An EBay WWYD.

[Chickpea]

I've listed the remainder of my ceramic business on eBay. Pots, kiln furniture, ceramic books and brand new brushes as a 'job lot':

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Job-Lot-Items-Ceramic-Cafe-Pottery-Painting-Business-/360441141512?pt=UK_Crafts_Ceramic_PotteryMaking_SM &hash=item53ebf75908#ht_1138wt_922

I had absolutely no idea what it was worth, so I started it at 99p to see where it would go.

It has 3 days left to run, 18 watchers and someone has just started the bidding.

I'm now getting a bit worried that I may have been a bit stupid (nowt new there then!) as someone has just come and offered me £150 cash for the lot!

So, can I end the auction if someone has bid already, and WWYD in my sitch? Should I just hang on to my hat and sit it out or (if I can) should I end it now and take the cash?


Eek!

[Samba]

Eek indeed.
I'm not 100% sure, are you only allowed to end it early if you state that you've listed it elsewhere? Would you be happy with the £150 or is it worth more?

The only other option I can think of is to do something which is not entirely legit, but would save you loosing loads of dosh in a one-off error.

[scatterbrain]

I think once you have bids on the auction you are legally bound to do through with it. It isn't impossible to end an auction early, but is frowned upon I think. I know it happens as it has happened to me on a couple of occasions, where the item I was bidding on dissapeared. I'm sure OH said there's a seperate classified section for people advertising in more than one place (or did I imagine that).

It's a difficult call as you may well get more than that if someone knows how much it's actually worth. But there is a risk you'll fall far short of what you've been offered privately. If you are planning to end early then it might be worth doing it sooner rather than later as you'll probably get reported if you do it too near the end.

[January]

If I was happy with the cash amount, I'd probably end the auction. You'll be quids in on the ebay fees for a start!

If you do decide to end it, you'll be asked for the reason. There's a choice of a few including 'item no longer available' and I've used that one when stuff has sold on Amazon prior to ebay auctions ending. Ebay will automatically cancel any bids and (I think) notify any bidders when you end it but you won't be penalised for it.


Depends really whether you think you might do better sitting it out

[lazymummy]

What January said-you CAN end your auction early and 'item no longer available' covers it nicely...

[Chickpea]

Thanks, that really helps.

Now, what should I do?

[redhed]

I think it is possible to sell it early to the highest bidder. You're effectively just hauling in the close date, but still selling via ebay and in theory everyone out there gets their fair chance. So you get your cash person to put in a bid of £150, and tell them that you will end the auction early and so guarantee they are the winner if they commit to paying the full £150 even if the highest bid at that point is eg £10.

[Piglet]

You can end early, you have to cancel the bids and then end the auction, on the right there is a bar where you can edit listing, but make sure you hit the cancel all bids and end early action rather than the end auction and sell to highest bidder action.

[Cymber]

I think it is possible to sell it early to the highest bidder. You're effectively just hauling in the close date, but still selling via ebay and in theory everyone out there gets their fair chance. So you get your cash person to put in a bid of £150, and tell them that you will end the auction early and so guarantee they are the winner if they commit to paying the full £150 even if the highest bid at that point is eg £10.

You can set it up as a Buy It Now for them to bid on. I've done that, although I'm not sure if I already had bids when I did it. You'll still pay fees, but you'll save on Paypal fees if they're paying cash.

[Chocolate Lips]

I'd cancel it, it's definitely worth a bit of cash. Do it!