CAUTION,
The seller seems to be trying to sell merchandise to you outside of Ebay and he is trying to avoid paying Ebay costs. It sounds like the seller has several of these units and may bait people with the auction pic and may later switch to another and possibly lower quality part. Or they could be trying to sell multiple items through ebay and avoid Dutch Bid payment fees. The bottom line is that if this were reported to Ebay they would probably terminate the auction. E CAVEAT EMPTOR !
Aside from the ethics debate on this apparent action by the seller since the transaction is outside of Ebay, you are not protected by Ebay anti-fraud protections. What happens if the seller takes the money and doesn't ship or runs off with the money? You could have no recourse going back to Ebay for help since it is an outside transaction.
Good luck, I think I would pass...
Steve Neago "Slip Slidin Away in Cincinnati, OH"
> Well, checking ebay rules, it doesn't say that the seller
> can't contact bidders about the particular auction, like for giving
> information & answering questions. However under the User Agreement:
>
> >5.5 Manipulation. Neither you, bidders nor sellers may manipulate
> >the price of any item nor may you interfere with other user's
> >listings or auctions.
> >
>
> I don't know if a seller asking bidders to pay more is
> unethical or manipulative, but it's pretty pathetic. If he asked you
> to purchase something else, that's spamming and against the rules.
>
> Roy "pedantic" Drinkwater
> Lititz "rain - 40's", PA
>
>
> p.s. are there pictures in the original listing, or are these
> additional pictures?
>
> Chris asked:
>
> >I received the following (somwhat edited to protect the guilty) from the
> >seller of an item for which I was not the high bidder. Isn't this
unethical,
> >as well as a no-no per eBay?
> >
> > > Hello,
> >>
> >> Although the reserve has been met, I hate to sell these unique brakes
for
> >> $61.
> >> Attached are photos of the actual set for sale.
> >>
> >> Thanks for bidding.