How to End an eBay Listing Early

Last Updated: March 23, 2023 References

There are times when you may discover that you can no longer sell an item you listed on eBay. When that happens, there are steps you can take to end the listing early.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Reasons and Requirements

1
Determine whether or not you have a valid reason. When you end a listing early, eBay will want you to indicate a reason for your decision.
- Since ending a listing early can cause buyers disappointment or inconvenience, your reason should be a fairly unavoidable one. Try to avoid simply "changing your mind" about selling something.
- You are not allowed to end a listing just to avoid selling an item when a desired price was not met. Doing so is a violation of eBay policy.
- The most legitimate reasons are when an item is lost, broken, or otherwise unavailable for sale.^{[1]
  X
  Research source}
- If you the description, title, or price is wrong, revise the listing or add a note to the description about the error. If these options are unavailable to you for some reason, then you can end the listing early.
2
Consider how much time is left. There are fewer restrictions if you end a listing more than 12 hours before it is already due to end. If the listing is due to expire in less than 12 hours, there are more restrictions you will need to deal with, and they may prevent you from ending your listing.
- You can end a listing early if there are at least 12 hours left, regardless of whether or not there are any bids on it.
- If there are fewer than 12 hours left, you can end the bid if there are no bids, including no canceled bids. If there is one bid or more, you can end the listing, but only if you agree to sell the item to the current highest bidder.
- If there are fewer than 12 hours left and there are no bids because you have canceled them, or if there are bids but the listing's reserve price has not been met, you cannot end the listing early.
Advertisement
3
Make yourself aware of possible fees. If there are 12 or more hours left and one or more bids on your listing, you will need to pay a fee if you want to end the listing and cancel those bids.
- Note that this fee does not apply to listings in the "Real Estate" or "eBay Motor vehicle" categories. It does not apply if you are using the Classified Ads selling format, either.
- You will not be charged a fee for the first auction listing you end early throughout the course of a calendar year, but any listing you end early after that will result in a fee if these conditions apply. Note that a calendar year is any date in between January 1 and December 31.^{[2]
  X
  Research source}
- The fee will be equal to the final value fee you would have paid if the listing ended on its own and sold for the highest bid you received at the time of the ending.^{[3]
  X
  Research source}
- You will still be charged standard listing fees even if you end the listing early.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Ending the Listing Early

1
Go to the "My eBay." While signed into your account, click on the "My eBay" heading in the upper right corner.
- Clicking on this tab should take you to the "My eBay" summary page.
2
Navigate to the "All Selling" page. Look at the left side of your summary screen. Find the "Sell" heading, then click on the "All Selling" option to view all the items currently listed.^{[4]
X
Research source}
- You could also click on the "Active" option underneath the "Sell" heading to go to your active listings. Either option should allow you to find the listing you want to cancel.
3
Click on the "More Actions" button beside the listing. Scroll down until you find the listing you want to end. Look to the right of that listing, and click on the "More Actions" drop-down box to open the menu.
4
Choose the "End Item" option from the drop-down menu. Doing so will take you to the "End My Listing Early" page.
5
Indicate how you want to end the listing. If there are any bids currently placed on the listing, you will be asked to choose an option regarding the way you want to close the listing.
- When there are more than 12 hours before the natural end of the listing, you can choose between "Cancel bids and end listing early" and "Sell item to highest bidder."
- When there are fewer than 12 hours left, you can only select "Sell item to highest bidder."
- If there are no bids on this item, you will not be asked to make a selection.
6
Select your reason. You will need to indicate your reason for wanting to end the listing. Select the reason from the list provided.
- The possible reasons include:
  - "The item is no longer available for sale."
  - "There was an error in the listing."
  - "There was an error in the starting price, But It Now price, or reserve price."
  - "The item was lost or broken."
7
Click on "End My Listing." After selecting your reason, click on the "End My Listing" button at the bottom of the page.
- Once you click on this button, the listing will end and the process is finished. Your listing will no longer be active on the eBay website.
- If you end a listing that has bids, any bidder who did not win will receive an e-mail explaining that his or her bid was canceled. The message will also indicate that the listing was ended early.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Precautions

1
Do what you can to avoid ending the listing early. Even though you are allowed to end your listings early, eBay frowns on the practice and may start penalizing you if you do it too often. Your account could have restrictions placed on it. For that reason, it is best to work around the problem as often as possible instead of automatically ending the listing at the first sign of trouble.
- Price your items carefully the first time around so that you won't want to set a different price later.
- Double-check each listing before you submit it to avoid any errors.
- Manage your inventory with a little caution. If you only have one of an item, or a small number of a certain item, only list it on eBay and do not list it for sale on other websites.
- Block certain types of buyers so that you won't be tempted to end a listing early when you receive bids from buyers you don't want to sell to. You can block buyers who don't have a PayPal account, have unpaid items on their account, have a primary shipping address in a country you don't want to ship to, have a low feedback score, or have violated eBay policies. You can also block users who have bought a certain amount from you in the past.^{[5]
  X
  Research source}
2
Know what to do when this option is not available. If you are unable to end a listing due to certain time restrictions, you will need to contact the seller and work out a solution with him or her directly.
- If you want to act before the listing ends, contact the bidders, explain the situation, and ask them to retract their bids.
- If you want to wait until after a listing ends with a winning bidder, contact the bidder and explain the situation. If you can reach an understanding with the bidder, you can cancel the entire transaction.

Community Q&A

Question

I don't have any bids on my listing. Will I still be charged a fee when/if I cancel it and add it again with more listing time?

Community Answer

It is best to let the time run out instead of ending the listing early. Canceling listings early is considered bad practice, and may lead to restrictions on your account if you do it too often. The only fee you'd be charged is the standard insertion fee. When you relist it, you'll be charged whatever insertion fee applies to your account, just as if it was a new listing.
Question

Can I change from "buy it now" to "auction" on eBay?

Community Answer

You can't change the selling format once an item is listed. You could end the item early, then relist it with the selling format you wanted, but ending items early is bad practice. If you do it too often, you might start getting restrictions on your account.
Question

I bid on something I wanted to "buy now" by mistake. How do I go back and find "Buy Now"?

Community Answer

Once a bid is placed, the Buy It Now option disappears. Contact the seller and see if he/she will work with you.