OK....so I would like some opinions please

Boom

What would YOU do if a newcomer to eBay that's been a member all of ONE WEEK, with ZERO transactions/ ZERO feedback, places a bid on your item exposing the high bidder's bid, outbidding him by less than $10 then retracts his bid?

He was high bidder for exactly 5 minutes and 34 seconds before he retracted his bid stating "entered wrong amount"! Gimme a break!

Any way, I have conducted the Contact Info, found out his Name and phone # and tried calling him twice, to no avail. I have even emailed him asking him to contact me so that I can be sure he is verified with a Confirmed address, even offering to help him do so if he isn't, again.....to no avail.

The simple thing to do would be to cancel all his bids and block him but suppose he is legitimate and I don't even give him a shot!! What do you think? He is seriously effecting my auctions.

Do I give him till tonite in case he has a day job? Do I let it ride or do I cut him NOW?? Your opinions are valued as I have an uneasy feeling about this one, particularly with him retracting his high bid 5 minutes after placing it. Thanks.

Wolf359

Easy one. If you can't contact him, block him until you can speak with him.

That's an interesting tactic though, to expose somebody else's high bid.

kranky

This happened only on a single auction? I wouldn't worry about it. The high bidder's bid went back to the previous level, right?

The first thought I had was that the guy is following the high bidder around for some reason. I don't know why the 5 minute timeframe is a concern. Seems prompt enough to me for someone who might indeed have accidentally bid the wrong amount.

Boom

Yeah Wolf, that didn't set very well with me because there can be no "mistake" as he claimed. He simply outbid the present

bidder by around $10.00. Maybe, being a newcomer, he changed his mind as is not yet too keen on rules for bidders. I'd like to

think this was an honest newbie mistake before jumping to conclusions.

Boom

Kranky, he was high bidder on 2 items last time I looked and seriously stalking/ pushing other bidders.

carl

Not sure what to say because I don't know anything about ebay as to bidding, buying or selling. If I did try to bid on something for the first time I probably would also screw up something. As to not answering the phone, I havent anwered the phone in about 20 years. I just let the answering machine do that and soon as I hear it's a message from someone I don't know, zap, it's gone. If it would have been me on that ebay thing and really did do something wrong I know I would really feel guilty and possibly be afraid that I'd have to pay for something I don't want. Don't know what you mean by blocking someone but then again as I said I don't know anything about ebay. I go there sometimes and read the stuff and wish I did so I could bid or buy something but just don't know how so I can see the problem with someone new trying it out. Actually that person might even be a young kid just messing around. One of the downfalls of ebay I guess.

dbldie55

Are you saying he bid $10 more than the other bidder or $10 more than the other bid? Not sure how you can come to conclusions on one incident of a bid retraction. The fact it happened quickly would lead me to believe it was an accident.

What exactly is the harm done?

Boom

Dbldie55, His actions as underbidder effects the bid displayed. In essence he is pushing their bids upward.

Hi Carl, in this particular case this is no YN. If he is, he has the deepest voice I've ever heard come out of an adolescent.

Not sure how you can come to conclusions on one incident of a bid retraction.

Obviously I have not yet reached a conclusion. If I had would I be asking for opinions?

Myqqy

Easy one. If you can't contact him, block him until you can speak with him.

I agree......

Boom

I just tried to call him ONE MORE TIME and got the answering machine. If he does not reply withing the next couple hours, assuming he has a day job, I believe he will have made my decision for me. Thanks for the input everyone.

Boom

The verdict has been reached and the sentence carried out. After repeated attempts to communicate with this person both by phone and by email, he left me no choice but to cancel all his bids and block him from bidding. He should have replied.

TWQG

<< <i>His actions as underbidder effects the bid displayed. In essence he is pushing their bids upward. >>

OMG, someone is bidding up your auctions? The nerve. I too would cancel bids. To think you even gave him 18 hours to respond from when his bid was placed. Way too lenient IMO.

Nickelback

Hey, you did more than what was reasonable. Let him go!