Offers to close early.

[ladyamaranth88]

I always seem to get offers to close early and quite frankly they are getting irritating.

Every time I reject an offer politely i get a more hostile response which usually reads

like "yeah okay but good luck getting the price you're asking. all the best".

I've even had buyers accuse me of listing an item wrong, trying to get a cheaper

price and then when I point out why it is correct and that you can see it in the photos

they said they meant to say something else.

I've been toying with the idea of adding a note to my auctions along the lines of

"I do not close auctions early so please do not waste my time or yours by asking."

but I worry it will come off as too hostile to genuine buyers.

What do you guys think? should I just grin and bear it or try to discourage the

annoying emails?

Thanks!

LA

[*crikey*mate*]

I vote for grin and bear it.

At least you know there is interest in your product. If it is worth what you believe, or you don't want to sell it for any less, then, just keep relisting it every now and then until it does sell.

It took 3 or 4 relistings on three different items of mine, they sold eventually, two for a higher price than I wanted (auction bid up) go figure. One by $60 (it was still a bargain though) and another by $15. The third, I got my asking price - all happened in the same week too, so was a nice surprise.

[dotcomdotayu]

I agree.

With free listings now, it doesn't cost anything to re-list items in the hope they'll sell for what you are after.

I've re-listed some items tons of times. Sometimes I even play around with the title or the photo's, or even the price. Often, I'll put the price up (yes, up) by a few dollars and it sells.

Don't let the mean ones get to you OP.

[i-once-was-bump]

It can be really annoying but I think if you want to put anything in your listing you will need to word it carefully and you will still get some buyers wanting you to lower the price or end early.

"I do not close auctions early so please do not waste my time or yours by asking."

Yes that is a little hostile, but just a bit of rewording will make it alright. Never mention wasting time as that will always come across as narky.

Something along the lines of 

Please understand I am unable to close auctions early.

Or something similar, there are plenty of posters that will be able to word it much better than me.

[putney32]

you should be happy your listings are getting out there and getting attention.

your proposed wording re not asking comes across as hostile in my opinion, and would have me, as a prospective buyers, wondering if you are the kind of seller to deal with, as how would you react to a complaint.

not saying you are, but that is not good wording to put out there for all prospective buyers to see.

[rusty-shed]

I also get requests to end auctions early. My standard response is " thankyou for your offer, the item has a number of watchers on it, so will let it run its course" and close with Kind Regards ****** I have never received a rude response to this line and the messager often ends up bidding on the auction. If I receive multiple requests to end early it usually means the starting price is too cheap and I often get a pleasant surprise once auction closes. On my store site I have a note on my BINs that all prices are firm. This keeps most of the low offers away.

[*sparklz*]

Do not enter into a discussion with them.

Just say

Thank you for your interest but I would prefer to let the auction run it's course and please feel free to bid and good luck.

[davewil1964]

I don't do auctions

[ladyamaranth88]

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

I think I'll go with the majority and just be polite when I do get those messages

and not engage with them.

It just gets irritating!

[lane-ends]

Maybe it does get irritating, but that at the end of the day that is your problem. When buyers have options of BINs to choose from they are giving you the option to also provide it. You can choose to take it or not. They are not being rude, unreasonable and it sometimes works.

Just add in a high BIN option, if you are lucky and they need it enough you may get it.

Some buyers want to know for sure they can buy something and have it in the post ASAP, not wait for a week for a maybe win maybe not for who knows how much. Then start looking again.  for another if they loose.

If you want to succeed as a seller the aim is to provide a service buyers want not just just dictate what you feel like doing regardless of what the market wants.

Otherwise simply "no thanks" is enough response to questions like that, hardly a great effort in the scale of Ebay selling effort. A grumpy or reluctant response would leave me wondering as a buyer what your response would be to a real complaint or difficult question.