EBay Grumble

[101RRS]

I have an old Mitsubushi Colt listed for sale on ebay for an elderly lady. It is listed for $800 which reflects its 25 years of age. I have one bid but the bidder, who has a 100% rating, rang me today to say she had not discussed the purchase with her husband who wants a bike instead. As a result she hopes she is outbidded but of not she will not be taking the car.

I reminded her that it was an auction and binding but she said sorry but she woulod not be taking the car if she wins. There is little interest in the car so is unlikely to sell so I have to consider whether to start an ebay dispute process where in theory I can recover the cost of the car - I expect that is not likely.

Anyone had experience with this. The lady is on the old age pension and the money will be important to her.

Cheers

Garry

[DeeJay]

You have little option but to let the auction go its duration and if the bidder is a "non payer" all you can do is give negative feedback, but tell them this is going to happen. They should not have bid.

[Treads]

It's so clearly defined that your bid is binding. That's why after you click 'place bid' there is another page outlining the fact that it is a binding contract of sale. It states that if you are the highest bidder you must pay or ebay will record a strike against you. If you're not sure, don't bloody bid!

[V8Landy]

Report them to e-bay leave neg feedback

[Xavie]

Hi Garry, I'd go on to the online chat and talk to one of the people there at ebay. They have 24/7 workers I think. Not sure if you need broadband to access the help line though.

Xav

[Davo]

Yes, report them. That's such a stupid violation of the rules, which are well-explained, and the sort of thing that makes Ebay come up with even more rules that make things more difficult for the rest of us.

[taff]

there isn't really a lot you can do - you can't even leave bad feedback anymore.
Point less crying about it now tho. i know it's wrong but you have to expect it with e-bay, the good news is she's told you now. what you need to do now is remove her bid so it is back to no bids and a day or two before the end apply a submit best offer.

jason

[Xavie]

Just had a look. For 800 bucks it looks like a nice clean car. I had a colt on a farm and it went well and just kept going. 6 hours left though. That's a pity.

Xav

[d@rk51d3]

What about the F/C in the background? Is that for sale too?

[abaddonxi]

A bidder can retract their bid while the auction is still active.

I suspect that the binding-ness of their agreement to purchase the item only comes into effect when the auction ends - the same way that the seller can choose to cancel the auction before it ends.

There is also a process to withdraw from both sides if for some reason the auction ends and either party choose (mutually) not to complete the transaction.

Garrycol, I think you are actually in a good position here. I think that once an item has a bid it has the gloss of someone else's interest that suddenly makes it much more desirable.

If the sale fails to go through you will be eligible for a partial refund for your listing from ebay and don't get charged the final value fee.

When this has happened to me before I have had the bidder contact me asking to withdraw their bid. I've responded asking that they let the auction run its course so that the auction isn't tainted by a bid withdrawal. I think that prospective bidder see a bid withdrawal and think that the bidder must know something bad about the item and so either don't bid, or bid less than they would have.

And of course, the usual ebay things, good pictures, comprehensive description, and make sure the auction ends at a time that people are going to be sitting at their computers - I try for Sun, Mon, Tue evening.

Cheers
Simon