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rkr4cds Oct 17, 2010

Can anyone refresh my memory? I am remembering that it is a MAJOR No-No for a Seller to post an auction and then stop the auction early because they sell the item privately to a friend before the auction ends.

Does anyone else remember this as a policy that can get a Seller into problems with eBay?
This has happened twice in the last 2 weeks to my son, who is a newbie to eBay buying, and it's on a big ticket item - snow blowers (well, I think that when it's around $300+ - that's a big ticket!!)

He's thinking that it's just his bad luck or just because he's new to this market, but I think that this is not right at all and that these Sellers are in the wrong and should be reported. Anyone else know anything about this?

desertmountainbear Oct 17, 2010

Well I do know that one of the reasons to end an auction is that the item is no longer available.  That would cover what has happened to your son.

It looks very bad for the seller.  I responsible seller would not do this.

Joanne

KJ Lyons Oct 17, 2010

Bobbie,
Here's the rule : You can end an auction to sell it to the high bidder any time you want. But why would you want to? Let it run the full duration so last-minute snipers get a chance to play.

You can end an auction early and cancel all bids, provided it has more than 12 hours remaining. That would be selling an item off-eBay and is against the rules. You'll get your account suspended for doing that.

When someone asks you to end your auction early to sell an item for a certain price, you can be damn sure they're offering less than your widget is worth. Otherwise they would just go ahead and win the auction. I tell those people to go ahead and place a bid, and "Good luck!"
Karen:
IT is really bad to end an auction just because you don't think it will meet the price you wanted (that's what a reserve is made for). I think what they did is against ebay rules but the problem is proving what they did. I have heard of people researching and discovering that the seller has done this before and that would make a better case. WHo knows, maybe he can negotiate and see if he can still buy the item. Most sellers don't want to be investigated by ebay and it does sound like these sellers are violating policy.

rkr4cds Oct 18, 2010

That's what I thought, Karen. Thx, and to Joanne, too, but the reason they became 'No longer available' is because they were sold before the auctions ended - for cash to friends.
The latest sale was due to end today, as I still have Brian's bid listed in eSnipe, as wouldn't have closed for another half hour yet:

Ariens 1028 2-Stage Snow Thrower Blower    Cancel because closed    1604922563     $421.89    1    6sec    10/18/2010 08:20:53 PDT    Info

Its posted status has been changed since last night when it read Waiting To Bid and now reads Cancelled...

But last week Brian wrote to ask if he could start it up first before purchasing: he had established contact with both sellers when both auctions began. Brian wrote back and asked "What happened? I was ready to bid at the end."

And this second Seller actually wrote back yesterday to say that he sold it outright to a friend on Sat for cash. Outside of eBay.
Brian wasn't going to pursue it - - (it's early in the season yet and there're lots of other snowblowers for sale) but we're proud to say this young man's been on the straight-&-narrow for about 5 years and as this happened just a week after the first time, he was miffed enough (after I told him that the Sellers are not allowed to end them early after selling them outright for cash) that he
decided to write the Seller back and tell him that he's in the wrong and that he may be a Power Seller (thousand $ motors, $8,000 truck, etc, expensive power tools...)  but he 'could' be reported for this.....
So Brian does have him admitting it in print.