Seller ending an item after I have bid and 24 hours to go

[maclore23]

I had made a bid on an item which started at 0.99 mine was the only bid. My bid had been the winning bed for 3 days. With 24 hours to go seller has ended the sale.

They have then relisted the item with a starting bid of $150.

I sent the seller a msg asking why they ended it with 24 hours to go and their response was:

because i am able to end the item, that is why, there were outstanding circumstances why this item was ended.

Can the seller do this just because they are greedy?

Do I have any rights in this situation?

Thanks

[leader-of-the-band]

If the seller was not prepared to sell the item for his/her listing price then why start it at that price? If as stated they may have had a few watchers at that price then realised "hey i might get more for this' then YES that is what i call greed.

If you are referring to my post #5 I was meaning that there may not have been many watchers (i.e. 'few watchers' = not many, 'a few watchers' = some) and therefore they paniced and thought it would not go very high . . . . . not that there were watchers and therefore they could get a higher price.

[2106greencat]

Of course they thought they could get more for it bsal.....0.99c - well duh! It was an honest mistake, geez

[danemoderne]

There are strategic / psychological reasons why many sellers start auctions at 99 cents. It is far more appealing to many, then the items that start at their realistic value. So many desired items often start at 99 cents and go for a much higher price. There are no guarantees however that the items will go for a higher price. The seller can check the number of watchers, and if she / he is inexperienced and there are few, or no watchers, the seller may assume that there may only be 1, or 2 bids.Seller can revise the auction prior and during bidding process, but not the duration of the listing. Once the bid is placed the title, description and the price can not be changed. Seller also reserves the right to end the auction at any time which is what has happened to you. I will add that if the item in question was worth $150, then the seller has the right to achieve the desired price, I'm afraid. I'm sure that you would want the same outcome - highest possible price, if you were selling something of similar value???

[linogabby]

I don't understand those views that the seller owns the item and can do what they want with it after listing it for auction eg remove it from auction if the bidding price seems too low. As a buyer, one is advised one is entering into a binding contract to purchase the item if one is the highest bidder. I have always assumed the seller is also in a contractually binding position to sell the item to the highest bidder, or is this not the case?

[viewmont1071]

I don't understand those views that the seller owns the item and can do what they want with it after listing it for auction eg remove it from auction if the bidding price seems too low. As a buyer, one is advised one is entering into a binding contract to purchase the item if one is the highest bidder. I have always assumed the seller is also in a contractually binding position to sell the item to the highest bidder, or is this not the case?

that's the point it did not sell.  If a buyer bid a gazillion dollars on an item and then cancelled their bid and the item eventually did not sell then would the buyer be bound to buy??? No bevause they cancelled their bid and are not contractually obligated to do anything. Well a seller cancelling an auction has the same contractiual obligations as the buyer that cancelled their bid.

A .99 cent auction that is cancelled at the 24hrs left though smacks of an inexperienced seller. Many sellers believe that an auction cannot be cancelled once there is less than 24 hours to go when in actuality if the bids are manually cancelled an item can be cancelled up to 12 hrs before sale time and at any time pre auction end to the highest bidder

rules for buyers with less than 12 hrs to go

http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/buy/questions/retract-bid.html

Less than 12 hours before the listing ends

You can retract the bid within one hour of placing it. In this case, only that bid will be retracted; any other bid you placed before the last 12 hours of the listing remains valid.

for sellers

http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/sell/end_early.html

Timing Matters

When there are 12 hours or less remaining and the item has a winning bid, including a reserve met bid, sellers cannot make any changes to the listing, including:

Ending the item early. Sellers may cancel bids, but not end the item unless the item is being sold to the high bidder.

Adding to or changing the item description.

Note: Canceling bids or making changes to a listing with bids when there are 12 hours or less remaining, can damage the buyer experience and can undermine trust in the marketplace.

So a seller can cancel your bids, be within ebays policies and block an id from bidding as quick as their fingers can work 2 minutes before the advertised auction end................. I would not advise or condone this sort of action however it is possible and as I said is within ebays policies although it is not in the spirit that reasonable ebay users would expect others to operate

[peternt2001]

OMG, the worst case of pure, unadulterated greed I have ever seen!

Who's greedy - (had to think here) -  seller of course!

Has it slipped their mind that they are listing on Ebay - they are supposed to give away their stuff for nothing, that any notion of actually making any money is futile and deemed as being a bad sport?

But lucky for you - item is relisted so you can still bid - or not (maybe).

Hope you win,  - with a bit of luck you will be the only bidder again.

PS: Still sitting here gobsmacked as to where did they find the nerve to do what they did!

Cheers, JHS

I cant understand this sort of thinking, if this is the case and sellers can do as they please until the end of the auction, and even then in some cases after the auction, i dont know why buyers even bother with ebay, because nothing we do or bid on is binding and we are all at the goodwill and generosity of the gracious philanthropist sellers.

If a seller wants an expected price for an item, start it at that. But as a guess a lot of sellers start their auctions at 99 cents to avoid higher fees than a higher start price. Or why not even go for just a pure BUY IT NOW listing ?

With the attitude of some of the sellers, they all seem to think that they are the ones doing the buyers a favour and we should all bow down and worship at their generosity.

And if a buyer comes on here complaining about a seller screwing them over and gets howled down, next time a seller comes on here complaining that a buyer hasnt paid their money, i expect to see the same people howl down the seller and tell them that it is the buyers money and they have every right to do what they want to do with it, pay, not pay, its their money and they are under no obligation to fulfill  and obligations in the spirit of a mutually successful ebay for sellers and buyers alike.

[digital*ghost]

And if a buyer comes on here complaining about a seller screwing them over and gets howled down, next time a seller comes on here complaining that a buyer hasnt paid their money, i expect to see the same people howl down the seller and tell them that it is the buyers money and they have every right to do what they want to do with it, pay, not pay, its their money and they are under no obligation to fulfill  and obligations in the spirit of a mutually successful ebay for sellers and buyers alike.

The crux of answers to both scenarios is essentially the same, though. Personal opinions, quips, jibes etc stripped from the posts, they amount to: you can't force the buyer / seller to pay / sell, which is a simple matter of fact, and I have seen the "build a bridge, get over it" type responses to buyers and sellers in these scenarios. 

I'm not saying you can't (or shouldn't) take issue with the manner, or bias, in which essentially the same advice is issued, but you do have to recognise it is ultimately the same advice. 

[davewil1964]

The crux of the matter is that this thread is over six months old.

[digital*ghost]

The post I was responding to isn't. 😛

[2106greencat]

:^O  Good point