Ending Auctions Early

runscott

runscott

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Does anyone else feel like this has gotten a bit unreasonable on ebay for pool cues? I have bought and sold sports antiques for years, and in thousands of transactions over the last seven years, haven't seen the total auction cancellations experienced in 6 months in the area of pool cues.

I'm not going to give an example here, because there are a plethora of them and I'm not interested in a personal flame war, but I won't be bidding again on any items put up by a seller who has cancelled my bid on a pool cue. Very aggravating. :mad:
 
If the seller states that auction may be cancelled due to local sale (and many which are canceled do state that), then I have no problem with it.

If it's canceled without disclaimer in the last 24 hours because the price doesn't appeal the seller on a no-reserve auction, then that's just cheesy.
 
Tap tap tap...I agree 110%.

Nothing aggrivates me more as of late than people yanking auctions.

Then we have the problem of deadbeat bidders...oye...fleabay is getting worse and worse.

Shorty
 
runscott said:
Does anyone else feel like this has gotten a bit unreasonable on ebay for pool cues? I have bought and sold sports antiques for years, and in thousands of transactions over the last seven years, haven't seen the total auction cancellations experienced in 6 months in the area of pool cues.

I'm not going to give an example here, because there are a plethora of them and I'm not interested in a personal flame war, but I won't be bidding again on any items put up by a seller who has cancelled my bid on a pool cue. Very aggravating. :mad:
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It is very frustrating as a buyer, I can also see it from a sellers perspective though. A seller has three options; have a shill bidder, pull the auction early, or lose a ton of money on a cue.
I don't condone shilling, or ending auctions early. But seeing a seller get scammed by low ballers, is just as bad IMO. I guess reserve auctions are probably best, but that puts a lot more money in ebay's pockets.
Ebay is not perfect, but where else can sellers reach so many buyers?

Tracy
 
I think it shouldnt be allowed.

I have several pet peeves.

I think if anyone has an auction and puts a reserve it is bullshit. I start all my auctions at my "reserve" and if someone bids on it, it goes. For example, if I have a cue that I need 400 before I sell, I start it at 400. This crap of starting it for 0.99 and have a reserve is crazy.

Secondly, I get tired of someone listing a cue HERE and not listing price. I always think they are ashamed of the cue. Damnit, I will always tell you what I want in dollars. Trades are usually welcomed. Obviously, I am trying to come out way ahead on a trade, verses cash. (Cash talks)

I am a huge fan of Scot Sherbine's Proficients Billiards. He has done stunning work for me every time, I mean every time. He has a no reserve cue for sale all the time. But he also has reserved cues for sale. Truly a waste of time. If you can't start them at the bottom dollar then dont list them. (I have told him this on the phone too, not flaming behind his back.)

Just my ramblings.

Ken
 
runscott said:
Does anyone else feel like this has gotten a bit unreasonable on ebay for pool cues? I have bought and sold sports antiques for years, and in thousands of transactions over the last seven years, haven't seen the total auction cancellations experienced in 6 months in the area of pool cues.

I'm not going to give an example here, because there are a plethora of them and I'm not interested in a personal flame war, but I won't be bidding again on any items put up by a seller who has canceled my bid on a pool cue. Very aggravating. :mad:
Click to expand...

I'm doing 3 things to counteract this myself if I see a cue I want.

- I make sure I put in a reasonable initial bid, to make sure that the seller is aware that I am serious about buying the cue.

- I contact the seller to see if they are negotiating behind the scenes.

- If I strike a deal with a seller, i ask them to change the auction to a buy-it-now, or end the auction early to accept the highest bid (mine).

What concerns me more than losing a cue is buying one that arrives in an unsatisfactory condition. I now look carefully at the return policy. So many cues, especially the old ones, are being sold by inexperienced people that it's a real crap shoot as to what's inside the box. I've had some real junk lately.

Chris
 
TATE said:
I'm doing 3 things to counteract this myself if I see a cue I want.

- I make sure I put in a reasonable initial bid, to make sure that the seller is aware that I am serious about buying the cue.

- I contact the seller to see if they are negotiating behind the scenes.

- If I strike a deal with a seller, i ask them to change the auction to a buy-it-now, or end the auction early to accept the highest bid (mine).

What concerns me more than losing a cue is buying one that arrives in an unsatisfactory condition. I now look carefully at the return policy. So many cues, especially the old ones, are being sold by inexperienced people that it's a real crap shoot as to what's inside the box. I've had some real junk lately.

Chris
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Those are all good ideas. I normally snipe, but in the most recent can'd auction I put a bid in just to let the seller know I was out there and interested. Unfortunately, the seller has no idea if my bid is 'reasonable' - they can only see the amount it took to put me in the lead.

I also like your other ideas, which add to the comfort level of sellers who simply don't know sh*t about how to sell.

Regarding crap cues in the mail, yes I've hit that a few times. Most recently I received an 11.20 mm shaft that was supposed to be 12.75. But I've always wanted to try snooker, so here's my opportunity.:)
 
Ken_4fun said:
I think if anyone has an auction and puts a reserve it is bullshit. I start all my auctions at my "reserve" and if someone bids on it, it goes. For example, if I have a cue that I need 400 before I sell, I start it at 400. This crap of starting it for 0.99 and have a reserve is crazy.

Ken
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I had two Joss cues for sale in my ebay store. One was 150 and the other I had 200 as "buy it now prices". Got a lot of looks but no one bought either.

I finally put them out on the open auction with both starting at .99 cents with no reserve. Got 141 out of the one that was listed for 150 and got 182 out the one I had for 200 buy it now.

I think starting the bidding low helps because people see an item with 2 or 3 bids they have a look at it and then if they put in a bid, it becomes a game/contest to some of them as they want to WIN.

I've done the low start with a reserve and get flooded with "what's your reserve?" mails.

I was always afraid I wouldn't get close to what I wanted if I didn't have a reserve, but I have found it always ends very close, if now over, what I would have set the reserve at.
 
RSB-Refugee said:
...seeing a seller get scammed by low ballers,
...but where else can sellers reach so many buyers?

Tracy
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How is it that a seller can get scammed by a fair bidding scenario?
If there is an ebay cue that a maker would charge $1000 to reproduce, that gets bid up to a winning bid of $x, what do you think the value of the ebay one is????
 
runscott said:
Those are all good ideas. I normally snipe, but in the most recent can'd auction I put a bid in just to let the seller know I was out there and interested. Unfortunately, the seller has no idea if my bid is 'reasonable' - they can only see the amount it took to put me in the lead.

I also like your other ideas, which add to the comfort level of sellers who simply don't know sh*t about how to sell.

Regarding crap cues in the mail, yes I've hit that a few times. Most recently I received an 11.20 mm shaft that was supposed to be 12.75. But I've always wanted to try snooker, so here's my opportunity.:)
Click to expand...

I think the seller of Diveney got scared .. since he was in $$$$ for the cue and the cue was getting any bid. I was waiting until last minute to "get in the action". He did email me to infer that he'd pull the auction if the bids didn't go up.

For me, no hard feelings ... although he should have put reserve auction on it if he had no intention of testing the open market. Open market auction sometimes go crazy at last 30 seconds due to snipers and etc ... I've seen a cue double or more in last 30 seconds. It's a bit of gamble for the seller.
 
Jazz said:
I think the seller of Diveney got scared .. since he was in $$$$ for the cue and the cue was getting any bid. I was waiting until last minute to "get in the action". He did email me to infer that he'd pull the auction if the bids didn't go up.

For me, no hard feelings ... although he should have put reserve auction on it if he had no intention of testing the open market. Open market auction sometimes go crazy at last 30 seconds due to snipers and etc ... I've seen a cue double or more in last 30 seconds. It's a bit of gamble for the seller.
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I forgot I had bid using my posting handle - for the most part I only sell using that handle. The seller of this cue cancelled his auction, re-listed, then cancelled again. You would think once would be enough. In any case, he didn't hang around long enough to find out if the auction process was going to work.

As a seller I have been stunned when high-dollar items went for peanuts, but I have also gotten very pleasant 'snipe' surprises. If you sell a lot, and know how to do it, a few losses are no big deal since it averages out. I think it's the folks who sell once in a blue moon who panic.
 
How about the auctions ended for 'error in listing'? At a minimum the high bidder at the time should have the option of buying the item at the current price with the error corrected or dropping out. As it is the seller rarely if ever relists those auctions.
 
On the occasion that I put a cue up on Ebay I have used "Buy it Now" along with the "Submit Best Offer" option. I set the "Buy it Now" at a fair price, and also entertain the offers submitted by potential buyers through "Sbmit Best Offer". It seems to have worked very well for me and the buyers. I have also bought items with the best offer option. It is a way to "negotiate" with the seller in an Ebay setting. I submitted 4 offers on one item before the seller accepted.
 
I usually like to start my auctions with a bid which is below what I would want to accept for the cue, but enough to stop the $.99 bids, etc. and move on to more serious bidders. I will offer a low price cue (under $200 or so) at no reserve/no initial bid and let it go for whatever it brings. I actually had one custom cue maker with whom I had done a lot of business with call me and ask me why I was asking so little for his cue...he felt it would undermine his values. This cue had been slow to move and I was willing to accept less, but as I explained to him, the initial bid was not what I expected the cue to go for (something like $499 for a cue that should sell fairly easily for $900 or so....cue wound up going for over $800). An auction is a gamble, something I feel that pool players should not have a real issue with. Just set the entry bid at a level you could live with if nothing happened, and let it go...usually the market will work things out.
 
Just another thought to throw in here...

I have put up reserve auctions where I actually listed the reserve in the auction itself. And most of the time I have sold the item regardless...shrug

Shorty
 
An Ebay auction is a two way street which requires both potential buyers and sellers to act in a transparent manner in order to work properly.

What frequently happens is that potential buyers wait until the end to place bids in the hopes of sniping a cue at a steal of a price. If they had simply made their intentions apparent and placed bids as the system expects, the auctions most likely would have run to completion.

It seems that the attitude here is the expectation that a seller should assume risk but that potential buyers should not. I do not agree with this simplistic attitude. So a seller is under an obligation to just give his away his cue when it doesn't bring a fair price or when potential buyers play games in an effort to gain at the seller's expense? I don't think so. A seller has the right to protect his investment.

One should not expect something for next to nothing. If a potential buyer wants a cue they should be ready to pay a fair price. If not, they have no cause for complaint.
 
One thing that might help would be if the seller could see the "max" bid the top bidder has imput into the auction.

As a couple of people have said, only the "leading" bid price at the time shows to the public AND to the seller.
 
ebay

If you really want a item contact the seller and say what you will give not what will you take! If you are a blood sucking slugg you will never do this. If you have a little class and are getting a satisfaction gaurenteed item you will not mind paying what is worth to you. This will save alot of belly acheing and cut down on the stealing you will never get a rock bottom money making cue like this but you will get what you want. Also expect to pay ebay Mr.seller because they moniter messages and charge accordingly.Why continue a auction when you can get imediate satisfaction also someone sees the cue that knows you from a previous transactoin and calls this happens more and more because of the nature of people that like cues we should all know each other before long with the help of the monster called internet and good reputations go almost far as bad ones ha ha ha .So watch what you let other people step in.
NIKi
 
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Jeff said:
One thing that might help would be if the seller could see the "max" bid the top bidder has imput into the auction.

As a couple of people have said, only the "leading" bid price at the time shows to the public AND to the seller.
Click to expand...

If the seller could see the max bid, they could easily get people to shill bid to just under that amount.
 
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