ending an eBay auction early question

[klynn Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close klynn]

I currently have an auction for a painting that closes tomorrow night. My reserve is set at $1,700.00. The high bid is currently at $711.00. I have 25 watchers. A guy just emailed me and asked me if I would end the auction early. He offered me $2,400.00. I know eBay allows Sellers to end an auction early and sell to the highest bidder. My question is this: How can he place a bid of $2,400.00? Won't the auction just go to the reserve of $1,700.00 until someone bids against him? TIA

[Guest Close Quarterbore]

If a person is willing to offer you $2400 now they should be willing to bid that much... The problem could be if the auction does not get high enough it could end without the minimum being met... I am pretty sure that ebay does not increase to the minimum.

It is a tough gamble for you however as given the number of people you have watching the auction you could have a lot of people planning to use an online sniping program to place a bid in the last seconds. If you end early you know what you get while if you don't you could get more money OR you could get less.

I don't end my auctions early as a general rule and often I get most of the bids on the last hour of an auction.

Good Luck!

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

and in answer to your "ending early" question, you are right, the bid won't go beyond the reserve unless there is another bidder. Sounds like the bidder may be trying (inadvertently or intentionally) to get you to make a deal "off ebay," not something I would recommend, especially with all those watchers.

[riverdees05 Platinum Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close riverdees05]

Sounds strange to me. Closes in 24 +/- hours, wants to pay almost 1700 more than the current highest bid. There are so many scams out there, that IMHO, I would be very cautious. Maybe people with more ebay experience have a different opinion.

[cluemeister Member Find all posts View Profile Close cluemeister]

25 People?

You have 25 people who have intentionally put your auction on their "watch" list? They could be merely casually interested, or more likely, you are going to have a lot of bidding going on.

I would absolutely let it ride.

I have sold more than a few items on ebay, and never had 25 people watch an auction.

Let us know how it ends!

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

must be a cool piece of art/known artist, let us know how it goes!

[arlene22 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close arlene22]

I'm not an Ebay expert, but IF you decide to accept his offer, I believe it is possible to set up another "private" auction where you could set the initial bid at $2400 and only allow him to bid. In this way, you stay within the Ebay framework. But with 25 people watching, hmmm, it's like "Deal or No Deal!"