What do you make of this ? I tried bidding on an Ebay Seller's 2 items yesterday. Auctions are up to only $ 1.25 each and someone else has placed bids.

I have never dealt with this Ebay seller before. Never bid on his auctions. Yet when I tried bidding on each, multiple times, it says the Seller will not accept my bids.

It is not a geographic restriction, as both of us are here in the USA.

And when you click on the Contact Seller option, you get a notice that the Seller is not accepting messages.

The Seller has a 99 % percent approval rating.

You are not in a unique situation. I once made an offer on an item and the seller thought I was low balling the item. I was just using a starting point to negotiate. After that occurred the seller would not accept my bids. This was very disappointing in that particular seller specialized in promo cards. I learned my lession, but I should not have been shut out.

Well there is something about you he doesn't like.

I'm not sure how eBay seller filters work anymore, but can you be automatically blocked for not meeting some minimum threshold, like number of transactions for examples? Or is it a specific block done after you bid because of something he read in your history maybe?

A seller who won't accept messages is a red flag anyway. I would just move on, he's the one who lost a good customer.

Do you have any buyer strikes or unpaid for auction wins in the past year? If so, that could be it. They could have it set to block such buyers. That's the only other thing I can think of since you're in the same country and have had no prior interactions with the seller.

No, my approval rating is 100 % and has been since 1998. Over 1,000 positive comments.

quote:

Originally posted by David R:
No, my approval rating is 100 % and has been since 1998. Over 1,000 positive comments.

Well that explains it ... I have no clue then. A big help I am.

I wonder if your eBay ID is close to another person's ID and they mistyped when they put in the ID of a person they really wanted to block.

Some sellers have short fuses and think that they can block at will at matter who the buyer is
About ten years ago I was regularly buying from a seller and thought every thing was rosy until one day he sent me the wrong article
I asked for the article that I had won nothing happened
I then tried to bid on some other items a couple of days later and found out I was blocked
seemingly the reason was that the seller had put the missing item up again and I did not bid on it so blocked
Why should I have to bid and try to win something that I already won and paid for
E Bay stood by the seller with no explanation.
The thing is that when blocked there is no way you can contact the seller to sort the matter out but maby the reason is this can lead to acrimony between seller and buyer so better to keep them parted
In saying this E Bay should do more for these sort of issue and also try to act as a referee

Maybe the bidder or bidders who have placed 2 bids to get the item up to a mere $ 1.25 have some kind of a software to block competing bids ?

This is the message that I get

"You are unable to purchase this item due to restrictions from the seller. Please contact the seller for more information."

That is weird. Some sellers are insulted by an offer of half the price or even 2/3 the price. Most others see it as a starting point because they understand an offer might be that low. They're the ones that chose the setting to consider offers. They had to know that some buyers are going to push for the best deal. No offense meant.

I try not to make an offer that would take off more than maybe 25-30% but I might go for a little more than that if I notice that the item has been sitting for months. If an item is $15 and offers are considered, I might try $11 or $12. I see sellers willing to take a best offer even when an item is $5. At that point, I just buy it especially if it's already a good deal.

quote:

Originally posted by stevetrek:
You are not in a unique situation. I once made an offer on an item and the seller thought I was low balling the item. I was just using a starting point to negotiate. After that occurred the seller would not accept my bids. This was very disappointing in that particular seller specialized in promo cards. I learned my lession, but I should not have been shut out.

I have a friend who lost her dream house because she made a lower bid, expecting to negotiate, and the seller just took the highest offer, which she would have easily been willing to beat.

Not everyone knows you are supposed to be negotiating, so don't do it. It's better to win with your best offer and pay a little too much, than lose something you wanted because you tried to shave off a few bucks.

quote:

Originally posted by David R:
This is the message that I get

"You are unable to purchase this item due to restrictions from the seller. Please contact the seller for more information."

Google search your eBay ID to see if it pops up -- on some boards there are are forums where eBay users are called out and then banned by other sellers.

Off topic, but as I type this, Webjon has exactly 5000 posts. (Congratulations!) Of course, if he responds, he'll mess up that nice round number. Should he ever post again? Hard to say . . . .

I've known David twenty years. We've traded cards. I would immediately suspect the seller of being the problem in any kind of dispute with him. He's even on a Philly Show card. Isn't there a background check involved to get on one of those cards?

quote:

Originally posted by webjon:

quote:

Originally posted by David R:
This is the message that I get

"You are unable to purchase this item due to restrictions from the seller. Please contact the seller for more information."

Google search your eBay ID to see if it pops up -- on some boards there are are forums where eBay users are called out and then banned by other sellers.

Yes, congratulations, Webjon. At some number, does the counting stop or start over? I think Wolfie is at something like 14,000. I'm closing in on 3000. Can we redeem some of these points for cards?

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Mullins:
Off topic, but as I type this, Webjon has exactly 5000 posts. (Congratulations!) Of course, if he responds, he'll mess up that nice round number. Should he ever post again? Hard to say . . . .

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
I have a friend who lost her dream house because she made a lower bid, expecting to negotiate, and the seller just took the highest offer, which she would have easily been willing to beat.

Not everyone knows you are supposed to be negotiating, so don't do it. It's better to win with your best offer and pay a little too much, than lose something you wanted because you tried to shave off a few bucks.

I don't think it's worth advocating no haggling/negotiating whatsover. For me it depends entirely on the item.

DREAM item? Would it be a HUGE regret if you missed out? Got the money? Go in hard as you say and just pull the trigger.

If you can wait for another though, the lack urgency doesn't warrant overspending if you don't have to IMO.

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:


I think Wolfie is at something like 14,000. I'm closing in on 3000. Can we redeem some of these points for cards?

14,000 ?....how dare you.

I like your redemption idea.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Mullins:
Off topic, but as I type this, Webjon has exactly 5000 posts. (Congratulations!) Of course, if he responds, he'll mess up that nice round number. Should he ever post again? Hard to say . . . .

I should stop post . . . but apparently I won't.

Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by X:
I don't think it's worth advocating no haggling/negotiating whatsover. For me it depends entirely on the item.

Yeah, your right, I overdid my argument, but the item here is actually secondary to my point. You BOTH have to be negotiating and sometimes the other party doesn't know that your offer isn't your final offer. Then they may get insulted or they just won't want to waste their time with you because they think you are gaming their other bids.

It's like that dream house. When a real estate agent calls for your BEST offer, don't think it's a starting point. The homeowner can take the best offer from all parties without coming back to you. My friend got mad at the agent, but she was the one who was wrong for assuming she was still able to change her offer after she saw the competing high bid.

So make sure that eBay seller knows you are both negotiating the price, or else you could find yourself blocked.