Navigating Treacherous Ebay Waters...

[Jesusjon]

I know we've discussed this before, but since it's especially pertinent to me right in this moment...

 

Why do some folks feel the absolute need to contact Ebay sellers and ask them to sell off Ebay?

 

As I've said before, it's now my standard operating proceedure to send the following email when I see something I really want:

 

Hi There,

Thanks for listing this auction. I just wanted to let you know that I am serious about bidding on and winning this. I'm letting you know because I've missed out on some auctions that have ended early due to offers made outside ebay. Just wanted to ask that if you end up going this route, please check in with me as I may be able to give you a better offer. Thanks again, and best of luck on the auction.

 

Still, it's LAME. I'd rather bid on the item and know, in the end, that the fair cash value of the piece was assessed on the open market (even if I lost). This assumes no shill bidding of course! That's another story!!

 

Sigh...

 

[batman_fan]

I know we've discussed this before, but since it's especially pertinent to me right in this moment...

 

Why do some folks feel the absolute need to contact Ebay sellers and ask them to sell off Ebay?

 

As I've said before, it's now my standard operating proceedure to send the following email when I see something I really want:

 

Hi There,

Thanks for listing this auction. I just wanted to let you know that I am serious about bidding on and winning this. I'm letting you know because I've missed out on some auctions that have ended early due to offers made outside ebay. Just wanted to ask that if you end up going this route, please check in with me as I may be able to give you a better offer. Thanks again, and best of luck on the auction.

 

Still, it's LAME. I'd rather bid on the item and know, in the end, that the fair cash value of the piece was assessed on the open market (even if I lost). This assumes no shill bidding of course! That's another story!!

 

Sigh...

 

I completely agree with you. A few years back there was a Breyfogle Batman splash on Ebay that I was watching with 100% plan on winning regardless of price. Item was sold outside Ebay. I don't care what the offer was for that splash, I would have paid more so the seller missed out on a bigger payout, potentially by a lot had the buyer of it and myself gotten into a bidding war. I think your approach is pretty good. At least you are trying to ensure you have a shot at the item.

[Nexus]

I have been doing the exact same thing (writing the seller to contact me IF they decide to end the auction early). My preference is just to let the auctions play out (as a seller, I don't end auctions early). But after having a couple of auctions of art I really wanted get ended early, I learned my lesson.

 

On three occassions, I've had sellers write me back asking for my offer in what amounted to blind bidding. On two of those occasions, I gave above-market numbers since I didn't want to take any chances. In both cases, I'm fairly certain that I could have won the auctions outright for less had they been allowed to finish on their own.

 

Now, people who write to sellers after the auctions have ended to try to sabotage the winner...that's another story, too!!

[Tatterdamillion]

Yup. I have taken up asking sellers to end stuff early on occasion because I am afraid of someone else doing the same. Unfortunately it has never worked. Maybe I am not offering enough! Recently a Bill S. Elektra page disappeared mid auction that I was hoping to win. There was pretty good action on said page alreadt with days to go, I wonder how much it went for.

[Jesusjon]

Well, my particular situation just went into "blind bidding mode" and after making my offer and seeing the price start to float up from the other bidder, I bowed out. Alas! But there's other fish in the sea -- at least, that's what I tell myself.

 

 

 

[brandolsn]

I have been doing the exact same thing (writing the seller to contact me IF they decide to end the auction early)

 

same - I sure was disappointed to see this one end early

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270151876031

[Mighty Hal]

It's always about the money. As a would-be bidder, I know that a piece of artwork may be priced out of my range if I let the auction run its course; as a seller, I realize that the blind offer may be more that the auction will otherwise realize.

 

The truth is, if I could ever talk a seller into ending his auction early -- especially for a prime piece at a price that I liked -- then I'd do exactly that. It hasn't happened but, frankly, I'd be happy if it ever did. That doesn't mean I like it when auctions end early. Last week, I contacted a seller to say: Please let your auction run its course. He agreed; Wally said he hates it when sellers end their auctions early. He told me that he'd turned down two buyers that had promised to buy the piece at a premium IF he ended the auction early.

 

And, at auction's end, he hadn't received a single bid.

 

I know this because I'd planned to do the bid-at-the-last-second thing...and I forgot to bid at the last second. (Look, I've been busy.) So, realizing I'd fouled up, I contacted the seller and he sold me the piece.

 

But the next time he has an auction? If there's money on the table, I'll bet he's willing to end it early.

[irchooker]

same - I sure was disappointed to see this one end early

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270151876031

 

As was I. I'm fairly certain I know the 'buyer' of the page.