Ebay - Overbidding - What To Do?

[cgallery]

The only reason the retailers did this is because the consumer in their round about way demanded this kind of service. Anyone that thinks otherwise is delussional and naieve.

Wayne

Chicken and the egg. Most new retail practices are initiated by a single retailer and matched by others to remain competitive.

[paintandbodtman]

Chicken and the egg. Most new retail practices are initiated by a single retailer and matched by others to remain competitive.

Agreeable, you can call it competition or survival but the bottom line is the consumers buying practices have been so adamant in demanding these policies or they wouldn't exist. Several posts made reference to Ebay and paypal not caring as long as it did'nt take dollars away from them personally unfortinatly the consumer takes it one step further and wants these policies as long as it does'nt impact them personaly ,IE "double standard".

wayne

[paintandbodtman]

Chicken and the egg. Most new retail practices are initiated by a single retailer and matched by others to remain competitive.

When you enter the public arena as a seller on ebay especially as often as lots of people do now days then essentially you should come under the same critical standard as most other retailers which is why I try to buy local as much as possible. Ebay IMHO has took the same twist as yard sales too many people trying to eek out a supplemental income without paying their dues and for those of you wondering no I don't consider myself neither cynical nor pessimistic but rather a realist.

wayne

[Stytooner]

Retailers retail. Auctioneers auction. Two completely different concepts. There is some haggling and price matching sometimes between retailers, but for the most part, the price listed is the sale price.
Ebay has the same setup as retail, but thats the "Buy it now" option totally determined buy the seller. When an auction is in play, all the risk is on the seller. Since he takes the risk of making less than retail, he should also keep any overage caused from a bidding battle.
Ebay's policies are fairly clear. Most are geared in favor of Ebay and the buyer.

This particular buyer is at fault. She is the one that needs to seek professional help and guess what. They cost a lot more than she lost in this lessen.
I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. You have little control over her opinion anyway. Just be as accomodating and cordial as you would like to have done in a reverse situation.

Once I accidentally moved a decimal point two spaces too far. Instead of bidding $50.00, I bid $5000. I didn't realize it until the next morning. I contacted the seller, but heard nothing back. He let the bid stand. He had several of these exact same items for buy it now for like $79.00. Anyway, some idiot bid the price up to $155.00 just because he wanted to win it. He didn't get it for that price. Just before the auction closed, the seller removed my bid and this idiot got this for like $55.00. I did buy another from him at the Buy it now price. I did learn my lessen, but I don't think this idiot did. Nice of the seller to let it work like it did.
I double check the decimal points and bids very closely now.

[ChrisB]

I was an eBay power seller for years, and I can tell you with all clear conscience... SHIP IT!!!!!. You have absolutely no obligation, either legally or morally to refund her any money. It is an auction just like any other. You bid to win. I do live auctions also, and there is ALWAYS someone that pays more than retail for something..... ALWAYS. Last week I attended one where a man paid $3000 for a BROKEN $1700 lawn mower. It happens every day. She is responsible for paying too much, not you. Even if you had set the price at $250.... you didn't make her bid. Enjoy the extra cash... if you feel bad about it, and you really shouldn't, pass it on. Drop a little extra in the Salvation Army bucket, or Go buy a few toys for kids that wont have anything for Christmas.

[Mrs. Wallnut]

I am with the others on this...SHIP IT...if I was in that womans place I would just mark it up to being dumb to bid on something if you could buy it for less. It was HER fault and not yours that she paid that amount. IMO.

[eddy merckx]

You can tell from some seller's auctions that they've been burned lots of times. My favorite is a big disclaimer right below the photo that says "If you are not 100 percent sure you want this item for this price, don't bid on it!".

There are lots of people who don't want to claim responsibility for their action. I'm not sure you're helping them if you give in.

[JSCOOK]

I'd be more inclined to this, then give her money back ... Nice thinking ChrisB!

... if you feel bad about it, and you really shouldn't, pass it on. Drop a little extra in the Salvation Army bucket, or Go buy a few toys for kids that wont have anything for Christmas.

[paintandbodtman]

[QUOTE=Stytooner;224239]Retailers retail. Auctioneers auction. Two completely different concepts. There is some haggling and price matching sometimes between retailers, but for the most part, the price listed is the sale price.

There is a difference in price matching and haggling over the price before and during the sale of an item and expecting a refund or return after the fact because you saw it cheaper then your purchase price. I totally agree she should have to pay but you same people expect the above after the purchase and it's the same mentality, just because its retail don't make you any less responsible for your business decisions then her and thats what this conversation is about which I find so interesting and double standard.

[BigguyZ]

I totally agree that the buyer messed up and overpaid. However, you didn't set the price. You didn't misrepresent the item. She just used poor judgement. I've done the same thing when I used the Make an Offer feature. I ended up buying a book for more than I bought that same book packaged with another! However, I knew it was MY error and I ate the cost...

As an aside, that's one reason I don't really like Ebay anymore. It seems like half the stuff is either junk, or ends up selling only marginally less expensive than a brand new/ Brick and Mortar store purchase- if it isn't more$$. Also there's the issue about fraud, broken items, and people who ARE misrepresenting an item. Craig'sList is the same thing. Some of the items on sale there are riduculous. I've gotten some really good buys, but I've also seen some ads that were just stupidly priced. However, CL isn't as bad yet as Ebay is now!

[RagerXS]

I'm in a similar situation...

We sold our timeshare and the buyer has now refused to pay, but offered to buy for a lower price. From what I can tell, I have absolutely no recourse other than to leave negative feedback and re-list the item. Am I correct in this assumption?

~ Fred

[LCHIEN]

We sold our timeshare and the buyer has now refused to pay, but offered to buy for a lower price. From what I can tell, I have absolutely no recourse other than to leave negative feedback and re-list the item. Am I correct in this assumption?

~ Fred

I think you also inform eBay about the non-paying bidder. Then
1) you don't have to pay the fees and
2) its a black mark against the bad bidder, I think eventually they'll revoke his ID when he gets too many of them (not that it will prevent them from getting another ID).

[Jeffrey Schronce]

I think you also inform eBay about the non-paying bidder. Then
1) you don't have to pay the fees and
2) its a black mark against the bad bidder, I think eventually they'll revoke his ID when he gets too many of them (not that it will prevent them from getting another ID).

You will get the final fee back, not the insertion fee.
Bad bidder is marked.
You can try contacting others who bid below the final price if you are interested in that price. In fact ebay has a Second Chance offer for this.

[JTimmons]

The only reason the retailers did this is because the consumer in their round about way demanded this kind of service. Anyone that thinks otherwise is delussional and naieve.

Wayne

For someone not meaning to be offensive you sure are jumping out there using words like delusional and naive.

So let me see if I understand this, consumers demanded this practice. It wasn't anything to do with retailers vow to not be undersold, a way for them to make a gain over the competition and increase revenue?

What some fail to understand is the price matching marketing tactic wasn't put into place for consumers that do their homework before purchases, it was put into place for the people that want that warm fuzzy feeling of a store telling them their prices are the lowest. The consumers found on this forum are generally the ones that do their homework prior to making purchases. Big box stores aren't concerned with these consumers, biting the bullet on one sale of lets say a tablesaw and beating a comeptitiors price is no big deal when you got 5 consumers right around the corner willing to pay for it at the listed price because they got the warm fuzzy feeling. It's a marketing tactic plain and simple one created by the retailers to gain the customer base of their competitor.
It works out great for the BT3'ers we do our homework and walk out with a deal, not so great for those poor sobs that get caught in the marketing tactic, feeling warm and fuzzy.

Sams Club is a great place for this type of warm and fuzzy feeling "by it in bulk and save" it's put there to attract the people who don't do their homework. Make them pay for their membership and you got'em thinking they are part of this secret club of great deals.

[maxparot]

Sams Club is a great place for this type of warm and fuzzy feeling "by it in bulk and save" it's put there to attract the people who don't do their homework. Make them pay for their membership and you got'em thinking they are part of this secret club of great deals.

Some of these clubs are worse than others.
I find Sams to be the worst the quantities you must buy are way too large and the selection of product isn't the greatest.

A bit better is Costco. The bulk quantities are a bit more realistic for a household and selection of products varies a bit from time to time.

When I lived in NY I had a membership at BJ's Wholesale Club they are IMHO the best of these clubs. They will take coupons and with bulk packs 1 coupon for every box/bottle in the multipack. Selection is fair and also varies from time to time.