7 day auction - and the only auction that this seller had listed during that period.
I win for a price which is low but 50p above the starting price. I pay up pronto, as usual for me, as I need the item urgently. Other reasonably similar items have sold for similar in the past week and some for more but then some had a higher starting price.
Seller returns my paypal payment with a message to say she listed it as starting at £XY.00 , ebay have made a listing mistake starting it at £Y.00 and the auction should have started at a considerable amount more, she has notified ebay of the error with her auction and is taking the matter up with them.
This is bull right ?
She had 7 days to spot the error including the time when she first listed the item (remember the only item she has listed for sale for a couple of years).
Apart from that, she presumably checked periodically on her auction, we generally do don't we, curiosity gets the better of us ?
The item was listed as costing £100 when new but I've only her word for that (can't believe everything you read on the internet).
I'm using a brand new ebay ID that certain people who know my old ID can't check up on (what is it with some people and respecting others privacy ?) so I haven't been a member for 5 days and can't leave her a negative.
I can't chase it up as not received as
a) it isn't outside of her delivery terms yet obviously
b) she has refunded my payment so paypal tells e-bay there is no problem here.
I've made a small loss on selling a couple of items in the past due to low start prices but I've always honoured the auction contract and chalked it up to experience.
Any suggestions from experienced e-bayers.