Seller retracted my bid/closed auction/no reason given

[rmillercwi]

I was a few days into a 5 day auction for a Tonka truck. I was the only bid up until recently when I got a message from ebay saying my bid was cancelled and the auction closed early.

Is this ok?

If so, is there a way to leave negative feedback somehow?

[patchoo78]

why cant the seller have to give a reason for the withdrawal.

Because the buyer hasn't lost any money.. In the case of a buyer not paying, the seller will have to go though a NPB dispute to get their final value fees back; they then have to pay again to re-list it

[leader-of-the-band]

One senerio that i am not sure has happened, but has me a little worried is a bid retraction.

If i am bidding on an item say my max bid is $100 and someone comes along and outbids me.

I think fine i havent won this item, and go on my way and find the same item with another seller and commit to buy.

Then there is a bid retraction from the buyer that outbid me, leaving me exposed as the highest bidder again,

Am i obligated to continue with the auction and make the purchase, even though thinking that once outbid my obligations to that auction were now over ?

This is one reason why many eBayers recommend bidding towards the end of an auction rather than early-on in an auction.  Bidding late makes the scenario you painted above far less likely.

[leader-of-the-band]

why cant the seller have to give a reason for the withdrawal.  

They do, and the most common is "The item is no longer available for sale." which is entirely true if the seller no longer wishes to have the listing continue.

[***super_nova***]

They do, and the most common is "The item is no longer available for sale." which is entirely true if the seller no longer wishes to have the listing continue.

When withdrawing item the seller has to tick a reason; I always assumed that reason will be conveyed to the bidder in the eBay message sent to them.  Even if the seller would personally contact the bidder/s, they can make any excuse they wish; true or false the bidder will never know, but in the end of the day what does it matter?  It changes nothing.

[peternt2001]

This is one reason why many eBayers recommend bidding towards the end of an auction rather than early-on in an auction.  Bidding late makes the scenario you painted above far less likely.

Yes i agree Leader of the band, and as a general rule i do most of my bidding in the last minute of auctions, unless there are no bids on an item them i will place a small bid just to make it an active auction.

How ever that still doesnt answer the question, would you still be obligated to go through with the transaction if you suddenly found yourself the highes bidder again after a bid retraction ? Would ebay enforce it ?

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

When withdrawing item the seller has to tick a reason; I always assumed that reason will be conveyed to the bidder in the eBay message sent to them.

yep, that is correct.  eBay send out emails to all bidders letting them know the item has been withdrawn.  It also warns bidders to avoid approaches to complete a transaction for the item outside of eBay as there is no buyer protections for such sales.

[davewil1964]

How ever that still doesnt answer the question, would you still be obligated to go through with the transaction if you suddenly found yourself the highes bidder again after a bid retraction ? Would ebay enforce it ?

Short answer - yes.

In that the seller would expect you to pay. Which is fair enough as  it is probably not in their control (unless they are shilling) whether bidders cancel bids.

eBay themselves can't and won't enforce the contract. They are a selling platform, just like your newspaper's classified ads.

If you don't pay, you should get added to the seller's BBL and earn a well-deserved strike. But that is a moral issue for you.

I would suggest (except it's against the rules) if you find yourself in that situation, that you withdraw your bid. That way you won't 'accidentally' win. You may well find yourself on the seller's BBL anyway as you will probably have cost the seller money.

[peternt2001]

seems a little unfair, once i have been outbid on an auction, i consider all my obligations to that auction to be void now.

and then i move on trying to purchase the item i was bidding on from someone else 

so going by that scenario, once a big has been placed in an auction, even if you are no longer the highest bidder and have no more intention to big higher, you may still be obligated to that auction / seller until the end of the auction, just incase there is a bid retraction ? 

[peternt2001]

" bid "  not big 

[davewil1964]

seems a little unfair, once i have been outbid on an auction, i consider all my obligations to that auction to be void now.

and then i move on trying to purchase the item i was bidding on from someone else 

so going by that scenario, once a big has been placed in an auction, even if you are no longer the highest bidder and have no more intention to big higher, you may still be obligated to that auction / seller until the end of the auction, just incase there is a bid retraction ? 

Retract your own bid.

Or, more sensibly, bid as late as you can. Highest, not earliest, bid wins, so don't set yourself up as a target.