Retracting bids days after placing them

[swrwizard]

I remember when I started on eBay that my ability to retract a bid was limited to a reasonable, but short period of time. 1 to 2 hrs after placing a bid...maybe just 1 hour. Now a bidder can wait until the auction period has only 12 hours left to retract all bids without permission! That change leaves too much room for buyers to manipulate the bidding to get the lowest price. Example - Recently/currently I have an item that was bidded up after a second bidder laid down 6 bids. This was 4 days after the 1st bidder put down his high bid. Within 12 hours of that, with only 2+ days left on the auction the 1st bidder abruptly retracts his bid, causing my item to go back to my starting bid. While there are about 3 watchers on my item, there's no guarantee that my item will be bid up to its' original high bid the 1st bidder allowed for.  It was at least $20+ more after the 2nd bidder laid down his 6 bids. Currently, anyone else coming across my listing will likely pass on my item when they see the solitary bidder having put down 6 bids & look for another copy of what I'm selling that's currently bid up for less. eBay's rules need to be changed back to what it originally was...   

[sonomabarn67]

If you found any off behavior that shows any untoward actions then you do have the option to write a very sternly worded letter to ebay to make them aware of your concerns.. But, it looks like everyone was playing by the rules on this one.

Personally, I'm very upset with the California State Lottery because I have NEVER won the big jackpots, even though I feel I should have won something by now,  the small jackpots seem to elude me as well. My advice is to keep playing until you win or don't win.

[anjofak]

What i see trying to view your page..

 

[melda58]

Buyers who are forced to purchase an item because they couldn't retract their bids, will likely either not pay for the items, or will claim a refund for one reason or another.  So allowing retractions up until 2 days before the end of the auction is not such a bad thing in my opinion.  People generally have valid reasons for not wanting to go ahead with their bids.  

Rita

[dryophelia]

@anjofak 

Because you are in a location the OP doesn’t ship to, you won’t be able to see their listings. 

If you change the zip code on the shipping details page, you will see their listings.

[anjofak]

That can't be right I see tons of listing daily that won't ship outside the low 48..

[argon38]

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@swrwizard wrote:

I remember when I started on eBay that my ability to retract a bid was limited to a reasonable, but short period of time. 1 to 2 hrs after placing a bid...maybe just 1 hour. Now a bidder can wait until the auction period has only 12 hours left to retract all bids without permission! That change leaves too much room for buyers to manipulate the bidding to get the lowest price.

eBay's rules need to be changed back to what it originally was...   

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I think your memory must be playing tricks, as the 12-hour timeframe isn't new. I see from your profile that you joined eBay in 2007. Here's a snapshot of the policy as it stood in October 2007:

https://web.archive.org/web/20071005062516/http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/questions/retract-bid.html 

And here's the policy as it stands today:

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/rules-policies-buyers/invalid-bid-retraction-policy?id=4227 

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/bidding/retracting-bid?id=4013 

[gracieallen01]

In fact, I think the 12 hour time-frame has been around longer than that - since at least 2005.

[swrwizard]

The current rules allow bidders to wait until 1 minute before the last 12 hour period of the auction to retract their bid(s) without permission from the seller.  This opens up the possibility of some people getting the idea to manipulate the price of some items to get the lowest possible price. This happened this past week. The 1st bidder on one of my items placed a high bid 1 to 2 days after the start of the listing. On the 4th day another bidder bid it up over $20 from the starting bid without outbidding the 1st bidder. Less than 12 hours later the 1st bidder retracted his bid claiming he put down the wrong bid. This sent the price back to my starting bid. Another bidder ran it back up on the last day of the auction, but didn't outbid the 2nd bidder & almost put it back to the highest dollar amount because the bids the 2nd bidder put down were still in place. I sent a message yesterday asking the winner when he was going to pay. He responded that he sent me 2 messages on the 22nd & 24th stating that he didn't want the item. As I see it, I was a target of a small group wanting to see how they can manipulate the price to get the item for the starting bid. When a 3rd bidder came into play that ruined their plan. 

[swrwizard]

Prior to my most recent situation, there was maybe 1 occasion where this question was raised & I talked directly to customer service. As I know now, they don't always have or know the rules themselves. I was obviously misinformed at that point in time. There's also the possibility that I keyed up on the information that applies to the last 12 hours of the auction period. Either way that long standing rule should be changed now that there been an uptick in attempts to scam sellers.  

[swrwizard]

I don't know what point you're trying to make, but I had active listings that ended on Saturday & Sunday before 7pm both days. I have heard from other people using their cell phones to do searches that are not always able to access certain information from some sites depending on the way they process information. I'm no tech wiz, so I can't explain further than that beyond stating that there may be some type of limitation that applies to your device. 

[swrwizard]

Additionally, I'm currently in the middle of resolving this situation because that item is still on my sales page unpaid. I never did get the messages the buyer claims to have sent & customer service will easily be able to verify that assuming they already haven't done so. I also had another item where the bidder wanted to back out of after the auction ended. He actually sent me messages barely 4 hours before the end of auction on Saturday, which I didn't see until Sunday. I let him know that I would try to cancel the transaction, but he eventually relented after I offered to include some free items with the purchase. It remains to be seen whether or not he will decide to return it anyway after receipt.