How would you answer this?

[coastwindchimes]

Got an email yesterday as follows:

"Why when my highest bid was $4 would someone outbid me at $75.50? Were there interim bids, or are you bidding on your own stuff? This is my THIRD time trying to get this item and I GIVE UP!!!"

Answered politely explaining briefly how bidding etc. works. I'm thinking of blocking the buyer-- would you? Tim.

[shoplineca]

Tim
I assume you had a reserve?

If not already done, I would have added in my response that the item being sold had a value that is considerably higher than the $4 he bid as well as the $75.50 that finally won the item.

I might then add that if he was truly interested in bidding on these particular items again in the future from you or another Seller, he should consider that fact and either be prepared to bid in the range the others sold for or take his own advice and GIVE UP!

I had a buyer accuse me of an infraction similar to this however I did NOT answer them as politely as you had in my first response.

In a responding email, I denied their accusation and told them to report the incident to eBay if that is what they believed and that I would proceed to file a formal complaint against them with eBay after eBay easily confirmed my innocence.

Further, I said in my email, if such a malicious and unfounded allegation caused me any loss of business or other financial cost that I would consider legal action and hold them financially responsible.

I said that I run a business and that I work hard to become and maintain the PS status adhering to eBay's rules of conduct and feel that their accusation is totally without merit and had been made because they were nothing more than an inexperienced eBayer who cannot accept the fact that they lost a good deal to another Buyer.

I immediately received a response with an apology where my next email to them was considerably kinder and I advised them that people should seek advice about why they lost before they make unfounded allegations.

It was in my 2nd email that I did what you did and took the time to explain the bidding process, which was only after I felt they earned my time to explain it and I felt that I had sucessfully addressed the seriousness of their first email to me.

Malcolm

[coastwindchimes]

Yes, Malcolm, that was my first inclination~ to answer more firmly. But then I figured this is probably just some really clueless guy, so just pointed out that there is no way I would ever bid on my own listings, since that is against eBay rules.

It was not a reserve auction. Just the normal bidding. This guy seems to think the way auctions work is he bids what he wants and should get it for that price. Ha!

Would you block him? The few headaches I have had have mostly resulted for people who just don't seem to get anything-- As a couple of recent postings from others right now on this PS board reflect, they can be a real pain. (I guess I am answering my own question-- block him!). Tim.

[shoplineca]

Tim
Well you see the way that I answered the people in my situation, I knew that they got my message as they were almost forced to respond to me or possibly face a law suit so they acknowledged that they made a mistake. I then knew that I didnt have to block them.

In your case, you dont know if the guy believes you or not and whether he now understands how the bidding process works or thinks you cheated him.

On the other hand, if you come across another widget similar to what he was bidding on, and he is now aware of what they are selling for, he may in fact bid high enough to win it, so why block him?

Well I suppose if he is stupid enough to only bid $4 again and looses out to another bidder, he may escalate his accusation and take it to eBay the next time.

I just feel that if I am accused of something, it is important to deny it in a response, so even if you explained the bidding process, I would hope you at least denied his accusation in your email to hi, as well.

OK, here is my feeling on whether you should block him or not:
If he doesnt respond to your reply within another 24 hours, block him! He might repeat what he did and take it up another level which could cause you some problems and certainly waste your time.

If he emails you and thanks you for the time you took to explain how eBay bidding works, then dont block him, he will probably turn out to be a greatful eBay that may tunr into being a good customer, appreciative of the time you took to help him.

Malcolm

[coastwindchimes]

That's good advice, Malcolm, and I will follow it. I did expressly state that I would never bid on my own listings, that this would break eBay rules. Well, I'll be surprised if I hear back from him... but I've been surprised before. By the way, I checked his feedback: he only has +1, and that was something that was a fixed-price listing. That's probably why he is all confused. Tim.

[shoplineca]

Tim
Thats good that you told him that is not your practise as it is important to get that type of response across. Whether he believes it or not is not important. What is important is that you clearly stated that you do not bid on your own listings.

The old system that was in place up until last year was that you could cancel your auction seconds before it ended. It was set up in the event you were unable to sell your item due to damage or loss however it was primarily used if a seller thought they were going to loose money in the deal.

I didnt know about the ability to cancel at the last second until I started readimg more about it on the US Power Seller board when I discovered just how popular that feature was and how abused it was by Power Sellers.

Now I realize what happened to several items that I was bidding on in recent years where the auction was ended by the Seller minutes or seconds before it was to end by itself and I was the high bidder yet won nothing.

That practise, in my opinion, is just as bad as bidding on your own items to avoid selling it at a loss.

Malcolm