seller protection against buyers who retract

[acesemporiium]

I am a new seller, but have been a buyer for over ten years on ebay with a 100% feedback.  I have just had a buyer retract their bid (after I did not comply to cancel their bid for them because they didn't have something to match the necklace she bid on? Ebay even states that a Change of mind is not a valid reason to cancel or retract)......I explained this to her nicely in a message back, and told her that I did not want to set a precedence for future buyers to have bids cancelled because they decide to change their mind.....So how does this buyer get away with bidding and then retracting on ebay without a penalty of some sort? There should be a financial penalty when a Buyer does something like this....And why does Ebay NOT notify the seller (me) when the buyer retracted her bid? I only knew of the retraction because the buyer messaged me that she did it, and my item was back on with no bids?

Can someone give any advise? I suppose I could block her from bidding on my site, but truly....Buyer rules are clear, and Ebay should not make it that easy for a Buyer to retract a bid.  It contradicts the whole Ebay purpose of Auction Selling.

Needed to vent.  Thanks.

[heidilynn0_3 · Accepted solution]

Hi.. Ebay allows buyers to retract. It may not be for a legit reason but only multiple retractions will perhaps, raise a red flag. Sellers can see retraction history on buyer's feedback page and may block bidder.

My advice is to cancel when a buyer asks. Last thing a seller wants is an unhappy buyer who may leave poor feedback and trash your DSRs, which will affect your ability to list items..

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/policies/seller-non-performance.html