Ebay etiquette story/question

[Friday]

I'm cleaning out my fabric and crafting stashes.  I put an auction with 7 yards of Harry Potten Fabrics up on ebay.  My DD who is now 25 was enamored of the books/movies in High School.  Still is, but not to the point that I'm making her a HP quilt.  The fabrics were all pretty cheap (sales at the big fabric stores), but quilt fabrics now a days are $10 a yard and up.

I'm not expecting to recoup all I paid for the fabrics and other items that I'm listing - I just want to clean out my stashes and make enough to pad my paypal account for when I get a yearning to buy a few things on ebay.  However, I will have the hassles of shipping, etc., to deal with.

I started the auction at a low price and real shipping costs.  Someone contacted me pretty quickly and asked if I would consider making the auction Buy It Now at $50 for her.

The auction has 5 days to go, it's at $11, and has 21 views and 12 watchers.  I think it will probably go over $50 so I'm really inclined to say no.  $50 is probably what I paid for the fabrics and a little for my time in selling them.  AND I think it would be rude and perhaps unethical, to change the auction parameters not only after the auction started, but after having so many people interested.

What do you think?

[cattlekid]

I've gotten tons of those requests over the years and never honored one of them.  I have no way of knowing that the other party will follow through on their Buy It Now request and the dollar figures are usually ridiculously low.  I always write back and nicely tell them to bid with the others and take their chances. 

[Queen of Clubs]

I think it'd be pretty rude to the people who have already bid.  If that lady wants to win the auction, she can bid alongside everyone else and take her chance.

Plus, I used to sell on eBay, and if you've got a hot item, it can be pretty exciting to see how high the bids go, especially in the last few minutes.

Good luck with your auction!

[RebeccainGA]

I think having a BIN price up front can be handy. Changing the auction would be annoying if I was a bidder - and might make me unwilling to bid again.

[Tierrainney]

No is a complete sentence 

This is a pretty standard technique from people who want a "steal". She is anticipating the price will go much higher. Just wait and you'll start getting people using a sob story as to why you should add a BIN.

Just tell her no and good luck with your auction.

[sevenday]

It's slightly unclear, but if that auction has bids already, don't touch a thing.  On the other hand, if it does not have bids, you could consider writing back and saying "I plan to let this auction run on its own. However, if it does not sell/other bidder does not complete, I can put it back up for a BIN of $50 as requested and you can purchase it that way."  (Only if you're inclined to do so!)  From my mild experience with eBay, both buying and selling, someone asking to change it to a BIN really doesn't work/benefit anyone. 

[Friday]

Interestingly enough - the auction, with five days to go, is OVER the amount the person wanted me to put the Buy It Now at.

[Slartibartfast]

If I were you, I'd add a BIN price of significantly higher than you think it will go for - put it at $120 or something.  This allows someone in a hurry to get the fabric now, but also sets a value in bidder's heads so they're more likely to think $80 or $90 is a good deal 

[AmethystAnne]

I asked a seller is she would be willing if I could purchase an item as BIN, and the seller said, "not at this time".  Which was fine with me.

I recently saw an item with the seller's starting bid as $10, with a BIN price of $75, with 5-6 days left on the bidding time.