seller says paid for item was previously sold

[triphi55]

Hi,

I bough and paid for an item that the seller says is unavailable as they previously sold it and its listing was a mistake.

I have had others state that they would not ship as they did not get enough for the item.  The starting bid should handle this or the what I call sleazy method where an item is listed at say $1 but if you bid the minimum goes up to say $15.

Other than a full refund are there any options?

A substitute item may be acceptable but would it be within eBay acceptable practices?

Is this common?

[femmefan1946]

A prompt full refund and an apology for the 'out of stock' item.

You can leave feedback for 60 days after purchase. The most effective feedback is calm and factual. "Item was out of stock. Prompt/slow refund"

You can leave Detailed Seller Ratings at the same time. A normal transaction gets five stars. A horrible transaction gets One Star. If a seller's DSRs drop below 4.3 his ability to list and sell on eBay is greatly restricted.

For the guys who refuse to ship, ONE star is appropriate.

For the guy who lost count of his stock, but let you know promptly with an apology, four or even five stars. Or none, which is a free pass.

The 'out of stock' problem happens a lot with sellers who are dropshipping. They have no control over what they are offering, and often have never even seen the product. There will be hundreds of other sellers with identical listings, but they will all be out of stock at the same time.

I wouldn't accept a substitute, I'd want my money back. But that's me.

[reallynicestamps]

The starting bid should handle this or the what I call sleazy method where an item is listed at say $1 but if you bid the minimum goes up to say $15.

That one is easy. There was another bidder who bid first.

The first bid will not change the bid showing no matter how high it is.

For example.

A listing has an opening bid of $1.

I bid $14-- the listing opens to me at $1

You bid $25-- the listing opens to you at $15- one increment over my $14 bid.

If a third party then bids $20, your bid will rise to $21.

Another possibility is that the opening bid was $1 and the seller has a $15 reserve. When you bid $25, the reserve kicks in and your bid automatically becomes $15. Still lower than your maximum bid, which the seller cannot see.