seller cancelled paid auction only to resell at higher price

[soundstage22]

Hi everyone

I have been a eBay member since 2002 with 100%. I have recently purchased an item worth $1200. After going through eBay buy now system and transferred fund to Paypal to pay. Buyer cancelled the auction and refunded the money after 24 hours. He gave a reason for cancellation is out of stock. This is a private seller and not eBay store seller and this is one off item. Then he went and relist it for much higher price. I contacted eBay via live chat but really, these people are not interested in helping much and basically said it is what it is. My question is: before I hit the buy now button, there was a message about eBay policy which I abided by but the seller can just freely change his mind and cancelled the paid auction. Does that mean, he could potential fish for more buyers or to test out eBay market place before deciding which price to sell? if that is the case then there's no confidence in any of eBay buy now items as you are only 50/50 being successfully in purchasing and receiving the items even after you paid. In my situation, it was a complete waste of time and effort.     

[kopenhagen5]

Not much you can do except leave appropriate feedback.

It's not good form from the seller but you can't force them to send it.

[imastawka]

He states on the listing he  'has 100%, so you can buy with confidence'

Not any more.  Your neg trashed him, and it's well deserved.

If it's any consolation to you, by giving the out of stock option, he has incurred a defect on his account as well.

You can also do a follow up reply to his reply.   The buyer always gets the last word in feedback.

[brerrabbit585]

Typo error. Yeah, right, they never looked at their listing all the time it was running but waited until after it ended to check it?

[fixnwear]

imastawka, I don't think that one neg can "trash" that seller's f/back!

Especially not this one - as the buyer looks much worse than the seller - as it reads.

As for relisting the item  - for whatever reason - we can all relate to that.

Didn't get enough money, simple as that. When it comes to loosing money or getting a neg - there is no great decision on seller's part.

And who gives a hoot about f/b anyway - it's only Ebay after all.

What do you think most buyers would do if it was other way around?

And they discovered afterwards that they have got carried away with bidding (if there was a bidding war) and paid way too much for something?

They don't pay, of course - again -  putting money before any "honour"

[imastawka]

             

[springyzone]

I can't resist. Going to crucify a seller again.

Actually, I agree with most of your points. When it comes to losing money or getting a neg, then usually the money would win out. I've seen cases where (usually new) sellers pop things up for sale for 99c when they really expect to get about $100 in a bidding war that doesn't happen & I can relate to their decision not to go ahead with the sale.

I don't think one neg will necessarily stop others buying from that seller, but it will give other lookers pause for thought. In my opinion, the neg was very reasonably worded and factual.

A camera that was listed and sold for $1200 is unlikely, in my opinion, to have been a typo error for $1600. The 2 is not near the 6 on my keyboard. So the seller, to me, comes across as telling a lie in their feedback response.

Plus I would expect a person selling such an expensive item to have looked in at some stage over the time it was on sale and cancelled the ad before the end if they had made an error.

This is the second post (from those up near the top) we are seeing on these boards about people bidding, paying and then for some reason having their sale cancelled. People don't like it. If they pay, they expect to get an item.

I do understand sellers have the right to cancel sales but from what stawka says (and from what was my understanding, unless things have changed) there are some consequences to accounts if they do it too often. Just as there are consequences for buyers who too often bid then don't bother paying.

[fixnwear]

Springyzone,

Totally agree with everything you mentioned this time.

Most unlikely the seller had a typo error, but the harrassment part in the f/back by the buyer doesn't look too good for the buyer. If buyer didn't harrass him to get his item then it's nothing stopping him having that removed - if there is messages to show any pressure to send it.

But with auctions in real world - if an item doesn't reach desired price it doesn't get sold. For the life of me I can't see this carp on Ebay - "that sellers have to be honour bound" to let the item go no matter what price!

Rubbish - that is not how it works. 

A seller could quite easily turn around and say: "sorry peeps, Ebay as a platform encouriges us to start auctions at a very low price and then fails to provide enough bidders, and /or our item wasn't prominent enough in searches...Ebay's fault again for not providing the optimum conditions for a successful auction."

The fact that no one wanted to buy their item no matter how prominent it may have been has still nothing to do with a loss of money - and "having to send it" no matter what.

What is so hard to understand about that?

But, again, you totally correct in every single one of your statements here -  except maybe how buyers look on f/back and how much they rely on it. 

But you probably know about that better than me - as I can only go by myself and people we know - and none of us give 2 hoots about it - as it's always most unreliable  source.

With buyer's protections in place, if you want something you get it, the worst thing that can happen is you'll get your money back!

[whiznumber6]

The whole "sold, but not really sold" thing seems to be catching on - particularly with higher-ticket items, especially cars. Some "classic car" sellers have sold the same vehicle several times in "no reserve" auctions, but there they are listed again a few days after the latest auction ends...

[chameleon54]

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@whiznumber6 wrote:

The whole "sold, but not really sold" thing seems to be catching on - particularly with higher-ticket items, especially cars. Some "classic car" sellers have sold the same vehicle several times in "no reserve" auctions, but there they are listed again a few days after the latest auction ends...

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Nine times out of ten it wont be the sellers fault. Not sure if you have ever sold any classic cars or motor cycles on ebay, but I,ve sold quite a few over the years. The amount of time wasters, dreamers, and tyre kickers you get is just MIND BLOWING !!!! Just about every one I have sold I,ve had to relist several times due to non payers or buyers who bid, never to be seen or heard from again. 

Spoiler

Except of course for that nice gentleman from Nigeria who offered to purchase several of my cars for A LOT OF MONEY if I just payed the transport company to collect them and get them to the Port.....

Usually by the time you actually get some-one to pay, the thing has been offered 3 or 4 times and scared away any other genuine bidders you may have had, costing the seller thousands of dollars.