eBay

radz3714 · ‎10-15-2023

There was an auction that had a buy it now option. I placed one bid and the "buy it now" option disappeared. I was under the impression that now the auction has to go to completion. 2 days into the auction with less than 5 days left, I suddenly open ebay to my dismay and see my bid has been "cancelled by seller". Seller messaged me saying sorry that someone else had paid the full price outright.

I message the seller asking about the cancellation since the buy it now button went away as soon as i placed my bid. The seller said that there was a "buy it now option". But on my screen I clearly did not see any buy it now option. Is this allowed? What's going on? I have invested a lot of time and thought into this auction and did a lot of research in preparation of winning the auction only to have it abruptly cancelled in my face and the item sold to another member. Obviously, I'm a bit peeved.

stephenmorgan · ‎10-15-2023

It is possible someone paid full price, what ever that was. But if it was done with a Buy It Now the seller did not need to cancel your bid, it would have cancelled once the Buy it Now was completed.

If you post the item number sometimes it can be looked up to see what the item sold for.

bali5005 · ‎10-15-2023

I can understand your frustration in this situation. While I'm not a legal expert, I can offer some general insights. In an auction, the rules and terms are usually set by the seller, and they can choose to cancel a bid for various reasons, including the presence of a "buy it now" option. However, transparency and clear communication are important in such cases. If you believe the cancellation was unfair or not in line with the terms originally presented, you may want to reach out to eBay's customer support for further assistance or clarification regarding this specific situation. They can provide guidance on how to proceed and whether any action can be taken.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎10-16-2023

Sellers are allowed to cancel any bid at any time before the auction ends. If there had been a 'Buy it now" option which disappeared when that bid was placed, it would reappear when the bid was canceled. I don't blame you for being peeved.

And the seller might have ended up with more $ in his pocket if he had let the auction run its full course. Probably he canceled your bid in response to a potential buyer who asked him to do so, and of course that buyer's motivation probably was because he thought he could get the item for a lower price via BIN than if he had to bid against you.

mudshark61369 · ‎10-16-2023

@radz3714,

The second part of nobody*s_prefect's answer is probably why the seller cancelled your bid and sold it for the But It Now (BIN) price. Usually, it is inexperienced sellers who do something like that, not knowing that most experienced bidders wait until the end of an auction before bidding. They may have felt since there was only one bid in 2 days, that they would not get a good price for the item so they agreed to cancel your bid, so the BIN option would reappear.

You can find out if that is what happened if you still have the auction saved, open it and scroll to the bottom of the listing and click on the See all feedback button, to open the seller's feedback profile page. On that page click on the As a seller tab to see if they have sold many things before or at all.

"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FOOLPROOF, BECAUSE FOOLS ARE SO DARNED INGENIOUS!" (unknown)

profitweb · ‎10-16-2023

Once one person bids on an auction, the "Buy It Now" option is removed from the listing for EVERYONE.

There is no way another buyer purchased it with the "Buy It Now" after you bid on the auction. It's literally not possible.

Please report this seller to eBay's Customer Service. Sellers are not allowed to have Auction-style listings and end them early when they outside the listing. This is a violation of eBay's rules.

I'm sorry you had this experience.

4pawsup* · ‎10-16-2023

If the item was that important to you you should have used the BIN. You took a risk by bidding and the seller canceled your bid and sold the item. There is nothing wrong with what he did. Ebay allows the seller to cancel a bid when a seller wants to.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎10-16-2023

@profitweb wrote: ... There is no way another buyer purchased it with the "Buy It Now" after you bid on the auction. It's literally not possible....

Yes, it is possible. As described in the original post, the seller canceled the bid so the BIN option reappeared. The seller didn't end the listing; the BIN purchase did. There is no violation to report.

Furthermore, there are 4 categories where the BIN option remains available after the bidding starts, until the high bid showing reaches 50% of the BIN price. In those auctions, the BIN can be used even after there are several bids.

bonjourami · ‎10-16-2023

" They can provide guidance on how to proceed and whether any action can be taken"

What 'action' would that be? Canceling bids is one of the few rights that sellers have left on Ebay.

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“Never pick a fight with an ugly person. They don’t have anything to lose.” ~Robin Williams

profitweb · ‎10-16-2023

Sellers are only supposed to cancel bids for the following reasons:

A buyer requests you cancel their bid and you agree.
You have to end the listing early because the item is no longer available for sale.
You made an error in the listing.
You’re concerned the bid may be from a fraudulent buyer

@bonjourami You are not supposed to offer something for auction then not sell it because you sold it elsewhere or the bid wasn't high enough (and you didn't set a minimum). If it is broken, mis-listed, or lost it's fine to cancel a bid and end a listing, but not because you sold it to someone else. Don't take my word for this, ask Customer Service about appropriate reasons to cancel bids. eBay is no good if it wastes interested buyers' time on this type of foolery.

@nobody*s_perfect I didn't realize 4 categories did that. Thanks for the info.

simba6 · ‎10-16-2023

Sellers are allowed to cancel bids. Some don't understand how eBay works and confuse a buy it now price with an auction reserve. Just have to find a better seller.

myangelandmyprincess · ‎10-16-2023

@profitweb wrote:
Once one person bids on an auction, the "Buy It Now" option is removed from the listing for EVERYONE.

There is no way another buyer purchased it with the "Buy It Now" after you bid on the auction. It's literally not possible.

Please report this seller to eBay's Customer Service. Sellers are not allowed to have Auction-style listings and end them early when they outside the listing. This is a violation of eBay's rules.

I'm sorry you had this experience.

Also some categories buy it now stays in place until bidding reaches 50% of the buy it now.

And just realized nobody's perfect already said that...I didn't notice I guess that helps prove nobody's perfect 😂

“Birth certificates show that you were born. Death certificates show that you died. Photographs show that you have lived.” -Unknown

bonjourami · ‎10-16-2023

"@bonjourami You are not supposed to offer something for auction then not sell it because you sold it elsewhere or the bid wasn't high enough (and you didn't set a minimum). If it is broken, mis-listed, or lost it's fine to cancel a bid and end a listing, but not because you sold it to someone else. Don't take my word for this, ask Customer Service about appropriate reasons to cancel bids. eBay is no good if it wastes interested buyers' time on this type of foolery"

Of course, but sellers are still allowed to cancel bids,that was my point.

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“Never pick a fight with an ugly person. They don’t have anything to lose.” ~Robin Williams

janet9988 · ‎10-16-2023

"Sellers are only supposed to cancel bids for the following reasons:"

THAT IS NOT WHAT EBAY POLICY STATES.....

Here I provided a screen shot to show the actual words of the policy...

Lift your left leg at midnight to start off on the right foot. Happy new Year!

radz3714 · ‎10-17-2023

Let me debunk this since I see it coming up several times about BIN being available after I placed my bid. Like several posters said, the BIN disappeared after I placed my bid. And I can confirm this because on another browser pulling up the same auction being signed out from ebay, there was no longer any BIN option, just my 1 bid. The starting price for the bid was 5500 AUD and the buy it now option was 7500 AUD, so the initial price was over 50% already of the BIN as well. I decided not to report even though while I was pretty frustrated about the situation, probably nothing would have been done about it anyways. Also, while it was likely against ebay policy, I can understand if the seller got an offer that would net him a pretty penny, most people would go for it. Is it right? Probably not. But I also understand everyone wants a good deal and people need to make a living, so I let it go. No reason to pursue something that won't end up gaining anything and wasting a lot of my time even if I was in the right. Spoiler alert! This story has a happy ending: To my surprise only a day after this harrowing experience, out of nowhere, I ended up getting an even better deal. Cheaper than what this auction ended up settling for, for a better, more upgraded machine and more accessories. So to all the guys rooting for the buyer (me), I'll let you know it worked out in the end in my favor 😄