How do you cancel a bid with a ridiculous maximum bid limit on it

[wylie06]

My 2 yr old pressed buttons on my phone and I realise after (like 30 min later) that she placed a bid on a lounge for $88,889. I've retracted the bid, but my ebay info on that listing still says that my max bid for the item is $88k etc.

Will that make me an automatic winner when the next person try's to bid on the item? Help

[letscleanupmycupboards]

I think to retract it has to be immediately after the "wrong" bid and I believe it has to be replaced immediately with a legitimate bid, ie you wanted to bid $10 and you accidentally bid $10000, you can retract the wrong bid but then you bid $10 again.

If you never intended to bid on the item you need to ask the seller to cancel your bid. They are under no obligation to do so. However if you win and don't go ahead and do get a strike you can ask eBay to cancel the strike and they will.

And don't let 2 year olds touch your phone.

[*crikey*mate*]

Are you positive you have retracted the bid?

What reason did you give for retracting it?

Is the item still showing as having a bid on it?

Did you receive a message confirming that you retracted the bid?

[letscleanupmycupboards]

My 3yo picks up iPhones etc and does random taps and swipes. She copies mummy using the phone. She has recorded and played videos, made calls, deleted apps, completely locked up the phone etc by fluke. So it is possible if the OP had the app open and was looking at the item or similar items.

[phorum_junkie*]

Perhaps you should ask her to retract it for you if it hasn't worked.

Are you sure you retracted by entering a new, correct bid or did you just cancel the last increment?

[davewil1964]

That says something about you and your attention to internet security. As it does with the OP.

If the OP (or you) let their infant child play with their phone, then you (or the OP) as the responsible adult should be required to honour the commitment.

Or stop blaming your children.

[thecatspjs]

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@wylie06 wrote:
My 2 yr old pressed buttons on my phone and I realise after (like 30 min later) that she placed a bid on a lounge for $88,889. I've retracted the bid, but my ebay info on that listing still says that my max bid for the item is $88k etc.

Will that make me an automatic winner when the next person try's to bid on the item? Help

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If you retracted your bid, your maximum should disappear, and the bid retraction reason will show to you on the bottom of the listings bidding viewing page.

Maybe your child made several  bids in error, so If it still shows I would try again to retract and then check again.

If the item has less than 12 hours to go, you can only retract a bid within one hour of placing it.

If all else fails message the seller and request very politely that they cancel your bid, they can do this right up until the end of the auction, though I note that some newer sellers will have no idea how to do this, and some sellers may ignore your messages.

[thecatspjs]

By whatever means the bid was placed, the buyer may retract a bid that has an amount that they did not wish to enter within clear guidelines. 

[springyzone]

I think to retract it has to be immediately after the "wrong" bid and I believe it has to be replaced immediately with a legitimate bid, ie you wanted to bid $10 and you accidentally bid $10000, you can retract the wrong bid but then you bid $10 again.

If you never intended to bid on the item you need to ask the seller to cancel your bid. They are under no obligation to do so. However if you win and don't go ahead and do get a strike you can ask eBay to cancel the strike and they will.

And don't let 2 year olds touch your phone.

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That is what the ebay site information says, but it isn't how it seems to work in real life.

In real life, people can retract their bid days later, as long as it isn't actually in the final 12 or so hours of the auction.

And place another, corrected bid? They are supposed to but no, they don't have to and if they don't, nothing happens to them.

I know because I saw it happen on an item I had bid on. I was outbid, forgot about it and was amazed and annoyed to find out days later I had won because someone went in and retracted their top bid the day after they had made it, after making little bids all the way up. They were the only other bidder, too.  Mistake, my eye. They had only bid up by about an extra dollar.

So my advice to this person with the high bid (no matter how it was placed) is just retract it.

And if it is too late and you can't retract it and you win, just refuse to go ahead with the purchase, but at least give the seller an explanation as to why.

Nothing much will happen to you. Okay, so you might get one non paying bidder strike. If I were the seller, I would give you one.

But so what.

As long as you don't make a habit of it and you don't get another one, you won't be on anyone's blocked bidder lists (except maybe for the couch seller).

And the advice about not letting 2 year olds touch the phone is pretty spot on. You don't know what sort of radiation they are giving out, for a start, and besides that, look at the trouble you've caused, you have mucked up someone's auction

[phorum_junkie*]

And the advice about not letting 2 year olds touch the phone is pretty spot on. You don't know what sort of radiation they are giving out, for a start,

That is possible but what I would find more worrying is that it is usually quite easy to get the back off a phone and a two year old chewing on a lithium battery is probably not a good idea! 

It must also be great to be well enough off that you can risk a smartphone being damaged beyond repair because it is being used as a toy.