Outbid on an item.Used Buy It Now to purchase elsewhere.Now a bid cancellation makes me highest bidder on item i no longer need,what do i do

[joycerama]

I placed my bid on the auction item in good faith as usual.  When i was outbid, i assumed that i would not win the auction, went ahead and purchased the item directly from a different seller.  i have a clean record on eBay and want to keep it that way. Am i now responsible for paying for this duplicate item just because someone else cancelled or retracted their bid after the fact?  should i notify the seller right now of the situation? 

[toby_le_pue]

The fine print

Bidding is meant to be fun, but remember that each bid you place enters you into a binding contract. The only bids that are non-binding are those placed in the Real Estate category and for vehicles on eBay Moto...

Don't bid on identical items in different listings if you only want one item. If you win both, you'll be obligated to buy both.

If you're outbid on an item, wait until the listing has ended before placing a bid on an equivalent item. If the bidder who won doesn't complete the transaction for any reason, you could become the winning bidder.

If you're blocked from bidding on a seller's listings, you cannot bid using another user ID.

[heidilynn0_3]

Contact seller and ask that he cancel.

Here is retraction policy..

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/questions/retract-bid.html

[femmefan1946]

If the seller will not cancel the bid (and it would be stupid of him not to-- but when you realize that if the average IQ is 100, half the population is below that level.) then you can Retract your bid.

Reasons are limited and the retraction will appear on your Feedback page, but there is no actual penalty for retractions.