[meteorite-list] AD... Time to get back to work

From: Meteorites USA <eric_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:03:47 -0700
Message-ID: <4AC06DE3.5090300_at_meteoritesusa.com>

Hi Michael,

Agreed... Though I don't think I have to say some people tend to blur
the line and confuse and extend the policy to include "any" item listed
rather than simply applying the rule to an item that has bids for which
it was originally designed. Obviously ending an item which has bids is
unethical "IF" it's solely to resell the item somewhere else or to
garner a higher price. There is however, one valid reason I can think of
to end an auction "after" it has bids and that's if the item being sold
somehow gets destroyed or stolen before the auction ends. Of course the
seller then has the obligation to contact the high bidder (before ending
the item) and let them know about the circumstances and offer a
solution. I believe the seller also has the obligation to provide a
reasonable replacement, or offer of credit or discount on another like
item to make it fair for the buyer. If the buyer wants to purchase the
piece in a broken state then that's their prerogative, and they should
realize that just because a seller ends an item does not mean that
seller is doing bad things. People are becoming way too paranoid in
suspecting that many honest sellers are a fraudsters. Ebay is
propagating this hysteria by scaring buyers into thinking it's not safe
to buy off their site.

Just my opinion...

Regards,
Eric



Michael Blood wrote:
> Hi Eric and all,
> As long as no bid has been placed, it is entirely ethical to remove
> An item from an auction. Once ANY bid has been placed, removing
> that item is very much an illegal action and, more importantly, an
> unethical action (who would prosecute it as a crime given the eBay
> venue?). In a live auction, the auctioneer is legally bound to continue
> To the conclusion any auction item upon which a legitimate bid has
> been placed.
> Best wishes, Michael
>
>
> On 9/27/09 4:22 PM, "Eric Wichman" <eric at meteoritesusa.com> wrote:
>
>
>> Ebay is ONE sales OUTLET of many sales outlets businesses use to boost
>> their online sales. I list items in many places online and offline. If I
>> get a buyer for an item from one place (other than ebay) and that item
>> just happens to be listed on eBay too, do you think I'm going to tell my
>> buyer "Sorry, but I can't sell you that item because it's listed on
>> eBay."? Hell no... I'm going to end my auction (if it doesn't have bids)
>> or store item and sell the item to my buyer!
>>
>
>
>
>
Received on Mon 28 Sep 2009 04:03:47 AM PDT