[geeks] eBay question

[Lionel Peterson]

>From: "Geoffrey S. Mendelson" <gsm at mendelson.com>
>Date: 2007/09/05 Wed AM 06:53:47 CDT
>To: The Geeks List <geeks at sunhelp.org>
>Subject: Re: [geeks] eBay question

<snip>

>But he's advertising it for sale. He's advertising that you can "win" the
>auction with a specific minimum. If he has a published reserve, then it's
>a misleading advertisement but he does say what the true minimum is.
>
>If it has a hidden reserve he's falsely advertising the minimum bid.

The seller never said you could win it at the lower price, he said (in effect) "I'll entertain bids this low, but I reserve the right to not sell it until bidding reaches a certain number. I may sell it at the opening bid, I may not."

IIRC, eBay advertises reserves either being met or not met one  a bid has been posted, so as a bidder you are alerted to the fact that the seller is not obligated to actually sell the item at the current bid.

It could also be an attempt to scam eBay fees - if the seller does not get any offers above the reserve price I think the seller gets contact info and can "reject" the bid in eBay, but sell it privately outside of eBay (and save the fees)... Just a thought.

Lionel