Dawes-man,

I appreciate your explanation-and I take your point.You more or less assume that the seller made a conscious decision, an irrevocable decision, to not put a BIN price, so you find it faintly insulting that a buyer would email asking for a BIN. The email implies that the seller isn't bright enough to have figured out it "needs" a BIN.

I used to sell a fair amount on ebay, and it frequently wasn't a well thought out "ad". I would just try to get it on ebay as quickly as possible with as little pain as possible, for as little money as possible. I would usually start at 99 cents to avoid high starting fees, and rarely used a reserve. It is within the rules to remove your item from the auction if it is "no longer available for sale." Yes, I would interpret that to mean whatever I wanted it to mean. I always split hairs in my favor when dealing with Ebay. I was always within my interpretation of the Ebay rules, and I freely admit that I have no interest the spirit of the "law" and no interest in exactly what the intent of the regulation was.The intent of their rules is always the same- get Ebay as much money as possible-money from my pocket,and the buyers pockets.My intent was always the same-as few fees as possible within the rules of Ebay.

Well, sellers do change their minds on the BIN option once they see how the auction is going. If their Record Campy brakes (1978 vintage)+ levers + rubber hoods is at just $20 with 24 hours left-they might consider a $100 BIN offer, if they have just 5 watchers.However, if they have 50 watchers they will let it ride. I found that -as a general rule-about 20% of the watchers were going to make serious bids at the end of the auction. 5 watchers means you are in trouble-50 watchers means it will dramatically spike as 10 folks fight for one item.

Many sellers just toss the item on Ebay, and see what the interest is by how many watchers they have. The seller will change his valuation of the item based on this. He doesn't want to put a BIN on it until he actually knows what it is worth. He will consider a BIN, because a BIN because of a specific request means you are actually going to be paid(probably). Getting a high last bid doesn't mean you are actually going to be paid. My guess is that the default rate on pricey bike auctions is maybe 5% or so. On BINs it is much lower since the buyer initiated it, and really really wants the item.No immediate buyers remorse.

Thanks for your explanation.I see your point, but sellers do change their minds, or they are just in such a rush, they forget. They also are looking to hold down fees-within the limits of Ebays regs.They always interpret Ebays regs in their favor-some folks find that distasteful-they just cross you off.They are usually the most frugal, so not no loss there.
Charlie
PS CV is filled with flippers-buy 1X--spiff it up, put two-three hours+ cables,+ fix tubes+ adjust derailleurs, clean, oil-sell 1.6X. Win win for both parties.Some are too sharp by half and buy .25X -put in time, parts- sell 2X. Usually it doesn't work that way, and it seems a bit unfair to the original seller, but C'est La Vie .