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VidThreeNorth

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I just won my first eBay auction, and I have mixed feelings about it. It is a lens with a known scratch on it. The price was within my bid limit which was after due consideration. So what was so bad?

Well, I put in my bid limit about 1 1/2 hours before the end, and someone out-bid me. So I felt that it was over for me. I closed the page and went on to other stuff. Other stuff later included bidding on something else, which I was out-bid on anyway. Then I went on to other work and forgot about it for the night.

The next morning I get an email that I won the auction. The "final bid" was retracted leaving mine at the top. It never occurred to me that bids could be retracted, but ok, it seems like a reasonable idea in proper circumstances.

What bugs me is that I basically re-assigned that money in my head. I almost "re-spent" it. I do not like being put in positions like that. Maybe I should have retracted my bid on principle? I do not really need the lens. . . .
 
Maybe I should have retracted my bid on principle? I do not really need the lens. . . .
E-bay has rules on how and when you can withdraw your bid. Read the rules. If you don't need the lens, or even want it, contact the seller to see if you can cancel the order. Maybe , maybe not, but that is where to go next.

What focal length of lens? If it is a long lens, a small scratch on the front element won't affect the images unless it happens to catch a strong light, in which case you may see some funny-looking flare. Use a lens hood.

Before you bid, make sure you can follow through with the purchase. Do not have two live bids going on at once unless you can afford to buy both items.
 
The thing that bugs me about this sort of situation is it leaves you at your maximum bid. I'm sure some e-bayers get their friends (or another account) to bid high on their listings shortly before the end & then retract the bid again. There have been several occasions where I was the only bidder until out bid & retracted and had to pay my maximum bid. :angry:
 
By submitting a bid, you are agreeing to ebays' policy to pay up to the amount you bid..... whether or not someone else retracted a bid. You basically entered into a contract. Now it's time to buy the lens.
 
Under special circumstances you may retract your bid From Ebay rules

It's OK to retract a bid if...

  • You accidentally enter a wrong bid amount. For instance, you bid $99.50 instead of $9.95.
  • The item description of something you're bidding on has changed-a lot!
  • You cannot authenticate the seller's identity.
It's NOT OK to retract a bid if...

  • You change your mind about the item.
  • You decide you can't really afford it.
  • You bid a little higher than you promised yourself you'd go.
To retract a bid, use the Bid Retraction form. When you retract a bid before the last 12 hours of an auction, you will eliminate all bids you have placed in that auction. If you are correcting a bid error, you will have to bid again.

Your total number of bid retractions in the past 6 months is displayed in your Feedback Profile. To learn more the Feedback Forum, click here.



Special Retraction Rules

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If you place a bid before the last 12-hour period of the auction:
you may retract that bid before that last 12-hour period but only for exceptional circumstances.

you will not be allowed to retract that bid during the last 12-hour period of the auction.

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If you place a bid during the last 12-hour period of the auction:
you will be allowed to retract the bid for exceptional circumstances but only if you do so within one hour after placing the bid.
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If you are not allowed to retract your bid during the last 12-hour period of the auction, you may contact the seller to request that your bid be canceled. The seller will have the discretion whether to cancel your bid.
Of course, notwithstanding the above rules, you may retract a bid anytime if the seller materially changes the item's description after you bid.

Not noted in this, but if you discover the location of the item is different than the listing you may request EBay to cancel the transaction. They will do so and refund your money. Had that happen on a couple of items that were listed as being in the US, only to discover they were coming from China after the sale completed.
 
Ebay does monitor bidding and tries to remove people trying to scam the system by bidding up and then retracting, which is why there are strict limits on when you can and can't do it (thus meaning any scammer would need many more accounts to keep a bid retracting scam going); but they also likely monitor how many retractions a seller gets as well; get way too many and clearly something is wrong at the sellers end.

In general a once-off event it shouldn't hurt you, esp if you're not trading heavily on ebay. It's just something you really need to avoid happening. In general with ebay if you put your max-bid in then expect to pay that price; heck these days ebay isn't that much cheaper than retail for many things and the seriously good deals tend to be on poorly listed stock or on old stuff that just isn't valued any more (eg an old DVD player).
 
I just put down what I'm willing to pay, if I don't win, then I move on.
 
Retract your bid. The other person did. Why can't you? If it's a contract, how do they get to retract it? They pushed the buttons, make them pay. It USED to be if you were outbid and the winner didn't want it, you got a second chance offer. They would email you asking if you still wanted it for what you bid. You could accept or decline. Got a few things that way. Now they just tell you to pay.

Had it happen to me recently. Bid on some tires for my grandson's RC truck. Was watching 3 different auctions that ended within 10 minutes. The first one I was outbid by 2 other people. Won the second auction. Paid. The next day, I was told to pay for the first one. That did not happen. Let's just say that Ebay is fully aware of my position on this new BS policy.

BTW, I never bid on anything until the last few seconds. Know what it's worth and what I'm willing to pay. Put the bid in and wait to see what happens. And never bid on anything I can't pay for. Some people need their fingers removed.
 
Just retract the bid. Sounds like the owner probably bid up the auction with a fake acct. I don't use ebay anymore it turned into a big flea market full of low grade junk and scammers. Way to many scammers..

Ebay dosn't care as long as they make their money. Many buyers now days are using stolen credit cards scams, paypal charge back scams and many buyers now days are ether low grade junk peddlers and cut through scammers. All of the sellers I know have quit using paypal due to the cost of dealing with scams.
 
If the auction has ended it's too late to retract your bid but you can ask the seller to cancel the transaction.
 
I think the thing here is not to bid unless you want the item and only bid what you want to pay - don't get sucked into a bidding war , this way any shill bidding has no effect. If you only bid what you are willing to pay then you don't have to wait until the last second to swoop in for a bargain - you just bid what you are willing to pay and if no one else bids you get a bargain.
 

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