E-BAY ALLOWS YOU TO CANCEL AUCTIONS AT YOUR DISCRETION

[Anonymous]

The scenario: I was high bidder on this jacket at 35.00, The auction had two days to end, and I had a question for the seller. The seller sent a message through E-bay giving the info I needed, and stating he would end the auction if the jacket did not reach 200.00. One day later he ended the auction, and immediately relisted the auction with a higher start price, and a reserve. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... true&rt=nc the first auction. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... true&rt=nc The relisted item. This was no big deal, however I wanted to file a complaint and see what E-bay would do. I called on three seperate occations, they looked at my messages and saw the account of the seller stating they would close the auction if they did not get the money they wanted. The E-bay rep on all three occations said they filed a dispute, as did I. But each time I called back, giving several days between each call, there was no notation of a filed complaint, including mine. So I guess it's ok to list an item and pull it with bids at your own discretion. WHY HAVE AN AUCTION SYSTEM?

 

[dmar836]

EBay continues to enforce their own rules in whatever way makes them the most money. I use them only as a last resort. The higher fee structure and often questionable bidders make it less appealing than before.
People will respond to this type of complaint in a similar fashion as EBay - whatever serves them best.
I tend to view their rules objectively, assuming it only works when we all follow the same rules, and call foul. Others feel it must be okay to break the rules if you are allowed to do it ..... and you can personally benefit.

Dave

 

[Anonymous]

So I guess it's ok to list an item and pull it with bids at your own discretion.

always in auction history, even before the birth of ebay, the owner of an item could pull it from the auction if he didn't get the price he wanted.

That's 100% reasonable if you think about it.
Consider for example you have an antique car you like to sell and your price idea is e.g. above $50,000
if the highest bid is $30,000 you can pull it out anytime, simply because you could bid $50,000 at any time before the auction ends and buy it back yourself. Your money goes back to the owner i.e. you. So only someone who offers $50,001 can beat you. Otherwise it's pointless.

 

[ciddu]

always in auction history, before the birth of ebay the owner of the item could pull it if he didn't get the price he wanted

I think that Ebay was supposed to work differently: a buyer commits to honour his offer, a seller to accept the highest offer OR to set a reserve price.
My opinion is that the possibility to retire an item was supposedly granted for cases such as "Sorry: my house burned down to the basement, everything is destroyed, item is no longer available for sale" and not " Hmm, I didn't get the money I hoped for, so let's see if I really want to sell it."
I think that sellers retiring auctions and canceling bids are just the other side of non-paying bidders: a misuse of Ebay.
Nonetheless a lot of people are doing it nowadays, and some sellers do it with amazing regularity, so I don't even bother to bid at their auctions, knowing that they won't run their course to the end.

 

[ciddu]

Consider for example you have an antique car you like to sell and your price idea is e.g. above $50,000
if the highest bid is $30,000 you can pull it out anytime, simply because you could bid $50,000 at any time before the auction ends and buy it back yourself. Your money goes back to the owner i.e. you. So only someone who offers $50,001 can beat you. Otherwise it's pointless.

That's against ebay rules. To achieve this you're supposed to set a reserve price (which is actually expensive), but you're not allowed to bid against other bidders in your own auctions.
I don't say it is right or wrong, but these are the rules of the house, and selling or buying on ebay should mean we accept and follow them.
For sure there are other auction sites/places with different rules, and people there will be happy with those different rules.

 

[Anonymous]

So I guess it's ok to list an item and pull it with bids at your own discretion.

always in auction history, even before the birth of ebay, the owner of an item could pull it from the auction if he didn't get the price he wanted.

That's 100% reasonable if you think about it.
Consider for example you have an antique car you like to sell and your price idea is e.g. above $50,000
if the highest bid is $30,000 you can pull it out anytime, simply because you could bid $50,000 at any time before the auction ends and buy it back yourself. Your money goes back to the owner i.e. you. So only someone who offers $50,001 can beat you. Otherwise it's pointless.

You are selling the item at auction, if you have a reserve, no harm no foul, otherwise once there are bids, it sells for whatever. The fact that I have a message thru E-bay system telling me to pound sand the auction and my bid are being cancelled, and then relisting is ridiculous

 

[dmar836]

Well said. In addition, the price very often jumps considerably in the last few seconds as well. Pulling the item might just be shooting yourself in the foot.
I have always been quite vocal about Ebay abuse. An auction sale without reserve is a risk one agrees to take. A reserve is to be used for protection and not the "pull" button.
If you want to " think about it", who at an in-person auction bids on their own item? An when is one allowed to yell, "Stop the bidding, this isn't going as planned!". If this were allowed there would no longer be an attraction to bid as no deals would exist. This is why EBay is appealing less to many collectors and more to flippers and the money hungry types. An auction involves trust that both parties will honor their agreements. The buyer's agreement starts with his bid, the seller's starts with the posting.
Some people will just never get it and when it comes to money some people will abuse the rules. Just because one "can" doesn't make it right to do.

 

[bretron]

You can pull a listing any time up to 24hrs from auction close date. There's shady dealings all over the Bay, but it's still my favorite place to buy stuff! I like the challenge

 

[dmar836]

Last I checked, and it was a year or two ago, that withdrawal provision was only if there were no bids.
True?

 

[ciddu]

Last I checked, and it was a year or two ago, that withdrawal provision was only if there were no bids.
True?

Recently I had my bid canceled because "the item was no more available", just to see it relisted a few hours later.
In another occasion I'm quite sure it was sold privately, following a direct offer sent through the ebay.

 

[ButteMT61]

I've lost out on items, but most of those stated that the item was listed locally or elsewhere. Think about that - if I list a jacket here and TFL and it sells to a guy on TFL, someone here might think I hosed them as they were the first to reply/PM (here).
I got into one of those last year and that's why I say PMs are a bad way to do it. Nobody can see MY PMs, so I try to go by first reply to my post, and if none, then PMs. In the end, it's the honestly of the seller whether it's here or eBay. We can't control others...
I try not to get attached to auction items. I've been burned (not money-wise) so until I win and have the item, it's just a fantasy.

 

[GoodTimesGone]

The buyer's agreement starts with his bid, the seller's starts with the posting.
Some people will just never get it and when it comes to money some people will abuse the rules. Just because one "can" doesn't make it right to do.

Amen. I never end an auction on one of my items early. I have many times had someone send me an offer by message. If I ended auctions early I would establish a bad reputation.

I only use BUY IT NOW only now...not even offer "Best offer"!
If I am not going to get the price I wanted then I rather just keep the item..
I may need to run the item couple times but who cares?
It's only $0.50 for 30 days listing!

This really makes alot of sense and takes some of the headaches away from the seller.
___________________________________________________________________________
Tom