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bidder asks seller to retract their bid
So I have an item listed and its only one day into a 7 day auction. 20 bids from 9 bidders. Current price well below the actual realistic final sell price. The high bidder contacts me and tells me to retract his bid because he "has insufficient funds". My immediate response to him was that the auction has just started and that he will be outbid anyway. However- what does the community have to say about this? I've always felt as a buyer that if I make a bid- I have to honor it. I recently had an absolute nightmare with a buyer who demanded to back out of an auction that he had won (for the minimum starting bid). Am I wrong, or does it seem like buyers hold all the cards these days?
boatdetective
OP2 years agoThank you!
...now I have to figure out how to cancel a bid
woodland_gnome
·2 years agoGo to the Site Map (link at the bottom of this and most ebay.com pages) Sell Section (use the shortcut at the top--it's a long scroll down) and you'll find the link to that and several other useful seller tools, including to your BB/BL list (and Buyer Requirements at the bottom of the page that link takes you to).
woodland_gnome
·2 years agoIt is almost always in the seller's best interest (not the best interest of the community as a whole though) to cancel the bid if the buyer requests it, and to do so ASAP (and block the bidder) so the drop in price will be reflected in searches by prospective buyers as early as possible. Exception might be if the bid raised the price significantly (vs. what it will go down to--remember the price is set by the SECOND highest bidder so the price will go down from the second highest bidder's maximum plus up to an increment to the third highest bidder's maximum plus up to an increment--even if the bidder requesting cancellation of one bid has multiple bids since when you cancel they all go away--or your minimum price, e.g. the Starting Price if there are only 2 bidders and no Reserve) for an extended period of time (relative to the time remaining).
Here it isn't even close, assuming you are talking about the leader: 5 1/2 days left to run, and your assumption that s/he will be outbid is not well founded, since you don't what what s/he actually bid (hidden maximum) and indeed you have had a nibbler raising the price $50 with the same leader. It could be s/he typo'd (or nuclear bid--intentionally bidding more than s/he was willing/able to pay to make sure s/he "won" assuming nobody else would bid more than s/he was willing/able to pay and the nibbler's bids has shaken that assumption). Cancel the bid(s--1 cancellation removes both bids) and add him/her to your Block Bidder/Buyer List.
Just remember: someone who doesn't pay is usually just an inconvenience that can be sorted out in 5 days. Someone who doesn't want to pay for the item but does because s/he feels forced to do so can really hurt you.