What to do? Bidder has LOTS of bad feedback left for others.

[i-love-my-sheep]

I just received a bid on one of my items in the last few minutes and as per usual, I checked his feedback left for others. Out of 10 feedback left for others, he's left 4 negs, 1 neutral, which was revised, and 2 of the positives are pretty watery and one of them is a revised feedback. I don't know whether I should cancel the bid, or let it go and risk a new colour dot on my feedback. At this point, this item has the most page views out of everything (35) and has 3 watchers, so I guess there is a chance someone else may bid, but I really don't know what to do. Even more so because if finishes in 16 hours......

I'm wondering what the more experienced sellers would do in this situation?

[digital*ghost]

I'd probably check the sellers in question and the items (if the link to the listing still works). There's obviously some kind of common pattern (eg a spate of bad buying decisions), but if the seller's records are practically impeccable aside form that buyer, or I could see any indication the buyer was more of a problem than the sellers were, I'd be inclined to cancel (after putting them on my BBL).

[amber-eyed-girl]

Yep


What Digi said.

BBL and cancel if a bit more research confirms the buyer is a bit trigger happy.

Make a note of who they are in case you then get a zero feedback bidder come out of nowhere, and bid on that item right after you cancel (if you do)...that is a risk. Then you can talk to eBay and see if they are the same person with a new ID. Because they cannot do that, you should be covered to not sell to any ID they might use. Just in case that happens.

[i-love-my-sheep]

Many thanks to you both. All the sellers seem to be large scale sellers who all have red and grey dots for a multitude of reasons. So, I didn't really gain a lot from that. How late into an auction can you cancel a bid?

[amber-eyed-girl]

"You cannot retract the bid during the last 12 hours of the listing, unless the seller agrees.

Please contact the seller to request that your bid be canceled. However, it is up to the seller's discretion whether or not to cancel your bid."

the above is for buyers. It does not state a limit on when a seller can cancel the bid...can do it within the last 12 hours, according to that, anyway.

[i-love-my-sheep]

Thanks Amber, I might sleep on it and if I still have an uneasy feeling in the morning I'll see if I can still cancel then. If not, I'll just have to cross my fingers! By the looks of it, he doesn't leave a lot of feedback for sellers anyway. He's got 95 feeback, but only 10 left for others, so maybe he doesn't leave feedback if he's happy with his purchase.

Thank again everyone.

Jane

[amber-eyed-girl]

I have had a look around but cannot see a seller time limit...doesn't mean there isn't one. Maybe give eBay a call in the morning

[*crikey*mate*]

yep, you can cancel at any time *conditions apply

Managing bidders and buyers

[amber-eyed-girl]

Good. That's what it looked like, but one would not want to be caught out, by deliberating too long.

makes sense as dodgy bids or honest mistakes by the bidder could happen anytime.

[j*oono]

I think that the best thing to do at this stage is to do nothing and worry about it once the auction is over.  If you get the big red, then contact ebay and ask them to look at the feedback practice of the buyer.