Selling outside of Auction

[danny_bravo]

Can someone give me some advice please? I set up an auction that ended without a sale last week, and it automatically relisted. I was approached via eBay messaging by someone after it ended and agreed in principal on a sale. No money or details were swapped. However, the auction automatically relisted and I forgot to end it, with someone bidding and winning it. In principal I should honour the original offer outside the auction, but am I right that I should turn this down and honour the auction winner despite the original person being upset? Sorry, I don't use eBay very often so am not too clued up on this. 

[lakefor94]

If your item sold via auction format, the sale goes to the winning bidder and ship the item after they pay. 

[richard1rst]

First and foremost - when you say "outside of auction" do you mean he contacted you directly through your personal email, or did he send a message through eBay messages. And either way did he want to do he transaction directly with you without going through eBay.This is VERY important.

If you only have one and someone bought it through your auction you sell it to that seller ONLY. If you have 2 and you want to accommodate the other seller then you create a new listing and have him buy it that way.

Since the someone contacted you without buying it then you owe them nothing.

[hardrhymer76]

Canceling the order of a legitimate auction winner will put a mark on your selling account's record that probably won't age off for a year. Further, if the auction winner has paid, they're still free to leave feedback if you cancel and refund -- feedback which almost assuredly will be negative.

Just explain to the first prospective buyer that you made a mistake and your hands are tied. There was no formal transaction that you should feel obligated to.

[danny_bravo]

Hi Richard, thanks for your message. He approached me via eBay messaging and offered less than my auction amount outside of eBay, eg cash on collection . I suggested a higher amount which he agreed to but we didn't swap details or payment.

[danny_bravo]

Thank you, this confirms what I was thinking. I feel bad about it but it was a genuine mistake. 

[deltilogical]

I'm wondering why the listing relisted.  When I was a new seller Ebay would relist my auctions without added fee 4 times, and then without notice that helpful feature stopped.    That was an actual helpful thing Ebay did to help me as a seller.

My auctions now do not relist after the 7 days.

I can't find anything on the template for an autorelist but that doesn't mean it is not on there.

Ebay should be a simple thing: you list, they buy, you ship - I don' t know what you are selling but if something seems off, it probably is.  most sellers will tell you to avoid any off ebay deals especially as a new seller because there are people who make their living ripping off new sellers.  You lose any ebay protection if you do that.   

[danny_bravo]

Thank you, this person is rather annoyed and is bullish about reporting me about this but I think I'm doing the right thing here and honouring the auction winner and doing the process properly. Moral of the story for me I guess is definitely don't accept future offers via messaging! 

[hardrhymer76]

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@danny_bravo wrote:

...Moral of the story for me I guess is definitely don't accept future offers via messaging! 

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I wouldn't go that far. If a buyer and seller are corresponding via a link from an item's listing page, often there will be an option--in either direction--to send an official offer for the item. That is 100% okay and many sales are made that way.

What you should avoid are informal, verbal or "handshake" agreements and absolutely do not discuss making any deals outside of eBay.  Messages are often scanned by AI and if you're caught doing this the penalties can be harsh.

[richard1rst]

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@danny_bravo wrote:

Thank you, this person is rather annoyed and is bullish about reporting me about this but I think I'm doing the right thing here and honouring the auction winner and doing the process properly. Moral of the story for me I guess is definitely don't accept future offers via messaging! 

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@danny_bravo 

Actually YOU report HIM: You said " He approached me via eBay messaging and offered less than my auction amount outside of eBay". then you said "I suggested a higher amount which he agreed to ". Those are the most serious violations that you can make on eBay. If you had proceeded the probability is that BOTH of your accounts would have been severely restricted and maybe even closed.

NEVER EVER even TALK about a sale off of eBay.

I guess is definitely don't accept future offers via messaging! 

The ONLY offers you even consider are those that come through the legitimate eBay offer screen. Other than that your one and only answer is "Declined". No further explanation and no further contact. Then report them for trying to take a sale off of eBay. Yes, yes - nobody likes a stoolie BUT you must do it to protect your account in case eBay stumbles across the message.

Sorry to go on so long but THIS you must learn.

Even TALKING about taking a transactions off of eBay is the MOST serious violation of eBay policy and could get you shut down.

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[reallynicestamps]

When you get an offer after an auction closes, what you should do is

Go to the original listing.

Revise it.

Change FORMAT  to Fixed Price.

Change the title to the customer's eBay ID (or any other unSearchable term)

Change the price to the agreed amount

Change Shipping to Local Pickup.

Make the FP listing Immediate Payment Required.

And for this situation, the person who won the relisted auction is the winning bidder.

Have they paid?

Ship.

If they have not paid in 96 hours from the end of the auction, open a Dispute and end the transaction.

The guy with the late offer can't do much to force completion of the incomplete discussion, so ignore them after adding them to your Blocked Bidder List.

[danny_bravo]

Thank you Richard, I really appreciate your candour and this has been very enlightening and a steep learning curve. I have admittedly been rather naive about this and will now 100% go through the formal channels. 

[danny_bravo]

Super, thank you! That's great advice 😊 

[ryry-jj]

Let them report you, nothing will come of it since it is not a legitimate sale.  Only sell what you have listed.   I wont even create a special listing to meet someones needs.  Buyers have plenty of time to buy and bid.  More than likely they waited for it to end and then made an offer below what maybe you started at.  Said buyer even had the opportunity to rebid on the relisting, and they still didnt

[glorybells]

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@danny_bravo wrote:

Thank you, this person is rather annoyed and is bullish about reporting me about this but I think I'm doing the right thing here and honouring the auction winner and doing the process properly. Moral of the story for me I guess is definitely don't accept future offers via messaging! 

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What do they think they’re going to report you for?  Not doing an off eBay transaction?  Following eBay policies?  🤣🤣🤣