Am I wrong?

[weeza-72]

I have no idea how this community thing works, so apologies if I'm posting this in the wrong place.

I recently bid on a pair of shoes. My bid went in at about 15 seconds before the end of the auction, & there were only 2 other bids - both for considerably less than I was offering.

Immediately after my bid registered I was outbid by 50p. I was disappointed but felt this was fair enough.

Minutes later the seller relisted the shoes for a higher price on Buy it Now. I assume that they had somehow placed the final bid themselves, or got someone else to do this on their behalf.

Whilst it's not the end of the world, & we're not even talking about a lot of money, I just feel that this really wasn't fair of the seller. I don't know if it goes against any rules, but it's left me feeling a bit cheated.

[weeza-72]

I should have added that I messaged the seller a couple of days ago asking them to explain their actions. I've not had a response as yet.

[roger_roger_over_and_nowt]

It makes no difference what price the item was at when you bid as everything can change in the last few seconds.

I usually bid my MAX bid in the last 6 seconds win or lose.

Bid once ,bid late ,bid your max.

If you get outbid then the winner was prepared to pay more than your MAX.

But the "winner" may also be the seller using another i.d. or friend to "shill" so look out for the relist !.

[purveyor_of_tat]

You weren't cheated in any way. You didn't win the auction, someone else did.

It was the highest bidder who was cheated and they can report the seller to eBay for their non-performance.

You were just unlucky to not have bid a high enough amount to win.

[bidicus*maximus]

On rare occassions someone who has placed the winning bid will contact the seller before the auction ends and ask to have their bid cancelled.  The seller may not see the message in time to cancel the bid, but they may still cancel the sale, "at buyers request" after it is all over.  They are then free to relist the item.

If you suspect "funny business" you can call eBay customer service and ask them to look in to the matter.  

[seashell2314]

Hi 🙂

It could be an automatic bid, it happens, no worries.

You will find a better pair of shoes.

[magpiecorner1]

A bid can't be retracted or cancelled in the 24 hours before the end of the auction.  So someone could make a decent bid (obviously the last bid was higher than yours, but it will only register as a high bid once you have bid) and then inform the seller that they want to, but cannot, retract the bid.  The seller would merely relist, though now with the information that the item - had it sold - would not have made the sum the seller had hoped for. 

Or simply put on buy it now while waiting for the next 80% off offer to come along again.

Or the buyer might have asked the seller to cancel for a change of mind.  Always better to cancel than to have a return.

Or she could have just had someone bid it up.

You will never know, because the seller is not obliged to explain anything to anyone.

But another one will come along - and might even be cheaper!