posted on November 6, 2000 08:50:31 PM new
I have an unpleasant situation with an auction that ended yesterday. Here's the bidding history with the bidders' names removed.
Bidder B $91.00 Nov-05-00 13:45:54 PST
Bidder C $90.00 Nov-05-00 17:12:49 PST
Bidder C $80.00 Nov-05-00 17:12:23 PST
Bidder C $70.00 Nov-05-00 17:11:57 PST
Bidder C $60.00 Nov-05-00 17:11:42 PST
Bidder C $50.00 Nov-05-00 17:11:28 PST
Bidder A $32.50 Oct-30-00 10:30:36 PST
Bidder A is a loyal and wonderful regular customer. So is Bidder C.
Bidder B, the winner, sends the following two e-mails, in quick succession, in response to my EOA notice:
First mail:
>Never ebay whilst on Percoset. What did I bid?<
Before I even have a chance to ponder the first, she sends the second:
>I just opened the ebay notice. I remember seeing that bid and thinking someone made a mistake since it was so much more than the previous bid or any bids for similar work. I was pretty surprised to see it was me. I am terribly sorry but 91.00 is obviously a goof. I would be happy to pay you whatever the last real bid was which I think was in the high 20's but not $91.00 I hope you accept my apologies . I will be much more careful in the future.<
I have no idea how to handle this. I came here before answering her e-mails, because I'm so furious I didn't trust myself to be civil.
I'm pretty sure I can sell the item to either the second-highest or original bidder -- as I noted, they're both regular customers -- but, say I offer the item to the second-highest bidder, what price would I give her? Her first bid in the auction? If the high bidder backs out, is it like they never bid at all, and the auction drops back to whatever the bid was before they first bid?
Help! And can someone *please* give me advice on how to handle this in e-mail? At least she had the decency to apologize -- but she's also insinuating that her proxy bid was "obviously" a mistake because it was so high -- even though another bidder was clearly willing to pay nearly as much. I think that ticked me off more than anything else. You know, be a deadbeat if you insist, but don't try to say it's because the item isn't worth what you bid.
posted on November 6, 2000 08:59:09 PM new
File the NPB form for your refund and relist the item later. You can't get blood out of a turnip and if you were to offer it to Bidder C the only fair price would be $33.00. Since Bidder B drove it up.
posted on November 6, 2000 09:01:02 PM new
Simply tell her that the second highest bidder placed a bid of $90, and that if she doesn't want it, the item will go to bidder no. 2. Tell her to check the bid history if she doubts the worth of the item. This allows her the chance to back out gracefully, yet gets you a reasonable bid. Hopefully, bidder no. 2 still wants the item.
Although I've never had it happen after an auction, I've had plenty of would-be buyers try to talk me down in price before any bids were placed on the auction. I had one from Canada who wanted to make certain I'd ship there. Upon confirming that I'd ship to Canada, he tried to get me to end the auction and lower my price for him. Any time this happens, I just tell the would-be haggler, that I'll let the market determine the price, and that if it doesn't sell the first time, the item will be relisted later at a lower price.
posted on November 6, 2000 09:04:24 PM new
Nope. The fair price is $90. Bidder B may have driven the price up, but Bidder C followed suit. Nobody forced them to. If you should offer it at a lower price to Bidder C, it would be entirely out of the generosity of your heart, not out of any ethical right-doing.
posted on November 6, 2000 09:15:07 PM new
I'd file for FVF and relist it, and notify the "good" bidders about what you're doing. That way the price isn't artificially driven up by the flaky bidder, but you also don't end up paying higher fees than you have to (which would happen if you offer it to one of the other bidders at a lower price).
posted on November 6, 2000 09:16:11 PM new
I'm not even all that concerned about the price, although it will be a disappointment to take less than I thought the item had brought. What I could really use advice on is how to respond to the high bidder's e-mails and, in the most dignified way possible, make it clear that:
A) Her offer to pay me something "in the high twenties," when the original bid was $32.50 and the last bid under her winning bid was $90, is an insult;
B) The deal is off, and I'll be filing a NPB alert with eBay, if she refuses to honor her bid.
I haven't left a single negative on eBay, in 2 years of running auctions. Looks like I'm about to.
Which brings to mind another question: if I file an NPB alert and eBay has it on record that she didn't follow through, will she still be able to leave feedback for me? Or can I expect a retaliatory neg out of this mess, as well?
posted on November 6, 2000 09:25:02 PM new
Yes, she can still leave feedback for you. Send her a batch of percoset & she'll probably forget to leave retaliatory feedback.
posted on November 7, 2000 04:33:01 AM new
And if/when she does leave a retaliatory neg, reply with just the facts: "Post-auction, bidder demanded I sell for 25% of her high bid".
posted on November 7, 2000 05:16:09 AM new
I would include the listing of bids that you posted here as well as a link to that page. (I'd leave the bid history original, rather than this edited copy though.)
Say something like, your bid of $91.00 is only $1.00 more than the next highest bidder. (Include aforementioned info. here)
Then go on to your regular EOA.
I'd completely ignore the high 20's reference. They can check it out for themselves.
posted on November 7, 2000 08:25:38 AM new
Thanks for the advice, everyone.
Just an update:
I offered the item to the second highest bidder for $33.50. She was thrilled and accepted immediately. (In fact, her happy reaction almost makes up for the $60 I lost on the auction. I'm sure she'll continue to be a great customer.)
Sent a 1-line e-mail to the deadbeat:
"I'm sorry to hear that you don't intend to honor your bid, but I appreciate your letting me know."
I've never had to go through the whole NPB/FVF thing on eBay before. In a case like this, when the high bidder makes it clear immediately that she isn't going to follow through, do I still have to wait the 7 days before filing a NPB alert, and 10 more days after that to file for credit?
