Auction bidders who back out: Is this common? I cancelled one, now the winner wants to back out.

[treasures4ya]

A few days ago, top bidder on an auction requested his bid to be cancelled. I cancelled it and fortunately he was outbid anyway.  Now the bidder who won the auction wants to retract the bid.  I did file a report on this buyer, but beyond that, am I missing something?
I have not sold on eBay in a few years, and wonder ... is this common?  It seems strange to have this happen twice within a few days time. Both bids were on the same item in the electronics category, an item that is still popular but is no longer made.
The bidder who wants to back out of the auction stated in email that this is "no big deal" ? 
Obviously it IS and yet I am not sure how to handle these funky bidders.

Input from those who have experience with auctions appreciated.

Thanks.

[my_boston_baked_beans]

Yes, it is common, and that is why many prefer fixed price with immediate payment. Buyers can still ask to cancel, but they are making a conscience choice to buy something with immediate payment.

Block those buyers that are canceling after the auction as they will be repeat offenders. Sometimes, I think people just buy and than back out because they can like we are Walmart!

[dbfolks166mt]

     I use the auction format exclusively and while it does happen on occasion it is not the norm. I would much rather have the buyer retract or request their bid be canceled than sell it, ship it and then have the buyer request a return. 

     One thing that is for certain about BIN immediate payment required listings is you are never going to get more than the price you have it listed for unless it is a scam attempt. Even with the BIN type listings and immediate payment required there is no guarantee that a buyer is going to fully follow through with the transaction. 

[dbfolks166mt]

     I can point you to a dozen or so other sites that utilize the auction format exclusively and the buyers love it. I use these sites for sourcing but the competition is fierce and often times the items bring well beyond what the value should be. On most of the sites if you fail to pay once or cancel a bid you still pay a penalty and you will never bid on that site again. 

     Most of these sites also have no restrictions on the items they will sell. I have purchased several firearms, ammunition and other items through these sites. Auction site has a FFL. 

[gurlcat]

Just wanted to provide one dissenting voice because you shouldn't be discouraged out of doing auctions ever, for any kind of item.  --At least 90% of my sales are BIN with immediate payment required, and I don't even allow offers.  If I dont' get my asking price quickly but the item is attracting plenty of views, that means people are interested but I'm asking too much, so I end/sell similar the item with a lower price, until it's low enough for somebody (kind of a reverse auction, ha).  But for a very narrow number of item types, auctions are the very best bet to get the most amount of money AND in a short amount of time.  

If you can find at least a couple 'sold' listings on an item, then you should use those as an indicator of how much you should price for a BIN, but if you have something with very little or no references for its' value, that would put it in the candidacy for auctioning.  A great example was a 1979 Breyer horse model I picked up recently, in its' box and still shrink-wrapped.  I could find very few sold listings of ANY such models, and none whatsoever of this particular horse (who is also a particularly iconic one, named 'Old Timer').  I got him for only $8 so if I'd put him up for BIN, I would have priced him mayyyyybe $100 and would think I was probably pushing my luck.  Instead I auctioned him and he fetched $227 + shipping.  So there's a great example of something that should be auctioned: rare, popular, and with no reference of the likely sellable price.  

I also should say that I can't recall anyone ever cancelling their winning bid on my auctions.  I once had someone request to cancel DURING the auction because they didn't realize they had entered $5000 instead of $50, ha.  But all my auction winners have paid, albeit slowly in some cases.  If requests to cancel wins are indeed "common" it might depend on the item category, I don't know.  

[albertabrightalberta]

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@donsdetour wrote:

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@albertabrightalberta wrote:

@treasures4ya 

For buyers who request cancellation after the listing ends, there's another option.

Tell the buyer that it's no problem that they no longer want the item. Just don't pay for it and the transaction will close in 4 days. (It's not necessary to tell them that they'll get a non-payment strike! Just let it happen!) 

And @treasures4ya , after 4 days pass, go to mark the item as canceled for "buyer didn't pay" if you don't have it automatically set to close. 

In doing this, buyer gets a ding on account and doesn't get a free pass to play this game. 

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And da smart ones will just pay then when received: file an item not as described and cost you money on the return:

Easier to cancel the sale.

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Never had it happen! Maybe I was lucky or maybe I just didn't get "da smart ones." 

[7606dennis]

If  the auction is over with a winner there is no longer a bid to be retracted.  Whether are not you wish to accept a transaction cancellation request is up to you.

[chapeau-noir]

I would hesitate to run auctions for electronics - I sell in that market and it can be twitchy.

[mjallday2345]

This is a very common problem on eBay and nothing ever gets done about it. Sellers should be able to leave negative feedback to buyers that deserve it like the ones that don't pay, especially after a 7 day auction, it finally ends then nope buyer changes their mind and eBay just pretty much tells them "don't do that or else" but nothing never happens. I'm sick of eBay

[mjallday2345]

How can anything sell for less than the buyer wants? It's easy, they start auction at 0.99, doesn't get a whole lot of bidders and gets $5 on a $50 item...that's how...sellers fault either way

[dbfolks166mt]

     Auctions or BIN I tend to avoid selling in that area simply because it is such a high scammer target market. I use other forums and platforms, that have less risk, to move electronic merchandise. Those forums and platforms don't have eBays buyer base by any means but electronic items are such a high demand item I generally have no problem selling them elsewhere. 

[gurlcat]

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@mjallday2345 wrote:

How can anything sell for less than the buyer wants? It's easy, they start auction at 0.99, doesn't get a whole lot of bidders and gets $5 on a $50 item...that's how...sellers fault either way

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How did you not understand what soh.maryl said about getting the amount you want?  If you don't WANT a $50 item to sell for $5, then why on Earth would you start the bid at 99 cents?!  Also, it's funny that you talk about a $50 item, meaning you know it's worth $50, so why auction it at all? Why not just price it $50 for BIN???