I am looking for some advice on a suspicious bid retraction on one of my items on eBay. It's a VERY low priced item and certainly not worth any hassle, but I hate the bid retraction system and how it is constantly abused. Here is the situation, I have a 46mm lens cap on auction and bidder X places a $1.99 bid on my auction. 30 minutes later, bidder X retracts his bid with the explanation "oops, wrong size lens cap, sorry". That's ok with me... I understand how things like that happen. It's not always easy to tell what size cap your camera lens needs! However, I decided to do a search on other auctions this bidder X is bidding on.... and what do I find? One minute after he retracted his bid from me, he placed a bid for TWO 46mm sized lens caps being sold by another seller. Needless to say, I am a little peeved by this. My question is this... is there any recourse for me? Should I contact the bidder and ask him to explain? Should I just E-mail Safeharbor with a formal complaint? I know its over a trivial item, but I really am tired of having senseless bid retractions on my auctions! (plus it's snowing and I don't have anything better to do) Anyhow, please share your ideas and opinions on this! I look forward to your responses.
posted on December 19, 2000 12:53:03 PM
I'd forget about it. Why get worked up and stressed over $1.99? You can't make him pay, eBay allows for bid retractions, and there's nothing you're going to do to get your bidder back. Just take a deep breath, think happy Christmas thoughts and let it go.
posted on December 19, 2000 12:56:59 PM
Your probably luckier having him cancel the bid than end up being a No Pay! You can't really stop people from placing a bid and then changing their mind or finding something they like better, thus cancelling. Yes, I am sure it is irritating, but you really can't FORCE someone to honor a bid. Even though eBay's rules say it's a binding contract. It is only binding if BOTH parties stick with it. I doubt complaining will do any good.
It's certainly not the money I'm concerned about... and I'm not really stressed out about it either. I'm just tired of seeing the bid retraction system abused. I'm afraid that sellers who let bidders get away with things like this might be contributing to the abuse. And, how will Safeharbor know about it unless sellers report it? Here are eBays terms on bid retractions:
It's OK to retract a bid if...
You accidentally enter a wrong bid amount. For instance, you bid $99.50 instead of $9.95.
The item description of something you're bidding on has changed - a lot !
You cannot authenticate the seller's identity.
It's NOT OK to retract a bid if...
You change your mind about the item.
You decide you can't really afford it.
You bid a little higher than you wanted.
In my opinion this bidder did not follow these terms. I think this shows that there is reason to involve Safeharbor. However, again I will ask if you think I should contact the bidder who retracted his bid first... or if I should just contact SafeHarbor? As always, I am looking forward to all comments!
posted on December 19, 2000 02:48:33 PM
Hello Eauctionmgnt,
Do a display of your retractor's feedback profile. If the bidder shows more than a few retractions then reporting them to safeharbor might at least earn them a cautionary email from eBay.
If this is the only time they have retracted then it probably isn't worth your time or eBay's since there is no ongoing pattern of abuse.
posted on December 19, 2000 06:04:49 PM
REPORT THIS TO SAFE HARBOR RIGHT NOW !!!
I TOO AM SICK AND TIRED OF THESE IDIOTS RETRACTING THEIR BID FOR REASONS NOT ALLOWED BY EBAY.
REPORT HIM !!!!
I REPORT EVERY SINGLE BID RETRACTION AND I BAN THE USER FROM BIDDING ON MY AUCTIONS AFTERWARDS. I HAVE HELPED GET THESE TYPE OF BIDDERS SUSPENDED AND IF ALL OF US SELLERS WOULD DO THEIR JOBS BY REPORTING THESE IDIOTS MAYBE WE CAN HELP CUT THIS ACTIVITY DOWN.
posted on December 19, 2000 06:41:04 PM
I have also experienced the same thing you are going through. Every bid retraction I get I complain loud and clear to safeharbot about it. If the bidder retracted and then bid on a like item somewhere else to try and save a few bucks I report this also. I give safeharbor a link to the auction.
Safeharbor will issue a caution to the bidder if you show that he/she retracted a bid and then bid on a like item. If they have a long history of bid retractions they will be warned that it can't continue without suspension.
Again as mentioned elsewhere the only way we are going to get bid retarctions stopped is if we complain. I realize it's time consuming, but I take the time to do it.
posted on December 20, 2000 05:00:36 AM
I want to thank everyone for all their advise on this matter. I guess deep down I knew that reporting to SafeHarbor was the right thing to do... but it's my first time reporting an offense and I wanted some other opinions on it! Here is the report I filed with SafeHarbor:
>This bidder retracted his bid on my 46mm >lens cap at 12:01 PST with the explanation >that "oops, wrong size lens cap, sorry" He >then proceeded to place a bid on item >#xxxxxxxxxx, an auction for TWO 46mm lens >caps at 12:02 PST. Obviously he lied about >needing a different size and bid on another >auction for a cheaper price and higher >quantity. Please advise this user that >this type of Bid Retraction abuse should >not be tolerated. Thank you for your >attention to this matter.
I think the surprising thing for me was how little time it actually took me to report this! SafeHarbor has done a nice job of simplifying the reporting procedure. It probably only took about a minute to report. If all sellers would take this time to report Bid retraction abuse, I bet it wouldn't be as much of a problem. Thanks again everyone!
Anyhow, please share your ideas and opinions on this! I look forward to your responses.