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Winning Auctions and Never Receiving Items
Is it common to win an auction at a low price just to have seller respond that item was damaged or lost and just issue a refund. This is very unethical, if you don’t want to sell item at winning bid then don’t put up for auction. I have won 3 auctions in the last month only to be told I will never receive the item because it’s “lost or damaged†it’s very frustrating as a buyer to waste my time watching items only to be told l will never actually see them because I’m guessing that the seller didn’t get desired amount for item. Don’t put up items for auction if you don’t really want to risk a low winning bid.
2 comments
woodland_gnome
·3 years agoThe seller already got a "defect" when s/he cancelled the transaction. That is the primary tool eBay uses to weed out bad sellers, downgrading the selling status of those who get too many relative to their sales volume (as opposed to having to pay employees to actually investigate to see how likely it was that the seller had a legitimate reason to cancel vs. deliberate policy violations).
You may leave appropriate (calm, factual--if the seller said that x was the reason say "seller said x. . ." so people don't think you are just jumping to conclusions) feedback to warn future buyers/bidders. If the usual links have vanished, go to anyone's Feedback Profile (doesn't matter who, click on the feedback score in parentheses behind the username) then scroll down to below the last comment on that page to find a "Leave feedback" link that doesn't vanish (it brings you to a list of items you can leave feedback for).
Theoretically you could sue the seller for breach of the contract of sale (for the difference between the auction price and what you ended up having to pay for a replacement), but that is almost never practical.
disneyshopper
Mentor3 years agoNo, I do not think this is common? Are these new sellers? I'm guessing they thought the price would end up higher than it did. They will soon learn that auctions should start at the minimum price they will accept if they only get one bid. If these sellers cancel for Out of stock/damaged, ebay records a defect on the seller's account. Too many defects and these sellers can be restricted or suspended.