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Post by divasahm on Apr 14, 2009 23:23:11 GMT -4
Has anyone ever been involved in an Ebay auction that was ended early by the seller because the bidding went too high?
I was bidding on eight skeins of acrylic yarn in a discontinued color that is very popular. I decided that ten dollars/skein was my limit and I know that someone from my church would be willing to split the cost and the yarn with me. So--I bid $80.00 max, which knocked the bidding up to $22.60. Then I forgot about it.
I just got a message from the seller saying that she had stopped the auction early because the bidding was ridiculously high and she was sure that my bid was a typo. I don't know how high it got or if it even got up to my limit. I just know that the seller is a nice lady who is purging her stash so she and her husband can sell their home and retire to their RV. She obviously has no idea how high the bidding can go for some of the discontinued colors of this type of yarn.
I responded to her message telling her that no, my bid was not a typo, but I very much appreciated her concern. I also told her how crazy some people get over the discontinued colors and she might want to do some research on how much she might expect to get for some of her other yarns. She may end up with a lot more money than she expected! Have any of you had an experience like this?
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 6, 2024 15:23:51 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2009 23:40:01 GMT -4
Has anyone ever been involved in an Ebay auction that was ended early by the seller because the bidding went too high? I was bidding on eight skeins of acrylic yarn in a discontinued color that is very popular. I decided that ten dollars/skein was my limit and I know that someone from my church would be willing to split the cost and the yarn with me. So--I bid $80.00 max, which knocked the bidding up to $22.60. Then I forgot about it. I just got a message from the seller saying that she had stopped the auction early because the bidding was ridiculously high and she was sure that my bid was a typo. I don't know how high it got or if it even got up to my limit. I just know that the seller is a nice lady who is purging her stash so she and her husband can sell their home and retire to their RV. She obviously has no idea how high the bidding can go for some of the discontinued colors of this type of yarn. I responded to her message telling her that no, my bid was not a typo, but I very much appreciated her concern. I also told her how crazy some people get over the discontinued colors and she might want to do some research on how much she might expect to get for some of her other yarns. She may end up with a lot more money than she expected! Have any of you had an experience like this? No - all I ever hear about is the whining about $300 Wollmeise. (Wollmeise is a German indie dyer who's the flavor of the month at the moment, making it extremely difficult to get a hold of - unless you're a friend of mine, who seems to be able to get it at will. Retail is somewhere between $25-$35.) Eighty bucks for acrylic seems high to me, but I'm a fiber snob and generally not in search of the elusive discontinueds. (Says the woman who needs to put away the $35 skein of sock yarn away until she's ready to actually knit the geektastic socks.)
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Post by divasahm on Apr 14, 2009 23:48:35 GMT -4
Well, it's the only kind our church group uses for prayer shawls and lapghans, and it's not nearly as offensive as other acrylics I've had the misfortune to come into contact with. It's remarkably soft and washes and wears well, which are all major considerations in this particular endeavour. But when there's a particularly nice color, we tend to clamor for it because a lot of the colors are muddy, dark, or just plain unattractive. I can also deduct the price of the yarn on my tax return as donation to the church, so there's that. I just got a reply back from the seller--very nice lady! She apologized for her ignorance and relisted the yarn, and she said she'll be Googling tomorrow to see what she has that's discontinued. She also thanked me and wished me luck if I decided to rebid. I think I will, just because she seems so nice--and she may have some more of the good colors in her stash... (and I love that sock yarn and pattern--one of these days I want to try cobweb lace knitting and socks!)
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alpierce
Blueblood
Posts: 1,125
Mar 7, 2005 13:40:30 GMT -4
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Post by alpierce on Apr 15, 2009 12:45:32 GMT -4
more of an Ebay peeve than a question. I won an auction the Saturday before last, paid immediately, expected the item to be delivered sometime last week. Well, this morning I get the USPS confirmation of shipment email, so they haven't even sent it yet. I checked on the seller's feedback and I see someone who won an auction from them on the same day in the same hour already received their item and left feedback for it. WTF! I emailed the seller to ask about this and they responded that they live in a remote area and only get to the post office once a week. That doesn't explain why someone else who won at the same time got there stuff already. Not only that, if a seller is an infrequent shipper I really think they should note that in their auction description. I believe when payment is processed by the seller, shipment is automatically set up and confirmed with the preferred shipper. This doesn't mean it will be shipped out that day, just that a shipping label was printed. My own peeve with ebay is how easy they make it for a seller to artificially inflate the price by either themselves or someone they know logging in and bidding 100 dollars or more over what the item's current bid is. I don't use ebay much but now ebay even protect's the identities of everyone so even if you want to complain, it's that much harder to prove.
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Post by LAX on Apr 15, 2009 14:24:26 GMT -4
Ebay has some kind of system to flag shill bidders. I was once in a situation where I had to prove I wasn't part of a shill bidding ring with two other Ebay members. Just by coincidence I bid on stuff from two unrelated sellers, and they happened to bid on stuff I was selling. None of us won the auctions we bid on, but the consequences of our bids was our final selling prices went up significantly. Even though none of us were related in any way, and it was just coincidence we bid on each others auctions, something somewhere set off a red flag that we might be shilling each others auctions. Our accounts were suspended and we had to document our addresses and IDs to prove we weren't somehow related. It is possible someone may have reported us, since this was back when buyer IDs were visible, but I doubt it because the items we bid on were incredibly unrelated and it would have to be a really sharp eyed person who coincidently was watching the same baby footwear/wedding dress/maple syrup/exercise DVD/art poster auctions the three of us were bidding/selling on
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alpierce
Blueblood
Posts: 1,125
Mar 7, 2005 13:40:30 GMT -4
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Post by alpierce on Apr 15, 2009 15:06:21 GMT -4
Whatever 'system' ebay has in place, it doesn't work. I bought a laptop on ebay and was part of a few auctions that I did not win and they all had one common thread; One so-called 'buyer' would bid $60 to $100 over the current bid. I can't imagine any buyer wanting to purposely up the price of anything they bid on. You bid for things on ebay because you can generally get a better price then buying it elsewhere. Also, Protecting identities isn't about protecting the buyer, it's about protecting ebay's bottom line. If indeed there is a system in place it doesn't work very well. I doubt if there is any system in place at all.
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Post by bklynred on Apr 23, 2009 23:25:02 GMT -4
divasahm, I'm glad the seller heard you out! Sounds like she just wasn't familiar with what she had. I guess it's kind of endearing that she didn't want anyone to dig themselves into a hole over her materials. (she must be a riot to gamble with). Good luck with the new auction! ETA: alpierce, one thing I've noticed from lurking on computer boards is that there are a lot of people out there who are looking for any kind of deal and have the kind of discretionary income to bump you out of an auction--just to make sure they can get the item. Then they tweak it or do some quick upgrades, and sell it for a profit. It sucks but I'm not sure how to get around it.
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Post by bitca on Apr 30, 2009 10:15:34 GMT -4
It seems like I'm going to get screwed on something I bid for. I bid on two things, the exact same day (shoes) from two different sellers. I got a package three days ago from the one seller (basically three days after I paid for it!) which was awesome. The other seller printed up a label three days ago and it still hasn't been "picked up" by USPS. These are BABY shoes and are small enough to fit into the post box that sits at the end of your damned driveway (even in the package!). Ergh.
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Post by ladyboy on Apr 30, 2009 17:36:37 GMT -4
Maybe not - I've been that seller who prints the label and doesn't get it in the mail for days on end. No real reason - sometimes carrier pickup screws me, sometimes I'm lazy/forgetful, sometimes I don't have the box around. So don't panic just yet - you could just have a crappy seller like me!
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Post by bitca on May 2, 2009 11:55:17 GMT -4
Thanks, ladyboy. I even emailed the seller two days ago and heard nothing. I don't expect the merchandise to fly through my window right after the auction's complete, but it's been ten days now and it's not even in the mail? Weird. I guess I'm just anxiety ridden because I always try to get my stuff in the mail ASAP. haha.
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