Automated response to eBay winner?

October 14, 2005 9:57 AM

eBayFilter: Is there a way to send a custom, automated response to the winner of my auction?

I've poked around in "My eBay," but can't find anything. Problem is (I now realize) I'm going to be just getting on a plane as the auction ends, tonight at around 7pm, and I won't be at a computer for another four-five hours. I don't want to leave the winner without communication for that long, since the auction is for tickets to an event that will be taking place on Monday, and I will need to meet him/her on Saturday or Sunday.

So it'd be nice to dispatch an e-mail to the winner letting them know that I'm airborne and will be slightly delayed in contacting them. I'd rather not post in in the item description because (a) they might not see it, and (b) it might discourage bids.

Is there a way to do this on eBay, or a free/cheap third-party solution?

posted by deadfather to computers & internet (5 comments total)

Send your email to a friend, and have them forward it to the winning bidder at auction end?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:10 AM on October 14, 2005

Edit your listing to include this information, any potential winner can read it there.
posted by fire&wings at 10:32 AM on October 14, 2005

How close is departure time to end of auction time? I mean, is there any way, if you had access to an internet connection in the airport or on the plane (before the doors close) that you could send a quick pre-prepared message to the winner?

Otherwise, find a proxy (friend, whatnot) to send the email on your behalf (ideally from your own email account, but it probably doesn't matter really).
posted by misterbrandt at 10:39 AM on October 14, 2005

I feel like I've gotten an e-mail like this before on an auction I won. It was instant, no way the guy had time to even plug in my e-mail address.

Timing won't work. I don't have any friends. There has to be some powerseller crap that will do this.
posted by deadfather at 11:11 AM on October 14, 2005

my guess would be that they're using eBay's "Selling Manager Pro" program.

From the description page: " Automatically send Winning Buyer Notifications, Payment Reminders, Payment Received, Item Shipped and Feedback Reminder Emails".

There's a free 30 day trial, apparently.

I googled something like "ebay auction manager post-sales"
posted by fishfucker at 11:39 AM on October 14, 2005