posted on December 29, 2000 03:31:53 PM new
I had an interesting situation yesterday on an auction that was about to end. To make a long story short I pulled off a bid for a potential bad user in order to save the auction.
To my suprise this same bidder managed to place anther bid under the same name 1/2 hour later! Fortunatly he/she didn't win the auction anyway.
Where is the protection to the sellers in this situation. I'm glad I have the right to pull a bid off, but whats the point if the person can bid again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the first time something happend to me via eBay that really worked on my nerves. At least I was home to watch the auction.
posted on December 29, 2000 05:15:00 PM new
About the same time I cancel someone's bid - I fire off an email to them AND a copy of that email to [email protected] asking the bidder NOT to bid on my items again. If they ignore me and bid again anyways - I cancel their bid (if I can) and write Safeharbor again letting them know the *special person* is at it again.
Safeharbor will warn them about bidding on your items again.
posted on December 29, 2000 05:28:12 PM new
Exactly right. Cancelling a bid is NOT enough; you have to get on record with SafeHarbor that you don't want this character bidding on your auctions.
posted on December 29, 2000 08:19:09 PM new
So with 15 seconds left one could still snipe the item after I cancelled their bid an hour ago?? I was lucky I didn't get stuck with the bad bidder, but that policy is a joke!
posted on December 29, 2000 08:44:20 PM new
Good for You! I'm glad to see someone else cancelling undesirable bids. I had to report one to safeharbor yesterday also. That's the way to do it. I feel like I just dodged a bullet with the fellow I cancelled: 8 negs., two recent for being a deadbeat bidder. Gave retaliatory feedback. I'm starting to check bidders towards the EOA for red flags in feedback. The jerk that I cancelled sent me a nasty, whining email. After reading his feedback I couldn't help but smile and feel good about kicking this guy off my auction.The only way tfolks like this are going to be discouraged is for sellers to start taking note of the feedback. Too many of these folks are let off after appealing a NPB warning by ebay.
Ebay doesn't check back with the sellers to confirm the other guy's story or refute. They simply want to give bidders "an enjoyable bidding experience". Fine - but only if they play by the rules. I can point to one deadbeat that should have been kicked off long ago. Jerked around at least a dozen or so sellers after a bidding binge. He's still out there! If safeharbor had done a THOROUGH investigation they would have contacted sellers and seen this in his feedback and bidding record. He was bidding fast and furious while at the same time telling sellers that he was in financial trouble due to his business being shut down by a gas line break. I certainly wouldn't be bidding like mad under those circumstances, but you could see it in his bid history and compare to his feedback! The guy probably had a big laugh at how stupid this was handled. Go figure.
posted on December 30, 2000 12:17:33 AM new
I do this all the time and in the end, it's worth it for the amount of e-mails and time it saves after the auctions finish.
Sure, some of the bidders get miffed, but it is my eBay Seller's right to cancel any bid I want and I tell them that in an e-mail at the time of cancellation. I also copy in the next highest bidder (to let them know they are now the High Bidder), but hadn't thought about letting SafeHarbour know as well!...hmmm...
I've got to the point (especially around this holiday season) of even contacting all the (0) feedback bidders as the auction progresses and asking them to please e-mail me back and acknowledge they are serious and will follow through. Most honest first-timers have no trouble with this. In fact, they are more than happy for the chance to interact (I've found) and ask questions about the auction and how it will go. I have even saved more than a few newbie bidders from bidding on and winning auctions that they really didn't understand or didn't really want. Hey: in the end, you're saving yourself some MAJOR trouble after auction's end!
posted on December 30, 2000 05:26:28 AM newSo with 15 seconds left one could still snipe the item after I cancelled their bid an hour ago??
Sure, and so could any other deadbeat on the planet. Look on the bright side. If your high bidder is a sniper whose bid you've already cancelled, you simply sell to bidder #2. Time lost is virtually nil. $ lost is minimal, unless you count the intangible bids of other snipers who were outsniped by your deadbeat. And you report the deadbeat sniper to SafeHarbor,which IME gets 'em NARU'd in a heartbeat.
and acknowledge they are serious and will follow through
I always find this pretty funny. You must've had at least one deadbeat who insisted for weeks that the check was in the mail, right? What makes a frivolous bidder any less willing to BS you? Do you actually expect somebody to email you back and say "No, I'm NOT serious, just kidding, go ahead and cancel my bid"? OF course they're going to say they're a serious bidder.
posted on December 30, 2000 05:38:04 AM new
If you do feel the need to cancel a bid, please don't forget to email the previous high bidder and let them know they're on top again! When they're outbid they get a notice to that effect, but if the outbid is canceled they don't know about it and may bid on another auction.
posted on December 30, 2000 06:32:16 AM new
Emails we'll never see.......
Dear Scanfind,
Thanks for your email asking me if I am serious about bidding on your auction and inquiring as to if I will follow through if I am the lucky winner.
Well Scan, to tell you the truth I am one of those people who have nothing better to do with my life than to bid on people's auctions with absolutely no intention of ever paying for them. I believe you Ebay people call them deadbeats. I don't know why I do it but some people sky dive, others play golf, I bid on auctions.
While I do appreciate your email, I highly suggest that you immediately cancel my bid and any other bids that I may place on your auctions in the future. Thank you so much for taking the time to write.
posted on December 30, 2000 08:48:20 PM new
ROFLOL! These deadbeats get me. I have one woman who has been stringing me along for a month about how the check went in the mail twice.One lost check I could see. Her reluctance to send a third check, after stopping payment on the other two alleged checks, and foot dragging throughout, makes me wonder. Have any of you noticed trouble with deadbeats with great feedback? I hear of other cases being reported. One case I know was NARU before I knew it.Great Feedback then suddenly a ton of negs..
posted on December 30, 2000 09:54:38 PM new
I've actually found another auction site that allows for sellers to drop a bidder from their auction, and in essence, ban that user from participating in any of your auctions.
posted on December 30, 2000 10:04:25 PM new
Sometimes "deadbeats" are telling the truth. We had a guy claim that he sent payment for an auction over a month ago. I didn't believe him because he had several negs for non-payment. Yesterday we received the payment he claimed to have sent (a money order). It was postmarked about 45 days ago.
I'm glad to see someone else cancelling undesirable bids. I had to report one to safeharbor yesterday also. That's the way to do it. I feel like I just dodged a bullet with the fellow I cancelled: 8 negs., two recent for being a deadbeat bidder. Gave retaliatory feedback. I'm starting to check bidders towards the EOA for red flags in feedback. The jerk that I cancelled sent me a nasty, whining email. After reading his feedback I couldn't help but smile and feel good about kicking this guy off my auction.The only way tfolks like this are going to be discouraged is for sellers to start taking note of the feedback. Too many of these folks are let off after appealing a NPB warning by ebay.
