Outrageous maximum bid then buyer apologises, wants out.

[acousticblackeagle]

Last week, an auction of mine with an outcome that I wasn't expecting. I had some DVDs up for sale and would have thought in all reasonableness that they would have sold for around the $40 mark for a used item. There were a good number of watchers and bidders. The final sold amount was $100! I was stunned. This was because the item I was selling could have been bought new for half that price! Anyway, straight away, the buyer contacts me and begs out of the transaction. What I think has happened is that this buyer wanted the item so they entered a big maximum bid that they thought no one would top or even come near to. However (and I found this out when I did a 2nd chance offer) the second highest bid from another buyer was for (wait for it...) $99!

And so the buyer got out of the sale and I made a 2nd chance offer that wasn't accepted - but not to the $99 person (I mean...really!) I had to relist the item.

Anyway, this is what I think happened. Two people entering maximum bid amounts, one for the $100 and one for the $99 because they were reckless in their max amounts, thinking that no one would top them or come even close to their maximum - because they wanted to win the item?

Excuse me if I am wrong or presumptuous here and correct any naivety I might have. (At the time, I did contact eBay phone support and they said that the were going to look into at least one of the bidders.)

And so to those sellers with experience in such matters, what's happened really? Do some buyers like to make outrageous maximum bids in the hopes that no one will outbid them, or is there something else going on here? I am more than curious on the matter. Thanks in advance!

[davewil1964]

A maximum SHOULD be the most a bidder is prepared to pay if they win.

Have you had anything to do with either bidder before? The only other reason I can think of is that they are disgruntled. Or clowns.

I would have opened a NPB. At least that way when they don't pay they get a strike.

[acousticblackeagle]

Thanks for your reply. Yes, a maximum should be the most a bidder is prepared to pay. So what's going on with that bidder? Is it laziness, recklessness? Very strange. And no, I haven't had anything to do with that bidder before. Anytime I have any had any problem with a buyer who's not done the right thing, I have blocked them. Other than that I try to get along with people. I'm getting older and a lot wiser tho', including here at eBay.

[putney32]

yes, I had this happen on a magazine/catalogue I was selling, should have sold for under $20, but 2 people bid over $60, each thinking they'd have some competition around the 20 mark and buy it for a few dollars over.

Luckily the winning bidder, although astonished at the final price did honour their bid, and the underbidder even asked if I had a 2nd one to sell him (unfortunately i did not)

[getting_of_wisdom]

Nothing wrong with the practice, as long as one is prepared to pay, no matter how much the final price is.  It's the reneging that is outrageous.

Do it myself for something I absolutely have to have, but first I ask myself how much would I be happy to pay.

[***super_nova***]

Yes, when I really desperately want something, and it is not readily available, I also bid something ridiculous.  I only got caught couple of times :), but I  paid and the sellers included a lovely gift.

[colkym]

I would go have a look at the buyers feedback and see if they make a habit of such things before doing anything else- look for the amount of bid retractions on their feedback page, that should be your first clue.  If there are significant number of them, open an unpaid item dispute.  Sometimes people need to realise its not a game here.

I had a similar issue with a buyer doing this- the whole purpose of the exercise for them was to expose another bidders maximum, when they realised how high it was, they cancelled their bid and bid on another item from another seller.  Block the buyers from doing it and open disputes for habitual offenders. 😞

[acousticblackeagle]

I'd like to thank everyone for replying and now I know what really happened and I have learned about this now.

"Problem with their computer" indeed...NOT! Well, this is what the buyer told me as their excuse to that huge max bid. Now I will deal with the issue, if it arises again, differently as per your advice, Colkym.

The thing is, like what happened in my situation, if at least two bidders put in one of these overly high max bids, then neither of them are counting on the fact that there could be someone else out there in buyer-land who's got the same idea as them - doing this same sort of thing in the hopes of  winning. So, hopefully the buyer has learned their lesson. Btw, I went to their feedback, but is marked as "private".

Much appreciated everybody. Cheers!

[***super_nova***]

 Btw, I went to their feedback, but is marked as "private".

In that case, I would contact ebay and ask them to look at these 2 IDs bidding history.  It may be 2 friends playing game; who wins the item loses.