Am new to ebay but is this right?

[ChestnutsRoastingonaWitchesTit]

I saw an item that i wanted that had 'reserve not met' labelled on it.

There was 20+ hours to go so i made a bid for it of double the reserve price, also making a 'maximum bid amount' at the same time as I've noticed there's sonetimes a bit of a frenzy during the last hour of sale.

Now, there were no other bids so i assumed i must have got the item for a bargain price when the auction ended. (the 'reserve not met' label stayed there)

When I contacted the seller, I was told they were looking for a much larger amount than I had bid and so had withdrawn it.

I thought the point of ebay was to bid like an auction and the highest bidder got the item, even if it didn't meet with the sellers expectations.

I've only ever bought from 'buy it now' sellers so can anyone advise me how it works?

Well you got me there.

I dont' understand how you bid double the reserve the price, I thought there was almost no way buyer could discover the exact reserve price. coz if reserve not met then seller not compelled to sell.

I thought the auction couldn't be ended with less than 12 hours to go, either.

Ah, ok. There appeared to be an amount of £10 on the item but now I think this was my original bid? (Remember I'm new to this!)

So I did a maximum bid of £20. I contacted the seller after the sale had ended, assuming my bid was successful. If seller responds and says they were looking for £100+ and didn't receive a bid to that amount, they withdraw the item for sale?

(Modern life is confusing!)

I guess your bid didn't meet their reserve? If so they don't have to sell the item to you.

you couldn't have bid "double the reserve price" as only the seller (and ebay) are privvy to that!
You may have bid twice the previous bid... but that doesn't mean it was anywhere near the reserve, and the seller is well within their rights not to sell to you at 'winning' bid, sorry.

The minimum reserve price is £50, so £20 would not meet a reserve in any auction

you can easily win auction but because reserve not met seller quite legitimately does not have to sell to you that's why they set a reserve so it did not sell for silly amount

The minimum reserve price is £50, so £20 would not meet a reserve in any auction

you can easily win auction but because reserve not met seller quite legitimately does not have to sell to you that's why they set a reserve so it did not sell for silly amount

Isn't there a starting price and a reserve price?

Meant to say think OP is confusing starter price with reserve. The starter price is just an invitation to start the bidding (like at a normal auction) and the reserve price is kept secret.