Bid retraction without contact or permission

[gino22]

Got this email today:

Dear eBay Community Member,
A previously entered bid on your item has been retracted or cancelled. You can view the retraction/cancellation and the reason provided by selecting the (bid history) link from the individual item page. As a result of this retraction/cancellation, there is a possibility that the high bid amount and the current high bidder have changed. You can always view the current status of any item by going to the individual item page. (Be sure to refresh or reload the page to view the most up-to-date information.)
Regards,
eBay

Item was a 10-day auction. There had been one bid ($29.99, the opening amount) on it for six days. Now it is back down to the base amount, showing no bids. It ends tomorrow.

Here is the reason for the retraction:

Retracted: US $30.00
Explanation: Entered wrong amount Bid: Sep-01-14 02:00:16 PDT
Retracted: Sep-06-14 04:39:29 PDT

Here is eBay's policy for retracting bids:

Whether you can retract a bid depends on the circumstances and timing of the bid. You can retract a bid for the following reasons:

You accidentally entered the wrong bid amount due to a typographical error. For example, you bid $99.50 instead of $9.95. If this happens, you need to reenter the correct bid amount right away. Changing your mind does not qualify as accidentally entering a wrong bid amount.

The item's description changed significantly after you entered your last bid. For example, the seller updated details about the item's features or condition.

You can't reach the seller by telephone or email.



"Changing your mind does not qualify as accidentally entering a wrong bid amount."

If I made an honest error entering a bid amount, I probably wouldn't wait a week to do something about it... and bidding $30.00 instead of $29.99 is hardly an error.

Maybe I'm just relatively green, but it blows my mind that this was allowed to happen. Nobody attempted to contact me. This was done entirely through the buyer and eBay... many days after the fact. Is this a new thing?

 

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[willis7]

it's possible they entered their max bid in wrong, it would show as the opening bid to you and wouldn't change unless somebody else bid on it

 

[gino22]

Retracted: US $30.00
Explanation: Entered wrong amount Bid: Sep-01-14 02:00:16 PDT
Retracted: Sep-06-14 04:39:29 PDT

It seems they entered $30.00, or one cent more than the $29.99 opening bid. It's not like they entered $300.

The bid was entered September 1st and retracted on the 6th.

 

[gino22]

It happened again: same bidder, different item, similar amount.

Retracted: US $35.00
Explanation: Entered wrong amount Bid: Sep-06-14 14:53:59 PDT
Retracted: Sep-06-14 15:03:23 PDT

Incredible.

Bidding has deflated to the $19.99 opening bid, with hours left in the auction.

Why is this allowed? Completely defeats the purpose of the auction.

 

[OWK]

If you had someone bid and then retract, it was for the purposes of finding the top bid of the existing top bidder.

You should immediately block this bidder from all future bids.

It is an unscrupulous practice.

 

[gino22]

I understand that, and I am at least grateful that I will not have to deal with actually having to ship to this bottom feeder.

I have had people retract bids in the past, but it was always in a timely manner and for legitimate (or at least honest "I didn't read the listing") reasons. They messaged me and I obliged the retraction, since there is no reason to deal with someone who doesn't want the item.

The first bid was placed six days ago, and retracted today.

The other bid on the other item was placed a few hours after the first retraction, then retracted almost immediately.

The reason listed was "incorrect bid amount", but $30 on a $29.99 opening bid and $35 on a $19.99 opening bid is clearly BS. They're playing games at my expense, and in the case of these items - which end tomorrow - the bidding could conceivably reach $70-$80. Because eBay let the buyer casually retract bids, it is less likely they will get that high, since nobody has to jump over those $30 and $35 bids.

The six day gap on the first retraction is especially mind-blowing. I've made peace with eBay letting buyers play dirty, but this is a new low.

 

[OWK]

The worst part is knowing that even if you block them, you run the risk of just pissing them off and having to deal with the same behavior from an alternative ID.

Ebay has slanted the playing field WAAAAYYYY too far in favor of the buyer.

 

[gino22]

I don't believe in blocking. My auction and BIN prices are always more than fair, so the thought of someone hunched over their computer, scheming for days and breaking the law to, quite literally, save five or ten dollars on an already deeply discounted item is endlessly amusing to me, especially when an honest buyer outbids them after they drive the price way up. If it sells to the scammer and they don't pay, or try to pull something once it ships, they can prepare to hunch over that computer for several more days, fighting away for that $5. God himself couldn't maintain Top Rated status, so what do I have to lose?

Looks like those days of the legitimate buyer winning the auction at a higher price might be numbered, though.

 

[dumpsterdiver]

I would block them too.

If you had someone bid and then retract, it was for the purposes of finding the top bid of the existing top bidder.

You should immediately block this bidder from all future bids.

It is an unscrupulous practice.

 

[Joe777Cool]

I don't believe in blocking. My auction and BIN prices are always more than fair, so the thought of someone hunched over their computer, scheming for days and breaking the law to, quite literally, save five or ten dollars on an already deeply discounted item is endlessly amusing to me, especially when an honest buyer outbids them after they drive the price way up. If it sells to the scammer and they don't pay, or try to pull something once it ships, they can prepare to hunch over that computer for several more days, fighting away for that $5. God himself couldn't maintain Top Rated status, so what do I have to lose?

Looks like those days of the legitimate buyer winning the auction at a higher price might be numbered, though.

You don't believe in blocking people? Because you find losing money and wasting your time amusing I don't understand this thread at all.....

 

[gino22]

I was venting and being a little facetious, but if I were a reactionary blocker I would have missed out on around $1000 or so in clean sales. I only have about $100 in hard losses to questionable buyers that I probably should have blocked and simply didn't have the will to argue with.

For what it's worth, the retracting bidder is a newbie who might just be buying into the culture of entitlement eBay now presents to its buyers. They can play games with their bids all day, but eventually one of them might stick, and erratic behavior online does not necessarily correlate to any real-life scamming behavior. They might even become a longtime customer. I have a Chinese buyer for collectible cards who tried to manipulate my shipping price after winning several hundred dollars worth of auctions. I was firm on my price, and he took a week to pay, and I was seriously inclined to block him, but at the end of the day the deal worked out and he still regularly wins my auctions.

Anyway, even after all these adventures, I am shocked that eBay would let a bid for a reasonable amount be retracted after 6 days. Just let it stick and I'll work it out with the buyer afterward.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

That has changed from before I believe. I'd posted on a thread here that I bid on a group of halves and was confused at the time of input thinking I was bidding on dollars. One of the guys here sent me the link for retraction, and I tried that. The eBay response was that I had waited too long to retract - and it certainly wasn't 6 days! In the end, I got lucky and the high bid was my max bid and the item came in at a more reasonable rate.

 

[diggummup]

I did not know you could retract a (entered wrong amount) bid 5 days later after the fact. That just doesn't seem right to me at all. Something reeks and it smells like ebay's ass.

 

[gino22]

I did not know you could retract a (entered wrong amount) bid 5 days later after the fact. That just doesn't seem right to me at all. Something reeks and it smells like ebay's ass.

Right?

One of my items sold for the opening bid of $19.99 (the retracting bidder had it bid up to $35.00 and it is likely they would have been outbid and driven the price to $40 or so). The one with the $30.00 bid did not sell. Who knows who was discouraged from bidding because they saw there was already a bid on the item at a particular time, etc. There are too many factors in play where the psychology of an auction is concerned for the ability to pull bids days after the fact to be remotely fair. It's like asking for a do-over at a poker table... and getting it.

Come on.