bestofstuff
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posted on March 25, 2001 08:30:42 PM
I couldn't believe my eyes. Why did Ebay go to the policy you can cancel an auction? What protection is there for the buyer? Oh lets see, My laptop is only at 54.00 I want 200.00, I will cancel it with 30 seconds and let that poor sucker who thinks he won find out he stayed up to 2am to have find out I cancelled at the last second. Why have auctions if you can cancel them and leave any reason why. Oh, sorry, I dropped it and broke the screen, hee hee...I a lying, but I don't want to honor the bids..
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brighid868
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posted on March 25, 2001 08:45:16 PM
how long have you been on ebay?? i've been here a couple years and there has been the ability to cancel auctions ever since I can remember.
IMO it's a good thing even though there will always be some who have used it because they did not like the bids they got on an item. I still want to be able to have it just in case I find out something is much more valuable than I thought it was and want to re-list it with a reserve, for example---or when the item does break or I discover a flaw.
Sellers aren't evil for wanting to get the best possible prices for their items. There are a range of possible behaviours to get better prices, ranging from wise marketing right up to shilling. Some are legal, some are not. Canceling bids is Ebay-legal but the reasons it is sometimes done fall into a gray area for me....so I do it as little as possible (3 times in 500 listings.) I could see how others could disagree as to its 'ethical-ness' on both sides of the coin.
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bestofstuff
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posted on March 25, 2001 09:00:07 PM
Been here for years..never noticed it in the site area til lately. I feel that an auction should not be touched once put on. Have you ever been to a live auction and have the auctioneer say, whoooo, this is not fetching the price it for what it should! I am pulling this! Sorry folks..You used to not be able to retract bids either. I challenge you on being able to retract auctions for years..In fact, Ebay stated, once listed there was a contractual obligation between seller and bidder to live up to in this process. Now, the process is wishy washy at best. ISN'T an auction about finding that great deal? Won't be if people can take it off anytime without fetching top dollar, just because they feel like it! Bad MOVE!
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shaani
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posted on March 25, 2001 09:03:48 PM
bestofstuff,
I was also wondering how long you have been on ebay.
I have only cancelled one auction that had a bid and that was because I had the wrong pattern name of the glassware but I did contact the high bidder first. I would not normally cancel an auction with bids.
But I have cancelled others with no bids, once because I had a blonde moment and it would have ended in the middle of the night. Once because I had the wrong info. And a couple of times just because I felt like it. It's my stuff, I guess I can do what I want with it?
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borgt
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posted on March 25, 2001 09:10:18 PM
These policies (canceling auctions/retracting bids) have been in around at least since 1998, most likely longer.
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madrona
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posted on March 25, 2001 09:11:25 PM
I have been to RL auctions where they have pulled items because they weren't getting appropriate bids. It is not unusual. Auction houses or private sellers on eBay all have that right if they choose to use it. I would have pulled mine tonight when eBay was down, unfortunately I wasn't able to access them.
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mcjane
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posted on March 25, 2001 11:21:41 PM
bestofstuff Make AW EO message board a daily read. You will learn a lot, there are some really smart posters here. Have never seen a question that someone couldn't answer. Welcome to the class, "Auctions 101"
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amy
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posted on March 25, 2001 11:29:13 PM
I started on ebay in March of 1998. At that time it was perfectly within ebay rules for a seller to cnacel an auction whenever he wanted. A buyer could also retract his bid. The rules on this hasn't changed in the last 3 years.
At every live auction I have gone to the auctioneer has told the audience that he (the auctioneer) had the right to reject any bid not commensurate with the value of the item.
I have been at many auctions where the auctioneer, at the point that the bidding dies, will say "sorry folks, I'm going to pull this item and put it in the next sale, it is worth more than this". The audience understands.
The buyer at an auction is looking for a buy but has to understand that they cannot get a bargain at the seller's expense. The seller needs to make a profit...he can't give away his merchandise. If the seller loses money pretty soon he will be unable to obtain merchandise...without the seller putting merchandise up for sale, you the buyer can't get that bargain 
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kerrigirl
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posted on March 25, 2001 11:36:24 PM
Actually, everyone is right. You have always been able to cancel your auctions, but not with ease. Now you can and it has changed.
BEFORE: To cancel an auction you had to cancel ALL bidders on the auctions in order to cancel it.
NOW: You don't, just click on cancel and give one of the predefined reasons.
Also ended an auction early has changed also...
BEFORE: It ends, you must sell to the highest bidder.
NOW: You have a choice to CANCEL or SELL to the highest bidder.
So it HAS changed, but HAS also been there.
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mcjane
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posted on March 25, 2001 11:50:45 PM
amy Very good post.
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loggia
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posted on March 25, 2001 11:52:31 PM
I can't figure out why eBay made those changes...
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yeager
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posted on March 26, 2001 12:46:31 AM
I listed 3 item recently. The first two had retail values of $69.95, and went for 23.00 and 26.00. I made a few bucks and the buyer got a great deal.
The third I cancelled early. It had a retail of 79.95, and 6 hours before the auction ended there was only 11 veiws from the counter. The high bid at that time was only 11.50. I cancelled both bids and indicated that I deceided that I did not want to sell the item at this time.
To take the 11.50 was a waste of my time. I took the item to a nearby flea matket and sold it to a dealer for 35.00.
On the first 2 items, I made a few bucks and the buyer got a great deal. I would thnk that most people on ebay would think this is the way it should be, but not to list items and make 2 bucks and while investing an hour or more of time and energy into the item.
Also, the seller's ability to cancel an auction is a money maker for ebay. When you cancell an auction, ebay keeps the listing fee. And if you relist the item, you pay another listing fee. It would seem that you would relist only to receive a higher ending bid. Whereas, ebay makes a greater commission. It's a win-win situation.
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kellyb1
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posted on March 26, 2001 03:45:17 AM
If I had a bid on an auction and the seller cancelled it early because they changed their minds, I would check their closed auctions to see if they change their minds often. If so, no more bids for them.
I have listed an item than I then damaged and had to close down the auction.
I think it's the sellers who start auctions for items way below retail only to cancel the auction and sell it off of ebay that causes the problems. And the rest of us end up paying for it.
Kelly
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ultimato
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posted on March 26, 2001 04:47:19 AM
I've canceled a few auctions for various reasons but never because I didn't like the bids I was getting. If you don't like how the bidding is going there is an easy solution: start with a higher opening bid! That's the nature of the game. If you have a $100 item and don't want to take $10 for it, don't start the bidding at $10 or under, make it $50 or whatever.
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gravid
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posted on March 26, 2001 04:53:36 AM
eBay has always told me to cancel the bids before ending an auction. Has that changed?
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eventer
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posted on March 26, 2001 05:23:36 AM
gravid,
It appears that you don't have to cancel them by hand anymore, you click the button & it does it for you.
I've canceled a couple of auctions because I had the starting price incorrect or, in one case, when I accidentally broke the item, but not because I wasn't getting the price I wanted. It's nice to have the chance.
I guess some sellers could misuse it such as some of the buyers misuse the retraction feature.
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uaru
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posted on March 26, 2001 05:36:18 AM
The bidder can cancel and it goes on their feedback record for 6 months. How long does an auction cancelation remain on the seller's feedback record when they cancel?
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eventer
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posted on March 26, 2001 05:41:04 AM
uaru,
I don't think ebay has this feature. YET 
But it might be interesting to see the stats on something like this. I wouldn't want to bid on a habitual "canceller's" auctions.
Also wonder if it could be used to detect possible shilling.
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captainkirk
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posted on March 26, 2001 09:44:37 AM
I've been on ebay for around 5 years now, and i belive cancelling auctions has always been possible. There are certainly some very legitimate reasons to do so, the classics being discovering a problem with the item after the listing (or breaking the item).
I wonder if the reason for making it easier to cancel an auction (without the hassle of cancelling all the bids first) is that the former method just invited problems - if a seller cancelled the auction without cancelling bids, and/or someone snuck a bid in just as they were being cancelled, you were just asking for a bitter dispute (and who needs that?). "You must sell it to me, ebay say so". "I'm cancelling the auction, forget it! ".
I like the idea of tracking cancellations, just like retractions.
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quickdraw29
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posted on March 26, 2001 09:47:47 AM
"What protection is there for the buyer?"
The buyer is not going to be out any money, however, the seller may be. It's the seller that needs to be protected.
What if a team of two buyers fake a top bid, and the top bidder retracts his bid leaving a real low bid with only 30 seconds remaining?
The law for centuries has been that the seller can accept or decline any price for his goods. What good is a system that forces sellers to sell things at a loss?
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jamesoblivion
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posted on March 26, 2001 09:54:18 AM
Oh lets see, My laptop is only at 54.00 I want 200.00, I will cancel it with 30 seconds and let that poor sucker who thinks he won find out he stayed up to 2am to have find out I cancelled at the last second.
You have to stay up until 2:00 am to win an ebay auction? News to me.
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CleverGirl
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posted on March 26, 2001 10:09:32 AM
bestofstuff What auctioneers do in that case is buy it themselves with their house account, especially if they own the stuff themselves (instead of it being consigned). No, probably not legal, but that's what some of them do.
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Brooklynguy-07
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posted on March 26, 2001 11:04:50 AM
Sellers bit*h and complain when buyers retract their bids BUT......it's perfectly OK for sellers to cancel their auctions for any reason. 
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uaru
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posted on March 26, 2001 11:12:29 AM
Sellers bit*h and complain when buyers retract their bids BUT......it's perfectly OK for sellers to cancel their auctions for any reason.
But that's different.
Actually I thought the same thing. I've seen many a post about a seller upset because a buyer retracted because they found the item ending sooner, cheaper, etc.. That seems no different than a seller canceling because the item wasn't getting enough hits, or the prices was too low, etc.. If a buyer is ruled 'undependable' because they have a high number of bid retractions in their feedback then I see no reason a seller shouldn't face the same standards.
[ edited by uaru on Mar 26, 2001 11:13 AM ]
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capriole
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posted on March 26, 2001 11:31:27 AM
At horse auctions you can pull your animal if you aren't getting your price.
Sorry but all the time effort and energy that go into bringing anything to market means that you have to set bottom acceptable limits.
Even if that means hanging onto an item (or horse) for a little while longer.
[ edited by capriole on Mar 26, 2001 11:32 AM ]
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shaani
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posted on March 26, 2001 11:36:30 AM
I guess it depends on the reason for cancelling the auction? I was trying to sell an item for $45 no reserve. Someone walked into my shop and they asked if I happened to have an item like that as it was important that they have it on their table for a family reunion. They wanted to pay me almost $50 over my opening bid. It didn't take much thought for me to run into the back room and get it! Yes, as soon as they left I cancelled the auction that had no bids and had one day to go.
Interesting that shortly after I cancelled it I got an e-mail saying that they were going to bid but their computer crashed. Then they offered me $35 if I would pay the shipping.
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shaani
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posted on March 26, 2001 12:22:54 PM
I just wanted to add that I am also a buyer and I have bookmarked auctions only to find that they have been cancelled.
Most of these have been for "sleepers" and I wonder if other bidders may have e-mailed and sweet-talked the seller into closing the auction earlier so they can buy it for a little bit higher price?
Many of these sellers are newer and may not realize that they would have possibly done really well if they would have allowed the auction to run. Just another reason why an auction may be cancelled.
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amy
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posted on March 26, 2001 12:38:18 PM
Clevergirl...actually it is legal. The item has a reserve on it...the auctioneer is pulling it (assigning the house number) because the item did not meet reserve.
At the auctions I go to (and it is quite a few), there are posted rules (with the relevant penal code and commercial codes noted). Those rules say that ALL items have a reserve unless otherwise noted, that the auctioneer has the right to reject ANY bid, plus a number of other rules.
The only time all items don't have a reserve is if the auction is noted as an "absolute" auction...meaning all items will sell to the highest bid no matter what the bid. I have only found a few auctions around here that are absolute auctions...all except one are probate auctions held by the different county public administrators. In the probate auctions the items HAVE to be sold to settle the estate, so the auctioneer HAS to sell everything.
The other one is a local auctioneer who prefers to sell everything without reserves. He will not let his consigners set reserves.
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prwhimsy
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posted on March 26, 2001 01:23:37 PM
I don't know where bestofstuff has been either. I have been to MANY real auctions where the auctioner has pulled the plug if he isn't getting what he wants. Either that or had on of the ring help buy it, and then it shows up next week.
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quickdraw29
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posted on March 26, 2001 05:23:26 PM
"Sellers bit*h and complain when buyers retract their bids BUT......it's perfectly OK for sellers to cancel their auctions for any reason."
Sellers pay a listing fee which is not refundable. Buyers do not.
Buyers have known variables, or can ask the seller. The seller has unknown variables. They can't always predict demand on a given day.
If my item gets damaged in between, should I wait until the end of auction to tell the buyer?
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