Can I restrict bidding to specific buyers?

[arlee1]

My siblings are holding a private auction for personal items from Mother's estate. Is there a way to do this on ebay? We need to list the items but restrict bidding to these 5 siblings only, and not to the general public. Is It possible?

[missjen831]

Nope. You can't do that on eBay. 

[mismarymarpl0]

Unfortunately I cant tell you the website thats really suited to do it. Its a social media site with private groups that you can sell items in.

[missjen831]

OP probably needs to conduct the auctions in a certain way since it involves an estate. They need the auctions to be legally binding and that social media site wouldn't be sufficient. Nothing is binding over there. 

[creoleorchid · Accepted solution]

Sellers set up private listings all the time for specific customers, but the listings do show up in a search. Here are two ways to do it.

1. Auction style:  Put the title something like "lot #1 for Jones family". Put a minimal description like "Mother's end table" and only one picture up. Use a 3 day format and send the link to the heirs. If some non-family idiot bids on it without knowing what it is, you can cancel their bid.

2. Fixed price (set a really really high starting price)  with Best Offer. Then you can reject anyone's offer that's not a family member.

You do know you'll have to pay 10% FVF. Our family just did it amongst themselves, with the executor handling the bids. It was all open and above board and satisfied the terms of the will. The winning bidders wrote checks to the estate, the executor handed over the goods and the cash was distributed back to the heirs after the estate was settled.

[honestabe411]

Siblings outbidding each other? What happened to families helping each other out?

just ask them all and see who wants to pay the most. Makes no sense to run an auction when all the 'buyers' are your siblings and you could just ask them. 

[godzilla_goose]

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@arlee1 wrote:

My siblings are holding a private auction for personal items from Mother's estate. Is there a way to do this on ebay? We need to list the items but restrict bidding to these 5 siblings only, and not to the general public. Is It possible?

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arlee1,

I am going to try and "think outside of the box" when responding to your post, OK?

Since I am NOT an eBay seller and thus have never sold anything on eBay, PLEASE wait for other responders who have sold to confirm (or deny) what may or may not be possible in my post to you, OK?

I know, that many years ago, it was certainly possible to designate an eBay listing for a specific buyer to purchase the listed item.  eBay got rid of that capability some time ago.

Next, the person who is holding or conducting the auctions MUST be acting at-arms-length to the 5 siblings and the person also must KNOW the siblings' eBay user IDs to be able to accomplish what I think you are trying to do.

I don't know if this is technically possible or not but here goes.  The person sets up eBay listings with a really HIGH Buy It Now price with Make Offer option enabled AND NOT use the auto-accept/auto-decline in their listings and at the same time, IF possible, use the private listing selling option at the same time in order to conceal ALL of the bidders' identities.  Keep the duration of the listings short.  If the person can use a ONE day listing, USE it.

Here is how this will work IF ALL of the above listing/selling features can be used at the same time.

By setting up the listings with an ASTRONOMICALLY HIGH Buy It Now price, the person hopes that no one from the potential pool of eBay bidders (with a sound mind) will exercise that ASTRONOMICALLY HIGH Buy It Now Price option but the BIN option is there for a reason and that reason is to be able for the person to consider best offers submitted by the "5 sibblings" only and reject offers not submitted by the "5 sibblings".  If the person receives an offer from someone who isn't "one of the 5 sibblings", the person can simply let that bidder's offer EXPIRE and/or decline it AND block that bidder from participating in the listing AFTER having received his/her offer.

What the person is trying to accomplish is to be able to give himself/herself the chance to filter out offers as they are submitted and since the auctions are using the private listing function at the same time (if possible), ONLY the person will be able to see the actual identities of the 5 sibblings.  The person that is running the auction can accept the highest offer that is submitted as close to the end of the auction as is feasible so there is NO point is trying to submit an offer with 10 seconds to go if it can't be accepted that quickly.  To make it feasible, the person and ALL 5 sibblings must agree that any offer MUST be submitted before, say 5 MINUTES from the scheduled end time of the auction(s).   Make this stipulation in the listing description that offers MUST be submitted before the last 5 minutes from the scheduled ending time of the auction to be able to give the person enough time to accept the offer AND to close the auction ONCE that offer is accepted and the item is being sold to that "highest bidder".

The person conducting the auctions, SHOULD print out the OFFER history pages showing the actual user IDs and to make note of the HIGHEST offers that were actually accepted.  This shows the 5 sibblings TRANSPARENCY and that things were done FAIRLY to prevent familial disputes.

The person doing all of this should be adequately compensated financially by the 5 sibblings so as not to cause himself/herself personal liability for the fees assessed by eBay for conducting these auctions ON eBay.

[7606dennis]

I'm not quite understanding what it is that you are wanting to do.  However, I don't believe eBay would be able to accommodate you.  If all the siblings that you want to be the only bidders are heirs, than they already have an ownership interest in the items so it would violate eBay policy for them to bid. 

Frankly, I would hope that all of the siblings could get together and divvy up the items without too many problems.  However, in many states it is permissible for owners to bid on their own property provided the other bidder's are informed that they will be doing so prior to the commencement of the auction.  Naturally, if they bid and win they are expected to pay.  Bidding merely to raise the selling price would be shilling and a criminal offense.

You might want to consult a local auction business and your attorney to determine the best course of action.  

[missjen831]

I'm not sure if its been mentioned either but another reason ebay isn't the place for a family auction is.....each sibling would also have to use their own device AND internet connection to bid and they all better be in different locations nowhere near the "seller", it would look extremely suspicious if there were 5 bidders all in the aame city bidding against each other. I really thinking find a local auction house or an auctioneer would be better. Also if you were to use ebay for this, you would need to list for local pick up only.

[godzilla_goose]

@arlee1

People,

Having had time to consider the nature of the items being auctioned (or being considered for auction) since the property is from the estate of the Mother, this is what I suggest:

I surmise the executor (or executrix) is responsible for disposing of the assets of the estate PER THE TERMS OF THE Mother's WILL (assuming the Mother had a VALID and uncontested WILL).

IF the testator has designated which beneficiary gets what property, then there should be no further discussion on the matter since that was the testator's wishes and that the executor (or executrix) is bound to follow per THE WILL.

IF the beneficiaries want to have some kind of auction, then it is simple enough for the executor (or executrix) to hold an informal "SEALED BID" auction right in their office. ONE sealed BID per beneficiary and NOTHING to do with eBay. The winner of the "SEALED BID" auction pays the ESTATE of the Mother for the auctioned item and the executor (or executrix) can then disburse the proceeds of sale to the beneficiaries PER The WILL.

However, IF the Mother did NOT have a WILL (and died intestate), then I sincerely hope you, arlee1, the best since there are going to be FIGHTS among the 5 siblings over the contents of the Mother's estate AND those FIGHTS can sever any family ties among siblings.

Last post for today. I've got REAL work to do.

[arlee1]

GG, thank you for your reply. This is round two of the auction. The first round was similar to what you suggest, and it went ok. This round has many times the number of items, though, and we are trying to figure the best method. The terms of the will specified that the more expensive items be appraised and the value split equally, so the auction seemed the best way. We are trying it on another social medium and are hoping for the best, but an ebay auction would have been better technology-wise, and more clear-cut at the end. So far, so good -- but it's the last few seconds that have me worried. And GG, wish me the best anyway, because you are right about family ties.

[arlee1]

Actually, we are in 5 different places, in 4 different states. But the idea of "for local pickup only" is a good one for limiting any appeal to outside bidders. Thank you.

[arlee1]

GG, This is extremely helpful. We will definitely consider this.

[myboardid]

Remember that eBay gets 10%, Paypal gets 2.9% plus 30 cents for each payment.  Maybe eBay isn;t the best venue for your needs. 

But ifyou do that, give your items unique titles that no one would ever find in search, such as gibberish combinations of letter & numbers.  That would likely keep outsiders away. 

[arlee1]

The terms of the will suggested this.  Not all families are the same, and not all final wishes are the same. This is what we've chosen. We're just trying to find the best format, technologically.

Asking everyone who will pay the most is simply an unofficial auction, isn't it?