For the third time in as many weeks i have won an item on ebay for a really low price and paid straight away only for the seller to contact me and say that he can't possibly sell the item for that price, sorry, and refund my money.

Is this something other people are experiencing as i am getting rather fed up of it.

Not quite the same, but I made an offer on two boxes of cards that were going for $90 each. My best offer of $170 for both was turned down with a message saying $178 would seal the deal

Years ago, I won an item very cheaply and got the message that they couldn't afford to sell at the winning price unless they upped the quoted postage.

This has never happened to me. I also collect books, and just won three proofs for really low prices and got every one. The only problem with two of them was lousy packaging and in less stellar shape then described, but the price was so low I let it go.

Slightly different. I bid on a rare (rare as in not very popular and you don't see them in the UK that often). I got outbid very near the end. Fair enough. I then got a second chance offer that the seller had a second one, which seemed very strange. Think they had a second account or a "friend" looking to up my bid. Didn't take up the offer.

No, that has never happened to me. How is that not grounds for getting the sellers kicked off eBay? Have you made formal complaints?

I rarely use eBay anymore but as far as I know, as long as the auction is allowed to close and the minimum bid has been met, or no minimum was ever set, the highest bid is the winner and tough luck if it wasn't high enough. There are also supposed to be rules that you can't pull down an auction if bids are in process, but I think there are some exceptions to that.

As for those second offers for the next highest bidder, while I'm sure that there might be the possibility that a winner reneged, it has been my experience to believe otherwise. I think the vast majority of those offers are scams, where a shill bidder ran up the price. I have gotten several such offers over the years and I just turn them down because I have no trust in it.

Well as i understand it, if i bid on an item and win i am legally bound to pay for that item. I would think the seller is also legally bound to sell the item, however how do you enforce it?

There does not seem to be any way or desire on the part of ebay to force the seller to part with the item and i feel certain that whatever decision is reached by all concerned i will never see the item.

eBay can't force the sellers to complete the transactions when they have refunded the money, but it can suspend their accounts for a time to make them play by the rules.

Sellers can't be allowed to disregard auction winners because they misjudged the price of the ending bid. That's why there are BINs.

eBay has to respond to a buyer that gets stiffed like this or all the buyer protection rules are worthless. Even if they can't do anything for you directly, the sellers have to be penalized or they will all do it when the winning bid is less than expected.

Raven that is pretty much what has happened. Ebay have said there is nothing they can do to force the seller to send me the item.

They have said the seller must refund my money ( which i am sure he will be only to happy to do ) or paypal will refund it.

I should leave negative feedback on the sellers account saying what happened.

Ebay have done something to the sellers account but they did not say what.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
I should leave negative feedback on the sellers account saying what happened.

Ebay have done something to the sellers account but they did not say what.

They probably gave them a warning or a "strike". Another dozen of those and perhaps eBay would kick them off. After you get the refund I would definitely leave negative feedback wolfie. At least other potential buyers can see and be warned of what they're dealing with. It's a small recourse but at least it's something and it does hurt the seller.

All this now leaves the seller free to re list the item ( the item i won and paid for ) at a higher price and make more money for themselves.

Well that's fair then.

I ran across one of those Free Shipping .01 auctions & bid on it for the heck of it. I won for the princely sum of .07. I paid the same night. Next day received the following email:
Do you think I have nothing better to do because you PAID 7 cents !!! I am busy mailing things and you WILL HAVE TO WAIT a DAY OR TWO !!! (Eric pointing his finger at Terry in an unbecoming way).
Bear in mind I had not contacted him at all.
Next from Ebay I received the following:
We're sorry to let you know that enchanted_eric canceled your order and mentioned the reason as I'm out of stock or the item is damaged.
I tried to leave FB & could't because the item number does not exist.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
Well as i understand it, if i bid on an item and win i am legally bound to pay for that item. I would think the seller is also legally bound to sell the item, however how do you enforce it?

The seller is not legally bound to do anything because there is zero enforcement on the buyer side. That's a joke. It might say so in the TOS, but a buyer can even cancel after the auction is finished with 0 repercussions. Or just walk away and not pay. Maybe after doing this 25 or 50 times they *might* get suspended from eBay.

I've said this in the past but i will say it again.

Winning an item on ebay is one thing, actually getting the item is another and the cheaper you win it the more chance you have of never seeing it.

quote:

Originally posted by wolfie:
I've said this in the past but i will say it again.

Winning an item on ebay is one thing, actually getting the item is another and the cheaper you win it the more chance you have of never seeing it.

So true. Sorry you had this bad experience.

quote:

Originally posted by Will

Sorry you had this bad experience.

Thank you Will.

Seller only has to say they sent it, you don't receive it and they refund you! Why sellers make it more difficult for themselves is beyond me. If you don't want to sell for $1 or £1 make the starting price higher. There are a lot of stupid people, but once they have put it on auction they "should " honour the contract if they had sold it for £100 they would soon be crying if you didn't pay.

quote:

Originally posted by BILLZEE:
If I were a seller, I'd get very fed up with the losses that one risks from buyers that win an item for pennies on the dollar.

In particular I'm talking about the scrooges & cheapskates that sort items by the lowest starting bids and then throw pennies at them because the laws of probability dictate they will win a few.

I never sell anything, but I am a buyer who is very pro seller because we need good and honorable people to buy our cards from.

Having said that, any seller who feels victimized by cheap buyers has several simple solutions to chose from. Put minimum bids on your items, or sell at BINs and not auctions, or sell better items that are not going for pennies. Oftentimes sellers don't take the necessary precautions because they want lower listing fees, but then they must take the risks.

If I see a card that is worth $100 and I manage to win it for $2, I do expect to receive it. That does not make me a cheapskate, it makes me the highest bidder. If the seller is now sorry about it, that was his/her mistake.

Its not about taking sides. If you are in business you are only as good as your word. Just don't do auctions if you are going to renege because you are losing too much money. That isn't the fault of buyers who are negotiating in good faith and by the rules.

I am primarily a buyer on eBay, but I do sell things here and there. As much as I would like to get top dollar for everything I list, I know that it's not going to happen. It's the seller's responsibility to list an item for the minimum they want for it through the minimum bid or Buy It Now price they will take. If I sell a $100 card for $2, then that's my problem, and congrats to the buyer who managed to get this deal. A good seller should honor their part of the deal/contract, including shipping and replacement or refund on lost packages. Is it so hard to be honorable?

quote:

Originally posted by BILLZEE:
Just enjoy sticking up for the sellers - especially the ones that take a beating for all the time & effort they expend to make a few paltry bucks.
The auction site has been invaded by the garage sale buyer mentality, and worse... I'm thankful for the sellers that haven't quit.

I empathize with the sellers and I can see why some try to skip out on a ridiculous sale price if they can get away with it.
I realize it robs some buyers of bragging rights that they "stole" it for next to nothing. Thats too bad but ebay is supposed to be a win-win.

Although I agree it should be a win-win, the sellers needs to protect themselves if it's that big of an issue that they intend to not honor their commitment once it sells. Use reserves or buy it now's or whatever. If I"m auctioning something at say $2 and it's worth $200 then I better be darn confident my audience is gonna come through. Otherwise don't do it.

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
It's the seller's responsibility to list an item for the minimum they want for it through the minimum bid or Buy It Now price they will take. If I sell a $100 card for $2, then that's my problem, and congrats to the buyer who managed to get this deal. A good seller should honor their part of the deal/contract, including shipping and replacement or refund on lost packages. Is it so hard to be honorable?

This is exactly the point. As a buyer if i go to all the trouble of tracking an auction and bidding and finally winning i expect to get the item.
As a seller i hope to get as much as possible for my item but if i start my auction at 99p in order to save on fees and thats what it sells for then i just accept i lost. It would never enter my head to refuse to send the item to the winner even if i knew i could get away with it.
It seems other people have different rules and values in their lives.