I wasn't really outbid and forced to win 3 auctions

[ststel-h0rnwvg]

I was recently searching for some older coins for a theatrical production I'm working on as well as my personal collection.

I found a listing for some old medieval coins while using my mobile phone on Ebay.ca. I bid on the item at $5.50 and was told I was outbid. So I bid again a couple times and all the while saying I was outbid.

So I moved on to another listing from the same seller for a similar product. Once again, my first few bids told me I was outbid. So I stopped bidding.

I then found another auction for a similar product and I bid on it. ONCE AGAIN, I'm told I was outbid. So I just assumed that people have set pretty high maximum bids so I gave up.

Only to find out the next day that I won the first auction at my initial bid...I was very surprised but happy. But then I won the second and then the third. All of them on my initial bid! Now I'm out of all this money when I only wanted to win one of the auctions. But I was told by the website on my phone that I had been outbid. 

I feel completely ripped off. I don't want to spend $60 on coins when I should only have spent $15.

Please help!

[femmefan1946]

while using my mobile phone on Ebay.ca.

Well, herein lieth the lesson. It's fine to shop on mobiles, but they do give a restricted view of what is happening. It is best to put items on your Watch List and review on a laptop of desktop before bidding.

So I moved on to another listing from the same seller for a similar product.

But you didn't retract your bid or ask the seller to cancel it. If another bidder did retract, your bid was still live.

This is not a criticism, it's just how things work. (We won't get into shill bidding, since that illegal practice really is rare.)

Depending on exactly what the message said, eBay may have been encouraging you to increase your bids, even though there was no other bidder. Which is merchandising, but annoying.

What to do?

Well the seller seems to have underbidders, from what you are saying. There is a Contact Seller link on each listing,

Use it to explain what happened and ask the seller to cancel two of the three listings. He is allowed to refuse.

He is also allowed to open an Unpaid Item Dispute which , unless you pay, will make shopping here harder in future.

Like any new system, there is a learning curve. Start with a polite note and an apology*. If the seller is nice enough to cancel two of the winning bids, he will get his selling fees back (around $6 or so, probably). You can then leave friendly feedback. "Thank you for helping a newbie learn the ropes" for example.

*It's not really your fault, but apologize anyway. Keep it friendly ...and Canadian.

[i.am.vivian]

Shill bidding is not rare. It's frequent, obvious, and ebay does nothing.

[jens.ca2014]

Not really an answer, but I can confirm the same thing just happened to me.

Placed bids on three items.

On My eBay summary, all items are listed as outbid.

When I click on the details, I am the highest, and only, bidder.

Was not using a mobile device, but with a browser on my computer at home.

Maybe it is just me, but eBay is seeming a bit buggy today.

[reallynicestamps]

Check the times all bids were placed.

You may be outbid by an earlier bidder who has not yet reached his maximum bid.

And just don't bid on several similar items at once, unless you are ready to buy them all. While you may win only one, there are many reasons why other bids may be removed, including sellers cancelling bids from bidders they have had to deal with before and never want to again.