Do you feel bad if bidders bid too much?

[memoo]

I have put a few things up for sale, including a Blu-ray DVD that we bought but never opened.

The higest bid is now more than it cost us to buy the Dvd in the first place!

So now I feel guilty!!

I once listed a whole load of old Girl Guide annuals start at 99p, none of them in great conditon, but not bad either for their age.

All of them got bids, and I think sold for around £1.50 - except for one which rocketed up to £31.

I actually emailed the winning biddder to make sure he hadn't put the wrong price in (obviously whoever he was bidding against had also bid high as well) and he emailed me back to explain that he had definitely meant £31 (and would have gone higher!) as apparently that particular year there were fewer annuals printed and it was quite a rare one!

Oh I get the guilts too. I sold a skirt that was divine but I got more than I paid for it.... And it wasn't cheap either.

I never got any feedback from them either... hope they were not gutted!

Don't feel guilty - they would clearly rather have the item than the money, you would rather have the money than the item, you're both happy.

Thats fab tocca! nice surprise when you're only expecting a few quid!

Pancake I would be like that too!

I have DD's baptism dress on at the mo and it is up to nearly £30 and so I'm now worried that they will be disappointed with it, even though its beautiful and in immaculate condition!

Good advice Trillian! Trying to raise money for holiday spends so every penny helps

No such thing as bidding too much if you are the seller on the receiving end of the bids! So long as you've been clear with your description and taken good photos then feel no guilt.

Well my guilt will dissolve then - cos it was photo'd lovely and the description was exact. And it was gorgeous... you know the type of skirt you can wear to the pub or dress it up for a restaurant or wear it a the school gates with your funky boots or go for a stroll in the country lanes..

Why did I sell it??????

Why didn't I buy it?!

Now stop it, you're making me feel all nostalgic about the maternity stuff I have on there!

Nope. I sold a grotty old Persian rug for about 10 times what I'd paid for it at a flea market.

When bidding reached about five times what I'd paid, I actually took it to an antique rug dealer to check it wasn't some hugely valuable classic that everyone had spotted, but she said it wasn't.

People get carried away, which is not my problem. The woman who won it never left me feedback, and I suspect it was buyer's remorse. I put up lots of good photos and an accurate description - I think I did actually use the term "grotty" in my description (although admittedly I didn't air my suspicions that DD might have weed on it) and people just built it up in their heads as something hugely desirable.

no, it's their money! sadly it never goes this way with any items i have sold tho!!

cept a maxi cosi car seat, which had a wonderful grey leopard pattern. Bidding war ensued, and I sold it for £80!!!!

I do wonder if its competiveness sometimes that keeps them bidding. I know if I've bid on an item and someone outbids me it tempting to keep biding just to beat the other bidder! how childish is that!!

Definitely the wording is designed to encourage competitiveness - you don't simply buy an item, you "lose" it or "win" it.

I once bought a bag (can't remember by who) with a Andy Warhol/Mick Jagger print on it in a closing down sale for a posh shop for £15 (reduced from about £300). Once I got it home I decided I had only bought it because it was so cheap rather than actually liking it so I put it on ebay. I set my reserve at £15 so if I got my money back I'd be happy, if not I'd use it as a beach bag or something.

Someone in New York bought it for £150. I was gobsmacked! I emailed them to check they had understood the price in £ and not $ and I got a lovely email back from this bloke saying that he and his wife had their first date at a Stones concert and she had always loved this print so he had bought the bag as a present for her birthday. He had been prepared to top the highest bidder at any cost.

So long as your listing is accurate then you have nothing to feel guilty about.

I have felt really awkward about it once or twice

In a couple of cases I sold to the highest bidder but then paid their postage, or sent them a freebie or even refunded them a bit (without them asking). Don't like to rip people off!

Potplant, what a lovely story, how romantic!!!

My listing is really accurate and always include lots of photos.

Mazzy, you are a very kind lady!

I sold a kate moss photography book for £70 a couple of years ago. I bought it for £16 in 1994 when she first got famous, AFAIK only one edition was published and she co-edited it. I was a smart arse though and listed it on e-bay the day her first top shop collection was on sale as I figured I'd get lots of interest, still impressed it sold for so much though.

I paid the special delivery fee for the buyer as I was in a panic about it going missing in the post. I'd only originally listed it as normal first class post. The buyer gave me good feedback too, so they obviously didn't mind stumping up all that cash for it.