When selling via auction method does the highest bidder automatically win/buy the item?

[spunkycyndi]

What if the highest bid is only 1/4 of what i'm willing to sell it for? Do i have to complete deal even if price is too low b/c they 'won'?

[lucitabby]

Yes, that is what an auction is.  Highest bidder wins.

If you are running auctions your starting bid should be an amount you are happy with in the event there is only one bid.

Perhaps, fixed price is a better option for your listings.

Good luck!

[momcqueen]

Yes.

That's the reason a seller should ALWAYS set his or her opening bid for the lowest ACCEPTABLE amount possible.

There are various strategies to consider when setting that point: offering free shipping, gauging your competition, timing your auction to end at the exact right moment etc.

But sending an item to auction is supposed to be a contract with the buyer, the same as a buyer bidding on it is considered a contract and therefore he or she is then supposed to pay when the auction ends even if they simultaneously bid on eight of the same item from six different sellers and won them all. 

What happens if the deal falls through? If you are the seller, and you back out of a deal, you run the risk of getting negative feedback and/or a defect. Neither are pleasant and do have long-term consequences. As a buyer, you'd get an Unpaid Item Strike if you bid higher than you wanted to pay and then decided against it later. Or won/bought too many. Ditto for the long-term consequences. 

Other members get angry when the contractual agreements fall through (and rightly so) but it's not like someone comes to your house and leaves you a flaming doorstep surprise because of it. Well, not often anyway.

Best of luck to you.

[femmefan1946]

And it is also helpful to leave feedback for your sellers.

Both feedback and Detailed Seller Ratings are very important to sellers. Buyers can only get positive FB, so for them it is just egoboo.

If you leave feedback for your buyers, preferably in my opinion on shipment, you are more likely to get FB in return. Positive feedback and 5 Star DSRs are how you become a Top Rated/Power Seller and get lower fees and more Free Listings.

Yes, eBay tries to convince you that a lower starting price gets more bids, but that hasn't been true for over a decade.

And try to move the the Advanced Sell Your Item form as soon as possible.  More complex, but much more flexible.

And pay a lot of attention to shipping costs.

A lot.

Poorly thought out shipping can kill your business.

[mcrlmn]

Yup, you sell and ship for the price in the listing at auction close.

Unless you're a gambler, "what i'm willing to sell it for" is what you should list at.