Posted By:
Chuck RossI'm mainly a vintage nonsports collector but I'm sure this is also a problem for you baseball guys (and gal). Why do eBay sellers end their auctions early? Unless you get an outrageous offer for something on the side, why would a seller possibly want to avoid competitive bidding? When someone says "I'll give you X amount to stop this auction" shouldn't the seller's first thought be that this person is afraid that the final amount would actually end up higher if the auction ran its course? There are 2 or 3 collectors in my part of the hobby who are notorious for pulling off these low-ball schemes. I can understand a little bit when a neophyte seller falls for this, but even the big boys do it. Here are 2 examples from yesterday. This seller is, I think, a highly reputable seller used by folks on this board. This is no knock on the seller, its just that I find it very puzzling. When I sell on eBay, I would never end an auction early.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=219&item=6103026001
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=219&item=6103030336