should I cancel bids?

SoozyJ22

I'm selling a PS3 and one bidder was messaging back and forth with offers but also bid on the PS3. He's now been outbid, but has sent me a message asking me to cancel his bids as he'll have to buy one at the shops this weekend as he needs it for a birthday (so why did he bid on my auction which ends on Monday???) and he doesn't want to be stuck with two if the high bider pulls out. I'm not particularly enamoured to this guy - all this messages are in block capitals and while he's not as rude as some I've received he certainly wasn't especially polite.

Anyway, I know I can cancel his bids, but presumably he should be able to retract his own bids too and this would then show on his profile indicating that he's the kind of person that messes people around. So my question is - is there any reason why I shouldn't ask him to retract his bids rather than me cancelling them?

Thanks, Susie.

blaise802001

No don't cancel it, tell him to retract it, all he has to do is enter that he put in a wrong amount, it's simple enough.

frivolous_fay

He's NOT ALLOWED to retract his bids. There are only a couple of valid reasons for retracting, and this isn't one of them. He's done the right thing by contacting you. (Even though it's probably just a fluke and I expect he just doesn't know how to retract :rolleyes:)

You should cancel them. Personally I'd do it late in the day just in case several people outbid him and it's no longer a problem.

frivolous_fay

Can I retract or cancel my bid?
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/buy/questions/retract-bid.html

To cancel a bid, fill in the Bid Retraction form. You’ll be asked to provide a reason why you'd like to cancel your bid. The available reasons are:

• Entered wrong amount
• Seller changed item description
• Cannot contact the seller

None of the above apply.

blaise802001

But I once had to retract a bid as I put 750 instead of 75 and the wrong amount entered was an option, has it changed since a year or so ago?

blaise802001

ooh posted at same time, ignore my post above

lastmel

hi,if he's been outbid and is NO longer the highest bidder,you should'nt need to do anything,as his lower bids wont count anyway??

blaise802001

I think what the OP is saying is that the bidder is worried that if the new highest bidder retracts his bid, then he will then become the highest bidder again, thus meaning that he would still have to buy the item though. However, this does seem highly unlikely, but you never know.

Hintza

The guy has manage to push the price up, I'd be letting them stand. If for some reason he does end up winning (remote) then OP knows where they stand and can do a mutual cancellation.

What a win for the OP.

pdel61

To be fair, if the bidder has asked you to retract the bid then you should do so, to do anything other would not really be fair.

StaffsSW

frivolous_fay wrote: »

Can I retract or cancel my bid?
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/buy/questions/retract-bid.html

To cancel a bid, fill in the Bid Retraction form. You’ll be asked to provide a reason why you'd like to cancel your bid. The available reasons are:

• Entered wrong amount
• Seller changed item description
• Cannot contact the seller

None of the above apply.

eBay will NOT check up on bid retractions unless it becomes a habit (bid inflating or sheilding etc)

As a one off then there should be no discernable problem with opting for wrong amount, but if the bidder makes a habit of this, then ebay will have flagged his account for scrutiny.

I would leave the bids to stand, it has increased the sellers revenue - worst case the Highest bidder does pull out, then a mutual withdrawal and relist is the easiest way forward.

Morally though - the winning bidder has paid an inflated price - is this Shill bidding by another name??!