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Original poster

Winning bidder wants to withdraw

17 replies

cuppachar · 26/04/2009 21:38

I've just sold a travel system for £195, but the winning bidder sent a message immediately after the auction ended saying "Dear seller, I made mistake, and i put wrong amount -i didn't want to pay this value. Could sell this this item one bidder before me. Sorry for trouble, please answer for my question, regards, [name]"

What should I do? There was one other serious bidder, who had put in a bid of £190 back at 4pm, then this 2nd bidder put in multiple bids, gradually increasing from £130 to £140, £145, £150, £160, £170, £180, £190, finally becoming leading bidder on £195 soon before the auction ended, so it clearly wasn't an accident.

What am I supposed to do? Insist she pays? Report her to ebay? Or send a 2nd chance offer to the next highest bidder (who might well suspect shill bidding, as she could have bought the travel system for £140 if it wasn't for this other bidder)? The buyer who has pulled out has a feedback score of 146, 100% positive, so she's not new to all this so I don't really accept it was a mistake.

Please help me, ebay experts! Thanks!

OP posts:
Geepers · 26/04/2009 21:40

You can't really insist she pays can you? If she says she isn't paying, there is nothing you can do to make her. Mutually withdraw the item and offer to the bidder below, or relist is what I would do.

FAQinglovely · 26/04/2009 21:44

are you sure it wasn't an accident - as the increments could have been done automatically by ebay if she'd put £195 as her bid.

Usually I'd say "tought shit" - but the fact that she's contacted you straight after the auction would make me think that's she put a higher mamximum bid in than she meant to and once she'd clicked to submit it there was nothing she could do as the 2nd bidders maximum was beaten by hers.

Original poster
cuppachar · 26/04/2009 21:45

Hi Geeper. You're right of course, I can't insist, but surely buyers can't just bid and then not honour their bids? It's unfair on the seller and on other bidders too. Rather than withdrawing from the sale mutually, is there any way I can make it clear she withdrew and it wasn't mutual, or report her to ebay in some way?

OP posts:
Original poster
cuppachar · 26/04/2009 21:47

FAQ - I can see she put in each bid manually, not automatically, generally with 5 to 10 minutes break between each one, as it has the time she actually placed each bid. So yes, I'm totally sure.

OP posts:
FAQinglovely · 26/04/2009 21:51

fair enough - having watch items I've put a bid on have odd times with ebay updating automatically I never rely too strongly on their times

What's her feedback like?

If it's good then personally i'd give her the benefit of the doubt, she has contacted you straight away so it's not like she's left you waiting for days for payment, then said she's not having it, then you offer 2nd chance offer to next highest bidder, who by the time that happens has already bid and won on another item - iykwim.

At the end of the days it's up to you

Original poster
cuppachar · 26/04/2009 21:59

Fair enough I maybe shouldn't rely on the actual times, but she definitely put in seven bids whereas the 2nd highest bidder only put in one bid, which then kept increasing automatically to keep her in the lead until right at the end...

Anyway, maybe you're right and I should just not bother. It just seems against the spirit of ebay to withdraw like that...

Maybe I'll contact the 2nd highest bidder first to see if she's still interested. Then I'll have a nice cuppa and a slice of cake and breeeeeeathe deeply - not worth getting annoyed by a total stranger I guess! Thanks for the wise words

OP posts:
FAQinglovely · 26/04/2009 22:02

actually I just found your listing - if you click on "show automatic bids" - it seems to me (could be reading it wrong?) that those bids of hers were automatic ones?

Original poster
cuppachar · 26/04/2009 22:12

good detective work

If you click to show automatic bids it shows actual bids in bold and automatic bids in grey. The winning bidder had 10 actual bids + 2 automatic bids whereas the 2nd highest bidder had 4 actual bids + 6 automatic bids). [sorry - I'm such a geek about these things and spent ages figuring out how all this works ]

The winning bidder won with an "actual" bid (not automatic) of £195, but had also previously put in "actual" bids of £190, £180, £170, etc so it wasn't a slip of the fingers....

Anyway maybe it's easiest to just go along with her request regardless of the rights and wrongs. As long as the 2nd highest bidder still wants it, it'll have made me more money not less in a way. I'll get down off my high horse now I promise!!

OP posts:
FAQinglovely · 26/04/2009 22:15
  • closer inspection reveals that is indeed true (about the automatic bids)
maxybrown · 26/04/2009 23:49

I have seen people do this to try and find out what the highest bid is (??) and then withdraw the bid......maybe she ran out of time to withdraw......annoying anyway whatever it was!

Original poster
cuppachar · 28/04/2009 09:59

You're right - it is annoying. I emailed the 2nd highest bidder 24 hours ago to see if she's still interested but no reply so far so it looks like I may have lost the sale completely (the 3rd highest bidder was much lower). Ah well.

The winning bidder claims her last 5 bids (from £160 up to £195) were ALL accidents, and she meant to place them on a different item but had several windows open at once and got confused. I personally don't believe that but she does seem quite stressed so I do believe she didn't mean to actually "win" the item. We've kept all the communication very amicable anyway so it's not unpleasant or unfriendly in any way, which is the main thing in many ways - I've recently had some very unpleasant messages and feedback from a disgruntled seller so have no wish to repeat that!!

OP posts:
mogs0 · 28/04/2009 17:29

I'd report her to ebay for non-payment, you'll get your FVF refunded then relist. It's a total pain for you. Would you have been happy to let it go for £140 to the other bidder? If so, I'd offer it to them at that price.

Original poster
cuppachar · 01/05/2009 10:00

Hi mogs0 - sorry, only just saw your post.

I've contacted the 2nd bidder twice now but no response so I've pretty much given up on her...

The winning bidder is being really nice so I don't feel annoyed any more. If I just agree to cancel the transaction, do I lose more money (e.g. listing fees) than if I report her for non-payment? I've no particular wish to get her in trouble (and could she give me negative feedback if I did?) but I don't want to lose out on fees when it's totally not my fault... TIA!

PS. Wouldn't really be happy to sell for £140 - I'd prefer to relist and take my chances. I set a £150 reserve first time round but think I'd risk no reserve next time and see if it attracted more interest.

OP posts:
sixlostmonkeys · 01/05/2009 10:36

do a mutual withdraw

Original poster
cuppachar · 01/05/2009 10:38

thanks 6LM - I think you're right... oh well, back to square one!

OP posts:
MissSunny · 08/05/2009 00:45

Message withdrawn

lunamoon2 · 09/05/2009 18:43

How do you withdraw a bid-could someone please explain this to me?

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