Are sellers allowed to do this? 1978 Molitor PSA 10

vm72

I was directed to this forum as I had a weird experience on the bay and was wondering what the heck one does here?



I was a bidder on this card when it was first listed by seller unklbenz at this link.



After some time I get a notice that the by bids have been cancelled and the auction ended. I then heard that the seller sold the card to Probstein123 off the bay (to avoid fees no doubt) and the same card is now up for auction.



I thought I had a chance of winning when it was with the original seller but now I feel like I don't since it's with a huge one.



I dunno guess I feel insignificant if a seller can just cancel my bids and sell elsewhere with no remorse or punishment.

steel75

It's happens quite often believe it or not. Going with Probstein123 the seller will get top dollar.

dennis07

There is no recourse on ebay to the best of my knowledge.

GoDodgersFan

Probstein123 auctions bring top $$$. Auctions are cancelled all the time for a number of reasons.

LarkinCollector

Another recent thread on this...

baz518

Does suck... kinda like the corporate world, little guys often get stomped on by the big guys. I thought there was a fee if a seller ends an auction that has bids, but I've have no experience to know for sure. But regardless, it sucks and even if there is a fee... it's not nearly enough to stop the practice.

mlbfan2

Once per year, sellers are allowed to cancel bids and not pay a fee.

MrNearMint

I rarely bid on items from the major consignors because their prices are so far away from reality. I'm actually surprised a lot people buy from them, many times they could buy same exact card from someone else for much cheaper.



To the op, this has happened to me before and it Sucks but not really a big deal.

travis t

In the old days, I'd awaken each morning to check on the activity and build up my own excitement for auctions I eagerly followed to conclusion.



In the present, I scroll down my Watch List to find out which great auctions have been yanked so I can delete them. Just how it is.

RCAR

At times it hurts, physically, holding back sarcastic comments.

travis t

Oh man. It hurts worse when you're holding back in a movie theatre.

RCAR

Was directed above, not your reply.

Agree though, the movie situation is worse, but double secret probation worse is having a slight gooshy bum by the 2nd hole of any golf course. Things get worse in that situation.

travis t

LMAO. I knew that. Great comeback. You win. ;-)

ElvisP

As far as I know there are no fees for cancelling an auction with bids. Why would there be? I've done this several times for various reasons. The most common being making a mistake in the listing and having to end the auction and resist. Never been charged any fees. You do have to give a reason but that is it.

mlbfan2

Originally posted by: ElvisP

As far as I know there are no fees for cancelling an auction with bids. Why would there be? I've done this several times for various reasons. The most common being making a mistake in the listing and having to end the auction and resist. Never been charged any fees. You do have to give a reason but that is it.

Here's what ebay says...



http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/end_early.html#fees

Fees

Ending an auction-style listing early once it has received a bid can lead to disappointed and frustrated buyers who may be less likely to bid on listings the next time around. For this reason, we may charge a fee if you end a listing early. This fee is equal to the final value fee you would have paid if the listing had ended on its own and sold for the highest bid received at the time you ended the listing.



We charge this fee if you cancel bids and end an auction-style listing early without a buyer.



We don't charge this fee if you end an auction-style listing early and sell to the high bidder. (In this case, normal final value fees apply.)



This fee doesn't apply to listings in the Real Estate and eBay Motors vehicle categories, and the Classified Ads selling format.



Because we understand that sometimes it may be necessary to end a listing early, we don't charge a fee for the first auction-style listing you end early (where a fee applies) per calendar year (January 1 to December 31).

Brick

Hi, hello, how are ya?

vm72

I can't believe how commonplace this seems to be. Thanks for sharing that link LarkinCollector.



I guess I figured a bid created a binding contract, just like a buy it now. I thought that no matter what the seller wanted to get, that they had to sell to me at my bid if no one bid higher.



To answer your question Brick, I'm frustrated but I guess I need to get over this. Maybe some of you can give the seller an earful to let him know that the community doesn't stand for business like this.



Thanks for your comments and responses, I'm glad to see that you guys care.

gregmo32

To Dennis' comment about the reason the seller decided to end his auction, I think it is completely unrealistic to consider that Probstein would see a card for sale and take the time to convince a seller to end it so it could be listed with him. With the massive amount of listings and very tight margins he has already, there is no way it would make sense for him to spend the time to make the few bucks he would take home in a transaction like that.

travis t

It's naive to think that so many people are killing their own auctions because they are privately having second thoughts. It takes a little encouragement. And one quick message.

vm72

I have a screenshot of the conversation with the seller in which he admits to ending the auction as the card was "sold to probstein who will be running it this week."



So no speculation here or naive thinking. The seller flat out implicated himself. Probably because he knows nothing will happen and too many people let this kind of behavior slide.

ldferg

unklbenz...

Enough said.

RipublicaninMass

Wait until you win some, and the seller gets a better offer, or thinks it was priced wrong, and sells elsewhere.

jmmiller777

Ya, Over the last 20 years, I have had, maybe a dozen terminated. There is always a reason one can do this. There used to be a pull down box where you pick one of about 10 reasons to end the auction early. But everyone knows that there is only 1-2 reasons this would be done (you know) Once a dealer said in an email he could not find the card. I guess there are legitimate reasons, but we really all know why.

epatmythes

Originally posted by: MrNearMint
I rarely bid on items from the major consignors because their prices are so far away from reality. I'm actually surprised a lot people buy from them, many times they could buy same exact card from someone else for much cheaper.

To the op, this has happened to me before and it Sucks but not really a big deal.

I'm right there with you... rarely anymore will I buy from any of the larger consignment sellers on eBay. When people are searching eBay for what they want... I have a hard time just believing that all these record prices keep coming because they have more eyes on their listings... among other reasons.

There are a handful of tough cards I'm constantly looking for. One has been around a bit lately on the Bay. Here is all I know... and part of the reason I still don't own the card...

An "Average Joe" seller has had one on eBay for months for ~$500 or BO. It's VCP average and last 3 sales prices in the past 12 months have all been right in the $250-260 range.

1-2 weeks ago, a consignment seller (not Probstein) had one up for auction. It "SOLD" for $495. The under bidder lost with a bid $490.

So, you had two people willing to pay $490+ for this card. It's a relatively rare card. 1-2 weeks have gone by... and the "Average Joe" seller's card has still not sold, not even for a Best Offer even just $10 lower then their BIN price. Also, a search of the consignment sellers last 5000 Feedback Left for Others shows no feedback left for the $495 sale.

Sorry, but something just doesn't smell right here!!!

In closing, I will say this though. Of all the consignment sellers on eBay... Probstein might just be the one, if not the only, seller I trust. I do buy from Probstein, but due to my feelings on consignment sellers (as a whole), I'd probably have to say that at least 90% of my purchases from Probstein are BIN purchases at prices I'm simply comfortable with!

Be informed before you pull the trigger! These are items going into your collection... be smart with your money... or someone else will be smarter with it!

vm72

Wow. I didn't realize there were so many lower levels that sellers could sink to.



Is Probstein123 on this forum? I would love to hear their comment on this situation.

JJCTHE1

I was talking to my brother last weekend about if I ever sold my collection (which is mostly all high end) I would never be able to deal with someone scamming me on the other end with some fraud scheme, Paypal scam, or swapping my card w a counterfeit etc. so I don't blame the guy for allowing probstein to do it. I agree I wish everyone was like us and just bought and sold whatever they wanted but the reality is the net is full of crooks and scams, and eBay hasn't figured out how to protect the seller yet IMO 100% of the time, so if I was selling, I don't blame them going w prob. On the flip side when buying, I don't mind paying a little extra knowing I'm not getting ripped off, buying a fake, etc. I feel your pain but unfortunately the unethical people ruin it for everyone.

Originally posted by: vm72
I was directed to this forum as I had a weird experience on the bay and was wondering what the heck one does here?

I was a bidder on this card when it was first listed by seller unklbenz at this link.

After some time I get a notice that the by bids have been cancelled and the auction ended. I then heard that the seller sold the card to Probstein123 off the bay (to avoid fees no doubt) and the same card is now up for auction.

I thought I had a chance of winning when it was with the original seller but now I feel like I don't since it's with a huge one.

I dunno guess I feel insignificant if a seller can just cancel my bids and sell elsewhere with no remorse or punishment.

vm72

I don't mind the original seller consigning the card. My issue is that afte the auction started and received bids, that he cancelled. There's just something flat out insulting about it to me.



Clearly it could have been worse, as was pointed out he could have refused to send the card if it didn't receive the amount he wanted at the end of the auction.



But still, manners count and this was just rude behavior.

vm72

Just saw this ended at $7,201. I would have bid closer to VCP ($9.5K+) if the original seller hadn't pulled this move. Guess I'm at least glad to deny them an extra $2K