A high bid appeared just before the auction ended only to be retracted

[leigh2002home]

Does Ebay have any sanctions against people who place high dummy bids to dicourage bidding by others only to retract or cancel the bid just before the auction ends?

[phorum_junkie*]

Only the seller can cancel bids in the last 12 hours of an auction but if a buyer asks them to cancel most sellers will do it as they would rather get slightly less for the item than have an unpaid transaction and have to wait for 8 days before they can relist or send a secod chance offer.

Some dishonest sellers will use a different id to up the bids but it happens far less often tha a lot of people think.

If you bid only in the last few minutes or use a snipe program instead of putting a maximum bid in early or nibble bidding then you pretty well make any shill bidding ulikely to succeed

[digital*ghost]

A bidder can retract their own bid in the last 12 hours of an auction as long as the retraction is done within an hour of placing it, but even if it looks like a suspicious action there's generally no real way to know for sure, so even if you report the member (eg if you're the seller and have their ID), eBay are unlikely to take any action unless there is solid proof that it was (intentional) listing interference. 

[haolove13]

This is another weakness in the integrity of the Ebay system.

bids are only allowed to be withdrawn if the item description changes significantly or the bidder enters the wrong amount.

In the latter case the bidder is obliged to enter the correct amount immediately.

My last ten bid retractions have not had a corrected bid placed and are obviously people playing the system but yet again sellers are at the mercy of shonky buyers.

If you think there is not much shonky bidding going on you need to change your medication.

since I changed my settings to prevent people with too many unpaid item listings I have had three people blocked and one of them has tried six times to buy the same item.

he is not game to ask me a question so I think it is safe to assume that he is suss and knows it.

I am sick of people defending buyers as in 15 years of buying and selling on Ebay I have never entered a wrong amount and when an item is at $50.00 how can you say a bid for 100. 000 is a wrong amount?

a 10 dollar bid is not realistic. and surely they are not wanting to bid 1,000.

Come on people get with the program. And lets make bidders accountable.

[phorum_junkie*]

My last ten bid retractions have not had a corrected bid placed and are obviously people playing the system but yet again sellers are at the mercy of shonky buyers.

You can see how many bid retractions a buyer has had and if it is a large number you can certainly report them, especially if they choose the option that a wrong amount has been entered and they don't re bid.

Ebay most certainly do take action, they may restrict the buyer to using BIN only or they may, and sometimes do, withdraw their buying privileges altogether.

Having said that I would rather have a withdrawn bid than a non payer.

[haolove13]

I have reported some shonky bidders but like this case from the OP there is little to do when an auction is finished.

And you claim not to be an employee of Ebay or working for them so please explain how you know so much about bidders being restricted.

I am not interested in folklore I prefer to know real information.

I have never heard of a bidder being banned despite having some really suss bidders over the years.

I have been libelled 110 times by one bidder and he is still on Ebay.

He is also a non paying bidder on multiple occasions but he is still there and Ebay continue to defend him.

He also sells knock offs.

Buyers privacy is all pervasive so how do you know so much about blocked sellers?

A bit of factual information on this subject would be useful

[springyzone]

haolove 13 said:

My last ten bid retractions have not had a corrected bid placed and are obviously people playing the system but yet again sellers are at the mercy of shonky buyers.

----------------------

It isn't only sellers they infuriate, it is other buyers too.

I know how annoying it is to have another bidder outbid me, up and up, then withdraw hours or even days later, citing their bid was incorrect. yet not putting in a 'corrected' bid.

You tell me how, if someone bids upwards from $18, on and on till I bid $32 and then they bid $33 and I stop, that that bid of $33 was 'incorrect'.

Yet they can walk away and all their previous bids are taken as valid. It stinks.

There should be some sanctions immediately on anyone who bids like that, withdraws days later and never puts in another bid. Restricting them to BIN auctions sounds fair enough to me.

[*crikey*mate* · Accepted solution]

at the end of the day, eBay policy cannot trump the law.

The Law considers a bid to be an offer.

An offer can be withdrawn at any time prior to accpetance.

Acceptance for an auction is deemed to have occurred once the auction ends.

Sure, eBay can invoke policies, but if you read the User Terms and Conditions, you will see their legal position and the extent to which they can/will go to do so..

[springyzone]

Well, if they withdraw their offer, then all their offers in that auction should be withdrawn. IMO.

[leigh2002home]

There needs to be achange in Ebay policy to outlaw dummy bidding