[meteorite-list] ebay question]

From: John Gwilliam <jkgdiver_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:47:10 2004
Message-ID: <4.2.0.58.20011110084211.009882d0_at_pop.primenet.com>

At 11:07 PM 11/9/01 -0800, Michael Blood wrote:
>Rob and Colleen wrote:
> > Looks like he canned the auction 18
> > seconds before it was over, probably didn't like the price considering
> > that very piece was recently bought on eBay from Ivan (finmet) for
> > $345.......... The error with this guy was not putting up a
> > reserve. Now he relisted it with no reserve again and a "buy it now"
> > that will disappear as soon as the first person bids $9.99 effectively
> > making the same mistake twice. He does have a nice Chinga though.
> > Rob Wesel
> --------------
>Roman wrote:
> > User "libertyforall" was selling a 1500g Chinga.
> > At 45 minutes to go, he had 10 bidders, it started at $9.99
> > with no reserve, then at $176.91
> > When I looked back after the auction ended,
> > I was confused to see that the auction had been re-listed
> > with a "go to item now" link. Now starting at $9.99 with
> > a buy it now for $425.00
> > What did I miss? Didn't he get the bids he wished, and ended
> > prematurely?
> > Roman Jirasek
>_______________________________________________
>Hi Rob, Roman and all,
> I didn't know it was even POSSIBLE to "pull" a piece off eBay
>under ANY circumstances (HOW does one do that???) Isn't that
>TOTALLY against eBay rules? It is certainly against auction rules,
>which, I believe, are LEGALLY BINDING "contract" laws regarding
>auctions. I would expect an auctioneer to be liable to be arrested
>ON THE SPOT and taken to jail if he pulled that crap! If there is
>no minimum and no reserve, the FIRST BID ON has legal claim
>to that item! An auction IS a contractual agreement to sell!
> WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?
> Sincerely,
> Michael Blood (knows his stuff re auctions - but, obviously,
>doesn't know didly about how screwed up eBay may be!)
>
Michael and All,
Ebay does allow auctions to be closed early. There are, however,
restrictions involved. If any of you would like to see the rules
associated with ending an auction early, go to Ebay's "Site Map" and find
the link "Ending your listing early".

It looks to me like the seller of the Chinga has found a way to sell on
Ebay without taking any risk of loosing money. All he has to do is cancel
his auction (which requires canceling all bids first) if he doesn't get the
price he wants.

This feature is available with restrictions. You have to give Ebay a
reason for the early closure. My guess is that if a few people complained
to Ebay's "Safe Harbor" they would put this seller on a watch list. If
they allow this practice to continue, it won't be long before all
disreputable sellers will be using the same tactic. In my opinion, what
this seller did is wrong.....he's manipulating the auction service so he
doesn't have to take any risk.

Cheers,

John Gwilliam







>--
>Be more or less specific.
>--
>Worth Seeing (Earth at night from satalite):
>http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/0011/earthlights_dmsp_big.jpg
>--
>Michael Blood Meteorites for sale at:
>http://www.meteorite.com/Michael_Blood/catalog.htm
>
>Show your support at the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund -
>http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/ts/my-pay-page/PKAXFNQH7EKCX/058-5084202-7
>156648
>_______________________________________________
>Meteorite-list mailing list
>Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
>http://www.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list

John Gwilliam Meteorites
PO Box 26854
Tempe AZ 85285
http://www.meteoriteimpact.com
Received on Sat 10 Nov 2001 10:55:50 AM PST