Russ,

There are no rules stating that an individual (potential buyer) can not make an offer to a seller at the beginning of, during, at the end, or even after a posted auction closes, if there are/were no bids on that item. This is why E-Bay now has the "Make An Offer" option available.

If I (buyer) were to contact you (seller) and made an offer on an item that you have posted on E-Bay that no one has bid on, it would be solely up to you (seller) to make the decision to sell that item at what ever the buyer has offered and close or end the auction. E-Bay is just trying to 1) collect their fees and 2) make sure no one is getting ripped off or taken advantage of. Bottom line, it is an auction... bid to win the item (make seller happy), no bids = no sale (seller unhappy).

Regards,
Thomas (R-7788)