How do you feel about retracting a bid?

AbesNeighbor · January 23, 2003 4:21AM

I was the low bidder on a coin on E-bay and the seller just removed the item and it was no longer for sale.... I say the game goes both ways. If I want to retract a bid I won't feel so bad about it now. (I've never, ever retracted a bid.

Outhaul · January 23, 2003 4:25AM

I've retracted a bid on rare occassions. But it was only after I found out the coin was misrepresented.

Cheers,

Bob

BSqr · January 23, 2003 4:28AM

I tried to retract a bid once but couldn't figure out how to do it. e-Bay 'Help' on this issue is sorely lacking. Perhaps intentionally?...

gmarguli · January 23, 2003 4:52AM

I wouldn't retract a bid unless there was a special circumstance. Don't bid unless you are sure you want the item. It's not fair to the seller. I had one person who was high bidder for most of the auction that retracted his bid a few hours before closing. It sucked that I lost a lot of potential bids because of this. However, I believe eBay changed their rules so you can't retract a bid within the last 24 hours.

For what it is worth, as a seller, I'll block bidders that retract bids unfairly.

DCAMFranklin · January 23, 2003 4:53AM

Bsqr- Go to the auction page. Be sure to write down the auction number. Click on the "Bid History". Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on "Bid Retraction". They will ask you for the auction number and the reason for the retraction.

nwcs · January 23, 2003 4:57AM

I have never retracted, I always felt that if you bid you bid. But now I wish I had on one or two items. But it was good, I'm FAR more careful now.

Pushkin · January 23, 2003 4:57AM

I once accidentally bid $15,000 on an item I ment to bid $150 on. It was a keyboard error. I retracted the bid, and felt a Great sigh of relief. I have no problem retracting bids if a honest mistake is made - but it should be done as soon as the error is discovered, to be fair to the seller.

ClausUrch · January 23, 2003 5:11AM

I often bid on dozens of auctions in order to "mark" the item and follow recent realized prices for various types of coins. I do sometimes make a mistake and have to retract my bid but I try to do so as early as possible. To me, this is no different than a Seller withdrawing his auction during the last few minutes with the excuse that the "Item is no longer available".

dorkkarl · January 23, 2003 5:11AM

i understood the issue to be that the seller cancelled bids. i could think of numerous reasons as to why such might happen.

K S

dorkkarl · January 23, 2003 5:12AM

i understood the issue to be that the seller cancelled bids. i could think of numerous reasons as to why such might happen.

K S

AbesNeighbor · January 23, 2003 5:18AM

Ok, I hear it all from a sellers perspective, but what about the buyer who bids a substantial amount of money...Passes on other coins because he can't afford to buy the others and this one too..and the guy cancels the auction.

I believe that once a seller puts an item up for bid, they should be required to leave it there. Otherwise, a dealer or seller is hedging his bet that he can find soneone who will pay more. In my instance the guy called me and offered the deal off the auction, which is against the rules..I'm sure he did it to others also...They probably took him up on the deal.

What's fair for one should be fair for all!

Dan

(edited because I type MUCH slower than I think, And that isn't very fast either)

gmarguli · January 23, 2003 5:29AM

When you bid on eBay you agree to play by their rules. Their rules state that a seller can cancel an auction for any reason they want. Those same rules state that a bidder can cancel a bid for a few specific reasons.

It might not be fair, but if you don't like the rules, you go play somewhere else.

And, by bidding at the last second, you know if you win right away and don't lose other items.

greghansen · January 23, 2003 5:31AM

I don't know if its the same seller, but I had a seller cancel 5 auctions within the last 48 hours. I understand the need to cancel an auction when there has been an error in the listing or an improper ask amount. This seller, however, seems to cancel auctions as a 'routine business practice' if the bids do not reach a certain level within a certain period of time. That I think is what happened to AbesNeighbor, and yes it does suck, because you have bids in that are commitments of capital and other auctions may not be bid on because of your commitment to follow through with a purchase if you remain the high bidder. If a seller is not going to be willing to sell a lot unless bids reach a certain amount, either start the auction there or set a reserve. Listing a 'no reserve' auction and then routinely cancelling auctions towards the end, is a crappy practice and bad overall for EBAY in my opinion.

ccr · January 23, 2003 5:38AM

I rarely bought off of e-bay. I retracted a bid off of a coin a couple of years ago because of what I read off of these boards. It was around that time I was considering whether to come back into coin collecting or not. I didn`t know about the grading services and bid on a ACG coin. I wasn`t sure if I made the right decision or not so I can here to the boards. I read what people said about ACG and about a half hour after I made the bid, I retracted. I`m glad now that I took your guys ( and gals ) advice because the person that ran the auction went up for Federal Charges for theft last year. I haven`t bought or attempted since that time a couple of years ago. It may sound far fetched but it`s true. So I`m one of those new guys that you helped and saved my arse alot of money and alot of hassle.

Bikingnut · January 23, 2003 5:39AM

I agree 100 percent. If a dealer can remove the item at will, if I change my mind about bidding, I should be able to retract my bid. Especially if there are other bidders. I have often times have had second thoughts about a bid I've placed.

AbesNeighbor · January 23, 2003 5:42AM

GMARGULI's right about the rules..but its America and we can still complain

(America)

greghansen · January 23, 2003 5:45AM

There's no doubt about the rule, and there's no doubt EBAY has the right to set the rules. My point is simple. It's a crappy rule that permits a seller to do this as a standard ongoing routine auction business practice. It belittles the auction process, especially where the seller declares in the listing that it is a 'No Reserve' auction.

Lakesammman · January 23, 2003 5:46AM

Did it once after realizing a item was misrepresented - got a nasty gram - wouldn't hesitate to do it again, especially if the item is misrepresented. Happened only once out of thousands of bids.

BSqr · January 23, 2003 6:02AM

DCAMFranklin, thanks - I appreciate your help.

Twowood · January 23, 2003 6:09AM

I think it's a terrible business practise to allow sellers AND buyers to withdraw from an auction for whatever reason.
A business contract between 2 competent adults in the real world would be subect to penalties if either reneged and I don't think ebay should be any different. This I-didn't-really-mean-to-bid excuse may fly in high school, but among the more mature,it's DOA. Twowood

airplanenut · January 23, 2003 6:17AM

ccr,

Glad we could help

Bikingnut · January 23, 2003 6:30AM

In my opinion a seller should not be allowed to pull an auction that is a no reserve auction. That's why you can put a reserve price on the auction. It doesn't cost that much to set a reserve price. The rules that ebay uses are flawed. The rules should be changed to allow you to retract your bid within a reasonable amount of time, say no later than 24 hours prior to the auction closing.

danglen · January 23, 2003 9:56AM

I had a guy do a Buy it Now on a coin issued by the Isle of Man called a Currency Converter Crown. If you rotated a wheel on the coin, it showed the conversion rates for the 12 Euro countries on the day the Euro went into effect (January 1st, 2001) He then sent me an email telling me he wouldn't pay for the item because he thought he was buying "a hand held calculator".

Twowood · January 23, 2003 8:46PM

Lakesammman · January 23, 2003 10:12PM

A few other ways of looking at it.

Allowing a retraction saves allot of time for the buyer/seller of not having to go through the motions/expense of shipping/returning. This ties up the sellers inventory and wastes time/money for both. So, it works to the advantage of both parties.

Second, for the seller, it adds a element of "time is of the essence". If they are a retail shop and have the right to sell sooner, it adds a element of risk to NOT bid and makes you want to BIN. Nearly all cars on ebay are listed this way by the retailers.

Flawed as it may seem, I think it's a well thought out policy.

AbesNeighbor · January 23, 2003 10:18PM

The way its set up now it seems to be pretty much one way. I have both bought and sold on E-bay. When I put an item up for auction, I either put up a reserve I can live with or no reserve and let the chips fall . I have never withdrawn an item. Likewise, I have never cancelled a bid on an item.

I do, however, recognize the rules. I will never bid on a persons items again if he/she cancels an auction prior to the end of bidding time and I'm bidding on the item.

Lakesammman · January 23, 2003 10:36PM

I agree - have put sellers like that on my block list. On the other hand, if I have a retail outlet and a customer walks in willing to pay full retail, I would want the "right" to sell the item to them and cancel the auction as "no longer available".

How do you feel about retracting a bid?

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