Seller Bids, Retracts 5 Times, Gets Top Bid, and then Backs Out and Can't Retract Anymore. ??

[doh342597]

I'm new to eBay, so I'm not totally sure how the bidding process looks on the buyer's end. But I've been trying to sell a unit that caused a bidding battle between two buyers. One of the buyers kept bidding and then retracting his bid over and over again a few hours later. It seemed like he was being very indecisive; he kept messaging me about the product and ultimately decided to back out as the highest bidder (after retracting and then bidding five times) 20 MINUTES before the bid closes! He now wants me to contact the second-highest bidder (his former opponent). Can I do this? How do I do this? Can I create an offer for the second-place bidder?  I want to make sure I follow all of eBay's policies and make sure the retracting-buyer isn't charged, etc. Please help. Thank you. 

[doh342597]

Oh, I should also add that he sent me a screenshot just minutes ago saying that eBay "can't find any items" that exist or are eligible for retraction. Not sure what to think/do. Any help would be appreciated!

[the_fancy_fox]

If he is the high bidder cancel his bid using the buyer requested it.  Block them from bidding on your items again. You can then either send the other bidder a second chance offer or relist it. 

With that kind of bid history going on, I would relist and not offer it to the second bidder. It looks really suspicious due to what your first bidder did. 

[mam98031]

Personally I would go and block the bidder right away.  They are acting pretty fishy.  I wouldn't risk it.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/resolving-buyer-issues/blocking-buyer-ebay?id=4082

[stephenmorgan]

Is this for the

BARELY USED HIGH QUALITY: TUF Gaming GeForce RTX™ 3080 10GB GDDR6X Graphics Card

The auction is already over so I would cancel the order using the reason Buyer Requested to Cancel.

After you cancel there may be an automatic option to offer to the next highest bidder, but I am not sure. The next highest bidder may not want it now because of the bid manipulation. You may have to re-list it to sell it.

[soh.maryl]

Next time this happens, consider blocking the buyer after the 1st or 2nd retraction.

Why not just cancel and relist?

[nobody*s_perfect]

Wow, that's an absolutely extraordinary bid history: Five retractions by four different bidders!  

I agree with the above advice: cancel based on "Buyer requested," then send a Second Chance Offer but be prepared to relist. This advice is moot now, since I see that the item has been relisted.  But for future reference, here's a link to the help page about the Second Chance Offer process.  Bidders can opt out of receiving them, so it doesn't always show up as an option on auctions that had more than one bidder.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/selling-auctions/making-second-chance-offers?id=4142

[mam98031]

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@stephenmorgan wrote:

Is this for the

BARELY USED HIGH QUALITY: TUF Gaming GeForce RTX™ 3080 10GB GDDR6X Graphics Card

The auction is already over so I would cancel the order using the reason Buyer Requested to Cancel.

After you cancel there may be an automatic option to offer to the next highest bidder, but I am not sure. The next highest bidder may not want it now because of the bid manipulation. You may have to re-list it to sell it.

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The seller should NEVER use the cancellation reason that the Buyer Requested it unless the buyer actually did.  That is a breach of the rules doing that and a seller can be sanctioned for it.

Don't ever use that reason unless it is actually the truthful reason and you have an email from the buyer requesting the cancellation.  Otherwise you are opening yourself up to potential problems with Ebay and the health of your selling account.  It simply isn't worth it.

[nobody*s_perfect]

The OP said, "decided to back out as the highest bidder (after retracting and then bidding five times) 20 MINUTES before the bid closes! He now wants me to contact the second-highest bidder (his former opponent)" and that sounds like "Buyer requested" to me.

[12345jamesstamps]

I had something like that. Same address and same bidder with two eBay IDs. I found out when items were won by different IDs but went to the same address. Sneaky.

Usually "top" bid does a retraction and "second" bid wins...but are from same bidder.

Always check your bidder's ID...at the bottom of their bid it will state how many "bid retractions" they have.

I saw a bidder with 63 bid retractions in a month and 652 in a year bidding on something I was bidding on. LOL

[stephenmorgan]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

The OP said, "decided to back out as the highest bidder (after retracting and then bidding five times) 20 MINUTES before the bid closes! He now wants me to contact the second-highest bidder (his former opponent)" and that sounds like "Buyer requested" to me.

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That is exactly how I would interpret their communication.

[mam98031]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

The OP said, "decided to back out as the highest bidder (after retracting and then bidding five times) 20 MINUTES before the bid closes! He now wants me to contact the second-highest bidder (his former opponent)" and that sounds like "Buyer requested" to me.

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Not unless the buyer specifically says it in an email to the seller.

[mam98031]

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@stephenmorgan wrote:

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

The OP said, "decided to back out as the highest bidder (after retracting and then bidding five times) 20 MINUTES before the bid closes! He now wants me to contact the second-highest bidder (his former opponent)" and that sounds like "Buyer requested" to me.

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That is exactly how I would interpret their communication.

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But would Ebay??

[mam98031]

@nobody*s_perfect  and @stephenmorgan 

The OP said in part "...ultimately decided to back out as the highest bidder (after retracting and then bidding five times) 20 MINUTES before the bid closes! "  They wanted to back out 20 minutes BEFORE the auction closed.  So the seller could have honored that and if the buyer couldn't cancel the bid, the seller could.  Then they would not have been the winning bidder.  Providing the seller was available before the listing closed of course.

[nobody*s_perfect]

A request to cancel a bid near the end of the auction sounds like a "Buyer requested" too.  I got the impression that the OP didn't see that in time, so this questionable bidder won and then suggested the SCO.