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geekhack Community => Off Topic => Topic started by: noisyturtle on Sun, 18 January 2015, 20:57:11

Title: Great Ebay deals that get canceled?
Post by: noisyturtle on Sun, 18 January 2015, 20:57:11
So this has happened 3 times in the last month to me: i find something that is a great deal on Ebay, AKA something significantly lower in price than other sales of the exact same thing, the seller takes my payment then cancels the order 3 days later saying it was already sold. Is this some sort of thing sellers do or legitimate mistakes they are making? What benefit would a seller get from doing this kind of stuff? It's super annoying.
Title: Re: Great Ebay deals that get canceled?
Post by: jdcarpe on Sun, 18 January 2015, 21:05:56
I've had a guy do that to me for a soldering station I bought. He then listed it at a higher price on CL. Later, he offered it again, with a higher starting bid than my winning bid, on eBay. I left him negative feedback.
Title: Re: Great Ebay deals that get canceled?
Post by: Lain1911 on Sun, 18 January 2015, 21:19:08
I've had this happen, but not with keyboard related things. Yes mutual or negative feedback explaining what happened is good.
Title: Re: Great Ebay deals that get canceled?
Post by: asdfjkl36 on Sun, 18 January 2015, 21:46:32
Yea, just leave them negative feedback or something, and if they try and get you to accept a cancellation to avoid fees, just deny it.
Title: Re: Great Ebay deals that get canceled?
Post by: berserkfan on Mon, 19 January 2015, 07:59:40
I've had a guy do that to me for a soldering station I bought. He then listed it at a higher price on CL. Later, he offered it again, with a higher starting bid than my winning bid, on eBay. I left him negative feedback.


 :thumb: :thumb:
Title: Re: Great Ebay deals that get canceled?
Post by: GL1TCH3D on Mon, 19 January 2015, 08:03:48
I've asked buyers to cancel the transaction on two occassions I believe.
The most recent time when ebay unlisted the item on the worldwide market, leaving it only listed on the canadian ebay site so I only got one bidder.
I called ebay (before the auction even ended) and they told me that they can't fix the problem and that I'd have to ask the buyer to cancel the transaction.
Title: Re: Great Ebay deals that get canceled?
Post by: noisyturtle on Mon, 19 January 2015, 23:08:14
So I just learned that a buyer must ask permission before canceling a sale, otherwise it's a violation of the eBay user agreement. Not really sure where to take it from here since by them canceling w/o my permission I am unable to leave negative feedback. I contacted the seller telling them what they did was illegal, so we'll see what happens next.
Title: Re: Great Ebay deals that get canceled?
Post by: eugenius on Tue, 20 January 2015, 02:31:29
Common sense says you can't force anyone to sell if the price isn't what they want for it... And you shouldn't try to, it makes you a douchebag.
Title: Re: Great Ebay deals that get canceled?
Post by: trizkut on Tue, 20 January 2015, 02:42:00
Common sense says you can't force anyone to sell if the price isn't what they want for it... And you shouldn't try to, it makes you a douchebag.

Isn't that what reserve prices are for?
Title: Re: Great Ebay deals that get canceled?
Post by: noisyturtle on Tue, 20 January 2015, 02:58:10
Common sense says you can't force anyone to sell if the price isn't what they want for it... And you shouldn't try to, it makes you a douchebag.

In this case it was a buy it now price.
Title: Re: Great Ebay deals that get canceled?
Post by: eugenius on Tue, 20 January 2015, 04:03:36
Even so,  people have the right to their stuff.  They can change their mind,  maybe now their little girl needs the item for her fluffy kitten. :) Or not, it doesn't matter, it's theirs.

You do have the right to leave whatever feedback you want ... but negative feedback brings negative feedback.
Title: Re: Great Ebay deals that get canceled?
Post by: fanpeople on Tue, 20 January 2015, 05:04:08
I just sold a bunch of bits out of my computer and a graphics card I had sitting around. I researched the parts and established that they should sell for an average price of what they had previously sold. I was right in 3 of the four auctions. My GTX 550ti, I estimated $40-$50 sold for $20 really disappointing but I chose to put all the items starting at $0.01. I would have rather kept it for that amount, but in all seriousness I would probably never use it so at least someone got a nice little card for their HTPC or whatever they intend to do with it.

Point is I would never cancel the sale just because I didn't get the price I wanted, I chose to list it for that price so I would always honour the auction.

I have asked a seller to cancel a transaction once and she/he was really good about it, the reason being that postage was way too much for the size of the item and I stuffed it (must have been looking at one listing and then gone to that and got postage mixed up).
Title: Re: Great Ebay deals that get canceled?
Post by: fohat.digs on Tue, 20 January 2015, 08:01:10
Common sense says you can't force anyone to sell if the price isn't what they want for it... And you shouldn't try to, it makes you a douchebag.

You are ****ing kidding, right?

A deal is a deal.

I have expended thousands of words here exploring every aspect of ebay, more of it negative than positive, and much of it revolving around the fact that sellers need to be careful and mindful of exactly what they are doing, and the consequences, all the time.

A seller who reneges on a legitimate sale is a ****ing *******, just as a buyer who reneges on a legitimate sale is an equally large *******.

If you don't want to sell your item for less than $20 but start it at $0.99, then you are an idiot.
Title: Re: Great Ebay deals that get canceled?
Post by: eugenius on Tue, 20 January 2015, 08:02:45
A deal is a deal only when both parties agree,  without that it's something else.
Title: Re: Great Ebay deals that get canceled?
Post by: jdcarpe on Tue, 20 January 2015, 08:06:40
A deal is a deal only when both parties agree,  without that it's something else.

And when you list something for sale or auction, you agree to the terms of the deal. No backing out later, just because you don't like the price it sold for. If you won't accept less than a certain amount for something, that should be the starting bid, not the (stupidly) recommended by eBay $0.99.
Title: Re: Great Ebay deals that get canceled?
Post by: eugenius on Tue, 20 January 2015, 08:10:32
The agreement is done when the money changes hands and both parties are satisfied. You can't agree without a price,  not if you care at all about the item you're selling.

That's why I'll never sell on ebay and when I buy something I don't b!tch if the seller doesn't want to make the deal. :)