Question
Hello, I am asking for advice about an auction which has about two more days before it closes.
First, I will give you some background. I am not a seller on ebay, although I buy books frequently. My husband and I are remodeling our home and I have listed a few items. One of them is a set of souvenir playing cards from around 1920. Before I listed the cards, I counted them, and since there were 54, I assumed that the deck was complete. I listed the auction and received two bids.
Later, I thought I should arrange the cards in order, according to the suits (is that the word? spades, clubs, etc.). To my chagrin, I learned that there was no 7 spade card but that there were two Aces of Clubs, so I corrected the description and e-mailed the two bidders about the flaw. One withdrew his bid, while the other retained his. Now I have another bidder who has bid after I corrected the description. Should I assume that the new bidder is aware of the flaw or should I e-mail him/her? I feel that if I e-mail him, he may become offended, inferring that I think he can't read; but, on the other hand, if he wins the auction, he may receive a flawed item that he thought was intact.
I would appreciate the advice of anyone who might care to offer it. Thank you in advance.
Answer
did you post the difference on the auction description
was there more then just a couple minutes between when you posted and he bid
if both are true then it is his issue not yours
Answer
With two days to go on the auction, it's possible others may bid as well. You may not be able to e-mail everyone, particularly a last minute sniper. Technically you're probably protected, because you did add to the description, but you could still face e-mail unpleasantness, and maybe a negative, if the winning bidder did not read the add-on to the description. The bidder, for example, may have added the auction to his/her watch list before the add-on and then didn't bother to read again before bidding. I perceive the purpose of an add-on to a description as being a way of adding additional information, not correcting errors.
In your situation, as soon as I had become aware of the error, I'd have cancelled all bids, closed the auction and then relisted it. Then I would have sent a link to the new auction to the bidders, with an explanation. eBay charges a listing fee again when an auction is relisted, but refunds that second listing fee if the items sells.
Answer
Thank you for your helpful replies. I originally posted the auction on the 22nd, corrected it on the 24th. There are now two bids, one from the 25th and another from the 30th. I wasn't aware that I could cancel an auction after bids had been made. I really like the suggestion that I cancel and relist. I'm going to try to do that right away. Thank you again.
Answer
Thanks again for the good advice. I followed it and have cancelled the auction, notified the bidders, and relisted. Now my conscience is clear.