Ebay Question

Navigating that site to ask a question requires a degree in Rocket Science, at least for me.

Question: I was bidding on an item and then the item disappeared because the seller sold it outside of Ebay.

Is that allowed?

the seller can end the auction at any time, except for the last 12 hours (i think).

so unless the auction ends, then the seller can pretty much end it for whatever reason.

MDJAK wrote in post #12294575
Navigating that site to ask a question requires a degree in Rocket Science, at least for me.

Question: I was bidding on an item and then the item disappeared because the seller sold it outside of Ebay.

Is that allowed?

Really? That seems so unfair. I mean, then you should be able to retract a bid at any time, for any reason, which you can't do.

Yes, it happens often. The seller can also stop the auction early and sell to the current high bidder.

Live and learn, I guess.

But tell me, if you'd be so kind, how does that square, if it does, with not being able to willy-nilly retract a bid?

I understand if you set a minimum price and it doesn't meet that price, not being forced to sell at under value, but otherwise it just seems ridiculous, at least to my simple mind.

mark

MDJAK wrote in post #12294785
Live and learn, I guess.

But tell me, if you'd be so kind, how does that square, if it does, with not being able to willy-nilly retract a bid?

I understand if you set a minimum price and it doesn't meet that price, not being forced to sell at under value, but otherwise it just seems ridiculous, at least to my simple mind.

mark

"fair" "right" or "common sense" is not included in the description of eBay.

Sellers often have items listed on craigslist or even in a real store. Sellers are at the mercy of unscrupulous buyers after an auction has ended. eBay was founded on the assumption that people are honest. That is becoming a dream/nightmare for people doing business on eBay.

MDJAK wrote in post #12294575
Question: I was bidding on an item and then the item disappeared because the seller sold it outside of Ebay.

Did the item actually "disappear", i.e. searching by the item # yields no results? Or was it simply ended (and still visible in search results)?

At first I just couldn't find it, and not knowing the item number that didn't help. A search of the same item did not turn it up. It was a lens posted for sale here at a very good price, but no interest here, and then the seller said he was putting it on Ebay and posted the link. I started bidding last night. And this morning it was gone and he locked the thread and stated: SOLD.

The auction had 6 days left.

But when I went to "MyEbay" it showed I was not bidding on anything. That's how I realized it.

He must have ended up selling it here to avoid the ebay fees

More info from eBay on selling: http://pages.ebay.com/​help/sell/selling-basics.html

This won't answer all of your questions but easier than discussing bits and pieces here. Look at some of the links for more information.

MDJAK wrote in post #12294903
And this morning it was gone and he locked the thread and stated: SOLD.

But what exactly does "gone" mean? Does it show up if you search for the item #?

the only way I know how to find it (as I did not know the item number), is to link through his original post in which he gave the link to the auction. Here's that link:

http://cgi.ebay.com …SELX%3AIT#ht_10​774wt_1141

Look under "completed auctions" to see the sold items and final price.

if you click on bid history you'll see that seller cancelled all bid and ended auction.

Explanation: The seller ended the listing early and cancelled all bids.