Any Ebay experts here?

[Ian J]

I have been trying to buy a Logitech Harmony remote control on Ebay and three times I have had the winning bid but minutes before the auction is due to end the item has been withdrawn from sale which is very annoying.

All I can think of is that the seller has agreed to accept an offer "off book" and the item has been withdrawn to save having to pay Ebay's fees.

If that is the case it's quite a dangerous game as the buyer loses the protection that Ebay provides against faulty goods etc but if that's not the case can anyone suggest what it is?

I have a bid in on another item which has six days to run and if that is also withdrawn with minutes to go I will be very annoyed

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I have had it on vehicles over the years I think they do it to avoid selling too cheap . So the item is not actually sold

 

[MBE2017]

Is this on auctions? If so it would suggest it did not make the hoped for price.

If on buy it now, then I have no real explanation.

 

[johndon68]

I'd guess that they have it for sale elsewhere at the same time. Given the item, it may have been listed in the Classified section of AVForums for example and may have sold there...

I've done it before with an item listed on eBay and I've been contacted by someone I knew who had seen it listed and wanted to a do a private deal although, it my case, the item had no bids on eBay at the time.

John

 

[Ian J]

Is this on auctions? If so it would suggest it did not make the hoped for price.

Yes it was and i hadn't thought of that

 

[Gordon - Commercial Finance]

This has happened to me before, when bidding on something that wasn't getting a lot of attention, and I thought I was going to get it cheap. It then was withdrawn and I saw it come back up for sale not long after. I called the seller out on it and tried reporting them but nothing happened.

One of the many hazards with that particular racket.

 

[DontAsk]

Yes it was and i hadn't thought of that

Auctions with reserves always used to tell you if the reserve was not met.

 

[kulture]

Auctions with reserves always used to tell you if the reserve was not met.

Indeed, but it costs the seller more to set a reserve. So cheapskates use the withdraw loophole.

 

[Ian J]

Indeed, but it costs the seller more to set a reserve. So cheapskates use the withdraw loophole.

Aah. So that's what it's all about. I've just sold something on Ebay and put a reserve on it

 

[OMGVape]

Unless eBay have changed the rules, auctions can’t be withdrawn when the item has 12 or less hours to run.

 

[Ian J]

Unless eBay have changed the rules, auctions can’t be withdrawn when the item has 12 or less hours to run.

I've just checked the rules and it's true that the items can't be withdrawn under those circumstances

 

[WaveJumper]

Well this my experience of eBay selling, had an item for sale fixed price, excepted and offer last Thursday, conversation then went something like this.

Me, when would you like to arrange pick up and payment
Them, could you deliver
Me, no item was pick up only
Them, cannot pick up for a couple of weeks
Me, could you give me some idea of a date
Them, no be sometime in October
Me, perhaps under the circumstances and a sign of good faith a deposit
Them, no too many scammers on here
Me, yes perhaps your right
Them, Oh I can come and pick up end of October when kids on holiday
Me, fine no problem (Not telling them I am rather annoyed at this point as I have now lost my free listing of item on eBay)

And then tonight (yep you probably guessed where this is going)
Them, could I cancel the transaction as I have now got a full-time job and don’t need it anymore

Big sigh

 

[paulears]

People do not put reserves on because the fees in many sections are ridiculously high, because often there's no sale, and ebay make nothing - so they hit the seller with charges. This forces people to remove listings if they're going to catch a real cold. All I do with the old or broken stock I sell on ebay - is start it at just below what I'd set as a reserve and hope. I've put a couple up today with a starting bid of £40 - the real selling prices are 179 and 239 for the items. Normally I have a margin of between 20 and 30%, so if they go for £40 I'm losing - but at least they're gone and I got something, and I might get a bit more if enough people see them. A private one-off seller won't do this.

 

[Karimbo]

I have had it on vehicles over the years I think they do it to avoid selling too cheap . So the item is not actually sold

which is silly, usually the last minute of the auction where bids come on. in the last minute you could get bids going up up to 2x what it was sitting on all week.