eBay seller canceled my winning bid - advice please

ilan · May 20, 2013, 08:49:57 AM

Yesterday I have won this 1965 Höfner Senator bass. My max bid was AU$710 and I won for AU$670 (US$652). It's in Australia and the seller stated that he will ship only to Australia, so I pre-arranged that a friend in Melbourne will receive it for me. I have never asked the seller to send the bass outside of Australia.

Then I get this message: "I can't send to Israel. Australia only sorry. - nomyth1964"

To which I replied: "No problem, I meant for the bass to be sent to a friend of mine in Melbourne, I will send the address later today, as well as the payment." And a couple hours later: "Hi Michael, I was aware that you do not ship outside of Australia, and want the bass to be shipped to Highett, VIC. Please send me an invoice including shipping. Thanks, Ilan"

His answer: "Hi, you didn't win sorry. Michael"

I am the winning bidder. I did not do anything wrong. The seller specified "Shipping to: Australia", and I want the bass shipped to Melbourne. There was no reason to cancel my winning. What do you think I should do now?

gweimer · May 20, 2013, 08:54:23 AM

Follow the eBay complaint process, for starters. State your case with them, as you have here.

ilan · May 20, 2013, 09:02:20 AM

What do I do if he sends the bass to the next bidder?

dadagoboi · May 20, 2013, 09:15:43 AM

I don't think there's much you can do except move on and try to make sure it doesn't happen again. Might make sense next time to contact the seller in a similar situation before you bid.

According to the bid history he cancelled your bid for $701. Maybe he doesn't want the bass to leave Australia.

Dave W · May 20, 2013, 09:47:52 AM

I doubt there's anything you can do to get the bass if he ships to the next bidder, but you should definitely report it and follow through. He did say shipping to Australia, but he didn't specify no bidders from outside Australia and he didn't block foreign bidders, so he had no right to cancel your bid. Ebay will deal with him.

Agree with Carlo, I would have cleared it in advance but the seller is still in the wrong.

Pilgrim · May 20, 2013, 12:49:27 PM

Yup. Use the Ebay process immediately. He's in the wrong, but there are more basses out there.

chromium · May 20, 2013, 01:12:29 PM

I wouldn't rule out the seller not being satisfied with the final price, and using this as an "out". I don't think in this scenario that he would be required to sell to the second in line, and so it might end up relisted.

jumbodbassman · May 20, 2013, 01:52:23 PM

Quote from: chromium on May 20, 2013, 01:12:29 PM
I wouldn't rule out the seller not being satisfied with the final price, and using this as an "out". I don't think in this scenario that he would be required to sell to the second in line, and so it might end up relisted.

owould tend to agree with this more likely being the case. I had a guy cancel a winning bid on hofner super beatle bass years ago and his response was leaving the country can't ship , even though i was willing to wait rerality wa he hadn't set a minimum and i "won " it for about 400-5-- below market. Ebay at the end of the day cannot force him to honor the sale but they may close his account. i would file a complaint but unless he really cares about his account and rating yo are kinda stuck..

nofi · May 20, 2013, 03:16:12 PM

"its natures way of telling you somethings wrong". time to move on.

ilan · May 20, 2013, 03:19:58 PM

If he doesn't honor the sale then eBay should revoke his account.

I didn't know that a seller can cancel a bid after the auction has ended.

Quote from: nofi on May 20, 2013, 03:16:12 PM
"its natures way of telling you somethings wrong". time to move on.

I guess you are right, I'd better wait for another Senator. These are incredible basses, please don't tell anybody.

Aussie Mark · May 20, 2013, 05:32:23 PM

I have dealt with that seller before and always watch his auctions with interest. He's shifty as heck. Very often he cancels all bids if the price isn't approaching his expectations - I've seen him do that many times.

If he won't honour the winning bid he should get a strike, but I expect that his explanation of "winning bidder is not located in Australia" will allow him to get away with it. His fault for not using the listing option that allows sellers to specify countries that he won't ship to - which automatically blocks bids from those countries.

edit: Looks like he cancelled your bid a few minutes before the end of the auction .... http://offer.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&_trksid=p2047675.l2565&rt=nc&item=171037551910

uwe · May 21, 2013, 10:25:11 AM

Ilan, you're not alone, has happened to me a couple of times even where I offered a US shipping address upfront (prior to bidding or alongside with it). Many sellers accept that, but not all. Some of them fear the hassle of the foreign winner then beginning to argue to have it shipped to his foreign address address after all. Something I never did except in one case where I offered a seller a US address OR 100 bucks extra plus shipping if he shipped outside the US (after having won the auction) - and he did!

copacetic · May 21, 2013, 12:56:02 PM

Ilan I feel for you, cause I know you love those old Hofner Senators ( and Presidents). If I were you I still would report it to Ebay and perhaps this guy will have to be stopped in his tracks eventually for getting people's hopes up and bad faith auctions. If it was his first time I could understand, but it sounds like Aussie Mark has witnessed this cat's history. Theres more Hof's out there. You might want to wait until they come out with the limited edition Made In Germany President/ 500/5.

the mojo hobo · May 22, 2013, 06:42:22 AM

I can see why a seller would not be happy with receiving payment from one person and shipping it to another. That is similar to what would be requested of someone using a stolen paypal account, and the seller would probably loose protection by not shipping to the buyers confirmed address.

That said I have done it before as a seller and it worked out great. The buyer was German and I shipped it to a Texas address, the two foreign bids were almost twice higher than the stateside bids.

Dave W · May 22, 2013, 09:09:48 AM

Quote from: the mojo hobo on May 22, 2013, 06:42:22 AM
I can see why a seller would not be happy with receiving payment from one person and shipping it to another. That is similar to what would be requested of someone using a stolen paypal account, and the seller would probably loose protection by not shipping to the buyers confirmed address.

That said I have done it before as a seller and it worked out great. The buyer was German and I shipped it to a Texas address, the two foreign bids were almost twice higher than the stateside bids.

I can understand that too, but the seller has the option of blocking foreign bidders, and he chose not to. The seller could also have stated that he would only ship to the buyer's paypal confirmed address, and he chose not to.