posted on February 18, 2002 07:33:14 AM
Wow, this pisses me off!
Had a bid on a set of antiquarian books, opening bid was $49.99, no reserve, after 7 days I was the only bidder, then BANGO, with exactly 1 minute left in the auction the seller cancels my bid & ends the auction with no winner, saying "books not described properly".
What BS, how can eBay allow this!! Shouldn't there be something that prevents sellers from canceling an auction in the last hour or something? This is obviously someone who just didn't want to sell for their minimum bid and was avoiding eBay fees by not using a reserve!
posted on February 18, 2002 07:51:00 AM
It's perfectly legal. In fact Vrane used to have a tool called a "Power Bomb" that would automatically cancel all bids and end the auction at a certain point if a specific amount was not reached, though I can't seem to find it right now. According to ebay's own rules "You may end your auction if you decide not to sell the item" which you can find here:
Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way defending what this seller did, just pointing out that it's permitted under ebay's rules. My belief is that it's completely unethical to do what this seller did. He really should have just used a reserve or set the opening bid higher. I would report him to Safeharbor - if he's making a habit of doing this they might take some action.
posted on February 18, 2002 09:12:23 AM
bidder cannot retract his bid within 12 hours before auction ends.
is there something similar for the seller??
you can email him and ask him what price would make him happy??
posted on February 18, 2002 09:31:39 AM
I believe the seller can cancel at any time. The seller would probably not get into trouble if they cancel after it closed too, though they would have to pay FVF. There can be a lot of reasons. Sometimes there is a legit reason, and sometimes as you suggest, the seller does not want to sell at minimum bid
posted on February 18, 2002 10:00:58 AM
Actually, they would get into more trouble if they canceled the transaction after the close of the auction. At that point they'd be breaking a contract, making themselves vulnerable to a well-deserved negative feedback, and the buyer could complain to Safeharbor for non-delivery. Cancelling the auction at the last minute saves them the FVF fee and any stains on their permanent record. In fact, unless the buyer checks the seller's unsold closed auctions (and how many do that?), there's no indication that the seller pulls this sort of stunt. At least with a chronic bid-retracting bidder, it's up there for all to see on their feedback record.
There are legitmate reasons to end an auction, but the fact that this seller ended the auction with one minute to go can only make one highly suspect of his intentions.
posted on February 18, 2002 10:19:58 AM
if you really want the books,why not ask how much he is willing to sell them for?there is always room for negotiation.
i have an item reserve is 100 and it was not met.
the second high bidder approaches me and ask how much,i told him reserve 100 and he offers 85,so i sold him the item at his price plus shipping of 5.00.
sellers are here to sell,not hoard inventory so if you make a fair offer,he will consider.
no one can force the seller to sell if he thinks he is not getting a fair price and it sounds like 49.99 is not a fair price for him.
posted on February 18, 2002 11:59:27 AM
My sympathies are with the seller, though as a bidder I would be pissed off too. It appears "ending your auction early" is one of those gray areas in eBay's rules. But if a seller engaged in this practice regularly to circumvent eBay's reserve price fees, I believe eBay would warn the seller and eventually suspend him.
