Bid Retraction question ...

[mr_lincoln]

Can a Buyer retract a bid on an Auction without replacing it with another bid?  I had a bid retracted on an item and it was the only bid ... I thought I read somewhere "way back when" that Buyers could retract a bid but then had to replace it with another bid ... and Sellers were the only ones who could "cancel" a bid upon request from the Buyer.

[femmefan1946]

In theory no.

But since all bid retractions come down to "I changed my mind" there is no point in worrying about the reason given.

He changed his mind and clicked  randomly to retract.

Ever seen an abandoned shopping cart in WalMart?

[nobody*s_perfect · Accepted solution]

When a bidder retracts a bid, they must choose one of the 3 valid reasons.  If the bidder chooses the reason "Bid wrong amount" they are SUPPOSED to rebid the correct amount, but this is not enforceable. In other words, if the auction has more than 12 hours left, the bidder can just retract their bid without rebidding and without contacting the seller.

[emerald40]

A buyer can retract a bid and  not have to rebid.

I believe if I remember correctly, if they chose put in wrong amount, then they could retract and then were supposed to rebid with the correct amount.

Now they can lie and use one of the other choices.

[carlmarxx]

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@emerald40 wrote:

A buyer can retract a bid and  not have to rebid.

I believe if I remember correctly, if they chose put in wrong amount, then they could retract and then were supposed to rebid with the correct amount.

Now they can lie and use one of the other choices.

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@emerald40 wrote:

A buyer can retract a bid and  not have to rebid.

I believe if I remember correctly, if they chose put in wrong amount, then they could retract and then were supposed to rebid with the correct amount.

Now they can lie and use one of the other choices.

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Well said.

[ted_200]

A bid is a binding contract that's active until an auction-style listing ends or you're outbid. You can only retract a bid if the seller significantly changed the description of the item, if you accidentally bid the wrong amount, or if you can't reach the seller. Retracting a bid for any other reason is considered an invalid bid retraction.

Since I assume you didn't change the item description, and your contact info. is good, they must re-bid or it's invalid.

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

When a bidder retracts a bid, they must choose one of the 3 valid reasons.  If the bidder chooses the reason "Bid wrong amount" they are SUPPOSED to rebid the correct amount, but  eBay will not enforce it on bidders.  this is not enforceable. In other words, if the auction has more than 12 hours left, the bidder can just retract their bid without rebidding and without contacting the seller.

Correct, with one minor adjustment.

[ted_200]

Anyhow, it's a bid you didn't want, they'd just return or file a dispute later anyhow.  Be sure to put the ID on a special list.

[castlemagicmemories]

Yes, they can, and frequently do.  It's not Ebay legal according to the rules, however, it happens.

[pargran3]

As ted says, it is a bid you did not want anyway.

The bidder changed his or her mind in time to retract the bid. this is probably a good thing.

Radine

[ted_200]

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@castlemagicmemories wrote:

Yes, they can, and frequently do.  It's not Ebay legal according to the rules, however, it happens.

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This is a lot more serious when it's bid shielding, or being used to expose the high bidders proxy bid, or other auction tampering.  fraud.

Since there were never any other bidders on this, it's not that.  But eBay should still sanction the bidder in some way.  If there had been further bidding, or if they do this on other listings with bids (which is likely, if there is never any penalty), it has the same effect. 

[mr_lincoln]

@ted_200

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@ted_200 wrote:

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@castlemagicmemories wrote:

Yes, they can, and frequently do.  It's not Ebay legal according to the rules, however, it happens.

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This is a lot more serious when it's bid shielding, or being used to expose the high bidders proxy bid, or other auction tampering.  fraud.

Since there were never any other bidders on this, it's not that.  But eBay should still sanction the bidder in some way.  If there had been further bidding, or if they do this on other listings with bids (which is likely, if there is never any penalty), it has the same effect. 

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Excellent point and you are correct, only one bid.  I have no problem cancelling any bids when asked and I never hesitate nor ask why but yes, there should be some kind of penalty if the Buyer retracts - especially if they have a history of doing it. 

I think in my particular case the Buyer may have found a similar one for less (although its a hand built model so no two are really alike) OR they simply changed their mind.

[ekmadonna]

there is never any penalty against bidders for retracting, I see dozens of bidder id's in the areas I collect and in the fine art and antiques categories with literally hundreds of bid retractions in 30 days and six month periods. I have seen a few with over 300 in a six month period. It ruins the integrity of the auctions I follow and I will not bid when these same id's have BOTH hundreds of retractions AND a high percentage of bids placed with that particular seller. example 100s of retractions and 88% bids on a particular sellers items. thats a red flag that bid shielding or shill bidding is present.

[ted_200]

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@ekmadonna wrote:

there is never any penalty against bidders for retracting, I see dozens of bidder id's in the areas I collect and in the fine art and antiques categories with literally hundreds of bid retractions in 30 days and six month periods. I have seen a few with over 300 in a six month period. It ruins the integrity of the auctions I follow and I will not bid when these same id's have BOTH hundreds of retractions AND a high percentage of bids placed with that particular seller. example 100s of retractions and 88% bids on a particular sellers items. thats a red flag that bid shielding or shill bidding is present.

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Failing to deal with illegal bid retractions is just one of a long list of things that have undercut the Auction format on most of the site... changing the default search sort to Best Match, hiding Bidder IDs, handing out Free Listings for high start price Auctions, imposing "protections" that are unsuitable for Auctions... it's almost as if they have intentionally undermined Auctions. 

They'll insist Auctions aren't popular anymore, (only on eBay) but it's not true anywhere else, and the declining popularity on eBay is primarily the result of eBay (not buyer preferences).  It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, with eBay claiming they are a "thing of the past" - and eBay then taking actions to make that a reality. 

Those users you just described are engaged in shill bidding schemes, which aren't just against eBay policy, they're illegal.  It continues only because eBay is allowing it to continue. 

[trembpy]

The same thing just happened to me. Feedback on the buyer shows that he has done this over 20 times with different sellers over the past month alone! Spent 15 minutes on the phone with eBay to be told there is nothing they can do. Then why bother having an official policy saying that buyers are responsible for their bids (with some exceptions of course)... You can always cancel a bid by saying you entered an incorrect amount... in my case, it was the starting bid amount...a real joke! 

[divwido]

There is no expectation at Walmart, No agreeing or commiting to a purchase places in a cart-but there is here.