Mego survey: Auction Killing. How many here done it? How do you feel about it?

[mikeMc6]

I was curious as to how common it is among mego museum members to contact an ebay auction in progress and offer X cash to cancel auction in order to acquire said listing. My questions include:
1. All fair in love and war? Or is it considered playing dirty?
2. Anyone wanna guess as to what percentage of mm members have tried?
3. Has anyone been successful at it? What was their motus operandi? Jedi mind tricks or big bucks bribing?

Don't confuse this query with the party poopers who kill auctions AFTER auction or BIN's have completed their run. That's a whole other story and we know how we feel about that.

[mvanis]

I do it regularly. I generally will not offer something upfront- I simply ask them if there's interest in ending it early, I offer to pay instantly, and I ask them to tell me the price. I'd say 80% of the time the response is 'I'll just let it play out' but I've had a few folks who were willing to work a deal. A lot of the time, the folks that let it run it's course seem to be bombarded with people doing the same thing and can tell the interest level is high. I've been a bit shocked how many people reference a large number of requests to end an item early for purchase.

[mvanis]

I should add- never after the auction ends. That to me is no bueno. If someone decides to let it run the duration and you can't be around for the finish - put in your best price and hope for the best. Waiting till something closes and offering slightly more screws over someone who legitimately won an item.

[MIB41]

Never tried to end an active auction. I make up my mind what I'll spend and check back when the auction is close to ending. If the price still has me in the game, then I'll throw my bid in. Now I have had situations where I was watching something, forgot to bid, and the auction closed without anyone winning it. In those cases I have asked if they would re-list it for that price at a buy it now and I would purchase it. Usually the sellers are good to go for that. And when I inquire into a piece of merchandise, I've had dealers offer to take it off line, but I've passed. I like to keep the purchase within the parameters of what protects me as a buyer. I'm always thinking worse case when it comes to Ebay, so I lean on the side that favors me should that happen.

[Shanester]

I never do it. I think its underhanded and goes against the spirit of the auction process. Whenever someone emails me asking to end an auction early, I make sure to post the question to the auction page to deter others from the same BS.

[sauce]

This question assumes that eBay is an ethically and logically run marketplace.

[scoth70]

i more often ask a seller if something interests me if they can offer a buy it now..

[Godzilla]

I have never done it.

[mvanis]

i more often ask a seller if something interests me if they can offer a buy it now..

Same here- I will only ask if someone doesn't have a BIN and it's an auction type listing AND doesn't have any bids.

Maybe I'm just not a good person, who knows =)

[drquest]

I've done only when there's no bids. If there's no buy it now I'll just ask if they would consider a buy it now offer. If there is a buy it now but no best offer, I might tell them I'd give them $$xx.xx dollars now if they are interested.

Generally my motivation is not wanting to wait the 6-9 days for their auction to end. I personally love to do buy it nows, and almost always have that option on the auctions I list.

[Mikey]

I did it once about 11 years ago for a $20.00 item

It totally p_ssed off a Museum member who had a bid down

I swore i'd never do it again - and haven't

[Shanester]

If a seller intends to sell early, they can use the BIN function. We all know that often times bids are not put in right away because a lot of the action starts at the closing minutes. I don't think anyone (nor do I wish anyone) is going to Hell over it, but I don't do it.

[megomania]

I watched four items (that I really wanted) sit through two 20 day cycles of BIN at what i thought was a high price. They weren't selling at that price so about 10 days in to the re-list I asked the seller if they would take an offer on them. Response was "if it's more than a few bucks less than what they're listed at we aren't interested." It was worth a shot, but I only did it because they had been sitting for 30 days. Needless to say they didn't sell and haven't been re-listed...

I know...not the same as asking someone to end an auction early....

-Chris

[bobws]

I never did, only asked after an auction ended if they still wanted to sell it.

[sauce]

Jedi dollars are useless in this sector of the galaxy.