I'm confused about a bidding cycle on one of my items and what I should do

[frankj270y]

Hi. I have an item currently for auction and the bidding cycle that is occurring is a bit confusing to me. I'm not exactly sure what I should do.

In a moment, I'll post the bidding history (with ebay ids changed), but here are some thoughts/questions before I do that:

1. Bidder 3 joined eBay on December 5, 2017. Bidder 4 joined eBay on May 5, 2005 and has 100% positive feedback for the last 12 months (with a total of 204 feedback received)

2. It appears that Bidder 3 asked me to cancel their bid but then placed another bid 3 minutes later.

3. If Bidder 3 actually does want their bid(s) canceled, it seems fair to me to cancel all the bids that have come after Bidder 4's $45.00 bid - since the increaes in bid amounts was due to the back-and-forth between Bidder 4 and Bidder 3 (who now wants their bid canceled).

4. Wy would Bidder 4 bid almost $19.00 more than the $26.45 bid?

5. There are about 3 days and 8 hours left on the 7-day auction.

Here is the bid history so far:

Starting Price - $12.67
Bidder 1 (autobid) - $12.67 - 2 Dec 2017 at 3:31:51PM PST
Bidder 1 - $15.00 - 3 Dec 2017 at 12:51:33PM PST
Bidder 2 - $15.26 - 4 Dec 2017 at 11:12:16AM PST
Bidder 3 (autobid) - $15.76 - 5 Dec 2017 at 2:23:01PM PST
Bidder 2 - $17.45 - 4 Dec 2017 at 11:12:31AM PST
Bidder 3 (autobid) - $17.95 - 5 Dec 2017 at 2:23:01PM PST
Bidder 2 - $19.36 - 5 Dec 2017 at 4:28:03PM PST
Bidder 3 (autobid) - $19.86 - 5 Dec 2017 at 2:23:01PM PST
Bidder 2 - $22.00 - 5 Dec 2017 at 4:28:11PM PST
Bidder 3 (autobid) - $22.50 - 5 Dec 2017 at 2:23:01PM PST
Bidder 2 - $24.00 - 5 Dec 2017 at 4:28:17PM PST
Bidder 3 (autobid) - $24.50 - 5 Dec 2017 at 2:23:01PM PST
Bidder 2 - $25.45 - 5 Dec 2017 at 4:28:29PM PST
Bidder 3 (autobid) - $26.45 - 5 Dec 2017 at 2:23:01PM PST
Bidder 4 - $45.00 - 6 Dec 2017 at 4:51:13AM PST
Bidder 3 (autobid) - $46.00 - 5 Dec 2017 at 2:23:01PM PST
Bidder 3 - $50.00 - 5 Dec 2017 at 2:23:01PM PST
Bidder 3 sends message to me asking if there is a buy it now price - 5 Dec 2017 at 14:23:53 PST
I send message to Bidder 3 telling them there is no buy it now price - 5 Dec 201 at 18:45:56 PST
Bidder 4 (autobid) - $51.00 - 6 Dec 2017 at 4:51:31AM PST
Bidder 4 - $52.00 - 6 Dec 2017 at 4:51:31AM PST
Bidder 3 (autobid) - $53.00 - 5 Dec 2017 at 2:37:35PM PST
Bidder 3 sends message to me asking me to cancel their bid - 6 Dec 2017 at 05:40:58 PST
Bidder 3 - $53.00 - 5 Dec 2017 at 5:43:48PM PST

Any thoughts on the best course of action?

Thanks in advance for any help and/or insight anyone can offer - I really appreciate it.

Frank

[aramintaca · Accepted solution]

Tell bidder three that they can cancel their bid if they choose to. Or if you feel there is too much funny business going on with the bidder, FIRST put them on your blocked bidder list, then cancel all their bids. Sounds like they will be trouble. Good luck!

[coolections]

Block bidder 3 then cancel their bids. Do not communicate with bidder 3 ever again. Your auction will drop to $26.45 but there is still plenty of time for it to go back up.

[frankj270y]

Thanks aramintaca. If I cancel all their bids, will the price go down to the $45.00 amount that Bidder 4 had bid? That's what I think is fair to that bidder. Should I contact that bidder to let them know what happened?

[partial*eclipse]

You're over thinking this.  Just cancel the bid and then put bidder 3 on your blocked-bidder list so they can't mess with your auction any more.

When an auction has more than 12 hours left and a bid is canceled or retracted, all of that bidder's bids are removed and the bid history is rearranged as if those bids had never been placed.  So the removed bids do not inflate the selling price for the other bidders.  The auction has more than 3 days left so there's plenty of time for the bidding to recover.

It's not a good idea to advise the bidder to retract their bid, since they do not have a valid reason to do so.  The sooner you remove their bids, the sooner the auction can get back on track.

You can use this form:

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?CancelBidShow

[frankj270y]

Thanks coolections. Wouldn't the bid go down to $45.00 if I cancelled all of Bidder 3's bids? I'm not worried if it goes down to $26.45 (at all - when I put the item up for auction and looked at sold listings, I thought a fair price would be around $30 - so even if it ended at $26.45, I wouldn't be disappointed). I'm just curious about the mechanics.

[partial*eclipse]

The high bid showing is always just one bid increment above the second-highest bid. So if bidder 3's bids are removed, the high bid showing for bidder 4 will be just $1 above the second-highest bid which will be the $25.45 bid.

[thatsallfolks]

“4. Wy would Bidder 4 bid almost $19.00 more than the $26.45 bid?”

They did that because they wanted eBay to counter-bid for them automatically.

I also think you should cancel all of #3’s bids, and permanently block them.

[frankj270y]

Thanks to all for your quick advice. I have done as suggested - blocked Bidder 3 and cancelled all their bids. As others noted, the highest bid dropped to $26.45 which is fine with me.