Just a rant about a C/V bike sale on Ebay !
Recently I had a frame on the 'Bay and I'm kinda pissed at the actions of a "buyer"
I had the frame on a auction but did set a reserve. I also had it with a "Buy it Now" option.
Shortly after listing the frame this "buyer" made a bid large enough to exceed the reserve and of course because no other bids were made the "Buyer" had the winning bid.
Great!
23 minutes later I received a notice from Ebay that there was a bid retraction. The " Buyer" used the reason "accidentally entered the wrong bid amount due to a typographical error"
I'm sorry but I have bid on tons pf items and never have "accidentally entered the wrong bid amount due to a typographical error" . And if I did I would have known about it very quickly due to all the steps required to submit a bid. Not damn near a half hour later!!!
Thanks to this action the multiple possible watchers/buyers (and there were quite a few)now were privy to the reserve amount and all possible chances at a decent auction process was destroyed!!!!
Here is the text of a message to Ebay that I sent along with a request to investigate.

"Please investigate this item bid retraction. Item #XXXXXXXXXXXX This member (XXXXXXX) bid on this item and after over 22 minutes the member decided to retract the bid. I believe this was a blatant instance of a member trying to ascertain the amount of the minimum bid amount. If you investigate this member you will observe that the member deals in the same items I have been selling and knows full well what the value of this item would be. I believe that it is unfair that this member can use the Ebay rules in a end around to benefit himself. If you or any other member had incorrectly bid on a item we would have realized this very quickly. Ebay has multiple checks and stops so that a member knows EXACTLY what amount they are bidding. I have been a faithful and honest member of Ebay for many years and do not appreciate members who use Ebay's rules to gain a unfair advantage over fellow members."

Of course I'm sure Ebay will do nothing to this member and a large part of the reason is because there is no way to prove my accusations. I know this and my opinions are just that. But they are based on years of experience dealing on Ebay. I have a number of accounts for various markets and items and have sold thousand of items so I am not a newbie in this. that being said, people do make mistakes and I have made more than a few of my own. On the other hand If it walks like a duck and ........ well you know!

Sigh!
Thanks for letting me rant!

I never have reserves on auctions. Instead, I either start them out at 99 cents and let it rip (for items I know that are popular), I start them high (at my reserve if you will), or go with a buy it now/best offer auction. The BIN/Best Offer auction is becoming my favorite for slow moving stuff.

ebay has really tilted the system to benefit buyers. As a seller, we are at the whim of the system.

I bet ebay will ignore your complaint.

Lots of things frustrate me about eBay as a seller, not the least of which is international bidders. I suspect your assumptions are correct, but as you said, your email to eBay is about all you can do.

I'm not fully getting this...

If there was only one bidder, how did he get the bid to your reserve level?

he bid a high amount over the reserve. A bid over the reserve is the same as having a second bidder.

Ebay will not even respond to your email.....

If the bid meets or exceeds the reserve, the bid is set at the reserve price.

GOT IT! I didn't know the reserve acted as a second bidder. I just thought it was a standard auction...but with a "most be taller than this line to buy XXX"feature.

eBay doesn't give a crap about sellers, and you are up the creek.

Fact is, they bend over backwards to buyers. If someone wanted to dishonestly acquire half a dozen bicycles, they need not steal them off a bike rack; all they have to do is buy them on eBay, claim seller fault after receiving, retract payment, and jump through relatively few hoops to wind up with - essentially - a free bike.

-Kurt

Something similar like this happend to me. I didn't have reserve, but a higher opening bid (my reserve). I suspect the buyer was trying to block the buy it now feature by bidding on it. He was the only bidder and at the last monemt retracted his bid with the same lame excuse. I suppose he wanted the frame, but found something else. kinda shady.

Well they did respond to my complaint and here is their response.

"Dear XXXXX,

Thank you for writing eBay in regard to the Invalid Bid Retraction made
by "XXXXXXXXX" with this item# XXXXXXXXXXX.

We apologize for the inconvenience that this situation may have caused
you and I definitely understand how you felt about what happened when
you learned that the buyer retracted his/her bid on your item.

XXXXX, just to let you know, we're concerned about violations on eBay,
and we've thoroughly investigated your report regarding "XXXXXXX".
Please be assured that we've taken appropriate action in accordance with
our site policies based on the report you have submitted and through the
evidence that we have gathered.

Our actions may include issuing a warning, temporary suspension,
indefinite suspension, or terminating the membership.

Out of concern for the privacy of all members, we can't discuss the
results of our investigation of a member's account with another member.
I hope that this assures you that your account information will likewise
remain private.

If you prefer to block this person from bidding on your listings to
avoid any future trouble, go to:

https://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/manage_bidders_ov.html

Or you may set up your Buyer Requirement. Buyer Requirements enable you
to limit your exposure to bidders who make sales more difficult or
expensive. For example, you can block bids from members who have
received too many unpaid item records recently.

To edit your Buyer Requirements selections:

1. Click "My eBay" at the top of most eBay pages.
2. Select the "Account tab,
3. Click the "Site Preferences" link on the left side of the page.
4. Under "Selling Preferences," click the "Show" link for Buyer
Requirements.
5. Click the "Edit" to update your buyer requirements.

For more information on buyer requirements, go to:

https://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/buyer-requirements.html

Again, I do apologize for all the inconvenience this might have caused
you. We hope that this occurrence doesn't change your mind or how you
feel about your other trading partners having good intentions.

Thank you for your report and thank you for choosing ebay!

Sincerely,
Paulene E.

eBay Customer Support
______________________________

Thank you for writing eBay in regard to the Invalid Bid Retraction made
by "XXXXXXXXX" with this item# XXXXXXXXXXX.
So I should assume that they believe the "Buyer" was in the wrong? Huh!
On the bright side I did sell my frame with the BIN

I don't really see the problem though, on the first bid that goes over the reserve, everyone's going to to see the amount anyway, so if they were going to bid, they would have bid and if they never reached your reserve they wouldn't have expected the item anyway. I mean really at the end of the day all they saw was the minimum you would take for it and they would have seen that any way if they wanted it bad enough or you wouldn't have sold it.

Don't get me wrong, I am not found of selling on eBay but in this instance I don't see anything funny. I've had this discussion with myself many times and I agree with wrok101, start it at your minimum or .99. That reserve/buy it now is just more money for eBay.

For some reason I can't get into my eBay account, and I've received a message from ebay that it's been suspended?

Fake. Every eBay rep is named [insert minimum of 27 characters in no order allowed by the English language] Smith.

Nice robo-response. It reminds me of the canned scripts you get when calling the cable / telco / electric / other company to report a problem. "I'm sorry Mr./Mrs. [ insert customer's name ], I can understand how you feel about [ restate the customer's issue ] and want you to know we're working to resolve the problem." Lame.

I feel for you.
I had someone expose my reserve, then back out. I felt so used.
But I agree, if it is an item you won't let go for more than $X, set that as your starting bid, or random stuff start at .99. Over the long run, I think you get more bidders and close higher when you start at minimum, but with valuable stuff I get a warm fuzzy by starting high. I mostly list "no returns" to limit objections to claims of outright fraud "not as described" on my part.

Don't get me wrong, I am not found of selling on eBay but in this instance I don't see anything funny. I've had this discussion with myself many times and I agree with wrok101, start it at your minimum or .99. That reserve/buy it now is just more money for eBay.

The problem is that after bidding the "buyer" overshot the reserve and then the reserve became the starting point for the auction.It was a ploy only to see the reserve which is wrong. It has been my experience that bidders might and do bid way beyond the reserve price if the auction continued as normal. But when the reserve is met and shown and then the bid is retracted thus resetting the auction, those bidders/watchers may well drop out as active bidders. An unfair action against me the seller I believe.
As far a reserves and auctions I understand the point in no reserve on a very desirable ite as you can be somewhat reassured on getting the items worth. On the other hand a item that is mundane and plentiful needs a reesrve to make sure it does not go too cheap. i don't like much giving my stuff away. And I have no problem paying Ebay a little more to make sure I don't. But it's a opinion not a fact and lots of folks are successful both ways.

the reserve price does seem to get people interested in an auction. I feel for you, that's really obnoxious. I suspect if the person does it regularly, it will be a problem for them. Now that I read ebay's response, it almost looks like they did sanction them somehow.

Ebay should waive their re-listing fee for auctions like this.

I second this whole thing. I avoid ebay as much as possible now, except when I think an item will only sell in the broader market. Recently I had an item sell, and delivery confirmation even said the item was delivered. The buyer filed a claim that they didn't receive it, and paypal gave them their money back even with a scan of my USPS receipt to the proper zip, and confirmation of delivery. f*** ebay & paypal.

Although, on the flip side, I recently sold something else, and shipped it without delivery confirmation. buyer did not receive, and since i neglected to get the confirmation, i erred on the side of "my bad" and just straight up refunded him. he felt bad that i should take hte brunt of it, and he still offered some compensation so i wouldn't be completely out item & money. that was more than i could ever expect.

wrk101 has it right on about no reserve, start it, and have a best-offer option.

ebay unfortunatly is full of crooked buyers and sellers. it is hard for us Honest people to get a good deal there.

I had a similar incident a few weeks ago regarding some Cobalto stones. you know the guy in OH who list a set like every week. anyway i bid like 43.87 or something stupid. when I check my email I the following

you have been outbid

you have a second chance offer

auction ended sorry you didn't win.

the seller claims nothing suspect happened the real buyer just changed his mind but the second chance offer was 2-3 min before the auction ended weird.

I never have reserves. if I want $30 for a set of brakes I start the bid at $28

Didn't we have an ebay thread recently where someone here admitted to using this exact same ploy to find out reserve prices?

Also, reserves are stupid. I never bid on reserve auctions. If you know the minimum price you want to sell it for why not just start the auction at that price instead of trying to trick people?

As much as I cannot stand ebay, unfortunately, they are often the only viable outlet for some of the quirky stuff I have sold over the last several years. I have sold everything from a WWII bolo knife, to a University of Illinois 1896 yearbook, to a variety of designer shoes. Heck, I just sold a thrift store pair of jeans to a guy in Japan for $100. Where else but ebay....

Also, reserves are stupid. I never bid on reserve auctions. If you know the minimum price you want to sell it for why not just start the auction at that price instead of trying to trick people?

Well that's strong!
Auctions across the world both in person and on the internet have been reserve based for like, forever. And for good reason. The fact is people like to dicker and they like to get a valuable item for cheap. BIN and preset visible reserves(high starting amounts) take the fun out of a auction. Most folks have amount in mind they are wanting to pay and hope the can get it cheaper. Sellers know what they need to break even or make money. And the fact is people are just flat curious..and like to see what a reserve is.
I am not tricking anyone with a reserve... I am letting people know I have a amount that is the least I will take for a item. they can bid or not it's their choice. But it seems as if some think I'm the bad guy for not just giving my stuff away... WTF
Like I said ... reserve... no reserve it works both ways.
Everyone is different.

I have entered the wrong bid, by accident, once. Instead of $15.51 US, I entered $155.51 US. It can happen to anyone. And anyone, almost any time, can retract a bid and thank goodness for that. **** does happen and honest intentions can be impacted by unexpected events that sometimes all but demand a change in plans.

Additionally, I would prefer a bid retraction as opposed to a non-payment.