Lesson learned; Max bid on eBay

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

I’ve been on eBay for over 12 years, of course it has (but I honesly can't remember the last time). But in those situations (which are very rare) I usually just retract my bid as well just in case so I won’t be run up.

The problem is when the bid is retracted right at the last minute (12 hrs before auction end), which is what happened with the OP. By retracting the bid at the last second, they have effectively revealed your max bid and put you in a situation where there is nothing you can do about it. That is very fishy and I probably would have alerted ebay and had them retract my bid over the phone, just out of principal.

Originally Posted by DanP

…
This morning that bid was retracted (conveniently just before the bid retraction limit of 12 hours of the end time).
…
I understand the "If you win the auction at what you bid, don't complain" thinking. However, this type of crap really irritates me. I tried to retract my bid but by the time I noticed what was going on it was within the 12 hour limit.

[Peter_Spaeth]

David -- surely you've seen the threads here about bidders in PWCC, Probstein and possibly elsewhere with incredible numbers of retractions. Now maybe spread out over as many auctions as there are, it's still a low percentage; or maybe the items you are bidding on are less likely to elicit that sort of misconduct than other types of items; but in any event it obviously happens with some frequency.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

David -- surely you've seen the threads here about bidders in PWCC, Probstein and possibly elsewhere with incredible numbers of retractions. Now maybe spread out over as many auctions as there are, it's still a low percentage; or maybe the items you are bidding on are less likely to elicit that sort of misconduct than other types of items; but in any event it obviously happens with some frequency.

Peter, I have seen the threads about all the bid retractions in Probstein's auctions. I haven't seen the same accusations about PWCC (if I have I really don't remember), but I'll take your word for it.

Either way, I avoid Probstein's auctions all together, so maybe I'm just not exposed to that (bid retractions) as much as some people?

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

Either way, I avoid Probstein's auctions all together, so maybe I'm just not exposed to that (bid retractions) as much as some people?

Same here. I no longer buy cards on ebay and don't even have searches set up any more.

[packs]

My question was more about eBay's rules. It says if you win the auction you're bound to the sale. But if you lose, what then? If I get outbid, that to me is a loss. I don't feel obligated to pay for something unless I win. Bid retractions/cancellations confuse me as to what my obligations would be.

Let's say you auction off a card. The winning bidder retracts their bid in the morning. Do you expect the second highest bidder to pay for the item? Or would you think it's their choice?

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by packs

My question was more about eBay's rules. It says if you win the auction you're bound to the sale. But if you lose, what then? If I get outbid, that to me is a loss. I don't feel obligated to pay for something unless I win. Bid retractions/cancellations confuse me as to what my obligations would be. I feel it should be my choice as to whether or not I'd like to pay.

Let's say you auction off a card. The winning bidder retracts their bid in the morning. Do you expect the second highest bidder to pay for the item? Or would you think it's their choice?

I have not had much success on the 'Bay even finding a card worthy of a bid lately. In days gone by, once I got outbid on a card, I generally funneled that money to an alternate choice. If I won the alternate and THEN was required to honor a bid that had been eclipsed, I would have been in trouble.

[packs]

That's my thinking too. Once I'm outbid I move on. I don't see why I should then have to commit to something I was outbid on because someone else changed their mind. Where would that end? What if 6 people retract?

[trdcrdkid]

There have been a few times on eBay where I was outbid for an item, then a few days to a week later, I got a "Second Chance Offer" from the seller, telling me that the winner had not paid, and that I could have the item for what I bid. I was under no obligation, but in a couple of those cases I did buy the item.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by packs

Let's say you auction off a card. The winning bidder retracts their bid in the morning. Do you expect the second highest bidder to pay for the item? Or would you think it's their choice?

Once the auction is over and there is a 'winning bidder' the winner can no longer retract their bid. They are the winner, they are locked in. Whether they choose to pay or not is a whole different topic.

I hope I understood your question correctly.

[packs]

I thought you had 12 hours to retract your bid. I didn't read every reply. Was that misinformation?

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

Once the auction is over and there is a 'winning bidder' the winner can no longer retract their bid. They are the winner, they are locked in. Whether they choose to pay or not is a whole different topic.

I hope I understood your question correctly.

Yes that is a different circumstance. Still, I would have been screwed as I usually spent my entire card budget and then some. I guess I was lucky that I never got burned by a retracted bid.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Runscott

The problem is when the bid is retracted right at the last minute (12 hrs before auction end), which is what happened with the OP. By retracting the bid at the last second, they have effectively revealed your max bid and put you in a situation where there is nothing you can do about it. That is very fishy and I probably would have alerted ebay and had them retract my bid over the phone, just out of principal.

Scott, understood but, just to clarify, in the OPs situation the bidder didn't retract his bid (Dan misunderstood this). The bid was actually cancelled by the seller for certain reasons. But I get what you're saying - the result was the same - his proxy was exposed. Calling eBay and having them cancel your bid is a good solution too (assuming it is within that 12 hours and you can't do it yourself).

For the record, I still stand firm in my belief that the auction wasn't shilled.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

Scott, understood but, just to clarify, in the OPs situation the bidder didn't retract his bid (Dan misunderstood this). The bid was actually cancelled by the seller for certain reasons. But I get what you're saying - the result was the same - his proxy was exposed. Calling eBay and having them cancel your bid is a good solution too (assuming it is within that 12 hours and you can't do it yourself).

For the record, I still stand firm in my belief that the auction wasn't shilled.

I forgot about that. If you can tell that it's a cancel rather than a retraction, I would contact the seller and express my concerns. If he was doing it to protect the auction (and legitimate bidders), I would not be concerned.

I rarely look for bid retractions on items I'm bidding on, but as you stated earlier - they probably don't occur that much.