I was in the same situation (to cancel or not to cancel) not too long ago. I ended up cancelling. Because my concious tends to be pathetically guilty about such things, I had the same dilemma. I went as far as to email each person who had bidded individually (pathetic, huh?)... But anyway... here's what I learned:
In short, I would suggest a terse explanation. Unfortunately, it seems that (though it seems like the "right thing" to do), the more information you supply, the more you leave yourself open to criticism and "opinions" being voiced. Besides, the top of your page will say something like "AUCTION HAS ENDED EARLY"... the part where you get to add to the description will be way at the bottom of the page... and I think you'd be surprised at how many people dont even bother to scroll down once they see that the auction is dead. > And will my name forever be mud? Definitely not. I think that memories are incredibly short on eBay. What matters (over time) is the feedback, and like you pointed out: > people (can't) post feedback unless they're the buyer. Your post (and hence your conscious) already shows that you are not doing such a thing maliciously, so in that respect I think you can personally rest assured. However, I will advise the following: (I guess this is for future reference, since I just reread your post, and noticed that you already ended the auction)... Be CERTAIN that you are not underselling yourself. Sometimes you will be surprised how much some people (perhaps in very remote, smaller markets) will be willing to pay for an item when you may deem it significantly less in value. Is 4 days early worth the potential of an extra xx amount of dollars? In my case, I was certain that the bids would not go higher than the price given by the person who wanted me to end the auction. Why? (a) I checked the history on eBay (completed items) on how much identical items sold for previously. And (b) the price they gave was a couple of dollars above the cost of buying it new on a few other websites (they needed the item urgently) Hope this helps. .jerome. - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .