I'm fairly certain that you can have an auction where 'Buy It Now' can be left available until reserve is met, or have it disappear once a single bid has been entered. I've often found that on a 'But It Now'/auction that the reserve is often not much less than the Buy it Now price.
They are trying to capitalize on those that are concerned that they might get out bid in the end and would rather grab it and run while they can. And sometimes it works.
David Bilenkey Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
> -----Original Message-----
> From: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org
> [mailto:classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org]On Behalf Of jerrymoos
> Sent: December 13, 2003 12:42 PM
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: [CR]Strange Happenings on eBay
>
>
> Can someone explain this auction to me?
>
> http://ebay.com/
>
> This auction for a Raleigh Team Pro ended with a Buy It Now, even though
> there had already been 7 other bids. I thought once bidding
> started, Buy It
> Now was disabled. Even stranger, the buyer waited until almost the end of
> the auction, then paid $750 on Buy It Now, even though the next
> highest bid
> was only $425. Granted, the reserve had not been met, but if he
> was willing
> to pay $750, why not just bid that? Then if reserve turned out
> to be $500,
> he would still have gotten the bike, and saved $250 in the process. Maybe
> the seller clued the buyer as to the reserve price.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jerry Moos
> Houston, TX