Very Upset!

If there is a bid or bids the seller still has the right to pull out the auction I think 6 hours (not sure about the hours) before the auction. If it is less than 6 hours remaining the seller can not pull out anymore. Pulling it out means he is not oblige to sell to the highest bidder.

I just check ebay and these are the requirements to end an auction early.


Your ability to end a listing early depends on the amount of time remaining in the listing and whether the listing has received any bids.

If there are 12 hours or more before the end of the listing, you can end the listing early without restrictions. If there are any bids on your item when you end the listing, you'll be asked whether you want to cancel the bids or sell the item to the high bidder.

Actually you have no recourse.

A seller can always end an auction "because the item is no longer available" even if bids have already been made.

A seller can cancel a sale EVEN AFTER IT IS OVER.

This comes because ebay is paid by the sellers. The bidder pays them nothing and receives equal service in return. I bet you thought ebay was a business and YOU were the customer. No......you are just a prop, the seller is the customer.

If auction is over the seller can cancel but with consequences. The auction is not cancelled only the deal can be cancelled, meaning the buyer can leave a negative feedback if not happy with why you cancelled the transaction.

There really is not a contract as most of us think of it. You see notices that "your bid is a binding contract". The seller is given no such notice.

Also, I believe that if the seller retracts (cancels) all bids after the sale (and he can do that because he does not your name, if he wishes), there is no sale to leave feedback on.

Some people keep thinking this is symmetric. It is not. Sellers are ebay's customers. The rest of us are just the "Johns". We can come or go. We DO NOT PAY ebay. WE ARE NOT THEIR CUSTOMER.

Hi Vermontenisum,

You are EXACTLY right.

When it is sued (and it has been many times), ebay claims that it is a venue. It does not sell things, it provides a place for buyers and sellers to come together (so it says). The SELLERS are the vendors, not ebay. ebay IS SELLING THE SELLERS THE SPACE to meet buyers, much like the owner of a flea market.

You are EXACTLY right.....ebay!!

Hi Bobby,

Show me the rule. I am suspicious of anyone who states such strong, unqualified (pardon the pun) opinions. Sellers routinely cancel bids from those they consider unqualified, even if they are made at the last second. I believe that I saw that done (and about 15 bids cancelled after the fact) in an auction that I was following (but did not bid in) about 6 months ago. It stands out to be because I thought that it could not be done. I am sure that there were some angry people. I can't recall the reason he used for cancelling each bid, but I remember it struck me as crazy ( perhaps calling all bidders including one with 1,000+ feed backs "unqualified"). But it stood.

There is also another way a seller can safely stiff you....If I am worried about a seller following through I pay with paypal immediately. I had one case about 3 months ago where the seller would never answer my e-mails after the auction (he did before) and the item never arrived. After 1 month I complained to paypal. The seller said it must have been lost in the mail (but failed to produce a registration number which I had paid extra for at his suggestion) and simply re credited the payment to me. Paypal told me there was nothing I could do.

Don't have the desire. I've got 30K or so sales on ebay, if you don't want to believe me, it won't hurt my feelings.