posted on October 24, 2000 10:23:49 AM
Here's an "is it legal with eBay" question. I purchased an item on eBay, thinking it was something totally different than what it is. We outbid 7 other bidders. It certainly isn't the seller's fault, so I don't feel right asking for a refund. My question is, is it wrong or against eBay rules to contact one of the other bidders and offer to sell it to them? I don't want to go through the hassle of listing it because I honestly don't know what it's used for.
posted on October 24, 2000 11:16:57 AM
Sending unsolicited email to ANY bidder - yours or somebody else's - is considered spam. If the contacted party were annoyed enough he could indeed turn you in to SafeHarbor.
What you might do is ask the seller to forward your email address to bidder 2, who if s/he's interested could then contact you. Although it's hairsplitting, technically this wouldn't be considered spam because it's an email coming from the seller to one of his bidders on that very auction on which #2 bid, offering that same item for sale to #2 (although the sale would be through you, not the original seller).
posted on October 24, 2000 11:46:07 AM
I think you could email the other bidder and just explain the circumstances. I emailed a buyer regarding a lot of jewelry they won the bid on. I only wanted one pair of earrings. We both made out just fine. They might be very happy to hear from you.
posted on October 24, 2000 11:56:20 AM
I have to split more hairs with HCQ, in that I think having the seller email the second high bidder on behalf of the high bidder *would*, technically, be spam. The first transaction is over, so I think ebay would consider further emails on a follow-on transaction, technically unrelated to the first, to be "unsolicited" (and hence spam).
However, from a practical view, I doubt the second high bidder would object, at least to the degree of turning you into ebay, nor is it likely that even if they did, ebay would really do anything. They are much more concerned about sellers consistently spamming buyers out of the blue than isolated examples of "abuse".
However, if you want to go that route, I wouldn't bother involving the seller, just contact the second high bidder directly. Not only is it faster, it also eliminates the time and hassle of involving the seller. A short, simple note, not requiring a response on their part ("let me know this week if you are interested, otherwise I'm sorry if this note was a bother" ) will likely settle the matter for you. If they aren't interested, either see if the seller is willing to resell it if they haven't already shipped it to you, or you can resell it.
PS - if you do decide to contact the second high bidder, i'd recommend "sweetening the pot", and offer it to them with free shipping, or one bid increment lower than their high bid, etc. Will make them much more likely to accept the offer, and not complain to ebay. You may want to check their recent bid history first, in case they've bid on a similar item already (you don't want to be accused of auction interference - stealing bidders from other sellers).
[ edited by captainkirk on Oct 24, 2000 11:57 AM ]
[ edited by captainkirk on Oct 24, 2000 12:02 PM ]
posted on October 24, 2000 01:19:59 PM
Just put it up for auction like HCQ suggests.
If you had 7 other bidders, you should have no problem getting a pretty fair price.
posted on October 24, 2000 01:31:57 PM
Technically, if you one of the people you email does not like being solicited in that manner then they contact safe harbor and you could find yourself suspended as that does violate ebay rules.
