Auction

[acquire_king]

Hi,  I have a new listing (auction style) and have gotten one bid.  I received an offer from a long time ebay member with a 100% feedback.  Is it possible to accept the offer and end the auction?  If they were to make a bid (not an auto bid) of the amount that they offered me, would that show as the next bid amount?  Could I then accept their bid amount and end the auction?  Thanks! 

[wesk_36]

At the risk of offending the current bidder, you can do anything.

If the person that made the offer entered their offer amount as a bid, it would only show up at the next increment ($20.49 ) not at the offer amount. On the other hand, more bidders could lead to a bidding war.

[d-k_treasures]

If they bid, the price will be one increment higher than what the first bidder entered as their max bid - IF they bid more than the first(only) bidder. 

Best thing is to ask them to bid and that you hope they win. Don't end auctions early!

[acquire_king]

It would make more economic sense for them to bid on the item but I think it is more of a time issue.  They don't want to have to wait a week.  The offer was substantial which kinda made me scratch my head in the first place.

[nobody*s_perfect]

All buyers have 100% feedback, even the terrible ones, since it's not possible for sellers to leave a neutral or negative rating for buyers.

It is not possible for you to accept an offer on an auction that has a bid.  If the would-be buyer places a bid on the auction, then the way biding works is this: eBay compares the two top bids and whoever has the higher bid becomes the new high bidder at one bid increment above the second-highest bid.

The bid that  is already on that auction might be much higher than $19.99; it might even be higher than the price that the new potential buyer has offered to you.  After all, the new guy has his on best interests in mind, not yours, so the most likely reason for his offer is that he expects to get the item cheaper that way.

So I agree with the above advice that you should tell him you cannot accept an offer but politely encourage him to bid that amount on the existing auction.  You could point out that he might even win it for less than that full amount, but IMHO that's not likely.

[wesk_36]

Two red flags are a buyer that wants something immediately and offers an unusually high amount. Not saying that they are a scammer but if they are unwilling to bid, then they don't really want it or they are setting you up for a "send me your paypal address so I can arrange payment" scam.

Again I am not saying that they are a scammer, just use caution.