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

[phorum_junkie*]

Can the seller do this just because they are greedy?

Yes

Do I have any rights in this situation?

No

End of!

[gobigone2011]

I too am gobsmacked that the OP had the gaul to email the seller and also start a post about this. LOL. pretty funny though, a buyer expecting to get a $150 item for next to nicks. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Even if the item had have went its full time and got still only like $10 or $20 the seller could have just refused to sell it, wear a non performing strike and walk away ( not a good selling practice but i am sure a lot of one-time sellers do this ).

[gobigone2011]

I can imagine that for the whole 3 days the OP had their 99c bid on the item the OP was jumping with joy that they were going to get something for next to nothing haha.

Remember the good old saying " if it`s too good to be true then it probably is ! "

Still too many gullible people around.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

I can imagine that for the whole 3 days the OP had their 99c bid on the item the OP was jumping with joy that they were going to get something for next to nothing haha.

I agree . . . . let's hope the OP has learnt some valuable eBay lessons in the SEVEN MONTHS since this thread was started.

sigh

[banf15]

Hello OP,

as to your questions the answers are yes they were greedy and no you have no rights. Some sellers don't understand that auctions don't always run at the level of profit they are looking for and would be better off finding another medium to sell their wares.

This has recently been discussed in another thread only a few days ago. And the same thing happened to me only this evening, it appears that buyers are obligated to pay but sellers aren't obligated to sell.

Many new buyers are only starting to realise that the best method is to bid with 12 hrs to go (when sellers aren't able to cancel their auctions). Or even better bid with 10 seconds remaining so at least if the seller cancels the auction after you win you can leave negative feedback. Many sellers dislike snipers (last second bidders) but unfortunately it is the best way to protect our own interests with the policy's that are currently in place.

[banf15]

6 month old post, hahahaha

seems this has been happening since Adam was a boy

[tomlinson43]

Your correct Maclore23, bad form i reckon.You try not paying and see what happens if you had won the item.They should start bidding at a resonable price.And i am not sure but i dont think they can just end it like that

[patchoo78]

Your correct Maclore23, bad form i reckon.You try not paying and see what happens if you had won the item.They should start bidding at a resonable price.And i am not sure but i dont think they can just end it like that

Despite this thread being over 6 months old I'll respond..

If the buyer had won the item, they would have then entered into a contract where they would be expected to pay for the item.

However, in this case no transaction had occurred as the buyer had only entered a bid and hadn't actually "won" the item the item still belongs to the seller and they can do with it what they wish.. 

The seller can for whatever reason end an auction as long as it is more than 12 hours before the auction ends

If they weren't  allowed to pull a listing, then eBay would not have allowed them to do it.

[jensmanchester-australia]

To give an example of why sellers should be able to end a listing early.

I had a 7 day auction running which was due to end tonight.

The auction had a starting price of 99c and had been bid up to over $40.00

Last night with less than 24 hours to go the highest bidder withdraw their bid which they had placed 2 days earlier with the reason given that they had entered the wrong amount (but they never rebid). As soon as they withdraw the bid the price went back to 99c.

With less than 24 hours to go it was too risky to hope that more bidders would now bid. Potential bidders get put of when they see bid retractions occur as many of them think that the seller is doing something dodgy.

Does this make me as a seller greedy - I don't think so. It was the potential buyer who cancelled their bid which changed the course of the auction and left me with no choice other than to cancel it.

[banf15]

If they weren't  allowed to pull a listing, then eBay would not have allowed them to do it.

It also appears that eBay allows Chinese sellers to list Australian addresses and sell fake gold with fake hallmarks but that doesn't make it morally acceptable. Not to mention all the fake Art Deco and vintage furniture that appears on this site.

Fact remains that myself and others like me will continue to report sellers that cancel their auctions when things don't go according to their plans. And if these sellers have a history of cancellations then perhaps eBay will do something about them.

As others have said there are other mediums for selling their products, such as buy it now as auctions are and always will be a risk.