This auction just ended, and, after some last-minute bids, it ended at $5,000, and the reserve was apparently met. It will be interesting to see if the car stays sold or if it reappears in a few hours or a few days. If he really did sell it, he came down considerably from what his reserve was the first time around and what he was asking ($7,000) in his craigslist ad.
If it goes back onto the block, would you be ready to make a straight offer to buy? That's how Leadslead and his wife ended up getting that '88 CP for a fixed price instead of trying to compete on an auction, and because they were local and had a fistful of cash, they got a price below the reserve.
And I've been in blissfully 80's colony park happy since... Still has that new car smell.... Mmmmmm...
If the auction doesn't have the "make an offer" feature, isn't attempting to buy it by contacting the seller and offering to buy it outside of ebay a violation of ebay rules? I'm not willing to do that. If the seller simultaneously has the vehicle for sale outside of ebay, such as on craigslist, which is not uncommon, the situation is different. I can contact him directly through the craigslist ad. So far, for this particular vehicle, I have not seen it listed in two places at once.
Nope, ebay understands the car is also for sale locally and allows the ad to be pulled if the vehicle sells locally... With my case i waited until after it ended when the reserve wasnt met... And we talked turkey... And i drove away in my new car the day after...
