Evilbay just got more evil.

prowla

So, to clarify, the seller signed up to ebay and agreed to the T&Cs.
The buyer signed up to ebay and agreed with their T&Cs.
The seller offered an item on ebay.
The buyer saw the item on ebay and not somewhere else.
The buyer contacted the seller and tried to do a private deal.
The seller refused and said they were sticking with ebay.
I'm not sure what ebay and the seller have done wrong?

Johnnyseven

I don't see the problem here, you say you offered more than he will get in the auction so just ride it out and get it for a cheaper price. You also say you saw it advertised on eBay, therefore they should get their cut. It seems the only issue is your impatience. If I was a seller with a bid and a load of interested people i'd be inclined to let the auction run too.

professorben

Trotter said:

Had a similar scenario years ago but it worked out in my favour: Made an off ebay offer for a car, the vendor decided to let the auction run instead. I then ended up winning the auction for £500 less than I had offered him outside of Ebay.. He was pretty pissed when I came to pick it up..

I did that once, selling a freezer, guy offered me £50 cash, I thought I could get closer to £100, auction ran, loads of watchers, it sold to the first guy for £0.99p.......
he paid my via PayPal too!!!!

lesson learnt.

Sassafras

Those bastards! Who do they think they are?
Offering a service AND expecting to be paid for it!
Talk about having your cake and eating it too, outrageous behaviour!!!

guitarfishbay

Not sure this fits the definition of evil.

Have you considered using an estate agent to sell a house, then cutting them out when they've found you a buyer? 

Rebar

I'll admit that I was impatient. I also completely understand that Ebay are offering a service and that they should be paid SOMETHING for it. I suppose my problem is that, once they've taken a bid, sellers seem to be so scared of losing their 100% feedback score and being hit with a fine, that they feel 'locked in' and can't remove the item from sale. At least, that's what came across to me from the guy I met yesterday. So, you can't advertise it elsewhere or sell it to your best mate?

Ultimately, I think Ebay's approach is over the top and restricts sellers to selling their item with ONLY them. 

In comparing an online listing with, say, Christies, I think a firm like Christies would be due their fees for their research, appraisals, advertising, etc, which requires a lot more work than what Ebay offer. I think a £10 penalty would not be unreasonable, but £50 on a £500 guitar?

Also, if you're comparing my situation with selling a house, has anyone seen a house listed with two separate estate agents? I know I have. But, in an Ebay-centric universe, that wouldn't be allowed. 

Finally, I have decided to keep an eye on the listing and plan to offer no more than what I did for cash yesterday. If I get it, I get it. If I don't, I'll chalk this down to a learning experience. Its only an original '59 Les Paul after all 

midlifecrisis

i dont sell on ebay anymore but when i use to it would really piss me off when some pushy guy almost demanded that i stop the auction now and let him buy it for what he told me was the best price id get. i never did and always got more when i let the auction run. if the OP wanted to buy it at that stage he should have been upfront with the seller before going there.

ThorpyFX

Neil said:

ThorpyFX said:

You see he should have just raised the price of the guitar to £10k, Sold it to you anyway and waited for the listed to die a natural death.....

You can't alter a listing once a bid has been placed.

Also what some people seem to forget about in their unseemly haste to cut out the ebay fees is the people who have bid in good faith for the item.

Screw them as well I suppose? 

I meant on a fixed price buy it now auction 

DefaultM

Neil said:

DefaultM said:

You're listing on eBay because you want money for something. If someone makes an acceptable offer and I can do the deal today then the last thing on my mind would be someone who's bid already being disappointed. They've probably only bid £67.03 for your custom shop strat anyway if it's in the early stages.

Well you've made your position (and your ethics) abundantly clear. 

I've gone 12 years selling guitars and gear without a single complaint. 

I'm not really sure how it's bad ethics to go with a genuine cash buyer rather than someone who's made a virtual bid on a website that they might not even stick to.
Someone obviously wanted it enough to make an offer and meet up with me, so I'm not going going to chance it going for a lower price and then I post and get scammed.

I only list guitars as buy it now collection only, but if I'd put a guitar on an auction 99p start with 10 days to go and someone offers me the price I want, I'm under absolutely no obligation to let that auction run. There's a cancel button provided by ebay and I use it. 

Neil

DefaultM said:

Neil said:

DefaultM said:

You're listing on eBay because you want money for something. If someone makes an acceptable offer and I can do the deal today then the last thing on my mind would be someone who's bid already being disappointed. They've probably only bid £67.03 for your custom shop strat anyway if it's in the early stages.

Well you've made your position (and your ethics) abundantly clear. 

I've gone 12 years selling guitars and gear without a single complaint. 

I'm not really sure how it's bad ethics to go with a genuine cash buyer rather than someone who's made a virtual bid on a website that they might not even stick to. 

That's where we differ, probably best to leave it at that.

Neil

ThorpyFX said:

Neil said:

ThorpyFX said:

You see he should have just raised the price of the guitar to £10k, Sold it to you anyway and waited for the listed to die a natural death.....

You can't alter a listing once a bid has been placed.

Also what some people seem to forget about in their unseemly haste to cut out the ebay fees is the people who have bid in good faith for the item.

Screw them as well I suppose? 

I meant on a fixed price buy it now auction 

There is no such thing as a Buy it now Auction. 

It's either BIN or an auction.

If it's a BIN you can stop the sale at any time, no problem.

If it is an auction and you have bids you are honour bound to let it run.

Choose which suits you best. 

bingefeller

Well, you use their services, you should pay their fees!

DefaultM

Neil said:

DefaultM said:

Neil said:

DefaultM said:

You're listing on eBay because you want money for something. If someone makes an acceptable offer and I can do the deal today then the last thing on my mind would be someone who's bid already being disappointed. They've probably only bid £67.03 for your custom shop strat anyway if it's in the early stages.

Well you've made your position (and your ethics) abundantly clear. 

I've gone 12 years selling guitars and gear without a single complaint. 

I'm not really sure how it's bad ethics to go with a genuine cash buyer rather than someone who's made a virtual bid on a website that they might not even stick to. 

That's where we differ, probably best to leave it at that.

Yeah, fair enough.

On an unrelated note, my new book 'How To Be Unethical' is available now on ebay.
Its up at £14.99, but if you message me on here I'll do it you for £13.99 and take the listing down.

BloodEagle

I've got a few copies of my magnum opus 'How to be Sanctimonious and Love it' available also

Strangefan

DefaultM said:

Neil said:

DefaultM said:

Neil said:

DefaultM said:

You're listing on eBay because you want money for something. If someone makes an acceptable offer and I can do the deal today then the last thing on my mind would be someone who's bid already being disappointed. They've probably only bid £67.03 for your custom shop strat anyway if it's in the early stages.

Well you've made your position (and your ethics) abundantly clear. 

I've gone 12 years selling guitars and gear without a single complaint. 

I'm not really sure how it's bad ethics to go with a genuine cash buyer rather than someone who's made a virtual bid on a website that they might not even stick to. 

That's where we differ, probably best to leave it at that.

Yeah, fair enough.

On an unrelated note, my new book 'How To Be Unethical' is available now on ebay.
Its up at £14.99, but if you message me on here I'll do it you for £13.99 and take the listing down.





It's no where near as good as Neil's book "the art of Pomposity"  which is only available on eBay... Whether you like it or not.

bacchanalian

In fourteen years on eBay I have had many good deals, sales and purchases, for all sorts of things.  I still would buy from eBay, especially for things that are just not available elsewhere, like US made items that do not have an official UK distributor.  I have sold a few expensive items but have decided that about £100 is as much as I am willing to risk on selling now. eBay would be a last resort for gear but once I list it, I let the auction run. Because of eBay's draconian rules on off site deals it is not worth the hassle of risking a ban.  So from that point of view I have some sympathy with the seller in the OP.

As for fees, eBay's are so high it is a deterrent but they should be able to charge for the service.
I am guessing their view would be like an insurance company, saying that all the customers willing to pay the fees are subsidising the ones who do not.  

bingefeller

BloodEagle said:

I've got a few copies of my magnum opus 'How to be Sanctimonious and Love it' available also

You should stick it on eBay.

Neil

DefaultM said:

Neil said:

DefaultM said:

Neil said:

DefaultM said:

You're listing on eBay because you want money for something. If someone makes an acceptable offer and I can do the deal today then the last thing on my mind would be someone who's bid already being disappointed. They've probably only bid £67.03 for your custom shop strat anyway if it's in the early stages.

Well you've made your position (and your ethics) abundantly clear. 

I've gone 12 years selling guitars and gear without a single complaint. 

I'm not really sure how it's bad ethics to go with a genuine cash buyer rather than someone who's made a virtual bid on a website that they might not even stick to. 

That's where we differ, probably best to leave it at that.

Yeah, fair enough.

On an unrelated note, my new book 'How To Be Unethical' is available now on ebay.
Its up at £14.99, but if you message me on here I'll do it you for £13.99 and take the listing down.

Genuine LOL Awarded.

Quality! 

impmann

Thing is when it comes to eBay the "genuine bidders " tend to fucking chancers bidding 50p for a £100 item who then won't pay up at the end of the auction.
ebay have forgotten (or won't recognise) that as the item is YOURS TO DO WHAT THE HELL YOU LIKE WITH you are entitled to sell it via many different mediums. Therefore if you sell it outside of eBay you are exercising your right to do so. It's nothing to do with 'ethics'. 
Ebay used to charge a listing fee that was non-negotiable whether it sold or not - like a real auction house. If they went back to that model there could be no argument about using their site for "free advertising".
Although just to rejoin the real world for a moment... the banner ads, sale of your data (not personal data, just top level habits) etc will earn them far more than the majority of small item sales... and it's not like their profits are down is it? ;-) 

midlifecrisis

i dont list on ebay anymore, i dint mind the fees, id be prepared to pay a listing fee whether it sold or not but i wont be forced into accepting paypal