioned if I were to cancel the auction. I’m sure I wanted someone to tell me not to feel guilty about cancelling at the last minute. Bottom line…I let it run it’s course. The counter indicated some last minute looking. There were a couple bids and finally a whimper, not a bang. There’s a lot to be learned from the advice of experienced eBayers and I’m grateful that you all took the time to whoop me into shape. On with the bidding!

Response:

identical item in poor condition sold for $180.00. I’m considering waiting until the last 15 minutes and if the high bid is not in the 150-175 price range, cancelling the auction. The current bid is $115.00. I’m sure this will p.o. the high bidder but I feel I’m justified

Why didn’t you put a reserve price on it??? Do what the rest of the ‘reputable’ sellers do, call up a few of your friends and SHILL SHILL SHILL! lol

Shame on you

Response:

I want to aplaud you for coming to the NG and asking a decent question, and even though our advice could be at a loss to you, you still took it and did the ‘ethical’ thing. We all know hindsight  is 20/20… but I think ebay is the type of marketplace that works like this:  If you made a mistake… bite the bullet…   We all know auctions are a ‘risky’, anmd 99% of the time it works in our favor, but we still gotta remember that inorder to take hat 99% we still gotta deal with the 1%.. Let us know how your auction turns out, Hopefully youll be in the price range you want. TBC video scott keenan papier11

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I asked for advice, I got it…OUCH! Thanks for all the input.  I think I did all the right things in listing, reserve, etc. I just believed that the bidding would go into the approximate price range. I considered all the consequences you all mentioned if I were to cancel the auction. I’m sure I wanted someone to tell me not to feel guilty about cancelling at the last minute. Bottom line…I let it run it’s course. The counter indicated some last minute looking. There were a couple bids and finally a whimper, not a bang. There’s a lot to be learned from the advice of experienced eBayers and I’m grateful that you all took the time to whoop me into shape. On with the bidding!

Response:

Advice from the old timers please? I have an auction that has two hours left. The item is a collectable in mint condition that has an appraised value of $150.00 to $175.00.  Last week, an identical item in poor condition sold for $180.00. I’m considering waiting until the last 15 minutes and if the high bid is not in the 150-175 price range, cancelling the auction. The current bid is $115.00. I’m sure this will p.o. the high bidder but I feel I’m justified…

Do what the rest of the ‘reputable’ sellers do, call up a few of your friends and SHILL SHILL SHILL! lol

Response:

I asked for advice, I got it…OUCH! Thanks for all the input.  I think I did all the right things in listing, reserve, etc. I just believed that the bidding would go into the approximate price range. I considered all the consequences you all mentioned if I were to cancel the auction. I’m sure I wanted someone to tell me not to feel guilty about cancelling at the last minute. Bottom line…I let it run it’s course. The counter indicated some last minute looking. There were a couple bids and finally a whimper, not a bang. There’s a lot to be learned from the advice of experienced eBayers and I’m grateful that you all took the time to whoop me into shape. On with the bidding!

Response:

SNIP!< Seems that "the market" has decided(untill now anyway, hopefully you will get higher bids and you wont have to worry about not making your expected price..) anyway, the market on eBay has appraised your item at $115, this may be all you get even if you decide to pull it and try it later…. Just a few thoughts…

And if you pull it early there’s a very good chance that none of your original bidders will risk your auction when you relist your item (and the same goes for folks who may have been just watching and considering your item). I recently put an auction up and when I came back to the ‘pute a few hours later discovered that the system had "burped" and listed my item twice. As luck would have it, both auctions had one bid. The only fair way to deal with the situation (so I thought) was to notify both bidders about the erroneous double listing and let them know that I would cancel both bids and auctions and relist the ONE item to allow them both a level playing field. Never heard from either one after that and they sure did not bid on my item when I got things straightened out and the auction back up (Third times a charm? Uh! Uh!). Just another consideration to add to the others… alanama– Alana "Success is going from one failure to the next without a loss of enthusiasm." —Winston Churchill

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