Bidder Accusation

[chste703483]

I have an item currently at auction which received a retraction this morning with the explanation the bidder "bid the wrong amount".  The bid was for $150 for an item that had a $66 high bid at the time.  Very shortly thereafter I received a message from the current high bidder accusing me of having a second ebay account and driving up the price, then retracting. He claimed if he won he wouldn't pay and "participate" in my scam.  Well,  needless to say I don't operate this way,  never have and never will, and  didn't even know people were doing this. I'm more than a little miffed but I can see how some sellers might use a scheme like this to drive up pricing. 

Question- he boldly stated if he wins he won't pay. I communicated back that besides strongly denying his false accusation, that if he didn't pay, it would be something he'd have to take up with ebay.  I read up and now realize I can cancel his bid to nip this in the bud and not have to possibly re-list the item again.  We all want to have happy transactions. This wouldn't be one.

Any  comments or suggestions? Is cancelling his bid the best way to go or will that just add fuel to a small fire?   This is the first time this situation has developed for me. I only do this very part-time.

Thanks for any feedback

Chris

[nobody*s_perfect]

I would cancel his bid AND put his ID (and also that of the bidder who retracted) on my blocked-bidders list:

 Cancel bid: https://www.ebay.com/bfl/cancelbid

Block bidder: https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/BuyerBlock

This will leave you with just one active bidder, so the bid showing will drop to the opening bid amount, but there's more than a full day  left in the auction so there's still hope that it will end up with more bidders and a reasonable selling price.  Good luck!

The bidder's accusation doesn't make much sense, since the retracted bid was up for just 20 minutes before it was retracted. So if the retracting bidder IS up to shenanigans, it's likely that he just wanted to reveal the high bidder's full hidden proxy bid so he could come back later in the auction to outbid him.

[albertabrightalberta]

I was going to post exactly the same thing as @nobody*s_perfect . 

I looked at the bidding and the retracted bidder's history and that's not shilling. That bidder has placed over 100 bids on 65 items and his one bid on your item is the only retraction. That bidder's history shows that he's not a shill. 

FWIW, this is an example of what a shill bidder's bidding looks like: 

[jerseyboymusic]

I would just reply something like "Shill bidding is taken very seriously by Ebay and not a practice I engage in... I'm not sure why you feel I am doing this, but if you are not wanting to bid on this item for whatever reason, please retract your bid"

Add to BBL as @nobody*s_perfect outlines

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@jerseyboymusic wrote:

I would just reply something like "Shill bidding is taken very seriously by Ebay and not a practice I engage in... I'm not sure why you feel I am doing this, but if you are not wanting to bid on this item for whatever reason, please retract your bid"...

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IMHO that reply would just escalate the situation, and it's better to just cancel and block with no communication at all.

[chste703483]

Thank you for the feedback. Good insights into how others might be operating. Leaning to cancelling the bid. Should I tell the bidder via message first or ask him if that's what they prefer?

[chste703483]

Thank you. Gaining a lot of good info from your replies.  Much appreciate.

[chste703483]

Thanks. This might be the way I go. This way it's on his record as having retracted and me not cancelling a bid.

[chste703483]

Thanks for the reply. I'm not sure that this wouldn't inflame things a bit more. They might think I am hiding something and I really don't want to give them that feeling. In the end, either way gets it done.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@chste703483 wrote:

Thanks. This might be the way I go. This way it's on his record as having retracted and me not cancelling a bid.

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By announcing his intention not to pay, he has pretty much already told you that he's not willing to retract the bid.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@chste703483 wrote: .... Leaning to cancelling the bid. Should I tell the bidder via message first or ask him if that's what they prefer?

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It's probably impossible to change this bidder's mind about your intentions, so IMHO it's best to just cancel the bid without any further communication, unless he contacts you about it afterwards.

The sooner the bid gets canceled (or retracted, which is very unlikely), the sooner the auction can get back on track. 

[thelongball]

Cancel his bid and block him - Don't communicate anything. He already stated he won't pay. Why risk him being the winner. Plain and simple. He is already having buyer's remorse and hasn't bought anything. Trust your gut instinct as some sales just aren't meant to be. 

[12345jamesstamps]

Block that bidder of 44 retractions of course.

I would not block him...he might not even win...

It's a cool bat. I think he wants it.

I would not reply to any emails he sends.

He doesn't pay he will get a "ding" for non payment after 4 days or eBay will use his credit card on file to pay for it.

[threelittlelambs]

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@albertabrightalberta wrote:

I was going to post exactly the same thing as @nobody*s_perfect . 

I looked at the bidding and the retracted bidder's history and that's not shilling. That bidder has placed over 100 bids on 65 items and his one bid on your item is the only retraction. That bidder's history shows that he's not a shill. 

Are you saying the retracted bidder history only has 1 retraction, because for me it says 44 retractions in the last 12 months?

[threelittlelambs]

Definitely, cancel and block that bidder. I would not want to do business with someone who sent me a message like that, it sounds like they will only be a problem. You have 29 watchers and a day and a half to go, I don't think you'll have any problems getting what it's worth.