Thread: Bid retraction, is it common?

I've put an item on ebay for the 1st time. A few days to run but I had a bid, which I was quite pleased about, and I was expecting maybe another bid or 2 in the last few minutes etc. However I got notification today that the bidder has retracted their bid stating I had changed the description. Well 1st of all I don't actually know how to change it (although don't suppose its too hard) but surely ebay should only allow that option if the item shows as being edited?

Anyway I reported the person to ebay, not that I think they will do anything, as its not the way I would behave so not the way I wish to be treated.

Ebay has both buyers and seller ratings.
Inspect the history of this individual.

If he caused the auction to go bust request a free do-over from eBay.

well he's retracted 8 bids in 12 months and has 69 feedbacks as a buyer in that time, seems that its a common occurrence for him. There is time for the auction to run but at the moment no bids.

Originally Posted by Jeltz

well he's retracted 8 bids in 12 months and has 69 feedbacks as a buyer in that time, seems that its a common occurrence for him. There is time for the auction to run but at the moment no bids.

69 feedback ratings as a buyer in 12 months is not a small number.. Hes making well over 1 purchase a week...So he retracted 8 bids over 69 purchases, thats who knows how many bids.......Did he post a reason for retracting? If he posted that he entered the wrong amount, by ebay rules he needs to enter another bid right away, other than that, hes allowed to retract if he asked a question, that you didnt answer.......Unless it ruined your auction, and he retracted just before the end, Id give him a break...Just my opinion...

I didn't even know you could do such a thing. Sorta seems like giving your word, then backing out...not very honorable IMO.

Originally Posted by Chefbaze

69 feedback ratings as a buyer in 12 months is not a small number.. Hes making well over 1 purchase a week...So he retracted 8 bids over 69 purchases, thats who knows how many bids.......Did he post a reason for retracting? If he posted that he entered the wrong amount, by ebay rules he needs to enter another bid right away, other than that, hes allowed to retract if he asked a question, that you didnt answer.......Unless it ruined your auction, and he retracted just before the end, Id give him a break...Just my opinion...

The reason he stated was Seller changed the description of the item which is a lie, the listing is as it was when 1st posted. At this point we don't know what effect it will have, it shows his maximum but that was not the starting price. If someone else bids but the selling price is lower than his maximum he would have been obliged to buy had he not made up some crap to get out of his bid. You are right he's been buying often so its not as though he doesn't know how it works.

Originally Posted by Jeltz

The reason he stated was Seller changed the description of the item which is a lie, the listing is as it was when 1st posted. At this point we don't know what effect it will have, it shows his maximum but that was not the starting price. If someone else bids but the selling price is lower than his maximum he would have been obliged to buy had he not made up some crap to get out of his bid. You are right he's been buying often so its not as though he doesn't know how it works.

if he lied. report it to ebay . period. end of story. regardless of whether it affected your sale or not.....

Ive been a member of ebay since 1997 sold a lot bought a few and never had to deal with bid retraction, i did however had some issues with buyers and sellers and my experience is if its not a high valued item you wont get much help from them. If it were me i would just forget about it and relist the item.

Just to give people the benefit...is it possible he's in another country and didn't notice you listed CONUS only or something?

Well I did say in the OP that I'd already reported him.

To be fair its just an annoyance one of 2 today, the local supermarket has stopped stocking my favourite tea so I have to find another supplier, but on the plus side a nice lady gave me a £10 token she wasn't going to use so I bought a bottle of whisky at less than half the price I would have.

I won't be loosing sleep over this but I don't think that Ebay should make it so easy for people to back out of what should be a binding situation.