Is this a scam?

[cmjantz]

I am not a heavy volume seller and don't really know if this is a scam or not and if there is anything I can even do.

I had an auction item ending tonight, it was originally listed with a starting with a buy it now of $350 and worked up $550.  Tonight near the end of the auction there was a bid to $580 immediately followed by the winning bid for $590. 

Immediately after the auction I got a request to cancel the order from the buyer.  I did and eBay relisted it.  Five minutes later the item was bought for the buy it now price of $350 by the second highest bidder from the original listing.  Does this seem odd or is it just me? 

[therogue-trader]

Odd, sure. But do you have any proof or indication that it's a scam beyond speculation based on coincidence?

[dhbookds]

Tricky to say............  Not to sound "smart".......maybe it isn't.......but I would not have immediately relisted (you can uncheck the box), and instead offered it to the second bidder as a 2nd chance offer with the reason that the first buyer canceled.  Maybe he would have taken it, maybe not.  Also, if there was that kind of interest, I probably wouldn't have had a buy it now option......or had it closer to the ending bid........

I can see the 2nd buyer checking the closed listing and getting the notice that it was relisted and then jumping on the BIN price.....in all innocence.  It could have been a set up to get you to relist it with the lower bin.......but no real way to tell that I can think of.....

[reallynicestamps]

Probably legal.

You had only two bidders, when the top bidder revealed your underbidder's maximum bid, he decided that he didn't want to pay that much and cancelled.

Putting the bid right back to where it would have been if only your underbidder had bid.

And you set that opening bid where you would have been content if the original winner had never bid, and that was what you got.

Unless I missed something?

Side note: that winning bid was $590 only because the underbidder's maximum bid was $580. The underbidder sets the winning bid. The cancelled bidder could have bid $1000 for all you or the underbidder  knows

One way to avoid requests for cancellations and  Unpaid Item Disputes is to list at Fixed Price/Immediate Payment Required.  The listing stays open until someone pays the price or for 30 days.

[guangxi_hone]

Somebody placed bid on auction and  BIN option disappeared and the auction continued till winning bid of $590.

You cancelled the last bid so the bidder with $580 should be the winner. 

You could send second chance offer to the $580 bidder instead of relisting.

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/bidding/second-chance-offers?id=4017

You lost $230. Sorry.

Congrats on graduating from $230  Ebay's class on hand selftraining😊.

[cmjantz]

That actually makes sense in that case.  I did not know that bidders would get notified when something they bid one is relisted. 

Thanks for your help. 

[cmjantz]

Nope, no proof.  Was just really wondering about it.  It is what it is.  Thanks. 

[bar-29368]

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@guangxi_hone wrote:

Somebody placed bid on auction and  BIN option disappeared and the auction continued till winning bid of $590.

You cancelled the last bid so the bidder with $580 should be the winner. 

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That is only if the bid is cancelled while the auction is still active.

[myboardid]

After you saw that it could possibly sell for $580 or more, WHY did you relist it with a $350 BIN?  Sounds to me like the runner up on the first auction went looking for a new one to buy after he lot the original and found your new listing. 

[reallynicestamps]

@guangxi_hone 

The seller did not cancel the last bid.

After the auction was over, the winning bidder asked that the purchase be cancelled.

The seller agreed.

However:

There was an instruction on file that, should be transaction fail (in this case the purchase was cancelled) the auction would relist automatically.

And the disappointed underbidder jumped at buying the item for the renewed Buy It Now price- $200 lower than he had been willing to pay.

I'd be spitting tacks too.
But it is all "legal" and more or less above board.

[guangxi_hone]

@myboardid 

"After you saw that it could possibly sell for $580 or more, WHY did you relist it with a $350 BIN?  Sounds to me like the runner up on the first auction went looking for a new one to buy after he lot the original and found your new listing. "

The runner did not have to look far. It is right there , on the original auction page, on the top, in blue, that the seller relisted auction. All it took is a $200 click. 

Again, expensive but valuable lessons for many of us. Pay attention. It is so easy to click but it is nice to have sometimes APP called HEAD.