eBay back door dealing
- Thread starter Prometheus
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Prometheus":etf5wc85 said:to all others who have participated, thank you for your input. It seems that making offers outside of the auction is just the norm now and has simply become part if the way things are on eBay. Plus I just wanted a little check on my own moral compass
Dave.
.
According to the poll 2/3 of people either never or rarely do deals outside of ebay, so not really the norm yet, but i know what you mean
If I spot something that has been poorly advertised and is of enough interest to me I will make a sneaky BIN approach.
Sometimes it pays off other times it doesnt. I only do it with items I am prepared to collect and pay in person for.
In the past it netted me a 1993 Kona Explosif and a fairly lowly but odly beautiful light grey Zolatone Marin, in an unusually small frame size for the year. Which was also nicely kitted out with middleburn & ringle pieces.
Sometimes it pays off other times it doesnt. I only do it with items I am prepared to collect and pay in person for.
In the past it netted me a 1993 Kona Explosif and a fairly lowly but odly beautiful light grey Zolatone Marin, in an unusually small frame size for the year. Which was also nicely kitted out with middleburn & ringle pieces.
Rarely, if ever.
Whenever buyers have contacted me to end an auction early, it has always been after another person has already placed a bid. So I have always let it run to the end.
But I do hate the Muppets who put in a ridiculously low bid simply to remove the "Buy It Now" option and exclude other bidders. The "low-ballers" usually back out before the end anyway, and removing the BIN usually just forces up the final price for genuinely interested bidders.
Whenever buyers have contacted me to end an auction early, it has always been after another person has already placed a bid. So I have always let it run to the end.
But I do hate the Muppets who put in a ridiculously low bid simply to remove the "Buy It Now" option and exclude other bidders. The "low-ballers" usually back out before the end anyway, and removing the BIN usually just forces up the final price for genuinely interested bidders.
GearlessinSeattle
Senior Retro Guru
Okay, so I guess I need to chime in on this since it seems my post in another form has caused this debate.
When I started becoming involved/obsessed with the whole VRC thing 7-8 years ago, I quickly realized that I was just a small fish in a fairly large pond. I really did not become a participant till about 3 years ago when I started to follow the forms here and on VRC and started selling/buying parts. Maybe I was naïve or just did not pay much attention but it was not till last year that I realized to the extent people go to get what they want. And really, I am fine with that. It is a free country/world for the most part so if someone wants to end an auction early that is their decision. If someone wants to offer more than something is really worth just to have their dream bike/part then go for it. I guess what I was pissed off about at the moment I wrote my post was that it seemed that someone was bragging about pulling off the “back door deal”. Did I really want that part they got? Hell yes! Was I willing to spend more then what he bought it for? We will never know. So who lost out and who won. The seller got an offer that he thought was fair. Could he have gotten more? I would say yes. But then again, we will never know. The person who bought the part said they were willing to pay $430. I or someone else may have gone to $450. Did the seller get close to that? So……..
I want to apologize to the seller and the buyer. I did not mean to start a debate and did not mean to offend. I was just caught up in the moment and was just pissed off.
I will leave with this:
The worth of something is not what someone is willing to pay, but what someone is willing to accept.
Cheers,
Lawrence
When I started becoming involved/obsessed
with the whole VRC thing 7-8 years ago, I quickly realized that I was just a small fish in a fairly large pond. I really did not become a participant till about 3 years ago when I started to follow the forms here and on VRC and started selling/buying parts. Maybe I was naïve or just did not pay much attention but it was not till last year that I realized to the extent people go to get what they want. And really, I am fine with that. It is a free country/world for the most part so if someone wants to end an auction early that is their decision. If someone wants to offer more than something is really worth just to have their dream bike/part then go for it. I guess what I was pissed off about at the moment I wrote my post was that it seemed that someone was bragging about pulling off the “back door deal”. Did I really want that part they got? Hell yes! Was I willing to spend more then what he bought it for? We will never know. So who lost out and who won. The seller got an offer that he thought was fair. Could he have gotten more? I would say yes. But then again, we will never know. The person who bought the part said they were willing to pay $430. I or someone else may have gone to $450. Did the seller get close to that? So……..I want to apologize to the seller and the buyer. I did not mean to start a debate and did not mean to offend. I was just caught up in the moment and was just pissed off.
I will leave with this:
The worth of something is not what someone is willing to pay, but what someone is willing to accept.
Cheers,
Lawrence
This thread is............hmmmmm
I've sold a few things both on here and on eBay. Bit more on here as FVF's and Paypal fee's are starting to price themselves out of business.
99% of items that I list will now have a BIN or Best Offer listing. More often or not this is for items which I deem to be of higher value. The 'tat' I stick on for auction and let it ride.
When searching on eBay i now mostly search on 'newly listed' or 'completed' listings. Heads up for the latter because it's a really good way of getting bargains from a seller who has failed to sell his / her items. For 'newly listed' auctions on items that I really want and are hard to source, I will always ask the seller if he has a BIN price in mind. More often than not the Seller will decline and I bid. Sometimes the seller accepts and both parties are then happy as both have got what they want. Through 'messaging' the seller will edit his item to a BIN listing for a certain time and I click Buy It Now. If items have bids on then any such sales must be completed outside of eBay. This is something that is risky and I would not recommend especially if using Paypal gift. I don't do it. If one of my items has a bid then I will always let the auction run to be won by the highest bidder.
These are rules straight off ebay
"Ending a listing early for the following reasons is prohibited as it is considered fee avoidance:
*
Cancelling bids and ending a listing early because the reserve price hasn't been met to avoid reserve fees. See Reserve Price Policy.
*
Cancelling bids and ending a listing early in order to sell the item off-eBay. You should be aware that as well as avoiding fees, you risk fraud by selling items off the eBay website. If a member writes to you to ask you to sell away from the eBay website, please report them to us."
This is one of the biggest breaches on eBay and will probably mean a person (seller and buyer) at best gets their account temporarily suspended at worst closed. But in order to do so eBay needs evidence. If a seller ends an auction early but then re-list it almost immediately this is all the evidence you need. Obviously such other wheeling dealing can also be evidenced by other 'things' found on the Web
Personally if I was to win an item in such a way, knowing that other member(s) of an enthusiasts Forum I used were talking about it and stating their interest. I would NOT then post a message revelling in the fact that I beat everyone to it :evil: Sorry, it may be that I'm from a different culture i.e. British, but POOR SHOW.
Lesson - if you really want a part that's been listed STICK A BID ON
I've sold a few things both on here and on eBay. Bit more on here as FVF's and Paypal fee's are starting to price themselves out of business.
99% of items that I list will now have a BIN or Best Offer listing. More often or not this is for items which I deem to be of higher value. The 'tat' I stick on for auction and let it ride.
When searching on eBay i now mostly search on 'newly listed' or 'completed' listings. Heads up for the latter because it's a really good way of getting bargains from a seller who has failed to sell his / her items. For 'newly listed' auctions on items that I really want and are hard to source, I will always ask the seller if he has a BIN price in mind. More often than not the Seller will decline and I bid. Sometimes the seller accepts and both parties are then happy as both have got what they want. Through 'messaging' the seller will edit his item to a BIN listing for a certain time and I click Buy It Now. If items have bids on then any such sales must be completed outside of eBay. This is something that is risky and I would not recommend especially if using Paypal gift. I don't do it. If one of my items has a bid then I will always let the auction run to be won by the highest bidder.
These are rules straight off ebay
"Ending a listing early for the following reasons is prohibited as it is considered fee avoidance:
*
Cancelling bids and ending a listing early because the reserve price hasn't been met to avoid reserve fees. See Reserve Price Policy.
*
Cancelling bids and ending a listing early in order to sell the item off-eBay. You should be aware that as well as avoiding fees, you risk fraud by selling items off the eBay website. If a member writes to you to ask you to sell away from the eBay website, please report them to us."
This is one of the biggest breaches on eBay and will probably mean a person (seller and buyer) at best gets their account temporarily suspended at worst closed. But in order to do so eBay needs evidence. If a seller ends an auction early but then re-list it almost immediately this is all the evidence you need. Obviously such other wheeling dealing can also be evidenced by other 'things' found on the Web
Personally if I was to win an item in such a way, knowing that other member(s) of an enthusiasts Forum I used were talking about it and stating their interest. I would NOT then post a message revelling in the fact that I beat everyone to it :evil: Sorry, it may be that I'm from a different culture i.e. British
, but POOR SHOW.Lesson - if you really want a part that's been listed STICK A BID ON
Gadro":2koanx2g said:This thread is............hmmmmm
I've sold a few things both on here and on eBay. Bit more on here as FVF's and Paypal fee's are starting to price themselves out of business.
99% of items that I list will now have a BIN or Best Offer listing. More often or not this is for items which I deem to be of higher value. The 'tat' I stick on for auction and let it ride.
When searching on eBay i now mostly search on 'newly listed' or 'completed' listings. Heads up for the latter because it's a really good way of getting bargains from a seller who has failed to sell his / her items. For 'newly listed' auctions on items that I really want and are hard to source, I will always ask the seller if he has a BIN price in mind. More often than not the Seller will decline and I bid. Sometimes the seller accepts and both parties are then happy as both have got what they want. Through 'messaging' the seller will edit his item to a BIN listing for a certain time and I click Buy It Now. If items have bids on then any such sales must be completed outside of eBay. This is something that is risky and I would not recommend especially if using Paypal gift. I don't do it. If one of my items has a bid then I will always let the auction run to be won by the highest bidder.
These are rules straight off ebay
"Ending a listing early for the following reasons is prohibited as it is considered fee avoidance:
*
Cancelling bids and ending a listing early because the reserve price hasn't been met to avoid reserve fees. See Reserve Price Policy.
*
Cancelling bids and ending a listing early in order to sell the item off-eBay. You should be aware that as well as avoiding fees, you risk fraud by selling items off the eBay website. If a member writes to you to ask you to sell away from the eBay website, please report them to us."
This is one of the biggest breaches on eBay and will probably mean a person (seller and buyer) at best gets their account temporarily suspended at worst closed. But in order to do so eBay needs evidence. If a seller ends an auction early but then re-list it almost immediately this is all the evidence you need. Obviously such other wheeling dealing can also be evidenced by other 'things' found on the Web
Personally if I was to win an item in such a way, knowing that other member(s) of an enthusiasts Forum I used were talking about it and stating their interest. I would NOT then post a message revelling in the fact that I beat everyone to it :evil: Sorry, it may be that I'm from a different culture i.e. British
Lesson - if you really want a part that's been listed STICK A BID ON
You are quoting "rules" written by a company that has written those rules for the main purpose of making more money for the company. They lose money when buyers and sellers sell direct. They make money when transactions run through their system. It's very simple and so their rules will always be very biased in favor of feeding the profit system, and their PR strategy is to shrouded them in an often artificial veil of "we protect the customer" spin. To argue that they always have the best interests of the customer in mind is a silly are argument; they are a public company and are all about making profits. Ebay is no different than any other sales environment; a bird in the hand is always better than two in the bush. Just cause you bid doesn't mean your guaranteed to own something.
I now always contact if it's something I want. Just a quick email to say that I really like the item, I will bid on it but not until the end of the auction and that if they are going to sell it off eBay please contact me so I can make an offer.
Basically it's not a game I really want to play, but if that's how they're gonna make it go...
Basically it's not a game I really want to play, but if that's how they're gonna make it go...
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