Can they do this?

I was watching a pair of brown mono gucci boots on ebay and knew it wasnt up yet. So I went on to check it to make sure I was on in enough time to swoop in at the last minute-only to find out that the seller ended the auction early to the highest bidder. I thought that once the bidding had started you couldnt end the auction unless it was to cancel it. How is that fair to the other bidders that had already bid on it? There was more than 1 bidder. I am SOOOO mad. I have wanted those d*mn boots for so da*m long I just want to scream! Sorry, just had to rant! But is that normal? I've never seen it done before. I have seen auctions canceled due to no longer available and other reasons, but never when there were bidders involved.
 
I've never understood this either. Do you just contact the seller and ask them to end the auction early for you? Do you explain why you want them to end it early? I've never tried this myself.
 
Yeah I think basically sellers want to get the best possible price - so if someone offers them more on the condition they end the bidding early - they do. I guess they would be stupid not to?

I offerred a seller $1000 for a bag once. She did not sell it to me (because she would not post to Australia) and ended up getting $700 for it - her loss.
 
I've never understood this either. Do you just contact the seller and ask them to end the auction early for you? Do you explain why you want them to end it early? I've never tried this myself.

I never did in my case. They just said they knew I was "serious" about buying the item and they said they'd end it.
Don't know why but it worked out, I got it for a great price and the seller was a sweetie.
 
Sometimes if there is only 1 bid and very few watching... and the listing has already reached the bottom dollar I would take for it - I will as a seller offer to the bidder to end the auction just as a courtesy to get the item to them quicker. Not consistently but I have done this-esp if the bidder is a repeat buyer of mine...
 
I guess if you need the money quickly - and that's great of you forefnal - to do it for a repeat buyer.
But if you're looking to make some money then I'd wait until it;s over because there a lots of ebayers (aka - me) who wait unitl the last few seconds to bid ;)
 
I guess if you need the money quickly - and that's great of you forefnal - to do it for a repeat buyer.
But if you're looking to make some money then I'd wait until it;s over because there a lots of ebayers (aka - me) who wait unitl the last few seconds to bid ;)


Just had an idea - what if some sellers think it's worth ending the occasional auction early, to stop buyers thinking that they can leave it to the last seconds to bid? :idea:
 
If I see something I really want, I always contact the seller to see if there's a price we can agree on. Certain Hermes sellers end auctions early all the time. You don't bid but wait to "swoop in" so as not to bid up the price -- you risk the seller ending early for another buyer. It's just one of the risks of ebay.
 
Glad to see I'm not the only one who is a little bit at a loss. I have asked sellers to end auctions early, but only when there were no other bids. This auction had several bidders already active in the listing. It's a shame for the seller because I would have gone at least double what she sold it for.