I wanted this lot and he took down the auction

[Bornagaincollector]

I had a max bid of 40.00 on and was the highest bidder at 31.00 today.He must have sold it off of ebay.It had the single,double,triple and the hr /100

[ebay:1sg24gbv]170626825203[/ebay:1sg24gbv]

 

[Pine Tar]

Nope I think the verdict is in and Bonds is found guilty so the sell saved him the embarrassment of not selling this.

I'm kidding maybe you should contact him and ask why he took it down.

 

[Guest]

This is happening more and more as sellers look to get around eBay fees. As someone who bids strong, I find this trend irritating to say the least. I can think of at least three noteworthy cards I was pursuing the past few months that were ended early, and each time I contacted the seller and found he took less than my snipe.

eBay is losing money on this. They should impose a penalty fee on listings that end early if they've been up for 4 hours or more.

 

[Bornagaincollector]

The only reason i was hoping to win is that i know a Bonds collector and he needs the hr card /100 and i could have traded it for a few Albert Belle rare inserts from the 90's.

 

[Musial Collector]

This is happening more and more as sellers look to get around eBay fees. As someone who bids strong, I find this trend irritating to say the least. I can think of at least three noteworthy cards I was pursuing the past few months that were ended early, and each time I contacted the seller and found he took less than my snipe.

eBay is losing money on this. They should impose a penalty fee on listings that end early if they've been up for 4 hours or more.

However, if the seller were to let the auction run its full course, if the second highest bidder isnt higher than the offer they took offline, your "he took less than my snipe" is a moot point. Plus they dont have to pay the 10%+ in ebay fees. Is it right to pull a running auction? Probably not the best business practice to keep customers coming back, but from a financial stand point, it just may be in their eyes.

 

[AndruwHRJones]

Sadly this happens a lot, so if I find something I really want, I don't hesitate to contact the seller and either make an offer or ask what it will take to end the auction early. Some instances you pay more than you would have at auction and sometimes you pay less. Either way, in my opinion, it beats having your bid cancelled and finding out the item is no longer for sale because someone else contacted the seller before you. I probably have added 20 or so items in the past year this way. I don't regret a single item I purchased this way and half of them I think I got better prices than if the auction ran its course. Just my 2 cents.

Definately contact the seller, maybe a potential buyer already backed out.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

This just reinforces the notion that ebay is like any other venue. Actually it seems more like a flea market sometimes.

Although its frustrating, sometimes sellers change the auction to a cheap BIN which is the same thing except ebay gets the extra fees.

Ending auctions early is bad for other buyers who budget their purchases, other sellers *and* for the ebay bottom line as it can limit the amount a buyer has available before the auction in question ends.

 

[AndruwHRJones]

Ending auctions early is bad for other buyers who budget their purchases, other sellers *and* for the ebay bottom line as it can limit the amount a buyer has available before the auction in question ends.

I agree 100%.

However, because this does happen, I don't take any chances on cards or items I really want. I personally would rather go the auction route, but it is not worth the risk to me that a seller will take the auction down. In many instances, you likely will not see a card or item again for years. To me, the extra money I may spend is worth the extra hassle of searching for said item in the future.

 

[morgoth]

Whats funny to me as a seller is that I typically only get offers to end an auction early is when I run auctions of prospects who are hot. If I run a PSA 8 Clemente RC with a 0.99 let it fly auction I won't get one offer but if I run a BC Gold Ref Auto of Castro I bet I would get 10 to 15.

 

[ryanscardz]

I've listed cards in the past and then noticed the quality of the card was worse than the description that I had placed. Instead of listing it "accurately" and scaring off the bidders, I opted to take off the listing and then sell it at a show, where people can see the exact condition in hand. I think there are several reasons why people cancel listings including but not limited to selling it off eBay. I say to each their own and hopefully the item you were searching for will come back around soon!!!!

 

[IndyManning18]

All people have to do is contact the seller about purchasing the card outright. To say that a seller should be penalized for ending an auction early is ridiculous. What if the seller thought about selling a PC card, listed it and then decided, after some thought, to keep the card? He should be penalized for that? Gimme a break.

 

[prospectorgems]

Sadly this happens a lot, so if I find something I really want, I don't hesitate to contact the seller and either make an offer or ask what it will take to end the auction early. Some instances you pay more than you would have at auction and sometimes you pay less. Either way, in my opinion, it beats having your bid cancelled and finding out the item is no longer for sale because someone else contacted the seller before you. I probably have added 20 or so items in the past year this way. I don't regret a single item I purchased this way and half of them I think I got better prices than if the auction ran its course. Just my 2 cents.

Definately contact the seller, maybe a potential buyer already backed out.

I agree even though I rarely make an offer. If if it something very scarce that I may never see again, I will contact the seller and ask that they contact me if they receive an offer or decide to end for whatever reason. While I realize the seller could make up a fake number to try to move the card at a higher price, sometimes it is worth the chance to send a message so at least you have yourself covered if they do end the auction early.

 

[Matsuicollector]

All people have to do is contact the seller about purchasing the card outright. To say that a seller should be penalized for ending an auction early is ridiculous. What if the seller thought about selling a PC card, listed it and then decided, after some thought, to keep the card? He should be penalized for that? Gimme a break.

I was interested in bidding on a couple cards that were ended early. I contacted the seller to see if he sold them but he just took them down because he was still thinking about keeping them. I'm definitely with you in the fact the the seller shouldn't be penalized for ending auctions early. After all it's his card and he can do whatever he wants with it. We as potential buyers have no right to dictate what happens to the card.

 

[jbrown]

I think a big reason why sellers pull their auction is everyone snipes now. Sometimes it is scary as a seller to see your auction sitting at $20 with 14 hours left knowing the last one sold for $200. The fear of losing your a$$ is too great to not pull the auction for someone making a reasonable offer. Oh, and the no fees thing too.

 

[Guest]

This is just more evidence that eBay sellers are a bunch of spineless weasals reminiscent of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. They should man up and let it ride $0.99 (no resereve) or they should stay home.

If you want to take an offer on a card, list it as a BIN/BO, list it on FCB or another side.

 

[beefycheddar]

This is just more evidence that eBay sellers are a bunch of spineless weasals reminiscent of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.

Bobby Heenan is damn near a genius and made a ton of money.

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

This is just more evidence that eBay sellers are a bunch of spineless weasals reminiscent of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. They should man up and let it ride $0.99 (no resereve) or they should stay home.

If you want to take a card, list it as a BIN/BO, list it on FCB or another side.

I also think the rare/high-end stuff should be an auction, I avoid crazy BINs altogether that take advantage of me/would make me pay higher than market value...and I generally know the market value for the things I buy. I avoid them even if it means I miss out on a card just to discourage the practice. Until others start doing this, little will change...but maybe the seller will get an uninformed customer...

But as you say, eBay really isn't the right tool for the most rare, high-end cards to begin with. These types of auctions should be around for a month if the seller doesn't think his best buyer would be around during a 7 or 10 day period.

As an aside, the "worst" are the sellers who buy a unique item for, say $25 on eBay, and try to sell it as a $100 BIN. These sellers drive up the cost of what I buy due to their investment activity - but without the seller's bid and my bid the item might have only sold for $10. So what's listed as a $100 BIN may only be worth $10 since I'm not bidding on it...talk about an investment bubble...

 

[maxpower]

This is just more evidence that eBay sellers are a bunch of spineless weasals reminiscent of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. They should man up and let it ride $0.99 (no resereve) or they should stay home.

If you want to take an offer on a card, list it as a BIN/BO, list it on FCB or another side.

I don't know that selling something with low minimum bid at auction has anything to do with being a 'manning up'.

I find that most of the time someone asks me to 'man up', they're just trying to convince me to do something stupid, but lack any persuasive justification.

 

[CollectorsCorner]

Evidence that everyone sniping is scaring auctions away.

 

[OscarOne]

For what it is worth: there was an auction that was just put up, and while not in the title, the description noted that Len Ford, the HOF Cleveland Brown from the 50's, had also signed the item. I found it since I have a saved search set up to include "Len Ford" in the title and description. I was so excited. Ford is just about the only player from those excellent Browns team that I don't have, and I would pay just about anything for a nice example. Tonight, for no reason, he pulled the auction. I know why...somebody I am sure made an offer...but it broke my heart. He sold it for 125....and I would of easily went for 300. It sucks. When I sell I never close early...it's just not fair to the people watching the item.

Anyway, long story short, that will be the last time I see a decent Ford on Ebay for the next few years. I learned my lesson.