Ahhh, ebay---can't live with it, can't chop it up and put it in the meat grinder. Though you may likely have a legitimate complaint, the first rule of ebay is to not lose sleep over crappy sellers, especially if you haven't lost any money. Not worth the stress.
Originally Posted by
Numbskull
I'm the leading bidder on an item that has received multiple bids and there is less than 12 hours left when suddenly it is listed as sold for a much lower price. What happened? Is it allowed? Should I report it?
This sounds a little weird. Ebay allows sellers to end a listing completely, automatically cancelling all bids. Ebay also allows sellers to end a listing early and sell the item to the current high bidder. The only way I can see to end a listing early and sell the item to a 2nd-/3rd-/etc-place bidder would be to first cancel the higher bids. So either the seller had to cancel your bid before ending the listing, or had to end the listing unsold, then relist as a Buy It Now at the lower price. Both of these scenarios are allowed, so there would be nothing to report. You could make a mental note that you don't like how that seller operates and not bid on his/her items.
Nothing here strikes me as fishy, though it's understandable you're disappointed. Ebay rules state: "a winning bid is a binding agreement to buy the item at the winning bid price", but they actually allow buyers to back out of any transaction. A buyer can select "I changed my mind" as the reason for not completing a transaction. There's also no real penalty for a winning bidder who doesn't pay. With RobbieTunes' friend finding only half of his winning bidders actually pay for the item, it's easy to see why a seller might want to grab a lower-priced but solid bid. Or why so many more listings these days are Buy It Now and/or Best Offer i/o auctions. Again, I'm not saying you shouldn't be disappointed, but I do understand why the seller may have done this.
Originally Posted by
Numbskull
I bid on two items ending concurrently from the same seller (not the guy above) and lose both auctions. Immediately I receive "2nd chance" offers to buy them at my maximum bid. Obviously shrill bidding is going on. One item I bought (because I needed it), the other I did not........but should I report the seller? Will it do any good or is it a waste of time?
Yeah, an "immediate" 2nd Chance Offer sure sounds like shill bidding. Flaky bidders who don't intend to pay don't notify the seller immediately to say "nyaa-nyaa, I ain't payin'", so it sounds like the seller was complicit. It wouldn't hurt to report the seller, though there's no way to tell what ebay might do. If the seller does have a pattern of shill-like behavior, ebay might spot that and do "something." They could start with a warning, they could suspend the account, but they could also do nothing. If nobody ever reports this bozo, though, there's nothing to stop him.