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The Danger of Open-Bidding on eBay & Why eBay Doesn't Always Reflect True Market Value

First, let me start off by saying that I am generally not a seller. I like to collect, and therefore I usually only sell on eBay to get funds for something else.

But one thing has become clear to me. EBAY IS OFTEN LIKE A GIANT GARAGE SALE, and therefore many times really doesn't give a good indication of the real value of an item. And if you want to sell an item, it can be very risky leaving the final sale price up to open bidding. Look at what happened recently when a beautiful, authentic, PSA/DNA Wilt Chamberlain autographed basketball with a rare HOF 78 inscription was left to open bidding without reserve:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUPERB-NBA-WILT-CHAMBERLAIN-SIGNED-AUTOGRAP...

That amazing ball sold for only $367 !! Are you kidding me?! And it wasn't even an indoor/outdoor ball. It was an Official NBA Game Ball! That ball is worth anywhere from $1200 to $2000 and really closer to the latter than the former.

Oftentimes, the eBay market is a deflated market. There are just a lot of dealers looking for deals they can flip. They almost refuse to pay top dollar or just market value for an item. So if you leave your item up for open-bidding, you might just get screwed, like the seller of that awesome Wilt ball. SELLER BEWARE!

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Permalink Reply by Dane on April 11, 2015 at 9:32pm

My understanding is that the seller ended the listing early, so it's entirely possible that the high bidder offered the seller some sort of buyout fee. The buyer would avoid the risk of the price hitting $1500+, and the seller would (in violation of eBay's seller rules) avoid a large chunk of potential final value fees.

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Permalink Reply by James on April 11, 2015 at 10:35pm

How can you tell that from the listing?

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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on April 12, 2015 at 5:07am

James, if you go to the auction and click on the "14 bids" you can see where the auction began on March 2nd and was ended on March 5th.

The duration of the auction was originally set for "7 days."

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Permalink Reply by James on April 12, 2015 at 12:48pm

Okay, thanks, Christopher. Gee, I feel like a dunce! I guess I need to read the fine print! I better get my glasses checked. This is why I love AML. You can really learn something from the more experienced (and smarter) people on this site. I always appreciate your help, Christopher.

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Permalink Reply by CJCollector on April 12, 2015 at 12:51pm

You're welcome, James.

I find something new about Ebay every week.

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Permalink Reply by James on April 12, 2015 at 1:02pm

I think I might re-title this discussion, "Much Ado About Nothing!"

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Permalink Reply by Dane on April 12, 2015 at 10:21am

At the top of the auction it says "This listing was ended by the seller because the item was sold."

If the auction ran its course in the normal way, it would say "Bidding has ended on this item."

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Permalink Reply by James on April 12, 2015 at 12:51pm

Thanks, Dane. Well, I guess this discussion was OVERBLOWN AND OVERSTATED! I'll have to pay more attention to detail. At least I learned something!

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Permalink Reply by James on April 12, 2015 at 12:59pm

So I have a question. In order for the seller to end an open auction early, can he/she sell to anyone, or is the seller required to only end it early if he or she is selling to the high bidder?

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Permalink Reply by Dane on April 13, 2015 at 2:01pm

My understanding of the process is this:

The seller may end the listing early, but is required to pay the eBay FVF on the item's highest bid. Depending on how the seller ends the listing, the sale either obligates the buyer to purchase (end listing early) or indicates the item is no longer available (listing ended due to XXXXX reason). So, the seller wouldn't be obligated to sell the item to the highest bidder (at the time), since the item might have been previously sold.

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Permalink Reply by James on April 13, 2015 at 6:25pm

Ok, thanks for the info, Dane. I did not know any of that. Requiring the seller to pay the FVF on the highest bid obviously serves as some deterrent to ending an auction early, although the seller is likely to pass that fee onto a buyer who wants the item badly. In the case of the Wilt ball, the seller would have to have paid roughly $37 I guess, but if the seller has a good enough offer (and is a little nervous about what the final sale price might be in open-bidding), that FVF would be no big deal.