Retracted Bid

[wkir3618]

I received an email from eBay indicating I was out bid on an item.  Several days later I received another email informing me that the person who outbid me retracted his bid. I was now the high bidder. 

This is is a bad policy. I should be asked if I want to be the new high bidder. 

After being outbid I may have purchased a similar item and am no longer interested in the item in question. 

[thatsallfolks]

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@wkir3618 wrote:

After being outbid I may have purchased a similar item and am no longer interested in the item in question. 

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The policy clearly states that your bid is "live" until the auction ends. Purchasing a similar item before the auction ends is done at your own risk.

You may not like the policy, but it still makes no sense to ignore the policy.

[ed8108]

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@wkir3618 wrote: 

This is is a bad policy. I should be asked if I want to be the new high bidder. 

After being outbid I may have purchased a similar item and am no longer interested in the item in question. 

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Wait and do not enter a bid until near closing time of the auction.

[woodland_gnome]

It is not bad policy.  An auction should not be ruined totally because someone retracted or had his/her bid cancelled, just because you don't follow directions.

Why are you in such a hurry to bid?  Keep researching, keep your options open as long as practical; and bid just before the auction ends (or just before logging out of eBay the last time before the end).  Bidding early locks you into the auction until it is over (do NOT bid on/Best Offer/buy a similar item unless you are willing and able to pay for both) and it can count as an "Open Transaction" for purposes of eBay or seller limits, keeping you from bidding on something else that will be ending before that auction and even keeping you from rebidding on that same auction (so bid your TRUE maximum the first time).

[wkir3618]

That may be the policy but in my openion it should be changed. Once you are outbid, if a higher bid is retracted you should be given the option of being recognized as the high bidder. 

[missjen831]

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@wkir3618 wrote:

That may be the policy but in my openion it should be changed. Once you are outbid, if a higher bid is retracted you should be given the option of being recognized as the high bidder. 

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But that’s exactly what happened to you isn’t it? The high bidder retracted his bid leaving YOU the new high bidder.....on an item you no longer want because you made the mistake of bidding on other items thinking you were off the hook here.

[ilikestuff6969]

People can cancel their bids?  Lame.

[wkir3618]

Yes it is what happened. As it turns out I don’t mind being the highest bidder again. And yes, once I was outbid I thought I was off the hook. 

I doubt many eBay users, myself included, have read the policy. Yes it is our own fault. 

There are two schools of thought. Those who agree with the policy and people like me who don’t. 

A simple alternative would be to give the bidder the option to opt back into the bidding by tapping a link in the email they receive when they have been outbid. 

The bidding would “start over” until some or all of the bidders opt back in. 

The current defaut is your in it to the end. I would prefer being out if I am outbid unless I choose to opt in. 

As for placing a bid near the end of the auction, I prefer placing my maximum when I run across an item I am interested in. 

[missjen831]

Why would ebay let the bidder opt back in, when they never opted out? Your bid is LIVE until the auction ends. Ebay isn’t going to change how auctions are ran. 

[wkir3618]

I agree they won’t. 

[thatsallfolks]

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@wkir3618 wrote:

That may be the policy but in my openion it should be changed. Once you are outbid, if a higher bid is retracted you should be given the option of being recognized as the high bidder. 

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Your opinion doesn't change the fact that you have to abide by the policy as currently written. You can't ignore it and then get angry when eBay enforces it.

[godzilla_goose]

@wkir3618

Kindly check your private messages.  Look for a red envelope icon near your user ID.

[wkir3618]

Thatsallfolks-

You misunderstand the intent of my post. I am not angry, I am expressing an opposing openion as to how things currently stand. That’s what forums are about - discussing things and getting varying openions as to how they might be improved. 

I now understand the current policy. I feel at the very least eBay should remind bidders that they are still in the game even if they have been outbid, when they send an email stating “you have been outbid”. I imagine most casual bidders don’t understand all of the “rules”.

[ilikestuff6969]

@wkir3618

I agree with you.  I'm just a very casual buyer on and off for the last 20 years and I had no idea that could happen.  I always figured once I got out bid I was done.  I would imagine most people are not aware of that.  Regular sellers likely are as they see it from time to time, but buyers not so much.

[mikeystoyz]

What irritates me are the nibble bidders that advance you to your max and then retract their bid.  I believe they should not be able to do that.  Say I bid 20 dollars and the bid is at 9, same person bids 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and then retracts, you are high bidder at 20.  That irritates the heck out of me so much I only snipe bid.  If you bid on something more then 3 times you should not be able to retract your bid going oops, I dont want it.