Requests to Retract Bids Need Permanent Penalties
I'm noticing, on some of my more rare listings, that bidders will spam like-listings with bids from multiple sellers and then request sellers retract their bids for all but the one they won. I just did this today for a bidder on an auction that literally just posted yesterday afternoon, and sent her a stern warning that retracting bids is not a normal feature of auctions and to please be more intentional. However, IMO eBay ought to somehow "knock" these people's account feedback ratings or something whenever this happens to make it public that they are not serious bidders. I realize I could've refused to allow this, but I am also concerned about my own ratings as a seller - and, by offering the option, it puts me in a bit of a pickle.
23 comments
luckythewinner
·2 years agoI'm not sure I understand how this would affect your seller rating, and what the nature of this "pickle" is that you are referring to.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoTurn on the autopay feature for your auctions and they will not have the opportunity to request retraction of a bid and it may also dissuade them from bidding in the first place. Of course they could always request a cancel of the order. I use the auction format almost exclusively and have very little problem with bid retraction requests, cancel order requests or non-payers.
For sure add these buyers to your BBL
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoBid retractions show on the bidder's Feedback Page.
You could look at the FB of every bidder and cancel the bids of any that have more retractions than you want.
However, if your product is widely available, and having multiple auctions open at the same time indicates that it is mass-manufactured and not suitable for auction.
Warhammer ? Gamers gonna game. Another part of your problem is your customer demographic.
Work out your price, list at Fixed Price /Immediate Payment Required.
The item remains available for 30 days not just seven, or until someone pays.
This also gives you the benefit of Immediate Gratification by your impatient buyer and a wider customer base due to the longer availability.
gator08041971
·2 years agoThis one is currently active on one of my items listed right now. Holy cow! How can anyone have that many bid retractions in a year and still be able to shop here? lol
ittybitnot
·2 years agoHow can anyone have that many bid retractions in a year and still be able to shop here?
@gator08041971
There are no penalties. To paraphrase a quote made by a previous VP of "something" at eBay years ago:
WE WANT ALL BUYERS EVEN IF THEY ARE BAD.
gator08041971
·2 years agoWell, that much is painfully obvious. I did throw an "lol" at the end of that, as I was joking a bit.. 😛
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoAuctions are not important to Ebay any more.
Buy It Now is the bulk of the listings, bulk of the sales, and bulk of Ebay revenue.
Auction sellers have gotten their new protection - the prepay requirement. It will be a long time until they get another.
As for the concept of "rarer" items, some of us define that to be items which are likely to have only one listing on the site and unlikely to have another in the near future.
You seem to think a multi-bid auction is "rarer". It is, most Ebay auctions now sell on 1 bid, and the auction format is usually inappropriate for the listing.
gator08041971
·2 years agoNot sure why you think I would be thinking that. But then, most of my "auctions" get more than one bid. And I usually don't list them with a starting price below what I'm willing to accept for them.
To each their own.
mr_lincoln
·2 years agoHi @jstengren
First, Sellers "Cancel bids" and Buyers "retract bids". If a Buyer retracts a bid and violates eBay Policy by not REPLACING IT with another bid you have the option to add them to your blocked list here: Buyer Management | eBay
Check the boxes that blocks all communication and applies the block to active and furture listings.
You can see how many bid retractions a member has by going to their full Feedback history page and clicking the Received as Buyer tab, then look to the right and the number of bid retractions in the last 12 months can be seen.
I think eBay should have a block setting for Sellers to block Buyers with "X" number of bid retractions in the last 12 months. That would cut down on a lot of the abuse of the retraction policy.
gator08041971
·2 years agoI agree. That would be most helpful. No one wants bidders that do that repeatedly on their items.
itsjustasprain
·2 years agoThat has been requested repeatedly over the years in the Weekly (now Monthly) Chat, but it has never been implemented.
ittybitnot
·2 years agoclicking the Received as Buyer tab,
@mr_lincoln
Thank you, Mr. Lincoln. I resume my position in the slow typing corner!
mr_lincoln
·2 years ago@ittybitnot
LOL ... T ... h ... a ... t i ... s ... ok
luckythewinner
·2 years agoYou also have the option to add them to your blocked list anytime you want for any reason you want.
gone.c-33
·2 years agoSomeone on the Bidding board has retracted 1019 bids in the last year.
ebay doesn’t care.
chapeau-noir
·2 years agoTell them to go ahead and retract their bid, no problem. But make *them* do it.
ittybitnot
·2 years ago@jstengren
Buyers, for the most part, can retract their own bids. The number of times they do this is publicly shown, and likely why they want YOU to do it for them.
Perhaps you can send the person requesting to this page:
https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/bidding/retracting-bid?id=4013&st=3&pos=1&query=Retracting%20a%20bid&intent=retract%20a%20bid&lucenceai=lucenceai&docId=HELP1021
gator08041971
·2 years agoWhere can I find the information about this specifically? Is there a FAQ? I didn't know about this.
ittybitnot
·2 years agoWhere can I find the information about this specifically?
@gator08041971
It is on the feedback page. The page you can access here by clicking on the number. (Yours is 667*) . Since ebay is messing with the display, you may have to click around to the different views i.e. all feedback, feedback as a buyer, feedback as a seller, feedback left for others, sort by most recent. I don't sell here anymore so it is not something I typically look for. Someone will be by here to tell you.
There is no instructions or FAQ that I know about on eBay to tell you how to locate the information.
Maybe @gone.c-33 can give you a link to the thread mentioned if it has a screen shot.
gator08041971
·2 years agoThanks. @mr_lincoln above answered it.
mr_lincoln
·2 years ago@gator08041971
You are more than welcome. I have never had issues with Customers bidding and retracting bids on my Games Workshop - Warhammer items. I am very low in that category right now but typically it performs well ... although I look for the older stuff from the 90s if I can find it ...
gone.c-33
·2 years ago 
In the case I was speaking of, I just click on the Received as a buyer tab of a member’s feedback page.
jstengren
OP2 years agoThanks, I did not know this