Ebay sale pullouts

Just recently I've been bidding for something on Ebay and when I've checked to see if I've been outbid, or how long the item has left, the whole thing has disappeared. This has happened to me three times recently. I had a message from one saying he discovered a fault with the machine I was bidding on, and he withdrew it. Fair enough.

But last night I was bidding on a disc sander, I was the only bidder with five minutes to go, and when I checked to see if I had "won" it (love that term :rolleyes:), the item had disappeared completely from ebay. I couldn't find any reference to it anywhere.

Have Ebay changed the rules or something? Can you "pull" items if you don't feel you're getting the right price? I mean, I don't really mind if that's the case, but after years of using ebay, these disappearing items are new to me.

If an item dissapears from the listings, you can normally locate it by selecting 'Complted listings' at the left of the sale listings and renewing the search.

If the item has been pulled by the seller, it will normally explain why, such as item no longer available for sale (sold outside ebay or decided to keep) or seller no longer registered or suspended (to many unresolved complaints about the seller or they haven't paid their auction fees)

Some better sellers will indicate that items are available for sale locally as well as on ebay. In that case a definite fair value bid early in the auction should indicate bidder interest, but I have missed item after making a decent bid due to no alternative bids to work up the price from the starting price level.

That (the ability to pull an auction for no reason) is ????????. If, as ebay says, "a bid is a contract to buy", then it should be a contract to sell, also.

I don't understand why ebay stand for "item listed elsewhere, may be removed" listings.

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Originally Posted by unixbigot

That (the ability to pull an auction for no reason) is ????????. If, as ebay says, "a bid is a contract to buy", then it should be a contract to sell, also.

I don't understand why ebay stand for "item listed elsewhere, may be removed" listings.

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Yep. It sort of undermines the whole concept, doesn't it? You watch something for 9 days hoping to get a bargain, and someone pulls it in the last five minutes because they don't like the price. We're all better off putting a minimum that we can handle on an item we're selling and wear the consequences if it sells for that.

Ebay morality is a deep dark hole. Sniping is another nasty practise.

I've pulled many things on ebay. I auction a bit of big ticket stuff and someone comes over to inspect it and we do a deal on the spot. It saves them travelling across town twice and it saves me fees. A lot of people use ebay as an advertising medium rather than an auction site per say, and quite frankly I've no sympathy for ebay themselves because they have done such a wonderful job of mucking us around over the years.

As a bidder I've ferquently experienced what you raise here, but it's just part of the deal. Ultimately it hasn't cost you anything...