A buyer has asked me how to buy an item outright, after putting in a bid?

[Anonymous]

Hello all. I have a food dehydrator up for sale and heard from a prospective buyer who put in a bid but is now wanting to buy the item outright. It is not a high ticket item so I don't think it's anything shady but I have no idea if or how the buyer can go ahead and buy something outright after putting in a bid. Can it be done?

[reallynicestamps]

How much longer does he have to wait?

It's the weekend, so you can't ship until Monday.

And then it takes  week to get there.

What's his rush?

You can end the bidding now, and the high bidder automatically wins.

But most bids arrive within minutes of the end of the auction.

BTW, your customer is the reason most sellers don't bother with auctions.

85% of listings and sales are Fixed Price, more if you count auctions with the Buy It Now option.

[reallynicestamps]

Another method:

Make a Fixed Price (30 day) Immediate Payment Required listing for the purchase as you have agreed.

Make the title the customer's eBay ID.

Tell him how to find it and give him a deadline.

If he doesn't buy, change the title and let it run.

Leave the auction open, but make sure the deadline for the Fixed Price listing is BEFORE the auction closes or you may end up with two customers for one item.

[reallynicestamps]

Make a Fixed Price (30 day) Immediate Payment Required listing for the purchase as you have agreed.

Make the title the customer's eBay ID.

Tell him how to find it and give him a deadline.

If he doesn't buy, change the title and let it run.

Leave the auction open, but make sure the deadline for the Fixed Price listing is BEFORE the auction closes or you may end up with two customers for one item.

[Anonymous]

I believe there are 7 days left. Thank you for your response, it's appreciated. Have a great weekend.

[esclyons]

it is an auction, so i would just let it run.. i wouldn't end the auction as it appears you have more than one bidder.  tell them to put in their maximum bid, it will sell to one of your bidders.. so don't make an offer to end it..

[femmefan1946]

Just a note-- you will do better on clothing if you use some of your 80 free keystrokes to put the size in the title and then put the actual dimensions in the Description, since manufacturer's sizing is .... psychedelic?.... fantastic?.... random??

This is even more true in plus sizes, where body shapes are so varied.