eBay Seller questions

[bszopi]

Ok, this is for those of you who are sellers on eBay. My parents just listed our 1966 Malibu show car. We listed it a few months back, but it never got up to the reserve. They decided to try again. Anyway, they have gotten a couple questions from people about just buying the car. So here is the questions:

From my understanding, a seller can end an auction early if either no one has bid or the auction hasn't gotten to the reserve point. Is this correct? Or are there different terms for ending auctions. I have seen some listings that state that the item (usually a car) is also for sale locally and the seller reserves the right to end the auction early if the item sells locally. Are there any other rules that need to be followed when it comes to selling a vehicle?

Any info would be greatly appreciated. This is just my parents second experience with eBay, and all I've ever done is buy stuff. They just don't want to do anything wrong, and I really don't blame them.

Thanks for any help!!

[pepsi_coke]

Even if someone bids, you can close out their bids (retract bids) and end the auction.
This is right off eBay ..

Reasons for ending listings early include:
-The item is no longer available for sale.
-There was an error in the starting price or reserve amount.
-There was an error in the listing.
-The item was lost or broken.
To end your listing early, follow these steps:
1) Type your item number into the Ending Your Listing Early form. (You can get this number on your listing, on your confirmation email, or on your My eBay page.)
2) If there are bids on your item, choose between:
Cancel bids and end listing early
or
Sell item to high bidder(s) and end listing early
If your item has no bids, you'll skip this step.
3) Choose the reason you're ending your listing early.
4) Now your listing will end and will no longer be displayed on eBay. If there were bidders, they will be emailed that their bid was canceled and the listing ended early.

Also, lot of people usually ask for a deposit within "x" hours after auction end.

Good luck selling it. Muscle car prices have sky rocketed.
Lemme know if there something else ..

[GPXSS]

If you think you'll sell it locally, just say so in the auction. What Ebay does not want you to do, is end the auction 10 minutes before close because you didnt meet reserve. That is basically dodging the listing fee's and they consider that a big no-no.

[bszopi]

The biggest thing they are wondering is not the selling it locally, but people seeing it on ebay and trying to buy it outside of ebay. Is that considered a big no-no? Here is basically the exact thing that is happening:

Here is the item's listing: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMEWA%3AIT

Someone browsing ebay seeing the listing and is interested in buying it. So they email the seller and ask them how much they are willing to sell the item for directly. IOW, bypassing ebay entirely, even though they saw the listing on ebay.

I figured since there are currently no bids at all, but someone is interested, then they should be able to tell the person "We will sell it for $XXX". If the person says ok, then cancel the auction and sell it. Otherwise, keep the auction going and see how it pans out.

Make sense?

[firechiken]

I don't understand why the buyer would want to by-pass eBay. I doesn't cost him anything to buy. If you do go this route, though, make sure you get all the cash up-front, or make sure the check clears before you do title transfers and such. The only benefit I see is this guy wants to rip you off. If you go through eBay, they can get you an address, phone number, etc. to reach this guy, and since it is a high priced item, they will be more willing to help you go after him. If it were me, I would stick to eBay. And anyway, you have a bid now.

Really nice looking ride!