Lowball Bid

[lales2770]

Last week I received an insufficient bid of $26.20 on an item. The buyer asked if I'd consider $30 as Buy it Now. I said to add an additional $6 for postage, and I'd be fine. I received notification from eBay today that the item was sold to the bidder for $26.20 - which was not my decision.
I definitely don't want to accept the bid, but there doesn't seem to be any way to contact eBay to cancel this sake, only for the buyer to cancel the sale.

Advice? Thanks!

[ckimodog]

@lales2770 

I believe you can resend the invoice and add the $6.  Just communicate with your buyer politely and tell them there was an error.  If they initially agreed to the additional shipping cost, there should be no problem. 

Good luck

[inhawaii]

You can't communicate a deal with the buyer them expect ebay to know what you both agreed on.

It's YOUR responsibility to change the parameters of the sale to meet your agreement.

Ebay did not just pull that $26.20 figure out of the air.  It came for YOU and YOUR listing.

If it were me I would take the loss and go ahead with the $26.30 sale.

Consider it a $10 learning lesson.

[monroe67]

My advice to the OP is to send the book to the buyer, as soon as possible. 
It looks like a perfect transaction according to two important terms of the listing:  (1) auction format with starting bid of $26.20 and
(2) Free Economy Shipping.  

The starting bid for an auction is determined by the seller, which was you, yourself, OP.  It is intended to be the very smallest amount of money you would accept for the item.   YOU, OP, set the starting price at $26.20.  By doing so, you are obligated to accept the bid.  That is simply the way auctions work. 

The first and only bid was at precisely $26.20.  That's not a lowball bid.  It is the amount that you  established for this auction.  If you consider that an "insufficient" amount, you should have set the starting bid as a larger amount, something that you would consider sufficient.  

The shipping/postage amounts set in all eBay listings, likewise, are essentially carved in stone.  They are not negotiable in any eBay listing, whether auction or Buy-It-Now (BIN).  

THEN, after you have sent the book to its new owner, my advice is to read eBay's User Agreement (there's a link at the bottom of each page), especially about eBay auctions.  There's also a lot to be learned from regular reading of these community forums.  

[bonjourami]

Buyers cannot cancel the sale, he would have to send you a request to do that. 

[stainlessenginecovers]

You need to ship it for the last sale price with whatever shipping cost you showed on the listing. 

Receiving a 'bid' means you had it on Auction (which you did).

If the Auction did NOT have a reserve (which is did NOT);  then you CANNOT determine it was 'insufficient' and you MUST accept whatever that auction listing ended at. 

If a buyer sent you an 'offer' or a 'message' about it and you went back and forth on a live auction, you needed to tell the buyer to simply 'bid' $30. 

None of that changes the fact you had an ongoing 'auction' that you let run it's course. 

So I'll reiterate: You need to ship it for the last sale price with whatever shipping cost you showed on the listing. 

[dhbookds]

As said........you set the listing up.......at a beginning price of $26.20/free shipping.  A buyer bid that and it sold for that........  you are obligated to honor your listing......and mail to the buyer.

[redlinear]

The auction, bid, and terms are legitimate and final.
Prior to the end of the auction, the person who was bidding, made you an offer of $30.
You did not accept that offer.  Instead, you countered with $36.
 By not responding, the bidder refused your "counter offer" and let the auction run it's course. And won, for less than the offer that you refused.

[lales2770]

All good, thanks!