Is he allowed to do this??

bethom

I have my eye on an item on ebay. I won't name the item as this will make the seller findable and I don't want to bad mouth anyone.

This seller sells a lot of this particular item and has been for a while. He put's the item up for auction at 1p with no reserve, but it does have quite a big postal charge. The item retails for £90 in the shops. Now when it get's to near the end of an auction, if it is going a bit on the cheap side he pulls the item and relists.

Can he do this?? I find it rather unfair that he does this. If he wants it to go at a certain price then imo he should start it higher or put a reserve on it. We have been watching the item for a while and saw what he was up to and tbh it is putting me off buying from him.

frivolous_fay

It's fee avoidance and a reportable offence.

I wouldn't buy from someone like that.

bethom

Thanks for that.

I didn't think it was quite right, but wanted to check first.

hjb123

I would be extremely tempted to report the fella for fee avoidance - make sure you are absolutely sure thats whats happening before you do though. What sort of prices is he putting for postage?

bethom

hjb123 wrote:

I would be extremely tempted to report the fella for fee avoidance - make sure you are absolutely sure thats whats happening before you do though. What sort of prices is he putting for postage?

It's £15 for postage.

I am watching his next batch to see what he does. If he keeps on I shall report him as I find it totally unfair.

hjb123

Is the item quite heavy? Even so £15 sounds OTT for postage - you could report him for fee avoidance, However the other way to look at it is work out the price you are paying for the item and postage together then see how much cheaper it is from the shops.

scheming_gypsy

£15 postage doesn't sound too bad hjb123. A friend of mine sold a heater, doesn't weigh very much but cost £13.85 first class recorded.

MarkyMarkD

It's not fee avoidance as much as ripping off bidders. It's unfair to withdraw an item just because it's not getting what you want - that's what reserves are for!

bethom

hjb123 wrote:

Is the item quite heavy? Even so £15 sounds OTT for postage - you could report him for fee avoidance, However the other way to look at it is work out the price you are paying for the item and postage together then see how much cheaper it is from the shops.

I didn't think the £15 was too bad for postage as it will be a little on the heavy side and is quite bulky. I just really had the problem with him withdrawing them from auction if it wasn't a price to his satisfaction.

tomstickland

It's not fee avoidance as much as ripping off bidders. It's unfair to withdraw an item just because it's not getting what you want - that's what reserves are for!

But you can't set a reserve below £50. I can understand why the seller does this. You could report etc, but why not just bid a bit higher if the item sells for £90 in the shops?

bethom

MarkyMarkD wrote:

It's not fee avoidance as much as ripping off bidders. It's unfair to withdraw an item just because it's not getting what you want - that's what reserves are for!

That is my point, thankyou!

I mean if you want a minimum price, either start it at that price or stick a reserve on it. Don't just withdraw it because it isn't quite going your way and waste other people's time and try to screw extra money out of them.