Auction auto relisted, but a customer says they've won and it's in their cart
Hello, advice on how to proceed would be appreciated. I hope it's the right Board.. I'm the seller in this case - an auction finished without bids and auto relisted. Now there is a bid on the new listing. Customer has contacted me because they've bid and won on the original auction and it is showing in their cart (twice?!).
I've looked and it is their bid on the new listing. It doesn't show as sold to me, unless I try using the eBay help process and it comes up as a sale I can query, so I believe the customers account of what happened. Obviously a glitch in the system somewhere. I was thinking I could cancel the auction and see if that fixes it on their end allowing them to pay and finalise the sale. If I cancel this listing with a bid (6 days to go) will I incur fees or negative effects as a seller?
countessalmirena
·3 years agoThat instance would not occur in Australia, fortunately, as the decision by the German court was found under EU contract law still valid in the UK.
It’s clear, too, that the seller (Godden) didn’t cancel the existing bids before cancelling/ending the auction early. If he’d cancelled the German bidder’s bids, and of course all other bids, before ending the auction, I don’t think that particular legislation would apply.
eBay’s reply is as expected:
❝Godden is now attempting to recoup his losses from eBay, who told the Mirror in a statement: “We discourage sellers from ending auctions early, as listing an item and accepting bids from potential buyers creates a contractual obligation to sell the item.
“However, we understand sellers may occasionally need to cancel an auction and there are legitimate reasons for them to do so, including if the item is lost or broken. If they do end an auction early, sellers need to make sure they have proof of a legitimate reason.”❞
davewil1964
·3 years agoI'm a bit late to the party, but one salient point seems to have been missed.
Putting an item in a cart is NOT buying it. Until payment has been made the item is NOT sold.
countessalmirena
·3 years ago(I hadn’t checked OP’s feedback left for others. I’m posting from my phone and it’s not as easy to zip from one screen to another as on my computer - which is downstairs - and to which I am reluctant to hobble limpingly… although I’ll have to later today.)
OP, please do take note about not leaving any feedback for problem buyers! eBay disallowed negative feedback from sellers to buyers some years ago; as you’ve found, you can only leave a shiny green positive dot. You may have felt that the only avenue to vent your spleen against bad buyers is to give the green dot purely for the purpose of being able to leave a negative comment… but eBay specifically say you must not do this. It is a policy violation.
*sons_n_daughters*
·3 years agoQuite a few months back I clicked to cancel after 2 days, just to see what happened. It went through. As an unpaid. I was expecting a you can't do this yet message. The buyer contacted me saying they hadn't paid yet because they were watching other auctions that were close to finishing. I felt terrible because I was only experimenting. I relisted the item for them, with a discount, and told them to contact ebay to get the strike removed, which they did. They ended up buying 8 items!
While it used to be 4 days before you could open an unpaid dispute, I think it's different now.
countessalmirena
·3 years agoYou can only set your requirements to weed out the NPBs, make sure you specify which countries are excluded to avoid shipping/posting difficulties, and send with tracking. As you’re running auctions, you could also keep a weather eye on bidders whose feedback to others is a great pool of blood (lots of red negatives), and simply cancel and block if you have a strong feeling of danger, but in the main, keep calm and stay professional.
Most of the buyers you are likely to encounter will be fine.
plasterdisaster
OP3 years agoThanks everyone - what a great community 🙂 I've learnt a lot from these comments and some side-googling. I've updated my buyer requirements,, blocked the buyer and cancelled the bid (based on their negative feedback and the high likelihood that they are a fraudulent bidder) using your supplied links.
One thing that stands out though is what 'proper' avenues does a seller have to spot dodgy bidders? Seems there used to be a way through advanced search to filter 'items by bidders', but now I only see seller options. Sellers can also lodge unpaid item tickets, but this history doesn't seem accessible to the wider community. Is there a way, other than comments left in feedback?
*sons_n_daughters*
·3 years agoDon't leave comments in feedback, because all you are doing is boosting their positive feedback. They can get the comment removed and keep the green dot. Plus, it's a violation of ebay policy to leave a negative comment on a green dot. It's you that could get a kick up the butt, not the buyer. Nothing is achieved by leaving a negative comment. Sellers won't see any feedback until after a sale, which it's too late by then.
Also on that link I gave is buyer requirements. Select to block buyers with 2 or more unpaid strikes (cancellations) in the last 12 months. That weeds out non paying pests. Also select to block buyers in a location you don't post to. Turn on to not allow blocked buyers to contact you (If you've had a transaction with them, they can still contact you for 60 days, but are then blocked). Turn on to apply to active and future listings.
sandypebbles
·3 years agoThanks *sons_n_daughters*, the first bit is something I have already tried to explain twice
Totally pointless and the only thing it achieves is encourages 'buyers' to do what they do all the more
'ooh, I can scam all I want and get a positive green tick for it '
plasterdisaster
OP3 years agoThanks, I understand what you've said and take it on board. I was only seeking to understand what options there are for sellers who have bad experiences. Thankfully I've only ever had good experiences on ebay - never needed to leave bad feedback. I only referenced the feedback I'd read in this post - didn't mean to suggest I was about to do the same.
*sons_n_daughters*
·3 years agoThe buyer is full of it. Your completed items don't see that item as being sold. It's still an active listing. Cancel the bid and block the buyer. They are trying to scam you.
If you cancel the bid, then no, the buyer can't leave you negative feedback and you won't incur any fees because they item hasn't actually sold.
Just make sure you block them! You can access your blocked bidder list here
https://www.ebay.com.au/bmgt/buyerrequirements
countessalmirena
·3 years agoCancel their bids, then block.
https://www.ebay.com.au/bfl/cancelbid
plasterdisaster
OP3 years agoAdditional info - I've checked the customers feedback and there is a mix of good and extremely bad feedback, a LOT of bad feedback. People saying they never pay and should be banned from ebay. Either dodgy or plagued by technical difficulties. I can't see how they would pull this one off though. I've messaged and asked if they can try to pay to see if that jogs the system.
sandypebbles
·3 years agoBuyers can only be given positive feedback (or no feedback)
All the sellers leaving this person false positives are not only helping the buyer keep doing what they are doing, they are also risking their own accounts by violating eBay policy
eBay do not read feedback, so when the buyer reports the comments or the bots pick up keywords used , those leaving them will be pinged, the neg comment removed and all the green ticks left
sandypebbles
·3 years agoForgot to add, giving scammer buyers false positive feedback is also pointless because nobody else reading the feedback will have a clue who the scammer buyer is, since they do not see the scammer buyer's actual ID/username (the seller does, anyone else does not)
plasterdisaster
OP3 years agoI got some great assistance from ebay customer service - not a glitch. Must be in my 'recent orders' because of the current bid. Buyer obviously bid later than they thought, and maybe it isn't in their cart after all.
The feedback is a tricky issue, it doesn't leave many options for people who have had bad experiences. It does falsely boost ratings but also leaves a written history for sellers to see if they're having issues.
sandypebbles
·3 years agoIt also gets the seller's account pinged and possibly even deleted if it is reported
Rewarding scammer 'buyers' is not solving the problem, it is encouraging it more and more
The buyer/s know they can only get real positives, they know if they report it, eBay will leave the green tick and remove the actual 'neg feedback'
It's not tricky at all
It is only the seller who is going to be punished for going against eBay policy
jellybirddesigns
·3 years agoJust cancel this persons bid and block them. Don't communicate with them.
Otherwise you're just going to have one headache after another.
There's nothing showing in your "Sold" category since the 9th of March, so this person definitely hasn't won anything recent.
Some buyers are really not worth it for the few bucks you might get.
plasterdisaster
OP3 years agoThank you, that's a good assessment of the situation. eBay recommended that I let the auction end and then block them and relist (they could see all the negative feedback too). Can I block them before it ends if they've already bid? It would be a shame for them to be able to waste other bidders time, if it gets to that.
gutterpunkz05
·3 years agoSounds like you have a dodgy buyer, cancel their bid, and block. Then just let the Auction proceed as normal. If you do not cancel their bid and they subsequently win the Auction, you are obligated to complete the sale and will be subject to any claims, FB etc from this dodgy buyer.
jellybirddesigns
·3 years agoThis is absolutely not true - a seller is under no obligation to send an item at all if they feel that the transaction is risky. Ebay cannot force a seller to sell. Experienced sellers cancel dodgy auction winners all the time. My items are BIN and I cancel and refunded any buyer I feel is dodgy. Ebay cannot penalise you, especially if you refund the transaction.
gutterpunkz05
·3 years agoYes you can fail/refuse to complete the transaction, and just wear the NEG FB
jellybirddesigns
·3 years ago@gutter - I cancel several transactions a year and have never received a neg for doing so.