Pulling items from Ebay

Hi all,

Anyone know the score on this. My understanding of Ebay's rules is that they do not allow sellers to pull items simply because they haven't reached a price the seller is happy with. My understanding is that the if the seller has a minimum they'd settle for then they should make the value the reserve prices. Once a bid has been received which is over the reserve then the item should eventually be sold to the highest bidder. There are a few exceptions but none that cover 'that's not enough money'.

I know there's a seperate question about what Ebay can realistically do if someone pulls an item for unacceptable reasons ... but .... errrm .... I think that's a different question.

Can anyone clarify?

Cheers, Steve W

There's nothing enforceable - if someone wants to pull an item then there's not a lot you can do. It's not really fair to put 'no reserve' then cancel bids if bidding doesn't reach a certain level, but it's happened to me in the past and the Ebay mechanism allows for it. Of course it's cheaper to list on Ebay with no reserve...

I've pulled stuff from Ebay in the past, normally when I get second thoughts about selling things. There's nothing to stop you ending the auction early and giving a reason like 'the item is no longer for sale'. It's questionable form but no-one can leave nasty feedback for you if the item has not actually been 'sold'. YOU MUST, however have EITHER no bids on the item OR have 12 hours+ to go on the auction. If these condtions are not met you're buggered and you'll have to go through with it or risk negative feedback if you pull out. Best thing to do, to be honest, is just to set a realistic reserve price. Ebay will tell you that things sell better with no reserve, and indeed they do, but you may end up selling for much less than you'd hoped and have to go through with it for fear of getting bad feedback. It's a shame to sell your beloved instrument for tuppence for the sake of setting a reserve.

HTH,

Tim.

I have to confess I've also pulled a couple of auctions due to the high bidders being total assholes, and my blocked-bidder's list seems to be growing!