Another reason why sniping is great on ebay

[Prof Procyon]

take a look at this:

 

http://offer.ebay.com/ws3/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...item=3706548161

 

The now highest bidder has bid an amount for this item. Let say 90$. The system said the typical "You were outbidded" when he placed his bid so he looked elsewhere and found something else and bought it. A day after the bid, the seller cancelled the then highest bidder so my friend who got outbidded at first is now the highest bidder, and from what we understand of ebay, he will have to buy this item because of the binding we all have when we bid on ebay! You can see the cancelation lower on the bids page.

 

If you snipe, you will se right away if you won the item or not because it'll be seconds later that the auction will have ended. You won't have the time to look elsewhere before the auction has really ended, so even if you get a pretty fast seller who cancel bids in the last seconds, that'll not screw you up like my friend with his early bid.

 

Now we just hope that he'll be outbid before the auction ends..

[Spirantho]

I may be wrong but I think your friend could also cancel his bid for that very reason. I'm not sure about the Ts and Cs on this but any seller worth his salt would understand...

 

Personally, if the backing-out bidder had been the high bidder for too long I'd relist the auction as it could have put people off.

[Mindfield]

I dunno if that would fly. Technically if you place a bid, you've still stated that you'd like to buy that item at your bid price. Even if you were outbid, your bid is still there, and if the seller cancels the higher bidder's bid, or if the high bidder retracts his bid, then that puts you in the lead. You're still responsible for having placed the bid and so are bound to whatever the results are. Any seller could easily hold you to that if they really wanted to be a prick about it. I wouldn't, personally; I'd just second-chance the next highest bidder if it came to that.

[raindog]

For many or most items sniping really is the only way to go nowadays for the above and other reasons. Sadly, as more and more people realize this, ebay auctions will become more and more like lotteries based on who snipes last, with the result being lower selling prices (bad for the sellers) and more and more glitches in the snipe process (bad for the snipers.)

[Clint Thompson]

I dunno if that would fly.  Technically if you place a bid, you've still stated that you'd like to buy that item at your bid price.  Even if you were outbid, your bid is still there, and if the seller cancels the higher bidder's bid, or if the high bidder retracts his bid, then that puts you in the lead.  You're still responsible for having placed the bid and so are bound to whatever the results are.  Any seller could easily hold you to that if they really wanted to be a prick about it.  I wouldn't, personally; I'd just second-chance the next highest bidder if it came to that.

 

Sorry but I completely disagree with you.

 

For example.... I bid on a Sega Gamegear lot with 26 games for $180.... I'm outbid and there's 3 days to go... ok... well.. I want a damn GameGear... I've been outbid (I'm not winning) so I go to bid on ANOTHER Game Gear (since I wasn't going to spend more than $180 anyways) So I win a GG lot with 12 games for $112 that same day.

Yay.. I'm happy... cool.

 

So let's say the high bidder on the other auction cancels his bid and it falls back onto me. First.... if it's such a binding contract for the bidder then why the hell can he cancel and get away with it but I'd be stuck with it? That's no fair!

 

or...

 

For some odd reason the seller doesn't like the high bidder and cancels his bid then I'm back in lead again. Tough shit.... you shouldn't have cancelled your Highest BINDING bidder.

 

Sorry guys... but I'm not going to hang out for 3 days on 1 auction to see if I'm going to be "safe" or not because some @sshole wants to retract his bid or seller wants to cancel the higher bidders bid - that's just stupid.

 

Sure.... I may have been interested in the lot at $180... and then once someone outbids me I move on. (Money already spoken for somewhere else now) Now if I were OFFERED to purchase it and still had the money and still needed a GG then yes... I would probably buy it then

 

Anyone feel the same?

[BTHOTU]

no he shouldnt pay, he was out bid so decided to get something else. He is not bound to pay if he was out bid. that means we could all make up a name, and up our prices and then cancel our bid if we went to high, and screw over the actuall bidder.

[old-new-guy]

Hi

 

Well here is another scenario, the high bidder could very well have been the very seller himself, running up the price of his auction then retracting his bid when the price got high enough. Just a thought. Thanks Ron Herndon

[Prof Procyon]

As for my friend, he contacted the seller who agreed to remove his bid so he'll not have to buy the item. That's a good news.

 

Here's what ebay says about retracting a bid:

 

 

It is ONLY OK to retract a bid if...,  

 

You accidentally enter a wrong bid amount (for example, you bid $99.50 instead of $9.95). If this occurs, re-enter the correct bid amount immediately.  

The description of an item you have bid on has changed significantly.  

You cannot reach the seller. This means that you have tried calling the seller and the seller's phone number doesn't work, or you have tried emailing the seller and it comes back undeliverable.

 

I think they should revise that to add some more accepable reasons!

 

Anyway, sniping is definetly the best way to bid on ebay for many reasons, this one just added up in my list!

[MegaManFan]

You're never obligated to buy an item if the high bidder's bid was cancelled, AFAIK. I lost the high bid on a copy of a Wrestlemania DVD and then found a copy for $30 with a BIN and took it instead. Then I got a notice from the seller saying the high bidder was cancelled and I +could+ have the item, but I had to tell him sorry I just got one for $10 less and I even sent him the auction link. Them's the breaks for that seller I'm afraid.