Are sellers allowed to cancel low bids and relist?

[flameshana]

From what I read in the rules there are certain reasons a seller is allowed to cancel a finished sale. Like if they don't have the item anymore. But that doesn't apply in my case. I paid for an item, the seller immediately canceled and relisted it for a higher price. So there was no chance to leave feedback even.

I checked the records of his sold items and he's been selling the same ones multiple times over, so there's no way that can happen unless those were canceled as well.

There isn't a specific case in the report section. Duplicate listing is close, but doesn't explain that the previous listing was canceled, so I'm wondering what you guys would suggest. From what I understand this is against the rules but without feedback we can't even warn other buyers.

The other threads I read about similar situations didn't come up with a solution either, since they suggested to leave feedback. And eBay says "By bidding you are entering a contract." So by contract I am owed the item since he still has it.

[pjcdn2005]

It is against the rules and it definitely frustrates buyers.  If the seller uses 'out of stock as the reason for cancelling they do get a defect so I suspect that some use the reason that the buyer requested the cancellation or that there was a problem with the address to avoid a defect.  You can also report the seller to eBay.

https://www.ebay.ca/help/action?topicid=4022

You may be able to leave feedback by going to your feedback page and at the bottom of the page click on leave feedback.   If it brings up  that transaction then you can leave feedback.  

[femmefan1946]

I checked the records of his sold items and he's been selling the same ones multiple times over, so there's no way that can happen unless those were canceled as well.

Are the items unique or are they something that was produced in quantity.

I sell secondhand books, and there are some titles I have sold a few dozen times over the years. Sometimes I have enough of a given edition in stock to relist immediately after a sale.

 But if these are truly unique items, the seller can only cancel for a few reasons. One is Buyer Request. If that was the reason given for the cancellation, phone Customer Support and point out that you did not request the cancellation. Another is Problem with Address- does the seller actually have a price for shipping to Canada? If not he is allowed to cancel.  Problem with Address can be very flexible, btw.

If he cancelled as Out Of Stock, he paid the fees for the sale, did not get paid, and got a Defect on his selling account. The last is a Bad Thing.

The best way to avoid these cancellations is to avoid Auctions. If the Auction has a Best Offer, take it. That's the price the seller wants to get. Just bidding cancels that BO, and if you are the only bidder the seller might be upset that he didn't get his price. (Personally, I also think he is stupid for setting up the auction that way, but I am old and cranky.)  Or send him a Message with an Offer. He can then accept it, ignore it, refuse it , or counter-offer. All of which is faster even than cancelling.

If he is dumb enough that he has relisted so quickly, he may not have actually Blocked you. So you could just bid again.  But remember you are not dealing with a smart guy.

Easiest is to ignore auctions entirely and just buy from Fixed Price listings.

[bookbug82]

I just had a situation like this. I checked ahead of time to see if they'd ship to Canada, they said, yes, no problem. Then I saw a negative seller feedback for the same figurine (antique, likely one-of-a-kind or very few, so I'm sure they cancelled and relisted). now, the same thing appears to be happening to me. If they want a certain price for an item in auction Ebay should force the seller to put a reserve price in, that way the buyer knows it has to reach a particular price and there is no problem. Either that, or start the bidding at a not-ridculously low starting price. It's not the buyer's fault if they were the only bidder. The problem with just giving the seller a strike, is that this person may have been thinking, aww, I'll try it one more time and if doesn't work, I'm off Ebay anyway. That's great for the buyer who just scored a great deal on a lovely antique and is waiting patiently to pay their bill!