I've ended two auctions early in the past month, and had a seller end two auctions early for me.
The first was the bid got up to what I wanted, and the guy who bid was a nice guy, so I asked him if he wanted me to end it early - he said yes, of course. The second auction, the guy contacted me during the auction with some questions and I sold him two other items I wanted to get rid of, so I made him a package deal. These were all 16mm prints of old monster movies.
The two I won, I told the guy who had separate auctions for a derailler and the matching shifter that I would bid higher if he combined the auctions so I knew I could win both items and not get stuck with a half of a set. He asked what I would pay for the set, and he thought my offer was fair. He was a nice guy too, and he must of thought I was, too, since he threw in a NOS cable to match.
I find it's better to take a fair price for something rather than take a chance some numskull will bid up my auction to some crazy price. I don't like ripping people off, I don't like feeling that I ripped somebody off, and I don't like fools who bid like idiots and then come back with buyer's remorse and whine.
I also am not an eBay 'pro,' so the extra closet space means almost as much as the money.
Just four examples, but there it is. The bird in the hand gets the early worm, or something like that.
Mark
-- mark assaf burlingame ca 94010 usa http://www.sciencemonster.net ebay:sciencemonster
Subject: [CR]Singer tandem disappears from ebay
Last week there was the case of the early ending of the Cinelli track tandem auction on ebay. This week it is the early ending of the auction for a 1950's Singer tandem.
What makes sellers close auctions early?
Steven Maasland
Moorestown, NJ
USA