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 Replies: 31 / Views: 6,635 |
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Moderator
 United States
16679 Posts |
This is the third time this has happened to me. I have been patiently waiting 5 days to place a bid down on ebay. I usually wait until the last couple of hours to place my bid. This auction was scheduled to end today at 5PM PST. When I logged on my computer to check the auction, the seller (who by the way just joined ebay 3 days ago!) had pulled the auction stating "seller has ended the auction early because item was lost or broken". Yeah, sure. I suspect someone offered him some ridiculous price and said "just end the auction and I'll give you X amount of $$". Obviously, I can't prove that but, this is the third time this has happened to me. Is there any way to report the seller? Again, I can't prove it but I'm pretty sure that's what happened. This is supposed to be an auction. I was ready to place a pretty generous bid. If he wanted a "buy it now", he should have put that  What are your thoughts? swcoin.ecrater.com
Edited by vermontensium
05/12/2009 6:52 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2254 Posts |
First let me say that I feel your pain. It has happened to me as well. Now for the honesty. It's not worth getting upset over. Folks do this all of the time and if something like this really burns your britches, I would suggest stop buying via ebay. It will never get better. Again, take my opinion only for what it's worth. As a side note, most of the time I think it's an outside email to the seller asking to end early, but in some cases(many times on higher priced items), the seller gets cold feet because the bids aren't coming in soon enough and they don't have the fortitude to stick it out and sell to the highest bidder. Buyers remorse. As far as what can be done, I'm not sure of anything, but someone with more experience may chime in. Oh Bobby...... |
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Moderator
 United States
16679 Posts |
Quote:It's not worth getting upset over. Folks do this all of the time and if something like this really burns your britches, I would suggest sstop buying via ebay. It will never get better. Thanks tights24. I just needed to vent a little. I know ebay won't get better. I've been a member since 1997, and have watched it slide downhill ever since. On a positive note, I just made two transactions from a seller who I have bought from before with NO problems. This brings me to a point. We are on the same page! I have noticed that ebay has turned into a worldwide flea market. I will only buy or bid from folks I have dealt with before. I took a chance with this guy and look what happened. Hopefully, I've learned my lesson. swcoin.ecrater.com
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Moderator
Australia
16830 Posts |
This has happened to me, too, and I'm not a frequent eBayer. Quote:
Is there any way to report the seller? No, because the seller hasn't done anything against ebay policy. Sellers can cancel auctions anytime before the auction ends, for any reason or for no reason at all. Quote:I have been patiently waiting 5 days to place a bid down on ebay. I usually wait until the last couple of hours to place my bid... I was ready to place a pretty generous bid. I'd suggest not doing that, especially with newbie sellers. If you don't want a seller to cancel because of "cold feet", do your best to reassure them that somebody's interested by making a nice early high bid. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Moderator
United States
16679 Posts |
Quote:
Sellers can cancel auctions anytime before the auction ends, for any reason or for no reason at all.
I did not know that. That's good to know in case I want to do this  Not that I'm going to though. Never have and never will. Once I list something, I have the integrity to follow through with the auction  Nowdays, seems anything goes on ebay. swcoin.ecrater.com
Edited by vermontensium
05/12/2009 9:24 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
4227 Posts |
Although this has never happened to me (I've been buying and selling on ebay since 1998), I've unwittingly been the cause of this before. A local coin dealer also sells on ebay ( ebay Stores) and I mentioned an item he had on ebay when I was in his store. He asked me if I wanted to buy it and I said I did (I always get a discount with him, so it wouldn't have been in my best interest to purchase it on ebay), but I expected he would want me to use the Buy it Now option. No, he just went to his computer and cancelled the auction. I was surprised, but there was nothing I could do about it. Of course, there was a slight difference as this was a Buy it Now type auction through his ebay store, not a normal bidding auction. I still thought it odd at the time and I would definitely be ticked if an item I was hoping to get at auction was pulled. |
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Moderator
United States
16679 Posts |
I hear my co-workers bragging about how their buddies bid on their auctions to "up" the bid amounts or how they use their friends user id and password to their benefit. Makes me upset but, that's the kind of world we live in nowadays. ebay is infested with these kind of folks. It's sad. There are still a few good sellers on ebay. I've just seen what it's become. swcoin.ecrater.com
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4085 Posts |
Quote:
I hear my co-workers bragging about how their buddies bid on their auctions to "up" the bid amounts or how they use their friends user id and password to their benefit. That's why I always snipe on ebay with my true maximum price. 5 seconds or less. Eliminates the shill factor. If it gets bid up above my max, I go on to the next item. Same is true if the auction is cancelled. It is frustrating, but there's a million fish in the sea (depending on mintage of course!)  Ken |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2600 Posts |
I have a niece that has a criminal law degree from Nebr. (that was a waste of money) and after school went to work in a correctional facility in admin/supervision. She has quit and is going back to school. I recently asked her why. Her response, she could not stand working around all the reprobates. My new Jim-ism, "if you can't stand the crooks, don't visit the prison  ". Guess the same applies to ebay. Jim Edited by Jim1953
05/13/2009 09:53 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1000 Posts |
I have not.....but have been tempted to end an ebay auction early due to lack of interest. ebay encourages you to start with a low opening bid explicitly in their tips to sell, as well as subconsciously by charging you a higher insertion fee the higher the opening bid. I listed a folder with 8 Sacagawea dollars (some NIFC) in it with a starting bid of $7.99 free shipping. No bids until the last seconds and it sold for $7.99. I thought about ending it early, afterwards wish I did.  I would have been better off depositing them in the bank. I don't really think ending an auction with no bids to be that underhanded. And the solution to your dilemma is to bid the minimum bid right away, and then snipe with your max at the end. That way it locks them into the auction, and prevents a crook from shilling the price higher. Just my thoughts of course. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4085 Posts |
You can end an auction even with bids. The seller can cancel all the bids and end the auction. It's happened to me a couple of times.
Ken
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Moderator
United States
16679 Posts |
Hence my new name for ebay, ebay. It's not really an auction site. It's merely a marketplace where anything goes IMO. The rules have become more relaxed, and ebay, more greedy. I still bid, I just try not to sell there. swcoin.ecrater.com
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2049 Posts |
Yep agree with what others said. While it may be annoying, the seller has every right to end the auction early for whatever reason.
I always try to put my max bid in once, regardless of when the auction ends and wait for it to finish. Either I win or I dont. If someone snipes me in the last 10 seconds so be it. If someone bids it up and raises my final winning bid, so be it (I put in the amount I was willing to pay anyway). If the seller ends the auction early, so be it (others will come along).
I guess in my opinion, it's not worth getting too upset over. :)
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Pillar of the Community
Spain
1361 Posts |
Quote:I have been patiently waiting 5 days to place a bid down on ebay. I usually wait until the last couple of hours to place my bid... I was ready to place a pretty generous bid. Quote:
I'd suggest not doing that, especially with newbie sellers. If you don't want a seller to cancel because of "cold feet", do your best to reassure them that somebody's interested by making a nice early high bid. The seller will not know your highest bid for an item. So, if item is auctioned at low starting price (say 0.99 cents), if you are the first bidder it will only reflect 0.99 until someone bids higher than you. Even if there are bids on an item a seller can still cancel an auction few hours before auction is closed without violating any ebay rules. |
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Moderator
United States
16679 Posts |
Quote:
Yes, but you must sell the item to the high bidder From ebay's website. If there is a bid, you can end the item early but, you must sell the item to the highest bidder. That's where I messed up. I should have placed a bid on it the night before  Oh well, life goes on swcoin.ecrater.com
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Valued Member
Canada
166 Posts |
Hello, Your ebay bid is a binding contract. A seller's offer to sell is at his discretion. The worst I ever had was a seller refused to send the item (days after the auction was over) because the auction price disappointed him (and this was a professional dealer not some kid. I complained to ebay. They did nothing even though the correspondence was "Black and white". Forced paypal is the latest scam. I (really ebay now) forces me to pay in Canadian money so they can charge very high conversion fees. They won't accept my American money!! I thought this was what anti-trust laws were for. Perhaps this should be discussed in this forum. |
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Replies: 31 / Views: 6,635 |
Posted 05/12/2009 7:39 pm
