Bill Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 Something strange happened to me yesterday on ebay.. (1) I saw something I liked... (2) Iasked the seller for the cost of postage... (3) The seller replied with a favourable amount... (4) I bid on the item.. (5) An hour later I received notification that my bid had been cancelled and the item withdrawn as no longer available. (6) An hour after that, I see on 'my ebay' that the item has been relisted... (7) As a 'buy it now' for 25 pounds and as soon as it was relisted it had been bought by someone unknown.. What seems to be the case here is ... (a1) That someone wanted it in a hurry, (b1) Made an offer the lister decided she could not refuse... probably lowball from a dealer (c1) The genuine bidder then gets cut out of the deal by the above manipulation of Ebay rules.. I tried notifying ebay but the the forms they force you to fill in do not seem to cover this eventuality... So does anyone think or know if something improper happened here that should be dealt with by the ebay authorities (such as they are)? or Should I just shrug my shoulders and let it be? edited to remove annoying auto smiley thingys Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 I'd do the shrugging and write it off to experience - next time ask about the postage and leave your bid till the last 10 seconds - that way you have a chance to see if anyone else is interested, and put in a bid that is realistically likely to win Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Sidelines Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 There are a couple of other 'threads' here on RMweb about eBay one of which seems to pose the question - is eBay fit for purpose. When I first read that thread I shrugged my shoulders - for the last three or four years I have had great fun buying and selling railway models on eBay. However over the last couple of months I do not seem to have had the same enjoyable experience - it all seems to have turned very 'cut throat' with sometimes most unorthodox behaviour by both bidders and sellers. I would say prices are not as competitive as they used to be - in fact if the item you are interested in is relatively new - it can often be found for sale elsewhere on the web at a cheaper price. Everything has its day and perhaps it is time to give eBay a rest and try RMweb Classified. Ray http://longsheds.blogspot.co.uk/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
YesTor Posted February 20, 2013 Share Posted February 20, 2013 As you say, it sounds as though someone made an offer that he was prepared to accept, so I guess he closed the auction and relisted with a "Buy It Now" price for the buyer to complete the deal. The bottom line is that at that point the item is still very much the property of the seller, so in effect he has the right to do whatever he wishes with it, including withdrawing from auction early. Okay, disappointing it may well be, but personally I don't see any moral issue with what appears to have taken place. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted February 20, 2013 Author Share Posted February 20, 2013 Thanks for your views - I shall leave the problems of morality to a higher authority... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveb860 Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 I often get asked for a BIN on auction listings. If there are bids then I deem it unfair to do this and end the auction. Obviously others do not have the same moral standards !! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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