I have an item up for bids. A buyer wants to give me an outright bid and therefore cancel all bids

[wooden_flower]

That is usually the best time to let the auction run to the end.  Invite him to bid.

IF there are no other bids yet, you can add a buy it now price to the auction.  You might have to reduce the start price to put the agreed upon price in as a buy it now.  Or add best offer.

[ritavae]

I already have a lot of bids but they are small ones.    1.  can I just close the listing and say item no longer available and take this "outside" offer?   2.  let me get this straight---your advise is to let this person go ahead and place their bid and then close the listing as "no longer available"?  Thanks !! 

[inceptions]

For the Juicy bag?

You already have six bids from buyers who are following your seller terms (i.e. this is an auction which is expected to run to completion). Do you really want to cancel their bids and sell to someone who is trying to make a side deal because she thinks she can get a better price without having to bid?

You have over three days left in the auction, and most bidding occurs near the end.

I would thank the member for her interest and explain that my policy is to allow my auctions to run to completion to be fair to all interested bidders, and invite her to join in the bidding.

[woodland_gnome]

If you mean you got a "Message from a member" containing an offer, you can accept it (if there are least 12 hours left to run) but it is usually not in the seller's best interest to accept such unsolicited offers. They are frequently made by scammers but even at best are made because the offeror a) doubts that the amount would win if the auction goes to the end and/or b) is 1) chronically and/or 2) situationally impatient. To accept it you have to cancel all bids and end the listing early without a winner (ticking off your existing and prospective bidders and incurring an extra fee) and then relist the item in a manner that allows the offeror to buy it properly at the correct price, with no guarantee that s/he will do so (it is likely s/he has made multiple such offers).

[wooden_flower]

@ritavae 

As others have explained, you should not end the item if it has bids.  If you end an auction that has bids and do not sell to the high bidder, you will be charged the same fee as if you sold it.  Then you will pay the fee on the offered price, because you would have to list the item for that member to purchase. 

And, as others have also mentioned, the member messaging you could be a scammer, especially if he is offering a lot more than the current bidding.

So what I was suggesting is to invite the new person to place a regular bid - it will be at the next bid increment, not what he has offered you, although he can enter that as his maximum bid.  Your are best off to let the auction run to the end, but you can end it any time and sell to the high bidder.

[ritavae]

Your response came in after I had made the decision to go ahead and let the bids run.  But, I do appreciate your last words and that is "end the listing at any time and sell to the highest bidder".  I need to know that for future use. I did let the auction run to the end and whomever that person was, he must have been the one who ran the total bid up about $2.00 more.   I started the price out at a high price because I only got $12.00 more .  eBay is a constant learning experience.  I have a problem right now  with another listing because I'm constantly having to respond to listing info that pertains to international bidding and I do not want to get into that kind of eBay.  I made a mistake !  I copied someone else's sold listing and it was an international sale.  They had sold the same book and I thought I'd just use that listing.  Bad decision !  eBay set my listing up to be sold outside the U.S.---just like the previous seller.  Lesson learned.   Enough said....  thanks for your response.  

[wooden_flower]

I'm glad it worked out OK.

I sold in volume for 15 years - there are still things I learn everyday.😁