addition to TOS, will buyers understand it?

[keziak]

Lately I have been ending auctions and selling to the first bidder. (Yes, I understant I may miss out on bidding up, that has occured to me, thanks).

I am thinking of adding language to some auctions like this "I may end this auction to sell to the first bidder". Would people understand this? And maybe get motivated to go ahead and bid?

[kensgiftshop]

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@keziak wrote:

Lately I have been ending auctions and selling to the first bidder.

If you are closing the auctions as soon as you get a bidder, do away with auctions and list as buy it now.

[fern*wood]

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@kensgiftshop wrote:

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@keziak wrote:

Lately I have been ending auctions and selling to the first bidder.

If you are closing the auctions as soon as you get a bidder, do away with auctions and list as buy it now.

---

I do it because I run out of fixed priced listings and I'm too cheap to pay for more.  I would be more than happy to avoid auctions if that wasn't how the store allocates the no cost listings.

[moo*cow*corner]

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@fern*wood wrote:

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@kensgiftshop wrote:

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@keziak wrote:

Lately I have been ending auctions and selling to the first bidder.

If you are closing the auctions as soon as you get a bidder, do away with auctions and list as buy it now.

---

I do it because I run out of fixed priced listings and I'm too cheap to pay for more.  I would be more than happy to avoid auctions if that wasn't how the store allocates the no cost listings.

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That makes perefect sense to me. I rarely run auctions, and it's even rarer that I use all of my store fixed price listings. But if I did, I don't see any problems.

Best Offers and auctions can close at any time at the discretion of the seller. Heck, even fixed price listings can be ended with a couple of clicks. Nothing on ebay is guaranteed to be available for the duration shown on the listing.

It's clearly within the rules as they are right now. If ebay doesn't like it, they will simply change the rules. Until then, to me it's a valid sales strategy.

[ohnojoey]

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@keziak wrote:

Lately I have been ending auctions and selling to the first bidder. (Yes, I understant I may miss out on bidding up, that has occured to me, thanks).

I am thinking of adding language to some auctions like this "I may end this auction to sell to the first bidder". Would people understand this? And maybe get motivated to go ahead and bid?

---

I understand your strategy, but usually I bid more towards the end of an auction, so you would actually lose profits, and I would be annoyed if I I came back and the auction was ended before it's time. I would likely avoid you as a seller after that.  You then would seem to lack integrity and loyalty for potential buyers/bidders because you are manipulating the auction for your own benefit.

Yes, ebay allows you to stop the auction early to sell to the bidder;

"You can end your auction early if;

There are bids on your item, and you are willing to sell your item to the current highest bidder"

But ebay also says on the same page;

"Ending listings early disappoints bidders, so we may place limits and restrictions on your account if you are doing so regularly."
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/cancelling-listing?id=4146

My understanding is that once you get on ebay's radar, they do restrict and limit your selling; you may be asking for trouble.

[keziak]

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@sidemouse wrote:

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@keziak wrote:

Lately I have been ending auctions and selling to the first bidder. (Yes, I understant I may miss out on bidding up, that has occured to me, thanks).

I am thinking of adding language to some auctions like this "I may end this auction to sell to the first bidder". Would people understand this? And maybe get motivated to go ahead and bid?

---

So you plan on winning by losing, that should turn out really interesting, please keep us posted.

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Today's stats are 100% up from last month, due to pushing book lot auctions which I have occasionally ended for a bidder.

[keziak]

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@jason_incognito wrote:

I think as a potential buyer I'd think it was all too much hassle to try and understand just how this seller intends to do things.

Let's say you add that verbage to your listing.

What happens when a person bids, expecting it to be a buy it now and they win, then someone else comes along and bids? You already have #1 thinking it's theirs for the opening price. What if that person then outbids the scond bidder and your $10 item is now $35? Will you end it and sell to the first bidder for the opening price?

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That is a good point and valuable to me in thinking about the TOS language.

[keziak]

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@moo*cow*corner wrote:

Why not turn the statement around to make it a positive commitment? That would let other shoppers know to either make a move on the item or simply move on...can't complain if it's right there in the description for all to see.

Something like, "I AM willing to end this auction early and sell to the first bidder. If you are interested in buying this widget at the opening price immediately, let me know and I'll make it happen for you!"

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That is pretty much what I meant but didn't express myself well.

[keziak]

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@kensgiftshop wrote:

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@keziak wrote:

Lately I have been ending auctions and selling to the first bidder.

If you are closing the auctions as soon as you get a bidder, do away with auctions and list as buy it now.

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I did explain that I run auctions for a reason. I run hundreds of FP listings and am aware of that option.

[keziak]

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@ohnojoey wrote:

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@keziak wrote:

Lately I have been ending auctions and selling to the first bidder. (Yes, I understant I may miss out on bidding up, that has occured to me, thanks).

I am thinking of adding language to some auctions like this "I may end this auction to sell to the first bidder". Would people understand this? And maybe get motivated to go ahead and bid?

---

I understand your strategy, but usually I bid more towards the end of an auction, so you would actually lose profits, and I would be annoyed if I I came back and the auction was ended before it's time. I would likely avoid you as a seller after that.  You then would seem to lack integrity and loyalty for potential buyers/bidders because you are manipulating the auction for your own benefit.

Yes, ebay allows you to stop the auction early to sell to the bidder;

"You can end your auction early if;

There are bids on your item, and you are willing to sell your item to the current highest bidder"

But ebay also says on the same page;

"Ending listings early disappoints bidders, so we may place limits and restrictions on your account if you are doing so regularly."
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/cancelling-listing?id=4146

My understanding is that once you get on ebay's radar, they do restrict and limit your selling; you may be asking for trouble.

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I did miss that, thanks. It seems odd for ebay to warn about using a feature they explicitly support on the page for ending a listing.

[fern*wood]

I didn't read that as meaning the restrictions apply to ending and selling to the highest bidder.   I read it as ending auctions.   Maybe a rep could clarify this.

If so, then the seller by the lake should have been banned a long time ago.

[moo*cow*corner]

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@ohnojoey wrote:

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@keziak wrote:

Lately I have been ending auctions and selling to the first bidder. (Yes, I understant I may miss out on bidding up, that has occured to me, thanks).

I am thinking of adding language to some auctions like this "I may end this auction to sell to the first bidder". Would people understand this? And maybe get motivated to go ahead and bid?

---

I understand your strategy, but usually I bid more towards the end of an auction, so you would actually lose profits, and I would be annoyed if I I came back and the auction was ended before it's time. I would likely avoid you as a seller after that.  You then would seem to lack integrity and loyalty for potential buyers/bidders because you are manipulating the auction for your own benefit.

Yes, ebay allows you to stop the auction early to sell to the bidder;

"You can end your auction early if;

There are bids on your item, and you are willing to sell your item to the current highest bidder"

But ebay also says on the same page;

"Ending listings early disappoints bidders, so we may place limits and restrictions on your account if you are doing so regularly."
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/cancelling-listing?id=4146

My understanding is that once you get on ebay's radar, they do restrict and limit your selling; you may be asking for trouble.

---

I was not aware of this. Thanks for posting it. I'd be interested to know what they mean by 'regularly'. Probably tied to registered complaints by people who never bid at all. Harrumph.

I don't see it as an integrity thing either. Especially if an offer to close early is right there in plain language.

I've been to auctions where I never got a chance to bid on the thingy I wanted. Either I missed it while looking at other things, or I just couldn't do the middle-aged mother bathroom dance any longer...lol. I try not to task hubby with bidding on things I REALLY want because he'll cheap out and always quits too soon...

[moo*cow*corner]

I think that blurb about disappointing bidders was originally meant for sellers who cancel all bids and end listings early because they aren't likely to get the price the seller wants. Then ebay upped the ante by penalizing sellers who do that too often with cancellation FVF's.

But then again, it's vaguely worded enough that it could possibly be used for this situation too, I think.

To me, the difference here is that ebay does get a FVF for a listing that's closed early to sell to current high bidder.

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

The reason the seller ends the listing early is irrelevent to most bidders. All they see is there was something they wanted to bid on and the seller took away the opportunity. Selling to a particular bidder by ending the listing is no different than ending the listing for any other reason. 

You make one bidder happy and the rest are annoyed. These kinds of games are why buyers are losing faith in Ebay. Why bid on or watch auctions if sellers are just going to pull them before the end? This is the kind of behavior that may drive good buyers away from the site.

[thatsallfolks]

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@keziak wrote:

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@ohnojoey wrote:

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@keziak wrote:

Lately I have been ending auctions and selling to the first bidder. (Yes, I understant I may miss out on bidding up, that has occured to me, thanks).

I am thinking of adding language to some auctions like this "I may end this auction to sell to the first bidder". Would people understand this? And maybe get motivated to go ahead and bid?

---

I understand your strategy, but usually I bid more towards the end of an auction, so you would actually lose profits, and I would be annoyed if I I came back and the auction was ended before it's time. I would likely avoid you as a seller after that.  You then would seem to lack integrity and loyalty for potential buyers/bidders because you are manipulating the auction for your own benefit.

Yes, ebay allows you to stop the auction early to sell to the bidder;

"You can end your auction early if;

There are bids on your item, and you are willing to sell your item to the current highest bidder"

But ebay also says on the same page;

"Ending listings early disappoints bidders, so we may place limits and restrictions on your account if you are doing so regularly."
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/cancelling-listing?id=4146

My understanding is that once you get on ebay's radar, they do restrict and limit your selling; you may be asking for trouble.

---

I did miss that, thanks. It seems odd for ebay to warn about using a feature they explicitly support on the page for ending a listing.

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That "ending listings early" warning is in the section about CANCELING an auction, i.e. canceling bids and ending it without a winner. That doesn't apply here. eBay is perfectly happy to have you end a listing early to sell to the leading bidder.

[a_c_green]

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@keziak wrote: 
I did miss that, thanks. It seems odd for ebay to warn about using a feature they explicitly support on the page for ending a listing.

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Well, I wouldn't say that "explicitly supporting" the process means that they're encouraging it, just acknowledging that sometimes it needs to occur.

Getting back to your original idea: your promise to yank the auction as soon as someone bids on it is simply a BuyItNow in a different package. Yes, maybe your Fixed Price listings were going stale over time, but your new strategy would seem to appeal only to potential buyers who were actually on the fence about maybe kinda sorta buying your book at Fixed Price but needed time to think about it. Everyone else looked at the book, looked at the price and moved on. 

So for those few who were genuinely undecided, your one-and-done auction might have some appeal. But let's be optimistic here and say that your item has more than just one interested customer. As soon as that first bid becomes visible in the auction, any and all other potential buyers are suddenly going to get real concerned... because if they don't put in a higher bid, that item is going to be gone to someone else soon. That first bid has a great chance to prod one or more others into action. It makes no sense to snatch the rug out from under them prematurely, especially if they're snipers who will make a note to swoop in at the end with a Hail Mary bid, and not before.

If you get a bid, let it ride. What's the rush in collecting that bid now vs. waiting just 7 days to see if it's going to go higher? If it doesn't go higher, then you still have that sale. If it does go higher, then the sky's the limit.