Cancelling an Auction after it's Started

[navyvetwatchseller]

I started an auction at .99 and after 2 days there was only one bid...and the article in question has a street value of at least $50 so I ended the listing. When I first started, about 7 months ago, I had no idea what I was doing (not that I know what I am doing now) and listed a very expensive item as my first ever auction, and that time I let it ride out and only got one bid of 99 cents for $150 item.  That caused a lot of grumbling, from me. Anyway, would like comments on the pros and cons of cancelling an auction after it starts, or is it legal? Ebay seems to make it fairly simple. Thanks. 

[buyselljack2016]

You can do it. Buyer's will not be happy.

I see no reason to start an auction at 99 cents. 

[klhmdg]

Every time you do this you are being charged a FVF.

Once an auction has a bid, you will be charged.

Maybe you need to start your auctions at the lowest you are will to sell the item for…

[albertabrightalberta]

Good sellers don't end listings early because the items aren't getting enough bids. 

Good sellers don't refuse to complete a sale when the final selling price of the item isn't as much as the seller hoped it would be. 

Good sellers agree (by ebay policy and by having good ethics) to sell to the high bidder despite how high or low the final price is. 

Good sellers who don't want to risk losing money on items either start auctions at the lowest acceptable amount they want to get or they do FP (fixed price) listings. 

Sellers who do what you did are not sellers who I'd want to risk buying from because I don't want to waste time, possibly winning an auction then having you cancel. 

[m60driver]

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@navyvetwatchseller wrote:

 Anyway, would like comments on the pros and cons of cancelling an auction after it starts.....? 

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As others noted above, there are only cons.  Never list an auction below your minimum acceptable selling price.  Listing an auctions starting at 99¢ is a fool's errand.  Besides, I don't see your listings requiring an auction, which are best used for the rare items where comparable prices are somewhat obscure.  Best to use a BIN initially placed towards the higher end of the price range and extend offers to watchers.

[coolections]

First thing to do is learn how auctions work or do not list at auction. You  should have known that whatever price you start your auction "could possibly" be the ending price. If the item is in demand there should be multiple bidders and no need to worry. If the item is actually "worth" $50 there should be multiple bids and no need to worry. No, it is NOT legal to start an auction and then end it because you got scared.

[evry1nositswindy]

Look at your seller dashboard and you will see that you received defects for cancelling auctions with bids.  Too many of those and your selling days will be over.

[dbfolks166mt]

     There are pro's and con's to both auction type listings as well as BIN or FP type listings. Which one you use depends somewhat on what you are selling. 

     I use auction listings almost exclusively and some of the pro's to an auction are there is always the possibility that you item will sell for significantly more than your starting price, which by the way should never be $.99. Start your auction at the lowest price you are willing to accept for the item and see where it goes from there. You should never have to cancel if you operate in this mode. The other pro about auctions, and the biggest one for me, is all of my auctions end on the same day, Sunday, so I have Monday reserved for packing and shipping and I am free to schedule the rest of my week as I see fit with very little interaction on eBay. I never use OBO on any of my listings so I don't have to worry about that headache either. The biggest con to auction format seems to be the large number of non-paying buyers since auction format does not have the immediate payment required option. I also consider this at times to be a pro since I would rather have the non-paying bidder as opposed to the cancel requests for BIN items and or the returns because the buyer changed their mind. 

     As for BIN type listings the biggest con is once you set your price you will never get any more than what you listed the item for unless it is a scam attempt. The other big con for me would be the need to constantly monitor eBay and potentially having to deal with packing and shipping on a daily basis. I do this as a part time thing and don't want to be that tied down to eBay activity. For some sellers who do this for a living that is not an issue or a problem for them. Pro side on BIN,  with the immediate payment required option you don't have to worry about non-paying buyers but you do have to worry about cancelation requests or returns. 

     If you use auction format you should never cancel a listing once you have a bid on the item. Once the auction ends there are some cases where it is appropriate to cancel the sale/order such as non-payment or problem with the buyers address when you went to create the label. Constantly canceling auctions for non legitimate reasons has the potential to get your account suspended, possibly permanently. 

[bbravo65]

...my beginning selling time here I used a lot of auction listings for my Coach bags (I still have quite a numbers of them but afraid of listing them up)...the end of one auction taught me how wrong I was when my EUC $480 bag was sold for only $36...(the bag was only carried once after brand-new purchased from MCAS Miramar Exchange Store)

...the new owner messaged me if I still have more Coach to sell...yes, I do have more but no, sorry I won't sell...

...my big mistake for following some eBay's suggestion in prices and, didn't exercise enough in researching the market before listing...

[chapeau-noir]

Just stay away from .99 auctions and list for what you'll take with only one bid.  It IS better to do your own research of the market, and don't bother with ebay's 'suggestions' in that regard as they don't know your products like you do. 

[gracieallen01]

Lots of good input here, but good grief, IF you are going to end an auction early, unless they have changed things here, cancel any and all bids first.  Sheesh.

[anjofak]

It wood take a pretty good amount of .99 auctions for a good amount of years to build a following of auction happy bidders otherwise your listings get like 5-20 views on the typical..

[fashunu4eeuh]

First, you need to bone up on eBay policy in regards to ending a listing (see link below). There are ramifications to ending an auction early. If you make a habit of canceling auctions with bids, you may not be here long. Ebay strongly condemns the practice as it disappoints and angers buyers. It is simply not a good selling strategy.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/cancelling-listing?id=4146

If you need to sell at a certain price on an item, don’t do auctions. List fixed price (which you can also add Immediate Payment Required to).

[anjofak]

Well "if" a million bidders/buyer's actually seen the listing it would not be an issue and would at least get somewhere near the actual value. 

But with view numbers ranging from 5-100 (weekly) on the majority of our 500 listings it to no wonder only 20 a week or so sell here..

[johnrj1226]

Cancel your auction, take your hits, stop using auctions - very passe(most buyers want their item now and shipped/delivered pronto) switch your listings over to fixed price listing with Immediate Payment Required, set your price at a fair market price that you will make your expected profit margin.   Forget the  Best offer option - you forever get  low ball offers - get your selling price as long as it is fair. Then read and understand the ins & outs of selling on eBay including your shipping label costs & services - I would start with USPS.Know  all of  your selling costs well including acquisation cost - recoverd them in your selling price from the buyer.

No knowing how on line selling/auctions is not really a valid excuse.for wanting to  cancel - that is your fault.