Buy It Now after a bid was placed

[cdaiber6]

So I have been looking for information and this and can't find any.  I have had maybe 3-5 auctions recently that had an anchor bid.  Somehow the Buy It Now is still offered and another buyer comes along and wins instantly using the Buy It Now.  I am confused.  Technically this has totally worked in my favor.  Has anyone else seen this happening?  The only thing I question is a few weeks ago I had an item with no purchase history on Ebay.  I winged it and give it a start bid and Buy It Now bid.  My item ended up selling way over the Buy It Now bid.  This is one situation where I know I would have lost money.  I would have never known my items true value if I had lost it to the Buy It Now function.  Am I not noticing some function in my set up?  I am not complaining, I just don't understand how the Buy It Now is active.  Any comments?

[7606dennis]

---

@gre829 wrote:

---

@jcozine wrote:
Same thing happened to me on a cell phone I was selling (item 303162506193) - bid was placed for $150 then 3 hours later someone was able to select Buy It Now for $220. **bleep** ebay.

---

@jcozine 

The bidding could have stopped at 150, so you got $70 more than your start price. Why complain?

---

Because it would be an ethics violation under the code of ethics of most state and national auction associations.  Not to mention it could violate the auction laws in some states and could lead to fines and other sanctions including the suspension and/or revocation of one's auctioneer and auction business license.  Would $70 be worth losing one's ability to operate one's business? 

[nobody*s_perfect]

The persistent ("sticky") BIN has been around for over a decade.  If there was going to be a legal challenge or penalty, it would have happened by now.

[7606dennis]

---

@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

The persistent ("sticky") BIN has been around for over a decade.  If there was going to be a legal challenge or penalty, it would have happened by now.

---

I would have thought so, but I assume most bidders would not consider it worth the time and expense to pursue it.  If memory serves, eBay had intended to bring it out in all categories but abruptly ditched the plan.  Interesting!