Subject:
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Re: Cancelled bids on Ebay--what to do?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.auction
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Date:
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Thu, 27 Jan 2000 06:15:30 GMT
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Viewed:
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587 times
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Alan Demlow wrote:
> In lugnet.market.auction, Larry Pieniazek writes:
> > If you're not willing to sell at the price that the lot ends up at, set
> > your starting bid high enough, or have a reserve in place that's high
> > enough, that you take what you get and are happy.
>
> Yes, of course. That's not the point. In the case at hand, the bid retraction
> almost gives people the same kind of information as inside traders on Wall
> Street. It's not that I'm going to be mad if I don't get a high price for my
> goods (as long as I get a fair one); it's that I want a fair auction to
> determine a good market value. Bid retractions undermine that process, and
> it to me is inherently different than just getting a lower price (as for your
> 4559). You get a lower price in a fair auction, fine. But bid retractions in
> auctions with proxy bidding lead to an auction which is rigged against the
> seller--not a fair auction, whether this is the intention of the person
> retracting bids or not.
I had an auction where the high bidder retracted his bid--as he had won two of my
lots already, I fully expected that it was finances, and this was in fact the
case--but not because he was not "with it." Rather, he had an automobile accident,
and had to cough up enough DM for the bills, and so had to retract his outstanding
bids. In that situation, I was fully accepting of the excuse (even though the lot
ended up selling for less than he bid). He was prompt and courteous with the other
lots, and therefore got positive feedback--IMHO he used bid retraction for the
reason it was intended. Your case is a little greyer, but as long as it is not a
pattern (as Larry said) it's just one of the hazards of doing business this way.
Now, had your bidder retracted with ten minutes left to go, I can see how you would
reasonably be *very* angry--and possibly leave less-than-glowing feedback.
However, I reserve truly negative feedback for those who win the lot and then back
out, cause you severe headaches, or else cost you a significant chunk of
money...although on one major lot the sniper-winner vanished so after two weeks I
simply sold it to the #2 bidder for his high bid ($3 less than $261) and called it
done.
> > As to posting negative feedback, I wish there was an easy way to
> > determine what a person has bid on to see if there's a pattern. Not
> > everyone is as together about their money as you or I so I'd cut SOME
> > slack but if there is a pattern, blast them.
>
> I've decided I will probably post informative, non-inflammatory neutral
> feedback. I think this should be the fairest way to deal with it. I've
> written the person who retracted the large bid (who is a new user with no
> feedback, BTW) explaining this and will be curious to see what I hear back.
That is likely the best course. It does not affect their rating, but it does warn
the inquisitive that this bidder may behave erratically or not be in full command
of their finances--valuable information in any case, as it can inform the seller to
take a hard line on payment, timeliness, and the like.
I believe however that eBay takes note of bidders who constantly retract bids--it's
bad for business, and IIRC there's something on eBay about bid retraction
endangering your status...not that this will faze the truly malfeasant.
best,
Lindsay
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Cancelled bids on Ebay--what to do?
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| (...) Yes, of course. That's not the point. In the case at hand, the bid retraction almost gives people the same kind of information as inside traders on Wall Street. It's not that I'm going to be mad if I don't get a high price for my goods (as (...) (24 years ago, 25-Jan-00, to lugnet.market.auction)
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