When a Power Seller tries to intimidate an ordinary seller by lying about how selling on ebay works?

[deepg]

Contacted by a Power Seller with over 14000 feedbacks who wanted me to violate EBay auction terms by introducing a Buy It Now price to an auction which had already started.  Next, tried to convince me that there was No Reserve Price on my auction and that I would have to sell it to whoever bid the highest amount regardless of whether the reserve was met. I strongly feel this was a deliberate attempt by a "Power Seller" to intimidate, confuse a less experienced seller into "Ending an auction early" so he could scoop a deal. 

The quotes from messages he sent are priceless and completely unsubstantiated, after I explained he/she might be confused they belittled me.

I wonder how often this occurs and what EBay will do to protect it's users from those who target and pray upon less experienced users?

I specifically replied with quotations and links to officak EBay policies and the "proposed Buyer" a Power Seller persisted in trying to deliberately mislead me into thinking there was no reserve price and that it would be in my interest to specify a price and end an auction early.

For those interested I've attached a screen capture from the price box that very clearly specifies that there is in fact a Reserve Price.

Any ideas on what can be done about these types of members?

[reallynicestamps]

Next, tried to convince me that there was No Reserve Price on my auction and that I would have to sell it to whoever bid the highest amount regardless of whether the reserve was met.

Unless you paid for the Reserve option, there is no reserve on a listing and the other seller is right. The highest bid wins.

It is not uncommon for members (usually buyers, not sellers) to make an offer that sounds good to a newbie seller. (Sometimes because it is an emergency purchase-- lol - as if this weren't mail order!) The price is usually well below what that seller would have received if the auction had continued.

More experienced members (usually sellers, not buyers) encourage the newbie to reply that the auction will continue and he is welcome to bid.

You can go to Manage Bidders and add the annoying seller to your Blocked Bidder List. I believe you can also Block all communications with those on the BBL.

[deepg]

If you saw the attached picture you would have noticed it explicitly says "Reserve Not Met" therefore your answer although a good explanation of policy does not apply. I quoted and provided links to EBay regulations and FAQ's and the "Power seller" persisted. The real question is what will EBay do to protect users from unscrupulous Power Sellers whose goal is to manipulate, mislead and exploit.

For instance, I was prevented from listing a used item as "like new" because it was considered misleading, I can understand how that can be subjective but when a Power Seller tries to maliciously intimidate and exploit users into violating EBay policies there should equally be consequences....

[nubian_treasures]

"I wonder how often this occurs "

I've been on ebay since 2001 and this is the first time that I've ever heard of this happening so I would say that it doesn't happen very often.

I agree with the other responder about add that person to your blocked bidders list. There is also a box that you check to prevent anyone on your blocked bidders list from contacting you.