And then there is the final gotcha....in eBay Motors, anyway. The
seller can pull the car out of the auction process at any point before
the official close of auction. (Actually, he can refuse to sell to
the high bidder even after the close, but this gets a little shady.)
Check the small print.....it's there. Larry
----- Original Message -----
From Larry B. Macy <macy at bblmail.psycha.upenn.edu>
To: Michael Ellsworth <mikeells@shianet.org>; <Jeff24fan@aol.com>;
<busyrider@springmail.com>; Spridgets <spridgets@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2001 9:43 PM
Subject: Re: Car for Sale in Penn.
> Nope that ain't it. On eBay an auction starts at the listing, in
this case
> $800. Ebay will NOT accept a lower bid. The reserve is a gimmick to
get a
> better price. Lets say he set the opening at $800. He can set the
reserve at
> $10,000 if he wants to. Probably it would be more like $1200 ;-) The
reserve
> is what he really wants for the car.
>
> If you bid more than the listing but less than the reserve and the
auction
> finishes with out the reserve being met, the seller does not have to
sell.
> He/she can relist it. They can contact the highest bidder and ask if
they
> want the car at that bid, or not.
>
> Typically what you will see on eBay is a car listed at $1000 with a
"secret"
> reserve set at $2000. The bidding starts at $1000 with the bids
going up in
> $50 or $100 increments. If the closing time of the auctions the bids
stand
> at $1900 then the auction is over and the seller is under no
obligation to
> finish the sell. If the bidding closes at $2100 the seller is
obligated to
> sell the car at the high bid. The reserve is not revealed. It is a
trick to
> get the bidding started at a lower price than what the seller
actually wants
> for the item.
>
> eBay will NOT accept a lower bid than what the seller lists the
item for,
> regardless if there is a reserve or not..
>
> Well that's the way I read the instructions when I was trying to
sell a car
> on eBay. I would guess that a "regular" auction may not work the
same way.
>
> It works out that the reserve is a safety thing for the seller. The
bidder
> has no influence.
>
> Larry
>
> On 1/2/01 7:47 PM, "Michael Ellsworth" <mikeells@shianet.org> wrote:
>
> > You're missing the point, in a "NO RESERVE" auction, there is no
minimum
> > bid. That's what no reserve means.
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: <Jeff24fan@aol.com>
> > To: <mikeells@shianet.org>; <busyrider@springmail.com>;
> > <spridgets@autox.team.net>
> > Sent: Tuesday, January 02, 2001 7:06 PM
> > Subject: Re: Car for Sale in Penn.
> >
> >
> >> Mike,
> >>
> >> You're supposed to place a bid HIGHER than the starting amount in
> > increments
> >> of $10... it is not sold yet.. still has 9 days to go. On
auctions, you
> > don't
> >> go lower, you bid higher against others.....
> >>
> >> Kristen
> >> '59 Bugeye
> >> '79 Midget
> >> '01 Eclipse
> >
>
> Larry Macy
> 78 Midget
>
> Keep your top down and your chin up.
>
> Larry B. Macy, Ph.D.
> macy@bblmail.psycha.upenn.edu
> System Manager/Administrator
> Neuropsychiatry Section
> Department of Psychiatry
> University of Pennsylvania
> 3400 Spruce St. - 10 Gates
> Philadelphia, PA 19104
>
> Ask a question and you're a fool for three minutes; do not ask a
question
> and you're a fool for the rest of your life.
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