Question
I've been shopping some vehicles & larger items on eBay lately...LOTS of them have a standard "Seller reserves the right to cancel auction in the event item is sold locally" (or similiar text) .....
Is that eBay legal to do????
I have gotten some real nice antique-ie pieces at the store and would like to use eBay to advertise/sell.....BUT, I also want the option of selling directly to walk in customers...Sooooooooooooo, the "Seller reserves the right to cancel auction in the event item is sold locally" option would be PERFECT for me...buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut I don't wanna do it, if it's not eBay legal....
Appreciate your input....
TIA
Answer
From here...
Reasons for ending listings early include:
Note: Your account will still be charged listing fees (such as the Insertion Fee) if you end your listing early. Consider revising your listing first if there are aspects of it you want to change or improve.
-The item is no longer available for sale.
-There was an error in the starting price or reserve amount.
-There was an error in the listing.
-The item was lost or broken.
It sure looks like "The item is no longer available for sale" would work.
But then, there's this...
When there are 12 hours or fewer remaining and the item has a winning bid, including a reserve met bid, sellers may not make any changes to the listing, including:
-ending the item early. Sellers may cancel bids, but not end the item unless the item is being sold to the high bidder.
Answer
I don't know about eBay Motors, but attempting that with a conventional transaction on ebay would probably land you in a big pool of trouble. Once a sale is made both Buyer and Seller are obligated to complete the transaciton. Consider too that eBay fees are charged to you.
If you see that phrase in a regularly eBay auction I would reference it in an e-mail to eBay and ask them about it.
Answer
Originally Posted by mcnerd
Once a sale is made both Buyer and Seller are obligated to complete the transaciton.
I could be wrong, but I think the original poster was asking about ending an auction early, not cancelling the sale of a closed auction.
Answer
I end auctions early all the time. Usually I sell the item to whoever is high bidder when I decide to close the bidding, occasionally I cancel bids and sell the thing somewhere else.
Until the item is paid for it's mine to do with as I please.
Answer
eBay shut down several of my auctions for using that statement. It is a no-no.
Answer
You could always list it and put a notice on it with the link, or have listing info papers to hand out.
I see that all the time on cars and they seem to be able to get away with it, and I see it on LARGE antiques as well and none of them have been shut down. BUT this is ebay, remember
Answer
Why does the seller even need to put such a statement in the auction? As long as there is no bid, the seller has every right to sell the item elsewhere and pull the auction off ebay.
Once a bid has been made, then the seller should remove it from sale at any other venue (including their B&Mstore) where they have it offered for sale.
Answer
Originally Posted by sharronn
Why does the seller even need to put such a statement in the auction? As long as there is no bid, the seller has every right to sell the item elsewhere and pull the auction off eBay.
Once a bid has been made, then the seller should remove it from sale at any other venue (including their B&Mstore) where they have it offered for sale.
I'm definitely in agreement with sharronn. The less said the better in a lot of cases. There is just no benefit in expounding on what you may or may not do with an item up for sale.