How come sellers don't get punished for breaking ebay's policy, but buyers do?

[dedrick777]

I was bidding on 4 items from the same seller. On two of the items, I asked the seller to retract my bid because it went over monthly budget. I did this while there was still 2 days left on the bid. The seller cancelled them then blocked me from making bids. The seller gave no reason at all for the block. My account is 14 years old, positive buying history (100%), etc. The seller sent me a message asking if I was going to pay or not. The seller assumed I wasn't because I asked them to retract 2 bids earlier (even though I was because the winning bids was cheaper than the actual retail price). The seller told me I had 4 hrs to make the payment or they'll cancel because they don't feel like waiting 4 days. I didn't see this message because our time zones are different and I was working. The seller went on and cancelled then and relist the items. They even lied saying there was an error with my address. 

Why are sellers allowed to do this? 

[inceptions]

Retracting bids disrupts auctions for other buyers and can cost the sellers money, so the seller was perfectly justified in blocking you from further bidding. The time to figure out if purchasing an item is within your budget would be before you place the bid, not after.

However, the seller misrepresented the reason for the cancellation which you can report here:

https://www.ebay.com/help/action?topicid=4022

1. Select The seller has violated one of eBay’s policies and click Continue.
2. On the next page, enter the seller's ID and select Other.
3. In the comment section, write "In order to avoid a defect, seller cancelled order stating that I requested the cancellation ."

He should have waited four days and then if no payment came through, canceled for non-payment. That would have resulted in unpaid item strikes for you.

[dedrick777]

The auction wasn't distributed at all. There was no one else bidding besides me. People bid at the very last moment.

[inceptions]

Yes, most bidding does occur at the last minute. And some of those bidders who saw your bid come through may have moved on...others may have questioned why the seller is canceling bids and move on.

eBay wouldn't have a policy that limits bid retractions by buyers to only a few specific reasons because it is disruptive.

And that's why most sellers who have bidders asking to cancel bids will block them from further interaction with them.

[dedrick777]

I'm sorry, but I disagree. The item sells for $100. The bid was at $20 with tons of watchers and 2 days left. If it were on the last minute or if there were multiple bids, and I was the highest but flaked then yeah, I'd understand. But given the circumstances that there was no bidders-only watchers and the bid was still in low amount, it makes no sense. 

I just chalk it up to the seller being an ***-hole. 

My question remains as why doesn't punish sellers like they do buyers?

[woodland_gnome]

Buyers and sellers are in entirely different situations.  A buyer has to pay money and supply a valid shipping address for the item.   A seller has to deliver the item as described.   A buyer can simply avoid dealing with a seller by simply not bidding, offering or buying from him/her.  A seller can only avoid a buyer by adding him/her to the Blocked Bidder/Buyer List AFTER s/he has  come to his/her attention.

On the whole sellers who don't follow the rules are punished a lot more harshly (an actual financial impact) and certainly (even if the action does not violate the rules) than buyers.  

PS.  I am NOT a seller.

[inceptions]

You can disagree if you want, but those are some of the reasons eBay has these policies in place.

I already answered your question with an example of how a seller can be "punished" for violating the cancellation policy.