Temporary Buying Restriction

[garadam-0]

I bid a lot on this one item a few months ago, and because I didn't realize the page wasn't properly refreshing, I bid way more than I need to, so I got a temporary buying restriction. I didn't win the item, either. Now I want to bid again, but I STILL have a restriction. What gives? It's been so long and I still can't bid on anything? This is ridiculous.

[woodland_gnome]

First, bid what you are willing to pay.   That is what you "need to" bid (you are NEVER guaranteed a rebid, especially not in reaction to being outbid in the last minute).  The way eBay auctions work it is not necessary or helpful to consider what others have bid or even might bid (except assume someone will bid about the same as you and add a few cents as a tiebreaker--most bid the round number and xx.01 will beat those but others know this tip so you want more than that, some fraction of the bid increment between the round number you are willing to pay and the next increment where you aren't willing to pay) since the amount needed to outbid the second highest bidder will have already been calculated into the price if you win.

What EXACTLY does the error message you are getting say?  There are several "restrictions" (and note that the error message writers and the Help Page writers use that term to mean different things) that you might be running into and we need the exact text of the error message to distinguish which one and what you can do about it.

[soh.maryl]

That bid way more than you needed to would not be the cause of any restriction.

Perhaps some information is missing from your message here.  

No one here is responsible for your restriction.  We're not eBay employees.  But, if you would like to return and give ALL possible relevant information, we might be able to help you understand what happened.  

[martin2001]

Did you receive an email from ebay:

Removing buying limits

If your buying activities have been limited, we'll send you an email explaining why, and what you need to do to have the limits removed. For example, we may need you to confirm that you're completing purchases that you've bid on or we may need to verify your identity."

Does any of this apply to you?

A buying limit means you won't be able to buy any more items until you complete your current purchases and orders.

If your buying activities have been limited, it may be because:

• You're new to the site, and are making a lot of purchases or buying expensive items
• You've suddenly and significantly increased your bidding or buying activity
• You have an excessive number of unpaid items or canceled orders because you didn't pay on your account
• You're the highest bidder on a number of auctions, but haven't paid for any items yet

[lakefor94]

Has not been that long. This account is only a week old. You have another buyer account?

[downunder-61]

Two or more unpaid orders within a 12 month period will see you on many seller's - ''Do not sell to non paying bidders/buyers settings'' for want of a better description. 

Careful before you bid or commit to purchase, as these strikes take 12 months to go away.

[mudshark61369]

@garadam-0,

What you are running into is a buying Limit, not a restriction as ebay's message says.  All new members have a limit placed on how much they can spend and/or on how many items they can try to buy at one time. The limits stay in place until the member has proved to be a reliable buyer by paying for items they win or commit to purchase. It doesn't take many purchases to have the limit lifted. Read the info in the link below about the limits part of which was copied and pasted yesterday.

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/buying-limits-restrictions/buying-limits-restrictions?id=4012

There is some missing information in the article, about an open transaction limit. 

Open transactions are:

Any item you have won or committed to buy, but have yet to pay for.

Each bid you place on an auction even ones that are outbid

Offers you send, until they are accepted and paid for/declined/not replied to after 48 hours when they expire.

The open transaction limit is a rolling number of 4. If you win an auction or have an offer accepted and pay you still get 4 to use. The open transaction limit goes away when the monetary limit is removed.

Bids that get out bid remain active for the duration of the auction, because another bidder could retract their bid, or a seller could cancel another member's bid for some reason, leaving you the winner.

"I bid a lot on this one item a few months ago, and because I didn't realize the page wasn't properly refreshing, I bid way more than I need to, so I got a temporary buying restriction".

The above is the reason why ebay imposes limits on new members. It is there to keep them from getting in over their head.   If you do some shopping and buy a few inexpensive items and pay quickly, the limit will get lifted.

You also need to understand how bidding on ebay auctions works. Bidding the shown next bid increment over and over is foolish.  The best way to bid on and win ebay auctions is to wait until near the end of an auction, then place one bid on the item for the most you are willing to pay taking into account the sales tax and shipping cost.  eBay will only use enough of that bid to keep you in the lead until you are either outbid or you win that auction. That is called Automatic bidding.  Experienced bidders will wait until the last seconds to bid which we call bid sniping or just sniping.  The link below explains how automatic bidding works, gives tips on winning auctions and even explains Sniping.  For rare and/or collectible items do not expect to get them at a Bargain Price as the header in that link suggests.   if you have questions after reading the two links come back here to ask us to explain what you do not understand.

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/bidding/bidding?id=4003

[reallynicestamps]

You bid.

You did not win.

You got a temporary buying restriction.

No.

Since there was no transaction, any restriction would be unrelated to that failed bid.

I wonder if you are bidding on auctions that require that you have your payment method set up before the bid is accepted.

This is a new option for sellers.  Personally I think it is a stupid one, but there you go.

Other possibilities are Unpaid Item Strikes,  a paranoid seller who Blocks  or Cancels bids from 0 feedback bidders, and Blocks on your location such as PO box/APO address/ offshore address.

[tebeaton]

I have this problem but I do NOT have any email telling me what to do.  I have no way to resolve this that I can see.  I can't find a phone number to call anyone at EBay, I can't find an email address to email them.  I just need the instructions on what to do but all the links about this say is refer to the email ... which I don't have.  very frustrating and I am about to give up on EBay all together.