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At the end of the auction, the owner and the high-bidder are notified via e-mail. Auction results are also available for everyone to examine. These results indicate the final bid price and the owner's and high-bidder's e-mail addresses. The complete bidding history is also available as a link from the description page. Buyer and seller should try to contact each other within three business days of the end of the auction. Buyers run the risk of losing their place as winning bidder if the seller contacts the next bidder after three business days have elapsed.
AuctionWeb acts solely as listing-agent. We don't get involved in the actual transaction.
To place a bid, simply select the item from the main list, and then press the bid button. Please bid the maximum amount you are willing to pay for the item. This amount is kept secret! Bids will be made on your behalf as necessary as other bidders increase the bid price. You will never bid more than your maximum, or more than necessary to outbid other bidders. This process is different for Dutch Auctions.
In the case of a tie for high bid, the earlier bid will take precedence.
Once you make and confirm a bid, you cannot take it back, except under dire circumstances. Bid retraction is a privilege that must not be abused. Valid reasons for bid retraction do not include bidding or winning a bid on another (perhaps similar) item; not having budget to pay for an item; changing your mind; etc.
Please bid carefully!
By placing a bid, you signify your intention and ability to buy the item at any price up through your maximum bid amount. Placing a fraudulent bid is not permitted, and may be legally actionable. We record enough information to track the computer which originated the fraudulent bid and will file complaints with the appropriate authorities when necessary.
Important: individuals who bid on an item and then back out of the purchase for reasons other than legitimate concerns may be barred from future use of the system, at our sole discretion. You are required to provide a valid e-mail address with your bid.
You will automatically receive notification if your maximum bid is outbid by another bidder. But you should realize that you may be outbid minutes before the close of an auction, and not have the opportunity to place a new bid. Because of that, you are encouraged to bid your maximum bid at the very start, and not worry about being outbid.
It's a good idea to set the starting price for your item a little lower than you would think, just to get the auction going. If your starting price is too high, people may not bid. However, keep in mind that the minimum price you specify indicates the minimum amount you will accept to sell the item.
The software automatically specifies the bidding increment, based on the current price. The increment is kept as low as possible to encourage more people to bid.
By placing an item on auction, you signify your intention and ability to sell that item. Although no one can force you to sell your belongings at the final auction price, not doing so may be legally actionable.
You may place any merchandise that you have the right to sell up for auction. If we don't think your item is appropriate, we reserve the right to move the item from one category to another or to end the auction.
All items will be charged a non-refundable insertion fee, and a listing fee based on the final selling price if the item sells. Please see our account information page for more information.
Important: sellers are held to a slightly higher standard than bidders, with regards to handling complaints made by potential buyers. If a seller receives three or more legitimate complaints, the seller may be barred from using this service, at our sole discretion. You are required to provide a valid e-mail address with your listing.
In addition, sellers who submit illicit or illegal items may be barred from future use of the system, at our sole discretion.
You can advertise the existence of your auction with the URL:
where ITEMNUMBER is the item number assigned to your item.http://www.ebay.com/aw/item.cgi?item=ITEMNUMBER
Some rules for sellers are listed below:
First, a seller should set the starting price for their auction to the lowest fair price at which they are willing to sell their item. This is the preferred mechanism, since it seems to be the most fair option for all involved.
Second, a seller may employ a Reserve Price Auction. This allows the seller to set a price below which he/she does not agree to sell the item.
Third, a seller in a non-reserve price auction may bid on his/her own item only once. This may happen if a seller starts an auction at a particular price, and then realizes that he/she wants to keep the item at a price above that starting price. This restriction applies to sellers' agents or associates as well. Keep in mind that we keep all bidding records and can track multiple bids, and that the bidding history is visible to anyone who is interested.
Why would anyone want this? This format can be used by sellers who are unsure of the real value of their item, but would like to reserve the right to refuse to sell the item if the market value is below a certain price. However, sellers should realize that buyers typically don't like this format, since they have to wait until the end of the auction for confirmation that their bid is above the seller's reserve price. Also, reserve auctions are not eligible for display in the Hot Items section.
During an auction, an annotation will be displayed in the item information screen if the seller has specified a reserve price. This lets potential buyers know that they will have to wait until the end of the auction for confirmation that their bid is above the seller's reserve price.
At the end of the auction, notification still be sent to the high-bidder and the seller, but will include an annotation indicating if the final price was below the seller's reserve price.
This option is not available for Dutch auctions.
This option is useful when the seller realizes that potential bidders may not want their identities disclosed to the general public.
This option is not available for Dutch auctions.
For example, let's assume there are ten TVs being sold at $100. Twenty five people bid for one TV each, at $100. In this case, only the first ten people will be the successful bidders, since the bid amounts are the same, and earlier bids take precedence.
Now, let's say that one of those people bid $150 for one TV. Since her bid is higher than all the others, she will certainly be one of the successful bidders. The other nine TVs will be claimed by the earliest bidders who bid $100, so the final price for each TV will be $100.
If enough people bid above the starting price, the final price of the item will increase as well. On the other hand, if less than ten people bid in our example TV auction, then only that number of TVs will be sold at the opening price of $100. For the selling price to increase past the opening price specified by the seller, there must be an equal or higher level of demand than the supply indicated. In our example, the selling price would only increase if eleven or more TVs were bid upon, no matter what the amount of each bid.
In the case of multiple quantities bid for by a bidder, the lowest bidder may not earn the right to purchase the complete quantity, since there may only be one left by the time the higher bidders have been processed. In other words, if the lowest bidder requested a quantity of three TVs, she may only be entitled to one TV, since there are nine other TVs allocated to higher bidders. The only way around this problem is to ensure that you are not the lowest bidder. In some cases, a bidder may reserve the right to refuse purchase of a partial quantity. In that case, the seller may skip that bidder and move on to the next one, if any.
In Dutch auctions, the current standings are always displayed after the item description, and the complete bidding history (including unsuccessful bids) is available as usual.
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