Can I/should I accept a quick sale for an item I've posted on ebay if I didn't offer a buy-it-now price at the start?

7 replies

aliceinlalaland · 27/10/2010 10:18

Put my old laptop on ebay last night, 7-day bidding period. Someone emailed me within the hour saying he's in the area today (it's collection only) and would give me xx amount for a quick sale. I've had a look a the ebay rules but still not clear whether it would be legit to sell it to him today if I didn't offer a 'buy it now' option at the time.

Also, I'm not sure how much it's worth hence putting it up for bidding so I've no idea if his offer is good/reasonable/bad.

If it's against ebay rules anyway then that makes the decision for me.

Any thoughts?

thanking all you ebay pros

OP posts:

Rhian82 · 27/10/2010 10:24

You can do it, I'm not sure of the fine details though.

A friend sold something for me on eBay and someone made an offer for a quicker sale, which we accepted. All fine.

The 'quick sale' and 'only in the area today' would make me worry I was being scammed though - but if he was giving you cash it should be fine.

Original poster

aliceinlalaland · 27/10/2010 11:01

Thanks Rhian - I know what you mean re scam. Hmm, still undecided.

OP posts:

ThighsWideShitItsAGhost · 27/10/2010 11:05

Have a look at completed listings of the same laptop and see what they sell for. Then you'll know if his offer is ok or not.

HoneyIatethekidsdragon · 27/10/2010 23:00

'quick sale' and 'only in the area today'

because I am paranoid; the last time I had a offer like that I wrote an email stating he could suggest an offer, but could only arrange collection times when my husband was in / around.

OhCobblers · 28/10/2010 13:50

if you are happy to do the "quick sale" you can always change your listing to include a BIN as long as no-one else has bid on it.

HTH

frogs · 28/10/2010 13:57

Do the following (that's what I'd do, anyway):

Check the completed listings for equivalent laptops to see what they sell for. Then you can judge whether the price he is offering you is sensible or a pisstake. Often requests for BIN are less than the usual sale price, but if the price is close to what you could expect it to go for if you let the auction run, then the offer is more appealing in a 'bird in the hand' kind of way.

If the offer is sensible, and he's prepared to pay CASH (NOT paypal or any other method that doesn't involve actual money) and he sounds sensible and not dodgy or weird, then arrange a collection time when you have other people around. Equip yourself with one of thsoe pens that tests for fake notes.

If he turns up, pocket the cash (which you've checked carefully) and end the ebay listing early (easier to do this if there aren't any bids on it, and you can't do it within 24 hours of the scheduled ending time for the auction, so be careful). That way you have money, and you don't pay ebay fees or paypal fees. STrictly speaking, this is against the rules, but tbh ebay is a giant money-making scam anyway, so it feels quite good to get one over them occasionally.

Original poster

aliceinlalaland · 30/10/2010 20:47

This is really helpful - thanks, all. Decided not to sell to him in the end (partly because my new mac hadn't arrived so wouldn't have had time to clear all the info) but feel I have learnt a lot for the future!!

Having searched for completed items I don't think he was completely taking the piss price-wise but I think it might well go for more.

Thanks again

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