Is a bidder allowed to just cancel a bid?

[lorraineash2012]

Wonder if somebody can help me.

Somebody placed a bid on one of my items about a week ago. They were the only bidder. Now with 22 hours to run, they've retracted/cancelled their bid. I've had no reason given, eBay are telling me to do the following:

"A previously entered bid on your item (***********) has been retracted or cancelled. You can view the retraction/cancellation and the reason provided by selecting the (bid history) link from the individual item page. As a result of this retraction/cancellation, there is a possibility that the highest bid amount and the current highest bidder have changed. You can always view the current status of any item by going to the individual item page. (Be sure to refresh or reload the page to view the most up to date information.)"

I have searched and cannot find any link to 'bid history' on the item page. So I cannot check to see any reason for the cancellation. Any ideas where it is?

Is the bidder allowed to do this? I was under the impression that I had to agree to it first.

Many thanks,

Mark

[**peaseblossom**]

Click on where it says number of bids on the actual listing and it should have details of retraction on the next page.   Buyers are only supposed to retract for certain reasons but in reality there is nothing stopping them cancelling for any reason and fibbing about it.

[tressygirl · Accepted solution]

Can a bidder retract a bid?  Yes,  they can.  The 'valid' reasons for retractions are few for example one can retract for an error in bidding and enter the correct amount, but few do.

I believe the reasons for a seller to check click on the bid number scroll down to the bottom of that page and it will show you the reason, but I believe that has been removed?  Even so, the reasons as said are few , truly not worth worrying about them.

To be honest, although I agree annoying and frustrating when this happens in the long run it's the best outcome.  Otherwise,  you could end up with a non payer,  and a 4 day wait to cancel and relist.

@lorraineash2012 

[dancewithadingo]

Good Afternoon Lorraine

Yes.

[lorraineash2012]

Thanks for your reply.

Yes I've found it now. Had to enter the seller hub to do so. The reason the bidder gave was 'Entered wrong amount'. Which does happen, but it's a bit annoying for them to have placed the bid a week ago, then decide to cancel just before the auction is due to close. 

As you say though, I may have avoided a potential non-payer. It's not a massive amount to I'll live with it.

Much appreciated,

Mark

[lorraineash2012]

Much thanks. Yep. As I mentioned in my reply above, I've found it now (through trial and error). First time that's happened to me. Still annoying though as the bidder left it a week or so before deciding to cancel.

As I said, it wasn't a massive amount, so I'll put it down to experience and wait for another buyer.

Cheers,

Mark

[lorraineash2012]

Had a feeling that might be the case. You live an learn.

Thanks for your reply and help.

Mark

[arkwebus]

If they enter the "wrong amount" eBay requires that they simply cancel and then enter the correct amount! 

I do not think that eBay takes any action though!  As @tressygirl says although it is annoying it may be a sensible outcome  @lorraineash2012 

[lorraineash2012]

Thanks for your help.

That was the thing. They decided over a week later that they'd entered the wrong amount and just before the auction ended. They were the only bidder so would likely have won that auction. Had it been a large bid on another item, I wouldn't have been happy, but that's life.

eBay ought to be a little bit more forceful on this sort of thing though, as once a person has bidded, they have (technically) entered into a contract with the seller. Or at least there ought to be a cancellation window available. I believe it doesn't happen like that in auction houses. If you place a bid and win, you are legally obligated to pay.

Cheers,

Mark

[johnwash1]

I wouldn't be sour at all if this happened to me.  An auction with a bid is likely to tickle someone else into thinking "Oh, this must be a bargain worth looking at!".  So much better than when I have auctions with tumbleweed blowing past them, as is mostly the case.

[jckl1957]

I always add anybody who cancels a bid to my 'blocked buyers' list.

At least they can't come back and do it to you again.

[vinylscot]

eBay does not require a bidder to enter a "correct" amount, if they cancel a bid using the "wrong amount" reason. They suggest that the bidder should, but do nothing to direct them to do so.

[lorraineash2012]

No, I'm not annoyed about it. It happens. As I said, had it been a large amount, I'd have been a bit miffed. It's just a bit much that the bidder left it a week to decide that they'd bid too much, and cancelled just before close of bidding.

What eBay should do is to set up a 'cancellation window' to a maximum of say 24 hours. Of course, it still wouldn't deter a small section of bad payers or time wasters, but after that period if someone wants to cancel a bid, it would need to be okayed with the seller. If permission was not given and the buyer just didn't pay then they would risk having their account suspended or at least be black marked. That might give sellers some sort of protection.

I've had the opposite happen to me in the past. I won an auction, then the seller decided he didn't want to part with the item after all and cancelled the sale. My opinion of that (and I made this clear), was why put the item on eBay in the first place then?

I think I'm going to have a fair bit of "tumbleweed" blowing past this lot as they aren't items that are actually in demand, but I'll shift them at some point. I've got a lot of items in the pending that will be better sellers though, so I'll live with it and let it run.

All the best and thanks,

Mark

[jckl1957]

The policy says they do require this:

What is the policy?

Allowed

It's only OK to retract a bid if:

• You accidentally enter the wrong amount, like entering £99.50 instead of £9.95. If you do, you need to enter the correct bid right away

[lorraineash2012]

I might just do that, but out of interest, I'm going to let it run until it expires, just to see if the bidder then comes back and puts the lowest bid amount in. Looking at it this way, if they do (probably won't), I've still made a sale, albeit for less. 

If they don't and they show up again on any of my other auctions, then I probably will block them because as you say, they've done it once, they'll do it again.

[johnwash1]

@lorraineash2012 

Anything that locked a bidder into an auction would be very undesirable.  You'd end up with a return, you'd be out of pocket for one or possibly two lots of postage.

I often list items that are rare.  Unfortunately that doesn't mean desirable!  And so despite trying to research, I often can't find an appropriate price for them.  So my strategy is to put them on auction with a low start, one that I'm willing to honour even with a single bid.  I relist a time or two, then if still no joy, list as BIN.  And as the months roll by, slowly reduce the price.

[lorraineash2012]

That is another thing. eBay don't. They need to look after sellers and buyers equally. I mentioned this to another member that eBay ought to have a 24 hour 'cancellation window' which would give a buyer enough time to cancel and not eat into a sellers auction duration time. A buyer cancelling at the last minute saying "I entered the wrong amount" after leaving it for a week before doing so, is as bad as a seller cancelling an auction last minute just as somebody has placed a winning bid.

[jckl1957]

I had a 'buyer' once who repeatedly bid and cancelled.

Then, came back a day or two later and bid on another item!

I cancelled that bid and blocked them.

[lorraineash2012]

That's the problem. They didn't enter the correct amount at the time. They just cancelled. That said, I've just checked and I've picked up another watcher on that item. I'm now wondering if it is the aforementioned bidder who is going wait and come in last minute and put a lower bid on. We'll see.

[lorraineash2012]

Now I do admit that would really grate my gears! People like that are the reason the block button was invented.

I had one buyer a year or so back who made me a £7 offer on an item that was worth £25, and I was selling for £16. Then he had the audacity to tell me how I should accept his offer, give him free postage(!) and how grateful I should be to him that he was making me an offer. My retort to him was along the lines of, "And if I sell you this item for £7, I guarantee that it'll be worth more than £25 when you put it up for sale". Then I blocked him. 

Needless to say I sold it for the correct price a few weeks later to a very happy customer.

You have to laugh at these people.