Can Ebay auction, no BUT IT NOW option, be withdrawn before end without notice?

Tao81

Hi,
I was looking to make a bid on ebay for an item that said auction ends 23rd March 15.12hrs, sadly there was no 'Buy It Now' option. Therefore, naturally assumed I was forced to wait and see if I could win the item (dates as stated within it) tomorrow.

As the item was regarding renting a holiday let I had a question to ask seller regarding availability of dates around the items stated days before I placed a bid. As item said auction not finishing until tomorrow and there was no buy it now option for me to secure the dates as stated I assumed that I had the time to ask my question wait for the reply and then bid before end of auction tomorrow........ hopefully being the winning bidder ..........................

The guy replied to my question that the weekends either side were booked and so, I thought to myself fair do's, fancy going anyway will find alternative accom for the weekend I'll go bid now.
However, when I clicked the item (same item number as previously), I noticed the dates and price of the item had changed entirely??????? Which meant it was a completely different item being offered in effect?!!!! :eek:

I emailed him to query this and he's just simply said that the accommodation is advertised on other sites and is now booked up for the dates I was interested in!!.....Is this sort of behaviour allowed on ebay (not particularly savvy regarding small print of ebay rules you see?!), it just feels a bit out of order and a tad misleading to unsuspecting people like me who lose out because something suddenly dissapears without a whisper?!!!!! or am I expecting too much that it remain up until the end, as ya average auction does?!!
There was no warning within the blurb of the items description to say that it could potentially disappear before the stated end of auction date and time?? Confused and a little miffed!

Pikeyp

Yes , apparently any seller can cancel any auction at any time! .. even if it's got bids on it!

This has just happened to me strangely enough!

It was an auction for a 12 inch single my nephew was after , which I was winning at .99p +£3.85 p+p , when it suddenly disappeared with minutes to go ..

I didn't even know sellers could do this sort of thing .. it goes against the whole 'spirit' of the thing if you ask me ..

lindos90

I thought a listing could not be cancelled in the last 12 hours, thus avoiding lots of listings being pulled at the last minute by sellers if the biddings were low?

Although its a different ebay issue, this thread does say something about the 12 hour rule, so dont know why your listing dissapeared so close to the end...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2238213&highlight=want+to+end+an+auction

Pikeyp

lindos90 wrote: »

I thought a listing could not be cancelled in the last 12 hours, thus avoiding lots of listings being pulled at the last minute by sellers if the biddings were low?

I think that rule is for buyers retracting bids , not for sellers , but I'm not sure.

Here's a post on the ebay forums that has more info .. I posted in there too ..

.. http://forums.ebay.co.uk/thread.jspa?messageID=1107228089&forumID=7#1107228089 ..

Tao81

Pikeyp wrote: »

I didn't even know sellers could do this sort of thing .. it goes against the whole 'spirit' of the thing if you ask me ..

Sorry to hear you experienced a similar 'blow' Pikeyp'?!
I agree with you totally, definitely does go against the 'spirit' of what people understand principles of an auction to be?!!!!
......I've now lost complete faith in bidding in the future or even seeking stuff out on the site in the first place!!......How can you trust that something is for REAL anywhere on the site when this type of thing happens?!!

suexf

sellers cannot normally edit or cancel a listing with less than 12 hours till end of auction. Perhaps ebay cancelled the auction? that's the only reason I can think of how this can happen.
Or I know from past history a seller can end an auction early selling to the highest bidder, maybe someone else contacted the seller with an offer, placed a bid higher than yours & seller ended the auction. Very annoying I know as I have watched many an item with the intention of bidding near the end (to avoid getting outbid) & suddenly find the auction ended earlier that it was advertised.

Pikeyp

I used the 'Ask a question' option and asked what was going on .. this was his reply ..

It's not available

.. and now he's put it up for sale again .. same price!! .. cheeky sod!