More eBay fun...
 

I'm looking for a little help here regarding an EBay purchase. I just opened my computer to find that a seller had accepted my "Best Offer" price for a bike he's been trying to sell for the past month on the Bay. It has been listed at least three times during that period; his price has bounced around quite a bit - fluctuating between $600 and $1950 for the bike. We've communicated about the bike, it's value and the possibility of pickup during several of these auctions while he kept moving the price up and down. Short story long; he accepted my offer of $500 less than 24 hours ago and when I arrive home from work today to send him funds I find that he's trying to cancel the transaction because buyer is "unresponsive". I'm trying to get in touch with the seller to work this out; it's a nice bike and all, but it's not the end of the world if this doesn't work out... I'm a bit nervous about sending Paypal funds at this point to someone who seems like they may not deliver... Advice or opinions? Thanks in advance!

price swings
 

dicey! those price swings don't look good.. and the "unresponsive buyer" appears to be a ploy to get you to pay up faster... i wouldn't part with my cash.. but it's up to you

Their are a million bicycles out there.... I'd walk away.

Buyer Protection will in fact protect you. In my experience, a seller tried to rip me off. I kept my cool, contacted PayPal, provided plenty of communication to support my claim and I got my money back in 12 hours.

It sounds like he is trying to pull out of the sale and is being a (insert appendage here) about it.

Ebay/PayPal is focused on protecting buyers and I think however this plays out, you wont lose.

Your description sounds like he's a dangerous flake. What's his feedback rating? How long a seller?

It's funny, I'm not unwilling to pay for the bike and was just sitting down to do so when I saw the cancellation notice. I'm wondering if he got a better offer or just decided that he had let it go too cheap? Shipping was listed at $80, so I'm wondering if he realized it might cost him a bit more than he anticipated there also. I'd like the bike, and apparently I can hold him to the sale, but don't want to have my money tied up in some sort of EBay/Paypal dispute with the seller... Anybody have any experience with this sort of thing?

Open a dispute with Ebay, don't send money until the issue is resolved. It appears the seller has seller's remorse and is trying to either circumvent the sale by establishing a no payment with the attempt to cancel the sale.

Caveman - his seller rating is high; 98.6% over 130 plus transactions...

^This. That percentage is fine if the seller is in the thousands or 10's of thousands in sales, IMO. I look at the details carefully before I pull the trigger.

My error - his rating is 98.9% positive, 72 transactions as a seller.

where is he located? has it also been listed on cl? was it to be shipped or picked up?

If you do not pay by a certain time he can open a case against you as a non paying buyer to get his fees back. If this happens it goes as a mark against you. You can accept his cancellation offer with no mark against you or you can force his hand buy paying for the bike. What did the notice say?

Edit. He opened the case against you. I just noticed what you wrote. You will have a mark against you if you do not buy the bike. To many of them and you can get kicked off ebay.

The seller is in Portland. I don't think it was lkisted on CL as well as EBay. No mention in his ad about "local sale". Shipping was to be $80 with a free local pickup option. If the seller is having second thoughts about the deal he agreed to, I'd prefer that he just talk to me about it rather than suggesting that somehow I'm being "unresponsive" and a "lost cause" in his written reasons for trying to back out of things. That bothers me... I get it that Paypal and Ebay almost universally side with the buyer in these situations, but I'm just not eager to have money tied up or deal with a difficult, mercurial seller. Lastly, I don't want to risk a ding on my EBay feedback for having an "Unpaid Sale" show up somehow... What a PITA!

Steve - the cancellation notice did say that I could back out or continue the sale. I know I have options here; just not sure which way would be best to go given the circumstances... Thanks for the help!

Notice my edit above. He opened the case against you. You can not open a case against him now. If you do not buy the bike it goes as a mark against you. To many of those and you can get kicked off ebay. You still have buyer protection through Paypal if you go through with the purchase at the agreed upon price. If he backs out he gets a bad bad mark. Ebay is very hard on sellers. Buyers get away with murder.

For what its worth I have over 5000 feedback as a seller on ebay with 100 Percent positive feedback and am a top ratted seller. To achieve that I have to kiss a few of rear ends from time to time. I know I am being scammed but I suck it up. For sellers if your marks go to low, ebay restricts your sales and can hold funds from purchases until the buyer receives the item and has had 14 days to decide if they want to keep the item. You will win 99 percent of the time on any dispute as a buyer.

First response from the seller after the cancellation notice: "No hablo Ingles". This just gets weirder and weirder; he and I communicated several times about the bike during his previous auctions and his "Inglis" seemed perfectly fine then! The "walk away" chorus is getting louder in my ears!:(

Respond to the case saying exactly that if you decide to walk away. Ebay reads messages. You can walk away with only a slap on the wrist and a learning curve. No big deal unless you make it a habit. Do not buy from someone under 99.5 % positive.

Lastly, I don't want to risk a ding on my EBay feedback for having an "Unpaid Sale" show up somehow... What a PITA![/QUOTE]

Sellers can not say anything negative in feedback to buyers and we can`t leave negative feedback at all. If he say`s anything negative you can have it removed. Ebay is so pro buyer. Nothing will show to other sellers if you walk away. show a pattern to ebay, you will be caught as a scam-er.

I've always been extremely responsive as both a buyer and seller on EBay over the past 10 years. My feedback rating is 100%. I understand sellers remorse if that's what is happening here, i just am not enjoying the weird tactics of the seller. I'd like the bike, just not wild about sending $580 off to someone acting so oddly about this transaction. Claiming to suddenly not speak English when the ad and all of our previous interactions have been in English? That's really reaching!

Have you walked away, yet?

This.

If you pay for the bike, the seller has to complete the transaction, including proof of delivery.

Agree about walking away, but if you pay, you'll be able to shift the blame to the seller (rightfully) and be able to leave neg feedback. Either you'll get the bike for the agreed price or you'll get your money back.

I think it is time to pay for the bike and shipping. I would not be surprised if the bike suddenly is no longer available shortly thereafter though, lost, stolen, disappeared, I have experienced that.

^^^^^^^^^^
yeah, there no way in hell is the OP going get the bike, but at least you get to put the seller's head in a vise.

I cancelled the transaction today after finding out that he had re-listed the bike. I could have paid for it and theoretically forced him to send the bike, but who needs that bad karma? I've wasted enough time with this already... I've had plenty of long distance transactions with people I don't know, and never had anything remotely this crazy unfold. Thank you all for weighing in on this!