I have to shoot some flames!!!!!

[Joe Musser]

I was watching a horse and a half mccormick M on E bay and when I went in today to check on it I find out that the seller has ended the auction early so he can sell to the current high bidder. When did this become the thing to do I am so p****d off right now I can't even type right I finally find an engine near by that looks in complete shape and I can afford and he does this, Whats the sense off putting it on e bay in the first place when every one watching it follows the rules and he doesn't have to. THIS IS BULL****
Joe M.

[Ihorse]

Did it have a [BUY IT NOW] on it??--if not, I don;t think he should do that--sell early-
but what do I know--out here in flyover country.
d,j,

[RHudson]

well i was kinda looking at that one too. something kinda fishey i'd say.

[Ken Majeski]

Well... I bought a Pikup off Ebay last winter... In the description it plainly stated the first 9500 takes it and they would end the auction early. I don't know if this is ethical or not.... But I wired 9500 to Pheonix after checking things out as far as the story goes. 96 Dodge 4X4, Cummins, 5 Speed. One owner out of New Mexico... No Salt... I Love it. They sell for around 10 to 12 here IF you can Find One.... AND they been in the Salt Belt for 9 years...

[Jim Scott]

i had the same thing happen on two engines i was bidding on.there was 4 days left on the auction,no by now and no i have this item for sale locally.ebays answer was the seller can accept any bid they want? whats with that?i was high bidder on one and no one talked to me.

[CGBusch]

I'd write a NICE letter and ask them simply "why?", it would give insight into the thinking of it all...

[George Andreasen]

I've had the same thing happen on a number of items. I'm always suspicious when the auction is ended early because "the item was listed incorrectly" or the "item is no longer for sale". Both sound like weak excuses to me. If the seller states that the item is being offered for local sale also, that's honest enough. At least you know where you stand before bidding. George

[Andrew Walker]

Hi all.....Having bought & sold on eBay for nearly 7 years now, I would consider myself quite adept at surfing eBay. There are a number of factors to consider before getting upset at eBay or the fella selling the engine, Item number: 7518225787. For one, eBay does allow a seller to end the auction at any time, especially to the high bidder. Consider in this auction, the reserve was met, so the guy wasn't asking for anymore anyway. He's also a new member, just born this week if you look at his feedback count....you've got to cut him some slack based on that alone. Also, he clearly stated in his description "make offer". Well, I reckon somebody did . In the question to seller window at the bottom of the auction page, he also was offered $200 & answered "Care to be a tie breaker?". There is nothing fishy going on here, just someone got a good deal and the rest of us didn't.... .

-Andrew.....

[Kevin O. Pulver]

I understand Joe being chapped over this, but I agree that the guy can take the low bid just as well as high bid since the engine is his. I do think that it appears fishy and could sometimes BE fishy when things end early. Possibly a guy thinks an item isn't bringing what he wanted, so he just ends early with no explanations.The thing that chaps me is when you see something advertised with "no reserve" but it has an astronomical starting price of a thousand dollars or so. Now doesn't that qualify as a "reserve"? I mean if they have a starting point what is the difference between that and a reserve. They are BOTH minimum bids aren't they? Kevin

[Joe Musser]

I suppose you are right it is his engine after all and he can do what he likes with it but i was extremely hot last nite whe I found out he had done this. Thanx all for letting me vent.

[Keith Smigle]

This guy being a newbie probably doesn’t realize that most serious bidding take place in the last 30 seconds of an eBay auction. I would have to be pretty hard up for the money to end an auction early and miss the possibility of earning much more at the end of the auction and also never know what the item “could” have ended for. Ending an auction is completely legit though and many sellers clearly state that they will not end an auction early if asked to do so.

[JKKD]

Originally Posted by Kevin O. Pulver

The thing that chaps me is when you see something advertised with "no reserve" but it has an astronomical starting price of a thousand dollars or so. Now doesn't that qualify as a "reserve"? I mean if they have a starting point what is the difference between that and a reserve. They are BOTH minimum bids aren't they? Kevin

The big difference here is how much ebay charges the seller. If it's a reserve auction the seller is going to pay a higher listing fee regardless if it sells or not. Personally I like knowing up front what the seller is expecting to get. If it is a ridiculous amount I can move on to a different auction. What I don't like is watching an unknown reserve auction for a week and bid what I feel is a fair amount and win the auction but not make the reserve and never here from the seller telling me what they want for it.

As far as the 1.5 IHC M goes, yes it is aggravating but, the only one that got hurt was the seller because he didn't have a clue what the engine was worth. If it would have ran for the whole time it would have gone high like normal and then nobody would have got a good deal. Also, how many of us have gone to a swap meet and caught a seller asleep and picked up a high dollar item for a fraction of what it's worth (my personal best is $1 for a $100+ piece)? Ebay is just a big swap meet.

Jamie.

[Robt.]

Consider also the possibility of sellers being offered trades or trades + cash. Too bad to miss out, but one of the risks of waiting until the last minute to bid! Personally, I usually just forget to bid.

[RHudson]

well fellows, i met the seller and the buyer. the seller is a very nice fellow that wanted to sell to someone that would take care of his grandfathers engine. The buyer is also a very nice fellow, sharp as a tack. he read the ebay item page fully and acted on it. the seller liked the buyer and sold to him. i was there was nothing fishy about it.