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Bid retraction
 Why is this allowed?
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 Why is this allowed?
woodland_gnome
·2 years agoThe ONLY valid reasons under eBay rules for retracting a bid are:
1. The seller changed the description of the item after the bid was placed. Since there was already a bid in place this would have to be in an addendum at the bottom of the description contradicting something written or implied (e.g. "Used" in item condition in item specifics implies that the item is working under eBay's definition of that term for most categories).
2. You are going to CORRECT a typo you made when entering the bid amount, and you will CORRECT the amount by rebidding the CORRECT amount (the amount you intended to type but hit the wrong keys or hit a key too many times or missed the decimal divider key) immediately after the retraction goes through.
However eBay has done next to nothing (and I'm being generous with the "next to") to enforce that rule since the mid-2010s, and bad bidders know that and take advantage of it to "pick a lie" to retract for invalid reason. It got so bad in trading card categories with "bid shielders" driving up the current bid (and hence minimum bid) with multiple accounts and then retracting (often multiple times to extend the shielding period since a bid can be retracted only within 1 hour during the last 12 hours) in the last seconds of the auction (or just before the hour is up) to drop the price for the account with the bid being shielded, that eBay did away with retractions in those categories entirely (as opposed to pay employees to investigate and take action against serial retractors).
baxter0312
OP2 years agoI just don’t understand why it’s even possible after EIGHT HOURS. It should be the other way around. Make it so you are unable to retract a bid, and if a seller changed something that’s when eBay would step in.
woodland_gnome
·2 years agoThe time restriction doesn't kick in until there are only 12 hours left to run. After that deadline retractions can only be done in the first hour after the bid was placed (but no later than the actual end of the auction).
A bidder who has made a genuine typo is often not aware of having done so until the "current bid" exceeds his/her intended maximum (and s/he becomes aware that that has happened). This can be hours or days after s/he typo'd the bid depending on what and when other bidders bid (s/he would be immediately aware only if the hidden maximum of the prior leader was high enough to push the price up to beyond the intended bid).
I've been suggesting doing away with retractions for a couple of decades (getting rid of the floating decimal and requiring rekeying of the bid amount on the confirmation screen, and making clear the Money Back Guarantee for not as described would be as described at the time of the bid and perhaps providing for an anticipatory claim before payment if there was an addition to the description section after the bid).