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Seller invoiced me for item I didn’t win in auction
I bid on an item but kept getting outbid and decided to stop. I did not win the auction, obviously. However, I got onto eBay the next day and saw I’d been charged for that item and had a message informing me the winner backed out. Instead of offering me a second chance deal, they charged me for the item I “won†and when I went to cancel the order, I’m unable to.
I sent a message to the seller asking them to please cancel. They replied telling me it’s a great item and I have good taste and they don’t want their customers to miss out. I replied no thanks, I’d like to cancel. They replied again basically brushing me off.
They refuse to cancel and the item is sitting in my cart waiting to be paid for. Now there’s even a warning telling me I should pay or risk the purchase getting cancelled. I WANT it to be cancelled! I haven’t paid anything, but this is aggravating. Any suggestions? eBay’s help center keeps making me go in circles.
albertabrightalberta
Mentor2 years agoFor clarity, I don't see feedback comments that allege shilling either.
However I've seen it done in the past by sellers with questionable histories that suspected shill bids are canceled when it is clear that the high bid isn't going to exceed the shill's proxy bid.
And sadly, too many sellers have private bidding, thereby making it impossible for us (as buyers) to see that history. But ebay IS able to look more deeply into bidding/buying/selling activity and can take action when suspected violations are reported. (In fact, there's a recent thread posted by a seller who was caught shilling and cannot have auction listings any more.)
lady_madonna
Mentor2 years ago@adriruy-0
If the highest bidder had their bid cancelled/retracted before the auction ended, then you would end up as the winner if your bid became highest bidder at that point.
What is the item # or link to the listing?
adriruy-0
OP2 years agoThanks for replying!
The item number is 176333292354
I looked at the bid history and there was 1 retraction. I don’t think there had been much time at all between the time the auction ended and the time I was informed there had been a retraction (I’ll have to do the math). I haven’t cancelled many purchases but seems odd I was immediately not able to cancel.
Also, I checked negative feedback for this seller (after all this, of course 🙄) and there are some accusations of them using shill accounts to drive up bid prices and then retract the bid. It’s not going to ruin me if I end up having to pay for this item, but the whole thing seems so shady and I don’t want to give them my money if they’re purposely scamming people like this.
lady_madonna
Mentor2 years ago@adriruy-0
You were not scammed.
If there was a retraction and you became the highest bidder, you won the item. Congratulations.
Buyers cannot cancel their orders/purchases.
adriruy-0
OP2 years agoThanks for the info. I wasn’t aware of retractions automatically making the next highest bidder the winning bidder. Now I know.
If this seller accepts returns within 30 days, it seems like a waste of everyone’s time to not allow cancellations. Not gonna do that since I’m sure I’d have to pay return shipping. Lesson learned. Thanks again
adriruy-0
OP2 years agoWait - I thought retractions were not allowed minutes before the auction ends. I guess I’m mistaken?
adriruy-0
OP2 years ago 
 
Sorry for all the replies. Doesn’t this seem off? The bid on April 15 was retracted minutes before the auction ended, on April 21. I thought eBay didn’t allow bid retractions unless the bid and retraction had been made within 1 hour when the auction had less than 12 hours to go.
lady_madonna
Mentor2 years ago@adriruy-0
The bid was cancelled, not retracted.
https://www.ebay.com/bfl/viewbids/176333292354?item=176333292354&rt=nc&_trksid=p4429486.m145235.l2565
Also you stated earlier: "I checked negative feedback for this seller and there are some accusations of them using shill accounts to drive up bid prices and then retract the bid."
I checked the negative feedback, and I do not see any comments of the sort.
adriruy-0
OP2 years agoOh I didn’t realize the seller could cancel a bid, vs a buyer retracting. Gotcha.
What would cause a seller to cancel the highest bid minutes before the auction ends? That bid was made close to when the item was listed, so it’s odd the seller would find a reason to cancel their bid so close to the auction ending. That honestly doesn’t seem off to you? I’ve ruled out the bidder requesting the cancellation since they were not so gracious with me.
I haven’t checked to see if this seller has filed a claim about me not paying yet. Or if they’ve given me negative feedback. I have not left any feedback for them as I was hoping to get this resolved. I feel like if they were doing everything by the book, they’d have taken action. They’re an experienced seller. I thought I knew enough about bidding policies, but clearly I’ve been schooled.
I was mistaken about there being more than one accusation of shilling. There were two separate comments left by the same buyer.
lady_madonna
Mentor2 years ago@adriruy-0
No one is able to know or even guess why the seller cancelled the highest bid shortly before the auction ended.
Sellers cannot leave negative feedback for buyers. But they can cancel the transaction after 4 days have passed due to "buyer didn't pay" which will result in an unpaid item strike on your account.
I see NO accusations of shilling in the seller's feedback.
albertabrightalberta
Mentor2 years agoYeah, but based on the item, the bidding, the PRIVATE bidding and the retraction, my guess is that the seller was shilling and in order for the shill bidding not to backfire, the shill retracted their bid.