Getting too many bid cancellations with no reasons stated

[krys888]

How are buyers able to cancel their bids without asking or giving reasons to sellers? I get these notices from ebay saying a bidder has retracted or cancelled their bidsbut no reason. I’ve started listing more auction items since sales have dropped the past few months with no sign of picking up, which is troubling. Seems like I’ve had bid cancellations on at least 30% of the items I list for auction. Getting confused.

[juststuffisell]

I will tell you, block every bid retraction account so they cannot do the same thing again in the future.

I will typically take down a auction that a bid retraction has occurred on, especially late in an auction.

The normal auction bidder has no idea how to retract a bid and will almost always contact you to cancel the bid for them. The ones that do, are experienced and most are testing high bid threshold and I do not like to reward them.

Auctions are not so bad. You typically will sell way lower than fixed price depending, but they do bring eyes to your other fixed priced listings as some people like to bundle when they buy and are paying shipping.

Cheers

[coolections]

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@krys888 wrote:
What gets me is how many items I bought on auction but didn’t know we can retract our bids! I wouldn’t have bought several things if I’d known I can just retract if I change my mind.

So if you would have known, you too would have retracted your bids. Sometimes a person bids but before the auction ends they either notice something in the description or pictures that causes them to not want the item after all. Sometimes a bidder bids and something happens that they realise they cannot afford it. Sometimes someone bids but before the auction ends they find one cheaper. Not all bid retractors are scammers like some pretend. My guess it is a very low percent of retractors bid to just see what the high bidder is.

[krys888]

No lol.

[krys888]

If the three reasons pop up, why wouldn’t they just contact us? That’s what I would do. Btw, I just won a bid, low, and the seller was irritated that she not got one bid, mine. It wasn’t my fault that she just got one bid, but it made me realize at that moment that I’m not the only one in my product category with low traffic!

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@krys888 wrote:
If the three reasons pop up, why wouldn’t they just contact us? That’s what I would do. ...

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Because it's easier to just "pick a lie" rather than bother communicating with the seller, who might refuse to cancel the bid.

[pburn]

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@castlemagicmemories wrote:

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@krys888 wrote:
What gets me is how many items I bought on auction but didn’t know we can retract our bids! I wouldn’t have bought several things if I’d known I can just retract if I change my mind. Why bother? This is so stupid.

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Entered the wrong amount (you must enter the correct amount)

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I would rspectfully disagree that a bid retractor "must enter the correct amount." There is no requirement to do so, and there is no particular penalty for not doing so.

From the eBay help page. Under the second bullet point, there is no verbiage requiring the bidder to rebid:

When you can retract a bid

You can retract a bid if:

• The seller significantly changed the description of the item
• You accidentally bid the wrong amount. For example, you meant to bid $20, not $200. In this case, enter the price you intended to bid as soon as you've retracted the incorrect bid
• You can't reach the seller. For example, you sent the seller an email and it comes back undeliverable, or you tried calling the seller and the phone number doesn't work

[castlemagicmemories]

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@krys888 wrote:
None of the retractions I got contacted me! None of those reasons apply! Its like a game or something that the seller gets screwed on. So tired of these silly games.

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They are not required to contact you.  It wasn't a slight.  They just use the bid retraction form and retract.

I understand it is discouraging, you might consider listing fixed price, IPR.

[krys888]

None of these have been the case in any of the bid retractions I’ve received. Sigh. Guess I’ll stop putting up auctions except for things I just want to get rid of at a loss. When my inventory is finally gone, I won’t be doing this again. I’ve enjoyed so many aspects of this experience but there are too many time consuming irritants to consider making it a long term thing lol.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@pburn wrote:

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@castlemagicmemories wrote:

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@krys888 wrote:
What gets me is how many items I bought on auction but didn’t know we can retract our bids! I wouldn’t have bought several things if I’d known I can just retract if I change my mind. Why bother? This is so stupid.

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Entered the wrong amount (you must enter the correct amount)

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I would rspectfully disagree that a bid retractor "must enter the correct amount." There is no requirement to do so, and there is no particular penalty for not doing so.

From the eBay help page. Under the second bullet point, there is no verbiage requiring the bidder to rebid:

When you can retract a bid

You can retract a bid if:

• The seller significantly changed the description of the item
• You accidentally bid the wrong amount. For example, you meant to bid $20, not $200. In this case, enter the price you intended to bid as soon as you've retracted the incorrect bid
• You can't reach the seller. For example, you sent the seller an email and it comes back undeliverable, or you tried calling the seller and the phone number doesn't work

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With all due respect, it's telling you right there to enter the price you intended. 

Thus implying it is required to do so.  If something is a suggestion, Ebay has stated that.

[krys888]

I’ve got items ending auctions at $1 but cost $11 to ship so my ebay fees are $1.20 which is nuts!

[7606dennis]

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@pburn wrote:

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@castlemagicmemories wrote:

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@krys888 wrote:
What gets me is how many items I bought on auction but didn’t know we can retract our bids! I wouldn’t have bought several things if I’d known I can just retract if I change my mind. Why bother? This is so stupid.

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Entered the wrong amount (you must enter the correct amount)

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I would rspectfully disagree that a bid retractor "must enter the correct amount." There is no requirement to do so, and there is no particular penalty for not doing so.

From the eBay help page. Under the second bullet point, there is no verbiage requiring the bidder to rebid:

When you can retract a bid

You can retract a bid if:

• The seller significantly changed the description of the item
• You accidentally bid the wrong amount. For example, you meant to bid $20, not $200. In this case, enter the price you intended to bid as soon as you've retracted the incorrect bid
• You can't reach the seller. For example, you sent the seller an email and it comes back undeliverable, or you tried calling the seller and the phone number doesn't work

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Actually, in the past a retraction for the bid wrong amount reason would have been reportable as an invalid bid retraction if a bid for the correct amount was not immediately entered.  However, I'm not sure whether eBay has changed any of the wording or not but since they have taken away the seller's ability to report an invalid retraction it has become a moot point at this time.

Personally, I don't believe that any retractions should be permitted for reasons I've posted in the past.  If I have a bidder retract a bid, I cancel any other bids they may have placed on any of my items, block them and move on.  Of course, if they've obviously made a typo and rebid immediately I let it slide the first time.  However, if it appears to be a habit, it shows carelessness on their part and the end up on my BBL.

If possible, I check out bidder's feedback left for others and their retraction record.  More than one showing earns them a spot on my BBL.

[pargran3]

That isn't nuts. It is a bad business model. Nothing to do with eBay.

Radine

[pburn]

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@castlemagicmemories wrote: 

With all due respect, it's telling you right there to enter the price you intended. 

Thus implying it is required to do so.  If something is a suggestion, Ebay has stated that.

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If it were required, eBay's bid retraction feature would not allow a bidder to retract the bid unless they reentered a new bid. The software would prohibit it from happening. As it stands, a person can retract their bid, using the reason that it was the wrong amount, and walk away. They never have to enter a "corrected" bid. Nothing prohibits that from happening, as we've seen illustrated in so many threads on these discussion boards. 

I'm sorry, but I don't see how it can be suggested that a second, corrected bid is required to be entered. What is it exactly that requires it, other than an interpretation of the verbiage I quoted (an interpretation with which I disagree), or prohibits a bidder from retracting and not bidding a second time? With all due respect, I just don't see how you can say it's required when it happens all the time.

If it were required, the bullet point would say, "In this case,  you are required to enter the price you intended to bid as soon as you've retracted the incorrect bid." And--the bid retraction software would support that.

[buyselljack2016]

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@krys888 wrote:
None of these have been the case in any of the bid retractions I’ve received. Sigh. Guess I’ll stop putting up auctions except for things I just want to get rid of at a loss. When my inventory is finally gone, I won’t be doing this again. I’ve enjoyed so many aspects of this experience but there are too many time consuming irritants to consider making it a long term thing lol.

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Todays buyers may expect to be allowed to cancel a bid just like they are able to cancel a purchase on many sights.  Just as they are able to put an item back on the shelf at the store(a bit different, but same results).

Another option is for the listing to run it's course with the bidder/buyer never completing the tranasction. You then take time to relist. Would you prefer that?

Another option is for the bidder/buyer paying then requesting to cancel. You cancel then, or try to force thesale.  You may then have to take time to relist. Would you prefer that?

Another option is for the bidder/buyer to pay. You ship. They file SNAD. You pay return shipping, and refund full payment. You then take time to relist. Would you prefer that?

I know it is annoying when bids are canceled, but unless it is manupilation/shielding I just accept a cancel as "that is just the way it is".

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

I don't know if it is deliberate or willful or misunderstandings.  There was a recent thread by a buyer who said that all "professional" buyers that he knew retracted a lot, to find out what other's max bids were, etc.  If it wasn't allowed, then Ebay should not allow it.  He was advised that there are only three reasons and to discover a max bid or changed your mind aren't included so he would be choosing a reason that did not apply every time he did that, which he would have known having retracted so much.  I believe he was adamant that it was Ebay's fault.

In what world does this make sense? How could a “professional” buyer have the time to investigate something so useless? We all know that an auction isn’t over until the end. Bids present in the middle are barely relevant. That comment makes no sense. That behavior makes no sense, especially for a “professional” who should know better. It sounds like somebody blowing smoke to me.