Receiving offer after auction has begun.

[1stzarkon]

I put several items on eBay to sell. I had starting price and also had "Buy it now" option. The items all received bids. I had 2 items that I was messaged about, asking if they could offer a price to me and I could stop the auction to accept that total. I told them both no, that in my understanding once the bidding started, the auction needed to continue. (Unless they did the "buy it now" which I think is still in play) The auction continued and items sold and have been sent. My question is, where can I find the policy that confirms my understanding so I can use it for backup? Thank you 😊 hope I didn't babble too much. 

[coastaltechsolution · Accepted solution]

Here is some info

https://www.ebay.in/pages/help/sell/end_early.html 

[nobody*s_perfect]

As noted in the page linked above, "Ending an auction-style listing early once it has received a bid can lead to disappointed and frustrated buyers who may be less likely to bid on listings the next time around. For this reason, we may charge a fee if you end a listing early." That page is from the support pacges for eBay India. The US Help pages were reformatted a couple of years ago, and were unnecessarily also rewritten and condensed, losing a lot of useful details such as those related to the penalty fee.

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

Remember that potential buyers all have their own best interests in mind, so clearly those early offerors expected to get the item for less that way. You did the right thing in not accepting those offers.  You could gently point out that they should just bid on the auction and might get it for less that way.  

The "Buy it now" option disappears when the first bid is placed, unless (1) there is an unmet reserve; or (2) the high bid showing is less than 50% of the BIN price, and the item is listed in one of these categories:

1. Parts & Accessories (eBay Motors)
2. Tickets
3. Clothing, Shoes & Accessories
4. Cell Phones & PDAs 

[donsdetour]

80 percent of the time if an auction is let run: will bring more than such offers.

You do not have to take them offers at all.

[1stzarkon]

Thank you! 🙂

[dhaga]

I have had several items go way above the original BIN price. Fun when it happens.

Ka Ching.

[zip-a-deedoodah]

Just me, but when I get messages asking me to cancel bids and accept an offer, I don’t respond, I just go into my settings and block them from bidding on any listings and from contacting me again.  If they can’t play by the rules then they can’t play in my sandbox.

[janet9988]

"I had 2 items that I was messaged about, asking if they could offer a price to me and I could stop the auction to accept that total."

Those messages sent from a buyer are not even a valid offer to begin with.

Just ignore them.