Bid retraction

[megosteve]

Listed an item for sale and had a bidder make several bids in a row increasing each time, presumably to ascertain the high bidder's maximum bid, then retracted their bid. Is there a way to report suspicious bidding activity any more? I went on customer service chat and it was just about useless... agent sent me to a page to report buyers, but that isn't relevant until the auction is completed.

Is there anything that can be done about this aside from blocking the bidder?

[coastaltechsolution · Accepted solution]

I would block the bidder and move on with my life

[house*of*paws]

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@megosteve wrote:

Is there anything that can be done about this aside from blocking the bidder?

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Hi @megosteve 

No ... that's about it.  eBay hasn't seemed to do anything or care about bid retractions for several years.

[donsdetour]

this the comic??

[megosteve]

Yeah, the comic. I sold another one the other week that was pretty high end, but the downside is that there were a lot of sneaky types messaging me their contact information trying to get me to sell outside of eBay. This one is of a similar vintage and rarity but in very rough shape. Unfortunately, with a lot of the rarer stuff, it brings out the schemers.

[donsdetour]

Yep I agree with block the bidder:

Strange to see with  6 days to go:

Such can also be done to run off potential bidders as well. Make it look like you are setting up to shill bid the users.....

Use to be able to report them for auction interference but that don't work well any more...

Might just be some crazy bidder..... Hope the item do well.

[1tuna]

I am sorry this happened.underbidders do nt like to be takesn advantage of by canceled bids

it leaves bidders with a bad taste

I am curious if you aslo block the ones who want you to sell offline since they have contacted you

I have been doing auctions since 2000 or so and have seen all types.

bidders who see a canceled bid can lose faith in the system 

[femmefan1946]

There are rules for retracting bids, basically to allow bidders to correct mistakes like misplaced decimal points or other typos.
Retractions show on the bidder's feedback page. You might want to check that out.

But sellers can Block any member they want to. For retracting bids, for rude language, or for a weird ID.  It's a form of Seller Protection.

[postingid7659]

I always block bid retractors if I catch them because usually they choose "entered wrong amount" and then do not re-bid the correct amount as per rules. 

I did catch one once, when they retracted I blocked, then some months later I posted a similar item and got a nastygram from someone complaining they were unable to bid.  Sure enough, same person. 

[delighted_dirtdigger]

Just happened to me too. I remember when you could not retract a bid for almost any reason. Not happy.

[femmefan1946]

I did catch one once, when they retracted I blocked, then some months later I posted a similar item and got a nastygram from someone complaining they were unable to bid. Sure enough, same person.

So because someone changed her mind once, you turned down a customer who was interested in your products and wanted to buy?

Makes sense....

[tworelaxed]

Do you think bid retractions effect the original bidders or watchers, like what is going on or is this a fake auction etc. Just 

wondering about other thoughts😑

[battlebornllc]

Exact same happened to me as a seller..No recourse that I could find.

[kh-gary]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.