A seller shouldn't be able to do this....

DanBessette

There were multiple bidders on This auction and I was winning. Then I get a "bid cancelled" email, go check on it, and it's been ended. I don't think a seller should be able to cancel an auction once it's been bid on. And if they were so worried about it not selling for much, they could've started with a higher opening bid and/or set a reserve. There are lots of threads on here about eBay sellers getting shafted, and it really does seem like sellers face alot of headaches. But sometimes we buyers get screwed.

mrmopar

They probably back doored it. That has happened to me a few times and it sucks, but there isn't much of anything you can do about it.

It happens w/o bids too, as i have seen numerous items i was watching disappear, so I started tossing small bids on most things just to keep tabs, but bids don't change it if the seller wants to end the auction.

slum22

Sorry to hear you lost out on the card you were bidding on. This has happened to me before too. I believe once there are bids the seller has to pay the FVF's for what the auction is up to at the point of ending the auction. Depending on how much the card is valued it is sometimes still worth it for the seller to end the item, or backdoor it in a sale and eat the fees. Another unfortunate shenanigan you have to put up with if you buy or sell on eBay.

fiveniner

no

bounce

sorry to hear, happens to me a fair bit as well

just how the game works, i agree that they should have set a minimum (which is what i do) or go with a reserve, but unfortunately nothing stops this from happening

email the seller with an offer, you never know

mlbfan2

Sellers are allowed to cancel one auction (that has a bid) early per year without paying a fee.

angelenocarddude

right. sellers get hit with the commission on the highest bid if cancelled.

bounce

up to a certain point, you can also just cancel all the bids and end it with no penalty

just mark there was an error in the listing

DanBessette

<< <i>up to a certain point, you can also just cancel all the bids and end it with no penalty

just mark there was an error in the listing >>



That seems to be what happened here. Oh well, no big loss.

mtcards

I think as sales continue their decline and FVF/Listing fees keep going up, more sellers will be inclined to sell off ebay

coachnip13

<< <i>There were multiple bidders on This auction and I was winning. Then I get a "bid cancelled" email, go check on it, and it's been ended. I don't think a seller should be able to cancel an auction once it's been bid on. And if they were so worried about it not selling for much, they could've started with a higher opening bid and/or set a reserve. There are lots of threads on here about eBay sellers getting shafted, and it really does seem like sellers face alot of headaches. But sometimes we buyers get screwed. >>



But how can you force someone to sell something to you? Under contract law, if you pay for something and I don't want to sell it anymore, all I am required to do is give you your money back.

swartz1

Sellers should be able to do what they wish with their item until the auction ends...



maybe you should choose to do no business with this seller in the future...

bobbyw8469

It's a vicious cycle. Seller ends item early due to lack of bids. You refuse to bid with seller due to ending item early. Seller ends item early due to lack of bids. Repeat.

Dodgerfanjohn

The one I've encountered recently is seller simple not responding after payment is sent. Of course eBay refunds the money, but it stinks when you won an item you need for a set. I have an open case on a seller that has active listings and actually sold a couple things last night, yet has failed to respond on an item I won on May 24th.

So he's gonna get a neg...I really wonder why more buyers don't leave negatives. He has only one negative(for the same issue) and I would not have bothered bidding had I know the seller might respond this way.

EagleEyeKid

I know the majority of sellers who end their auctions early in fear of not getting the amount they want or anticipating; and yes it's annoying.
However, there are a few legit ones that end them early due to lost of item or the item was damaged.
I had a snipe on a card I wanted and surely enough, the auction ended early with cancelled out bids. I emailed the seller and asked if he
sold it offline or what the deal was because I really wanted the card and was confident that I was going to win it? He emailed me back stating that his stupid friend sat on the card by accident and had creased it.
He also sent a scan showing the crease which had run across the card and asked if I wanted it at a large discount which I declined.

bishop

I just assume that many sellers have a price below which they will not sell a card. They might protect that price with a BIN, a reserve, a minimum bid, or shills. While the ethics of those actions differ, the end result is the same to me. I always snipe with the price I am willing to pay. A lot of buyers snipe. Sellers know this, but they get nervous. I have lost items to off line deals but I personally don't a begrudge sellers not wanting to sell a card below what they think the value of the card to be. I think sellers often leave money on the table by selling off line. Facts of life on ebay. It is still the best venue for me to find and get the cards I need in this market, absent a trip to the National

DanBessette

Maybe I wasn't clear in my original post. Of course the seller has the legal RIGHT to do whatever he wants with his property. Of course it makes sense for them to end it early sometimes. My point was that I was frustrated and disappointed and that in my opinion it is bad selling practice and maybe even slightly unethical. As I stated, reserves and the like exist to prevent the buyer from getting hosed. Not using that and then ending it early seems unnecessary. Just my opinion.

JoeBanzai

Irritating-yes......unethical-no.

Buyers have the right to retract their bids, so sellers should not be compelled to sell for anything less than they "need" for an item.

A few years ago, there was a SUPER rare Killebrew item on ebay and I bid on it and was willing to bid much higher at the end of the auction, but the item disappeared.

I am sure someone offered the seller big bucks to end it early.

One never knows in these cases just how high the item would have gone!

DanBessette

You're right Joe. "Unethical" was too strong. You mention that bid retractions are allowed, but I don't think those should be allowed either. I have bid on thousands of auctions in the past 12 years and never retracted. In fact, I didn't know until I joined these boards that one COULD retract. I feel like, once an auction has started, the seller and the bidder should remain committed to the ride.

WhiteTornado

An unfortunate aspect of eBay life these days. Sorry you missed out. I'm going with the theories already posted, either the seller thought they weren't getting enough for it or they sold it off-eBay.

itzagoner

works both ways. i've had numerous occasions where someone invited me to end an item early with a straight cash offer, although i've only accepted a couple times when the price would have had its limitations anyways. i've also seen plenty of items get newly listed and then disappear within hours or even minutes of being listed, presumably when a seller gets that off-eBay pot o' gold offer.

but the absolute worst was the time i watched an auction end with a nice item having gone unsold. the seller relisted as a BIN with a very reasonable price minutes later. i found it and mulled it over. took a trip to the crapper.

bad idea. it got snapped up like candy at a piñata party.