gugie 

Frame was listed on eBay (one that had been mentioned here) with a reserve. It was a hghly desirable frame (to me and at least one other person). The bidding went up to several hundred dollars. I threw in the towel when I noted that the reserve had not been met. The next day it was relisted with no reserve.

I put in a maximum bid-same figure that I was willing to pay before. Today, I won-and at half the amount as the highest bid in the prior auction! I paid immediately. About an hour later I received an email from eBay as follows:

"We're sorry to let you know that (seller) canceled your order and mentioned the reason as I'm out of stock or can't fulfill the order for another reason."

I replied as follows:

"You should reconsider cancelling this order.

You put a reserve on the first listing higher than the amount that was offered. I know because my bid was for that amount. It didn't meet the reserve, so be it. Then you immediately relisted with no reserve, hoping to get at least the amount previously bid? The risk you took was that you wouldn't get that price. If you had a absolute lowest price you'd accept, you should have either put it in reserve, or put in a floor.

If you still decide not to sell, you are breaking a contractural obligation. For this amount, it's not worth a lawsuit, but I will leave enough bad feedback so that you'll have a difficult time selling here again. All you have on eBay is your reputation and rating, yours is at risk right now.

Think hard about this, and let me know what your decision is."

Seller's reply? "I am sorry. I do not feel comfortable offering this frame for sale under the description listed. I realize I have made a mistake. This frame will not be re-listed. I apologize for the inconvenience."

Before I go nuclear on this person, I figured I'd ask for opinions.

Judges?

cb400bill

It ain't worth it. Move on.

nesteel 

Leave negative feedback, if possible, and move on with life.

fender1

+100. There will be others....

Fahrenheit531 

Embrace your bitterness. Savor it. Imagine the horrific glory of your cold and calculated revenge.
For like 10 seconds.
There. Wasn't that nice?
Now get on with your search.
Life is short.

gomango

I would move on without a fight.

GhostSS

Yeah some shady stuff goes down with desirable parts and frames. For the longest time a seller was selling time trial Campy carbon levers that was not selling so he dropped the price and listed it as "LAST ONE IN STOCK"! But for the next year he kept raising the price and listing as last in stock for over 10 more pairs, until it was $100 more than the original price. Basically he created false rarity and kept raising the price when he knew he could get away with duping people thinking it was the last set.

spdntrxi

move on... they don't have to sell it.. like wise you don't have to buy it.

gugie 

I need 10 minutes.

I'd feel better warning others. Alright, that's a justification. You mess with me, I mess with you back. I learned that from my father, a close relative of Hamarrubi.

Original listing

The tres cool Elvish 650b with all the fixin's-appeared in great shape

First listing got to $520-still below reserve
Second listing, no reserve, $228.50 Seller decided not to sell. If this were a brick and mortar store, I'd be in small claims court right now.

seller: mouthfullofdollars, aka, the reneger

If you prefer to do business with those of high character, I'd avoid this seller like the plague.

There, that's 10 minutes. I feel better now.

D1andonlyDman

Crap happens on ebay. If your mindset recognizes that fact, you will save yourself some aggravation.

wrk101

I recommend buy it now, fixed priced listings to both buyers and sellers. It eliminates most of this nonsense. Sometimes sellers have an unrealistic expectation of the auction process, assuming their item will go high, really high. Buy it now puts the seller's expectation out in the open, if it is unrealistic, the item will not sell, and either the seller adjusts his price down, or moves on.

miamijim

What he did is NOT against Ebay rules. Backing out of a sale allows sellers to correct an 'honest mistake' i.e. mis-pricing auction or perhaps choosing the wrong auction format.

And I don't think you can leave negative feedback because a completed transaction never occurred.

Is it shady on his part? Yes. Will there be repercussions? Maybe, maybe not.

As a moderate Ebay seller it really sucks when I make and honest mistake and someone swoops in for the auction because of the honest mistake.

gugie 

Yep, crap happens. And I crap back. Aggrevation gone, now I'm just explaining myself.

gugie 

This was not an honest mistake. The emails sent back and forth tell me otherwise. This was an experienced seller.

An example of an honest mistake was when someone sent me the wrong frame. It wasn't a bad frame, it was a similar frame, something I might have bid on otherwise. But shipping it back would double the cost to the seller. We came up with a reasonable price for me to keep it, just a bit of a discount over what I think the market price was. I went ahead and paid for the sellers shipping cost, even though the seller offered it to me shipped for free.

That's the way I like to do business.

Just keeping karma matriculating the ball downfield.

gugie 

But if I "win" the auction and don't pay, the seller can give me a bad rating

If the seller decides not to ship, I can't give a bad rating.

Ratings are like gold at eBay. If you buy something and don't rate, there's an excellent chance you'll receive an email from the seller asking for a rating-they clearly value good ratings, and most sellers strive for 100% satisfaction.

AAZ

A seller who plays that game will lose in the end. Thanks for warning us and spreading the word.

Otis

He might have gotten higher bids if the frame was not laying in pig**** for the photos.

speedy25

As I remember, when an auction is completed, even if the sale is incomplete you can still leave feedback. I would have contacted the seller and gave them one last time to make the sale and if it wasnt done, leave negative feedback. There are soooo many goofy rules on fleabay these days, it often comes down to a "this just isnt worth the hassle" to use it.

-SP

gugie 

Yep, crappy backdrop. But, man, that was a sweet rando frame, all the bells and whistles. The backwards rear cantis make sense to me. They're inside the rear triangle, away from harm. I'd seen that before, but the rear fender attachment, that's one I'll copy in the future, maybe next time I pull out my torch.

So, yeah, I'm bitter. I admit it. Damn frame was about 2-3cm too small for me, but it would have been a great build. Probably would have gone for wet paint even, for sure original decals.

I mean, Elvish? It's practically an inside joke on Rivendell...

sam_cyclist

Stop whining and moaning and get on with your life.

eschlwc

hunt 'im down and ...

rhm

Find the seller's real name and cancel his subscription to the New York Review of Books.

himespau 

It's not like you can make them send it to you. Just move on with life. It's happened to me many times. You can't let things get to you.

RobbieTunes

Claim discrimination. Stomp your feet.
Call MSNBC, someone in Hollywood, threaten a boycott.
Scream loud and long and clear "it's UNFAIR!"

Someone will probably help you.

DTSs

Have to move on. It almost gets humorous after a while. My favorite seller's excuse after I "won" a desirable frame, "I can't find a box big enough to ship it in."