Is it possible to send a "Buy it now" listing to a particular eBay member for their eyes only?

[felicity_1]

Hello, I sold an item as a "Buy it Now" and another customer sent an email requesting the item also. I can make another item for her, but I would like to know that if there is a way to send her the listing so she can pay for it. Or is there another way to do this so that she will be the only one who sees it?  Thanks!

[maggiebvintage2010]

Use the buyer's name or nickname as the title (having agreed to this with the buyer before posting the listing) and as soon as you have listed the item, send them an eBay Message with the item number.

[jt-libra]

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@maggiebvintage2010 wrote:

Use the buyer's name or nickname as the title (having agreed to this with the buyer before posting the listing) and as soon as you have listed the item, send them an eBay Message with the item number.

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Good idea.  I never thought of that.  I usually send the Item # immediately after listing and tell them to "hurry".

[mr.elmwood]

I also put a very high price on it with a BIN that I send to the customer.

[rose-dee]

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@jt-libra wrote:

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@maggiebvintage2010 wrote:

Use the buyer's name or nickname as the title (having agreed to this with the buyer before posting the listing) and as soon as you have listed the item, send them an eBay Message with the item number.

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Good idea.  I never thought of that.  I usually send the Item # immediately after listing and tell them to "hurry".

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Yes, this is the procedure I use because I often have items I make to customers' specific order. 

However, I use only the buyer's eBay ID as the title, so that I'm not revealing any of their personal information to the whole world.  The advantage of using the eBay ID is also that the customer can access the item by their own ID as well as the item # -- less chance of problems if the buyer loses the item # or types it in incorrectly.  I usually phone my customer with the item # to be sure they'll be the first to get there, although most listings aren't actually searchable/viewable on eBay for anywhere from a few minutes to several hours.

Now, I must say this is not what I was told to do by Raphael when I brought up this issue (listing an item for a particular person) a few weeks ago.  He said you should list the item as an auction, with a starting price at the price you've agreed to beforehand with your buyer, and cancel any unwanted bids that might come along. 

I see three problems with this right off the bat: (1) An auction starting at $200 or $300 -- which many of my custom items sell for -- is going to attract heftier listing fees (I have a store, so otherwise would pay nothing for listing as BIN); (2) It makes immediate payment impossible, which I think could be a problem with a custom item; and (3) I'm not sure I'd want to be cancelling bids and upsetting other potential buyers. 

EBay used to have "Exclusive Listings" that could be set up by a seller to block everyone but the ID you planned to sell to.  That worked beautifully for me in the past.  Apparently though, accordingly to Raphael, it's now a very restricted selling tool -- basically a no-no for most ordinary sellers.

[pjcdn2005]

While I agree that it makes more sense to set up a listing for a specific buyer with a BIN rather than as an auction but I don't understand what you mean by this statement...

An auction starting at $200 or $300 -- which many of my custom items sell for -- is going to attract heftier listing fees (I have a store, so otherwise would pay nothing for listing as BIN)

If you have enough free listings left to get free BIN then you wouldn't pay a fee for an auction either.