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. 

[coolections]

@anjofak 

With what you are auctioning I am surprised if you get any bids. There will never be a million people wanting or viewing a $2 book or DVD. Very few will want to get involved in an auction for clothes also. 5 to 100 views sounds about right. It would be best for you to just use fixed price and wait for someone to buy your stuff.

[johnrj1226]

This might help you -

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/ending-listing?id=4146&st=12&p...

If you wish to do auctions - You cant  set limits on what bid about you  will accept and what bids you will reject..  Your call.

[anjofak]

So far from right we tried the buy it nows out of several hundred for several months landed 😅 a total of 2 sales while selling 20-40 a week in auctions and most weeks combined orders with those numbers alone,  auctioneering is not selling do you still believe in recommend pricing too? Tooth 🧚‍♀️, santa?

[soh.maryl]

There is a lot of information available to new sellers on eBay.  Why would a new seller not read every bit of it so that he knows what he is doing?

The seller is totally in control of his prices, no one else.    If you continue down the road you have chosen, your eBay career could be pretty short.  

[candd205]

Start the auctions at the minimum amount you would accept. Do not start them at 99 cents.

[coolections]

@anjofak 

Actually, I believe each seller needs to research everything they have prior to listings. That would include checking sold listings, the numbers available compared to numbers sold. The average price of each sold item. The average asking price of each item listed etc. That would determine whether item should be listed as BIN or auction. That would include the starting price or the asking price on a BIN or auction to get the item sold. 

[anjofak]

Good luck with that , I will be on listing 99 by the time you finish price checking throughout the world wide 🌐 web,  and crunching those figures. Now maybe some of our 1800 items or extremely rare oddities,  I might dump a few hours of research into, or even pick up where someone left off the found research and items from the 70s..ect.. but the domestics nehh junket auction for whatever someone or ones might pay+shipping.

[79westdon]

All good advice!

Only thing I would add in addition to the above is to use offers as well.

Offers tend to "work" for me, with better conversion rates than I would have expected. In my opinion, it's a very good tool and I hope to see more like it.

That said, I have had very minimal success sending out coupons. 

[maxine*j]

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@navyvetwatchseller wrote:

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

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There are no pros, for anyone -- not for sellers, buyers, or eBay.   There are only cons -- for sellers, buyers, and eBay.     

When you cancel an auction, eBay still collects its fees and then gives you a defect on your account;  enough of those defects, and you will be suspended permanently from eBay.   These strong dsincentives are because buyers hate being abused in this way, and those buyers  complain,  loudly and justifably, when they are.

If you have the idea that you can operate on eBay by luring people in with 99c opening bids and then cancelling the auctions if you don't get the action you want, think again.

P.S.  For the buyers' perspectives, check out the Buying forum.  Something like this gets posted there at least once a day:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Buying/Seller-cancelled-all-bids/m-p/32901437#M402318

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[d-k_treasures]

' ... stop using auctions - very passe ...'

Guess you never went into an online antique auction?

[anjofak]

And actually we have been auctioning for the past 3 years on sites with low followings like 20k and tend to 100% sold weekly,  junkets is all I would put on here, too many scam buyers and the fact that the site can and apparently dose  isolate your listings, im very surprised anyone would list something of value here.

[coolections]

@anjofak 

That would explain it then. Selling your good stuff elsewhere and putting the junk here will always cause lower sales.

[pjcdn2005]

When you cancel an auction, eBay still collects its fees and then gives you a defect on your account; enough of those defects, and you will be suspended permanently from eBay.

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Sellers may get a defect for cancelling a sale but the op ended an auction before it ended. It wasn't a sale yet so no defect.  But it is likely that they were still started fvf on the auction.

[anjofak]

Well if we priced by "recommended" that junk would be about 4k, and we donate/🔥 burn or disposal of junk years of comercial quality control and product grading gose into what we do and determine sellable. 

Well we sell out of a shop and auction through multiple venues, there has never been a month of sales here that trumped our dailies elsewhere. 

Just seems odd for a site claiming buyers are in the millions. 

[deltilogical]

Most of auctions' action is at the end - it takes a full week to get exposure and build up momentum - you don't know who was waiting to bid that item hard.   there is a gambling component to the auctions.  If I can't handle selling something at an opening bid, I either raise the opening or do a BIN. 

99 cent auctions can be successful strategies.