Ebay etiquette on asking a seller to end their listing early?

lvpiggy

feels like pigsomnia
O.G.
Jan 24, 2008
8,141
541
Hi all! Can a seasoned ebayer help me with a little etiquette query?

I've found an item that I'd like to purchase, but it's listed as a straight auction, with no BIN option. The auction still has 8+ days to go, and being the impatient little piggy that I am, I want it now! (^(oo)^)

Would it be acceptable to message the seller asking whether they'd be willing to end the auction early? Should I include an offer in the message, or wait and see what they say first?

TIA for your advice! (^(oo)^)v
 
You could ask the seller to add a buy it now to her listing, I would let her know what your best price is because there is a fee to add buy it now. She might be very happy to sell it now and not wait the 8 days. You never know!
 
Yes, I have been pretty successful with asking for BINs. I usually just message them and ask nicely if they would consider a buy it now, tell them I can pay immediately (which I do with any auction/ad), and to let me know what their price would be.
There was a purple gathered Coach Sophia on ebay, listed for around $520, with $10 shipping...after I asked, I got it for $485 total.
So yeah, it does happen, although reading this forum, you wouldn't know it. A lot of people have voiced their dislike about it. But I never "offer", I am too scared of blowing the chance, or paying too much(honestly)...if they ask me to make an offer, I tell them that "some sellers get offended for asking even $5 off, so if you would kindly let me know what you think, I'll see if it is in my price range and maybe we can work something out". Along those lines, LOL!
I usually get a seller to do a BIN 95% of the time. But most of the time, I deduct the shipping from the offer price, so it is only $10-$20 off. I never lowball, it is insulting.
If you know the product, and you know the prices that they are going for...you can get a pretty good idea of what you can expect.
Hope all this helps. LOL!
 
You could ask the seller to add a buy it now to her listing, I would let her know what your best price is because there is a fee to add buy it now. She might be very happy to sell it now and not wait the 8 days. You never know!
Thanks for your advice!

Yes, I have been pretty successful with asking for BINs. I usually just message them and ask nicely if they would consider a buy it now, tell them I can pay immediately (which I do with any auction/ad), and to let me know what their price would be.
There was a purple gathered Coach Sophia on ebay, listed for around $520, with $10 shipping...after I asked, I got it for $485 total.
So yeah, it does happen, although reading this forum, you wouldn't know it. A lot of people have voiced their dislike about it. But I never "offer", I am too scared of blowing the chance, or paying too much(honestly)...if they ask me to make an offer, I tell them that "some sellers get offended for asking even $5 off, so if you would kindly let me know what you think, I'll see if it is in my price range and maybe we can work something out". Along those lines, LOL!
I usually get a seller to do a BIN 95% of the time. But most of the time, I deduct the shipping from the offer price, so it is only $10-$20 off. I never lowball, it is insulting.
If you know the product, and you know the prices that they are going for...you can get a pretty good idea of what you can expect.
Hope all this helps. LOL!

I'm actually not trying to get a discount, in fact I'm perfectly happy to pay more than retail for the item (^(oo)^)v In this case, do you think it's beneficial to include an offer, or should I still wait on the seller to throw out a number?
 
Unlike other members here, I wouldn't advise saying how much you are willing to pay. You might go too high, and you could have saved money, or you might shoot too low and offend the seller.

In my opinion, I would ask if the seller would consider a buy it now option, and for how much.

When you get a response, then either you can accept, or if it is too high you can suggest your maximum :smile:
 
I have a lot of buyers who ask about BIN but most are offering a lot less then what I listed it for. But if you are willing to pay the listed price I don't see anything wrong with asking. But if a seller has a lot of watchers they maybe hoping for a bidding war in the final minutes.
If they don't want to pay additional fees for a buy it now you can always suggest that you bid on the auction and they just end it early with the reason to sell to the highest bidder
Good luck!
 
I list most of my (not high end) stuff as an auction and do sometimes get requests to add a BIN - I don't get offended and if the offer is not high enough I politely decline!
Something to bear in mind though, if bids have already been placed then I don't believe the listing can be changed to BIN - not without cancelling bids (which is against ebay's rules without having a good reason). What sellers CAN do is end the auction early to the highest bidder - totally within the rules.
 
I would ask as long as there are no bids. Before I was "seasoned", I'd ask when there were already bids and was told no every time, which I fully understand. If there's no bids and that many days left, the seller usually days he/she wants to let it ride. If it's not such a popular item and you can muster up the patience (I know much easier said than done), I would put it in the watch list and wait until there's a day or less, then if there's still no bids, I'd pose the inquiry to the seller. There may be snipers waiting in the wings but if the seller is receptive to you, you'll be a happy camper! Just speaking from experience.
 
Just don't be offended if as patriot511 mentioned, they want to "let it ride".

We usually do not accept bids because past experiences has shown we will get more. One time we lost about $20 but we have some great examples of getting extra $150 to $700 more, so when we decide to auction, we commit to see it through.
 
I definitely think it's okay to ask - if you're okay with offering X (and X is retail or above), I think it's perfectly fine to mention price. In fact if someone asks me to "bin" w/o a price, I probably would say no thinking the setting of price would be a hassle, etc. If they offered a BIN for retail or more, I would definitely be more inclined to accept it.. bird in the hand and all that

good luck.. let us know how it goes :tup:
 
In this case, do you think it's beneficial to include an offer, or should I still wait on the seller to throw out a number?

Yes, offer.
You are the one attempting to change the auction's progress. Since you're showing up on their doorstep and courting the seller, I think you have to make a specific offer.

I think it's totally fine to do so. eBay explicitly allows a seller to end an auction to sell to the current high bidder, when bids are already being placed, as well as to revise to BIN if no bids are there yet.
 
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