My EBAY Nightmare

[RockMyAmadeus]

It was intentional...he's done it before.

 

[zuckuss2003]

Of note, I believe the sale, with cert number, was recorded on GPA.

 

I'm sorry but I feel for the Buyer. Doesn't anybody else ? See it from his side, he just won his grail, maybe overextended himself to get it, he was happy, telling all his friends.

 

This isn't relevant in any way.

 

Then he is contacted from the Seller stating the sale was not legit.

I agree, he should not have called you that name, that was in poor taste. But somehow you have used that to justify your actions.

As an idea, I would have asked him to rescind the transaction with an incentive. Tell him you will relist and offer him 1,000 credit or offer him a consolation book but give the guy something.

 

What the seller COULD do is relist the item, and give the buyer an incentive if he wins it...say, $500 (which is exceptionally generous)...above and beyond the $14,500 of his original win. That is, if the auction ends at $14,500, and the original winner wins it, he got the original price. If, however, the auction ended for any amount over $14,500...and the original winner won...any amount up to $500 would be deducted from the winning bid.

 

Winning bid = $14,857, buyer gets to pay only $14,500. Winning bid = $16,847, buyer gets to pay only $16,347.

 

It's something.

 

Honestly, you are responding, high and mighty, up in arms against e-bay, for their mistake. This seller was so right to cancel this auction for this bidder...

 

Really, have we seen enough proof of technical difficulties for you to be so adamant that the seller was in the right here?

 

You are really so sure that if you were the winner at an honestly fair price ( I mean really we can look at the data , this book is not a $17k book) you would not be upset if this guy just canceled the auction on you? Just because we "know" this dealer is legit we should agree he was screwed?

 

This seems like you just want to have a grievance against ebay? If so, that is fine but why take that out on the guy that won? We really haven't seen enough real evidence that he didn't win fairly, only a few paragraphs of pasted text, saying otherwise. John may be the most honest guy in the world but he still should not have canceled an auction that really did end at a normal amount for that book just because he got a few late minute emails.

 

Sorry, I am just not entirely able to side with the seller who felt he ended up not getting what he wanted for his book here.

[WeR138]

I know Im new here, but after reading this thread.. I had to throw in my

 

If I was the winning bidder, I too would be furious if the seller cancelled the sale! I'm pretty sure the seller isnt new to Ebay, and understands the gamble you take running a "NO RESERVE" auction. Thats an awful big gamble! It's not like the winner got the book for $200 because Ebay had a glitch. The book went for GPA. Sorry man, I dont know you (anyone in this thread really ), but I think your wrong in cancelling the deal. Regardless of the name calling. There's no ethics or compassion on Ebay. If you wanted that you should have sold it here!! I know you think you got screwed, but a deals a deal!

 

"We are currently experiencing technical difficulties. Please stand by."

 

A "deal" isn't a "deal" when the system isn't functioning properly.

 

This isn't rocket surgery.

 

I always thought it was "brain surgery" and "rocket science", but not even a week ago I heard someone on the radio comment about "rocket surgery".

 

It's making me start to doubt myself. Is there a memo that I didn't get?

[Turtle]

It was intentional...he's done it before.

 

Are you talking about the OP?

 

I still have questions about this such as if the timed out bidders did indeed have a credit card on file with ebay, had they ever bid on a book over $15,000 before without any troubles, what was the second highest bid after the $17,000, and most of all, why ebay was so damn unhelpful in straightening this out if it was their fault.

 

Nope, talking about Krypto's response to RMA's post.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Of note, I believe the sale, with cert number, was recorded on GPA.

 

I'm sorry but I feel for the Buyer. Doesn't anybody else ? See it from his side, he just won his grail, maybe overextended himself to get it, he was happy, telling all his friends.

 

This isn't relevant in any way.

 

Then he is contacted from the Seller stating the sale was not legit.

I agree, he should not have called you that name, that was in poor taste. But somehow you have used that to justify your actions.

As an idea, I would have asked him to rescind the transaction with an incentive. Tell him you will relist and offer him 1,000 credit or offer him a consolation book but give the guy something.

 

What the seller COULD do is relist the item, and give the buyer an incentive if he wins it...say, $500 (which is exceptionally generous)...above and beyond the $14,500 of his original win. That is, if the auction ends at $14,500, and the original winner wins it, he got the original price. If, however, the auction ended for any amount over $14,500...and the original winner won...any amount up to $500 would be deducted from the winning bid.

 

Winning bid = $14,857, buyer gets to pay only $14,500. Winning bid = $16,847, buyer gets to pay only $16,347.

 

It's something.

 

Honestly, you are responding, high and mighty, up in arms against e-bay, for their mistake. This seller was so right to cancel this auction for this bidder...

 

Really, have we seen enough proof of technical difficulties for you to be so adamant that the seller was in the right here? p

 

I thought you were done responding to this thread...?

 

 

You are misunderstanding my position. Let me be clear: IF eBay screwed up, then the seller did the right thing.

 

What's the evidence against eBay? Well...first, and most damning, we have representation (admittedly by the seller) from an eBay representative that they screwed up. If that representation is legitimate....and I have zero reason to believe that it's not...then eBay has admitted to the screw up, and should fix it.

 

But...even if we didn't have that representation, I still wouldn't give eBay the benefit of the doubt. This is, after all, a company that has made horrific decisions that have harmed thousands of people over the course of 15 years...not least of which was hiring Meg "I'll Take Every Dime You've Got, Thanks" Whitman. eBay has had known issues over the years, has been sued constantly, has shielded themselves and Paypal from the public in any and every way possible, and has essentially built a company that has utterly distanced itself from the people who built it: small sellers.

 

And...since I know TF's selling account, and know that he frequently sells high grade, high dollar books like this (though not usually this high), I have no reason to doubt his veracity.

 

You are really so sure that if you were the winner at an honestly fair price ( I mean really we can look at the data , this book is not a $17k book)

 

How can you tell this by the data of only four sales in the last 2+ years? With four sales, the average is $14,842...but the average THIS year, with the two previous sales, was $15,615. Prices for this book in these grades (7.0-9.0) are trending up over the last two years, with several "high GPA" sales occuring in the last two years. It is not inconceivable that this book could have a high bid of $17,000.

 

you would not be upset if this guy just canceled the auction on you? Just because we "know" this dealer is legit we should agree he was screwed?

 

I do not "know" this dealer, outside of his eBay handle, so that's not a concern for me. I operate only on what I can see. The seller didn't "just cancel" the auction...there was a legitimate technical issue which prevented bidders from bidding.

 

Would I be annoyed? Sure. Who wouldn't? But would I sit back and say "well, you know, I think I'm gonna stick it to this guy, even though he explained it to me, and I can easily call eBay and find out if he's correct...oh, and I'm not going to pay or communicate with him for a week, too."

 

No, probably not.

 

This seems like you just want to have a grievance against ebay?

 

Couple of things in response to that charge:

 

1. I am on record here, and other places, expressing my severe displeasure with eBay. I think they are a corrupt, inept corporation that has harmed thousands and thousands of people, all in the name of stable and rising stock prices. They do not care for anybody or anything but the bottom line, which in and of itself would not be a bad thing, because many companies do the exact same thing...but what makes them colossal hypocrites is that their company "creed" is that they think "people are basically good, and given the chance to work things out, they'll come to a fair resolution" while consistently, for 15 years, attempting to shield THEMSELVES from doing that very thing.

 

2. *I* would be a colossoal hypocrite (something my ego won't really allow) if I didn't try very hard to be as fair as I can humanly be, in every matter that I encounter. Knowing what I know about eBay, coupled with the claims of the OP (which merely confirms my evidential and anecdotal experience), plus eBay's clear confession, leads me to believe, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the situation is as the OP presented it, and is not "just some greivance against eBay."

 

If so, that is fine but why take that out on the guy that won? We really haven't seen enough real evidence that he didn't win fairly, only a few paragraphs of pasted text, saying otherwise. John may be the most honest guy in the world but he still should not have canceled an auction that really did end at a normal amount for that book just because he got a few late minute emails.

 

But we have more than that...if you're willing to take the OP at his word.

 

A simple call from the winner could confirm that. The winner, however, couldn't be bothered, and decided to throw a temper tantrum.

 

The answer, of course, is EMINENTLY fair to all parties concerned: re-run the auction. The classic do-over would solve all these problems. The seller could even invite the original winner to bid again....though not likely, after that feedback...and he might even win it for LESS money.

 

That really is the best solution.

[RockMyAmadeus]

I know Im new here, but after reading this thread.. I had to throw in my

 

If I was the winning bidder, I too would be furious if the seller cancelled the sale! I'm pretty sure the seller isnt new to Ebay, and understands the gamble you take running a "NO RESERVE" auction. Thats an awful big gamble! It's not like the winner got the book for $200 because Ebay had a glitch. The book went for GPA. Sorry man, I dont know you (anyone in this thread really ), but I think your wrong in cancelling the deal. Regardless of the name calling. There's no ethics or compassion on Ebay. If you wanted that you should have sold it here!! I know you think you got screwed, but a deals a deal!

 

"We are currently experiencing technical difficulties. Please stand by."

 

A "deal" isn't a "deal" when the system isn't functioning properly.

 

This isn't rocket surgery.

 

I always thought it was "brain surgery" and "rocket science", but not even a week ago I heard someone on the radio comment about "rocket surgery".

 

It's making me start to doubt myself. Is there a memo that I didn't get?

 

 

It is, of course, rocket science and brain surgery....but some smart alecs have changed it to rocket surgery and brain science for fun.

[rjrjr]

One thing I was wandering you said people e-mailed you and said they were trying to bid on the book but it wouldn't let them. Did e-bay show anything to prove this in there system.

 

This whole story sounds very fishy to me.

 

It sounds more than likely that the people saw the book go for less than they realized and wanted you to know they would have bid more. If they waited until the last minute to bid and failed to place a bid because E-Bay required additional information due to the amount of the bid, oh well, they should have placed a bid earlier and not tried to snipe. E-Bay's auction system is not some manual process, but automatic. It doesn't just "fail" on high priced books.

 

This is absolutely not E-Bay's problem. In the future, you should have used a Buy It Now! or placed a minimum limit on the auction you would have been happy to sell the book at.

 

I feel sorry for the person who didn't get the book he won in auction because you didn't get the price you wanted for the book.

 

[rjrjr]

Whose shill are you or are you just an ?

 

I'm not a shill, I'm both a buyer and seller. And as a buyer, I'd be pissed if a seller emailed me and said "hey, I know this was an auction, but the final price wasn't where it should be, so I don't want to sell it to you."

 

If you have a set price, list it for that. Then no one's disappointed.

 

 

No matter what? And that's not the issue. The issue wasn't that the seller would've like a better price. We all would. The issue is that ebay ed up and PREVENTED the better price from happening.

 

There was a serious glitch in the system that blocked bidders. What if, though some glitch, every single bidder on the planet was blocked out except for 1 guy and the opening bid was .99 cents and he won it for that. Are you telling me that its absolutely black and white and that there's no failure by ebay that could ever trump simply having to follow through with the sale?

 

all that!

 

Do you really believe that out of the millions of auctions that are conducted on E-Bay, they had a glitch with their software for this one auction? I understand us not liking their policies, etc., but was there a glitch on their website that prevented a higher bid from going through?

 

[rjrjr]

One thing I was wandering you said people e-mailed you and said they were trying to bid on the book but it wouldn't let them. Did e-bay show anything to prove this in there system.

 

This whole story sounds very fishy to me.

 

It sounds more than likely that the people saw the book go for less than they realized and wanted you to know they would have bid more. If they waited until the last minute to bid and failed to place a bid because E-Bay required additional information due to the amount of the bid, oh well, they should have placed a bid earlier and not tried to snipe. E-Bay's auction system is not some manual process, but automatic. It doesn't just "fail" on high priced books.

 

This is absolutely not E-Bay's problem. In the future, you should have used a Buy It Now! or placed a minimum limit on the auction you would have been happy to sell the book at.

 

I feel sorry for the person who didn't get the book he won in auction because you didn't get the price you wanted for the book.

 

 

I just finished reading this thread and am convinced this was not E-Bay's problem. It turns out E-Bay did not even block the bids waiting for additional information, if any bids were blocked at all. There was a posting about a potential Spyware problem, but that would have been on a bidder's PC, not on E-Bay's website.

 

I'm sympathetic to the buyer in this case because this is a very similar situation to an auction I won a few years ago. I had won a $0.35 Star Wars #4. I got it for a great price too. (Sub $75.) Sure enough, the seller (a large New York dealer) didn't honor the sale. In this case, he "lost" this rare book so he had to refund my money. Uh huh. I'm always misplacing my rare books. I'd be willing to bet someone e-mailed him a higher offer after the auction ended and that is why I didn't get the comic.

 

I'm sure the seller (original poster) is a honest person. I think his view of the auction's results have been tainted by the e-mails he received after the auction on supposed "phantom" bids unfortunately. It would make me wonder about E-Bay too, but I'm having a hard time believe there were any glitches on E-Bay's part.

 

In either case, I hope the seller and buyer both learn something from the experience.

 

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

One thing I was wandering you said people e-mailed you and said they were trying to bid on the book but it wouldn't let them. Did e-bay show anything to prove this in there system.

 

This whole story sounds very fishy to me.

 

It sounds more than likely that the people saw the book go for less than they realized and wanted you to know they would have bid more. If they waited until the last minute to bid and failed to place a bid because E-Bay required additional information due to the amount of the bid, oh well, they should have placed a bid earlier and not tried to snipe. E-Bay's auction system is not some manual process, but automatic. It doesn't just "fail" on high priced books.

 

This is absolutely not E-Bay's problem. In the future, you should have used a Buy It Now! or placed a minimum limit on the auction you would have been happy to sell the book at.

 

I feel sorry for the person who didn't get the book he won in auction because you didn't get the price you wanted for the book.

 

 

If you really believe this entire thread was started because the seller "didn't get the price he wanted for the book", you're deluding yourself.

 

Do you...or anyone else who believes this...REALLY think this seller would expose himself to this kind of scrutiny if that was his real motive...?

 

Do you?

 

If that was my motive, I wouldn't have said a word about it. I CERTAINLY wouldn't have exposed myself to the uberdetectives of the CGC message board (of which I like to think I'm a member), who have a knack for rooting through lies, damned lies, and statistics to get at the truth.

 

Tell me...what possible benefit would bringing this complaint to the CGC boards have, if it's all made up?

 

Hmmmm....?

[RockMyAmadeus]

One thing I was wandering you said people e-mailed you and said they were trying to bid on the book but it wouldn't let them. Did e-bay show anything to prove this in there system.

 

This whole story sounds very fishy to me.

 

It sounds more than likely that the people saw the book go for less than they realized and wanted you to know they would have bid more. If they waited until the last minute to bid and failed to place a bid because E-Bay required additional information due to the amount of the bid, oh well, they should have placed a bid earlier and not tried to snipe. E-Bay's auction system is not some manual process, but automatic. It doesn't just "fail" on high priced books.

 

This is absolutely not E-Bay's problem. In the future, you should have used a Buy It Now! or placed a minimum limit on the auction you would have been happy to sell the book at.

 

I feel sorry for the person who didn't get the book he won in auction because you didn't get the price you wanted for the book.

 

 

I just finished reading this thread and am convinced this was not E-Bay's problem. It turns out E-Bay did not even block the bids waiting for additional information, if any bids were blocked at all. There was a posting about a potential Spyware problem, but that would have been on a bidder's PC, not on E-Bay's website.

 

 

I'm sympathetic to the buyer in this case because this is a very similar situation to an auction I won a few years ago. I had won a $0.35 Star Wars #4. I got it for a great price too. (Sub $75.) Sure enough, the seller (a large New York dealer) didn't honor the sale. In this case, he "lost" this rare book so he had to refund my money. Uh huh. I'm always misplacing my rare books. I'd be willing to bet someone e-mailed him a higher offer after the auction ended and that is why I didn't get the comic.

 

Proof...?

 

I'm sure the seller (original poster) is a honest person. I think his view of the auction's results have been tainted by the e-mails he received after the auction on supposed "phantom" bids unfortunately. It would make me wonder about E-Bay too, but I'm having a hard time believe there were any glitches on E-Bay's part.

 

 

You've apparently not used eBay for very long. "Glitches on eBay's part" used to be SOP. Now, they've finally been relegated to "infrequent."

 

(thumbs u

 

 

[rjrjr]

One thing I was wandering you said people e-mailed you and said they were trying to bid on the book but it wouldn't let them. Did e-bay show anything to prove this in there system.

 

This whole story sounds very fishy to me.

 

It sounds more than likely that the people saw the book go for less than they realized and wanted you to know they would have bid more. If they waited until the last minute to bid and failed to place a bid because E-Bay required additional information due to the amount of the bid, oh well, they should have placed a bid earlier and not tried to snipe. E-Bay's auction system is not some manual process, but automatic. It doesn't just "fail" on high priced books.

 

This is absolutely not E-Bay's problem. In the future, you should have used a Buy It Now! or placed a minimum limit on the auction you would have been happy to sell the book at.

 

I feel sorry for the person who didn't get the book he won in auction because you didn't get the price you wanted for the book.

 

 

If you really believe this entire thread was started because the seller "didn't get the price he wanted for the book", you're deluding yourself.

 

Do you...or anyone else who believes this...REALLY think this seller would expose himself to this kind of scrutiny if that was his real motive...?

 

Do you?

 

If that was my motive, I wouldn't have said a word about it. I CERTAINLY wouldn't have exposed myself to the uberdetectives of the CGC message board (of which I like to think I'm a member), who have a knack for rooting through lies, damned lies, and statistics to get at the truth.

 

Tell me...what possible benefit would bringing this complaint to the CGC boards have, if it's all made up?

 

Hmmmm....?

 

If I read everything correctly, the seller mentions a conversation with an E-Bay representative where they say E-Bay has a policy of asking for more information from bidders if the items goes for more than $10,000. Someone else calls E-Bay and finds out there is no such policy. This second person learns that there is a Spyware (which is a PC problem, not an E-Bay website issue) program that may have "blocked" the bidder by asking for additional information. Presumably this Spyware infected multiple bidders' PCs for this single auction.

 

Understand, I believe the seller did have a conversation with an E-Bay representative who apparently did not understand E-Bay's own policies. I'm having a hard time believing the auction results are due to an E-Bay "glitch" based on the information provided. I'm also dubious of the number of bidders who had a problem bidding. It sounds like only one bidder had an issue and that shouldn't invalidate the entire auction because their PC was infected with Spyware.

 

 

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

Whose shill are you or are you just an ?

 

I'm not a shill, I'm both a buyer and seller. And as a buyer, I'd be pissed if a seller emailed me and said "hey, I know this was an auction, but the final price wasn't where it should be, so I don't want to sell it to you."

 

If you have a set price, list it for that. Then no one's disappointed.

 

 

No matter what? And that's not the issue. The issue wasn't that the seller would've like a better price. We all would. The issue is that ebay ed up and PREVENTED the better price from happening.

 

There was a serious glitch in the system that blocked bidders. What if, though some glitch, every single bidder on the planet was blocked out except for 1 guy and the opening bid was .99 cents and he won it for that. Are you telling me that its absolutely black and white and that there's no failure by ebay that could ever trump simply having to follow through with the sale?

 

all that!

 

Do you really believe that out of the millions of auctions that are conducted on E-Bay, they had a glitch with their software for this one auction?

 

Of course not.

 

That would be silly.

 

What you fail to understand, however, is that no one ever hears about the other thousands of glitches that happen all the time, for all sorts of reasons.

 

Did you know, for example, that there's a glitch which will "freeze" the auction countdown clock in certain instances? You know, the one that's supposed to be setup in "real time" to countdown the last hour of any auction without having to hit "refresh"?

 

Why don't you hear about it? Because it's not a feature that really impacts people a lot, and a refresh will usually fix it.

 

But it's still a glitch.

 

Do you know about the glitch that refuses to acknowledge the "remove all pictures" button on the listing page? That if you don't actually trash or overwrite the old picture, it won't "go away", and will show up in the new listing, despite you hitting the "remove all pictures" button...?

 

Still a glitch.

 

Ask any programmer...eBay's site is so code intensive, there are glitches that happen all over the place, all the time.

 

Sure, there aren't site wide outages lasting 24 hours anymore (and there used to be)...but that doesn't mean eBay is glitch free.

 

I understand us not liking their policies, etc., but was there a glitch on their website that prevented a higher bid from going through?

 

According to the OP, eBay said yes.

[rjrjr]

One thing I was wandering you said people e-mailed you and said they were trying to bid on the book but it wouldn't let them. Did e-bay show anything to prove this in there system.

 

This whole story sounds very fishy to me.

 

It sounds more than likely that the people saw the book go for less than they realized and wanted you to know they would have bid more. If they waited until the last minute to bid and failed to place a bid because E-Bay required additional information due to the amount of the bid, oh well, they should have placed a bid earlier and not tried to snipe. E-Bay's auction system is not some manual process, but automatic. It doesn't just "fail" on high priced books.

 

This is absolutely not E-Bay's problem. In the future, you should have used a Buy It Now! or placed a minimum limit on the auction you would have been happy to sell the book at.

 

I feel sorry for the person who didn't get the book he won in auction because you didn't get the price you wanted for the book.

 

 

I just finished reading this thread and am convinced this was not E-Bay's problem. It turns out E-Bay did not even block the bids waiting for additional information, if any bids were blocked at all. There was a posting about a potential Spyware problem, but that would have been on a bidder's PC, not on E-Bay's website.

 

 

I'm sympathetic to the buyer in this case because this is a very similar situation to an auction I won a few years ago. I had won a $0.35 Star Wars #4. I got it for a great price too. (Sub $75.) Sure enough, the seller (a large New York dealer) didn't honor the sale. In this case, he "lost" this rare book so he had to refund my money. Uh huh. I'm always misplacing my rare books. I'd be willing to bet someone e-mailed him a higher offer after the auction ended and that is why I didn't get the comic.

 

Proof...?

 

I'm sure the seller (original poster) is a honest person. I think his view of the auction's results have been tainted by the e-mails he received after the auction on supposed "phantom" bids unfortunately. It would make me wonder about E-Bay too, but I'm having a hard time believe there were any glitches on E-Bay's part.

 

 

You've apparently not used eBay for very long. "Glitches on eBay's part" used to be SOP. Now, they've finally been relegated to "infrequent."

 

(thumbs u

 

 

I'm an E-Bay user since October 1, 1998 with over 3300 verifiable transactions (probably more as this is the number of feedbacks I have), both as a seller and a buyer. I've never experience a glitch with the auction process. Now, I've had problems with their policies and agreements and during a couple of stretches of time didn't like the search capabilities, but the actual auction process has always been solid. It would have to be since it is the core of their business.

[RockMyAmadeus]

One thing I was wandering you said people e-mailed you and said they were trying to bid on the book but it wouldn't let them. Did e-bay show anything to prove this in there system.

 

This whole story sounds very fishy to me.

 

It sounds more than likely that the people saw the book go for less than they realized and wanted you to know they would have bid more. If they waited until the last minute to bid and failed to place a bid because E-Bay required additional information due to the amount of the bid, oh well, they should have placed a bid earlier and not tried to snipe. E-Bay's auction system is not some manual process, but automatic. It doesn't just "fail" on high priced books.

 

This is absolutely not E-Bay's problem. In the future, you should have used a Buy It Now! or placed a minimum limit on the auction you would have been happy to sell the book at.

 

I feel sorry for the person who didn't get the book he won in auction because you didn't get the price you wanted for the book.

 

 

If you really believe this entire thread was started because the seller "didn't get the price he wanted for the book", you're deluding yourself.

 

Do you...or anyone else who believes this...REALLY think this seller would expose himself to this kind of scrutiny if that was his real motive...?

 

Do you?

 

If that was my motive, I wouldn't have said a word about it. I CERTAINLY wouldn't have exposed myself to the uberdetectives of the CGC message board (of which I like to think I'm a member), who have a knack for rooting through lies, damned lies, and statistics to get at the truth.

 

Tell me...what possible benefit would bringing this complaint to the CGC boards have, if it's all made up?

 

Hmmmm....?

 

If I read everything correctly, the seller mentions a conversation with an E-Bay representative where they say E-Bay has a policy of asking for more information from bidders if the items goes for more than $10,000. Someone else calls E-Bay and finds out there is no such policy.

 

There is, in fact, such a policy. The amount, however, is $15,000.

 

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/bidding-overview.html

 

This second person learns that there is a Spyware (which is a PC problem, not an E-Bay website issue) program that may have "blocked" the bidder by asking for additional information. Presumably this Spyware infected multiple bidders' PCs for this single auction.

 

This "spyware" issue is an unrelated issue. There is, in fact, a policy whereby bids for all items over $15,000 must be approved by placing a credit card on file or going through the ID verification process.

 

Understand, I believe the seller did have a conversation with an E-Bay representative who apparently did not understand E-Bay's own policies. I'm having a hard time believing the auction results are due to an E-Bay "glitch" based on the information provided. I'm also dubious of the number of bidders who had a problem bidding. It sounds like only one bidder had an issue and that shouldn't invalidate the entire auction because their PC was infected with Spyware.

 

 

See above.

[rjrjr]

One thing I was wandering you said people e-mailed you and said they were trying to bid on the book but it wouldn't let them. Did e-bay show anything to prove this in there system.

 

This whole story sounds very fishy to me.

 

It sounds more than likely that the people saw the book go for less than they realized and wanted you to know they would have bid more. If they waited until the last minute to bid and failed to place a bid because E-Bay required additional information due to the amount of the bid, oh well, they should have placed a bid earlier and not tried to snipe. E-Bay's auction system is not some manual process, but automatic. It doesn't just "fail" on high priced books.

 

This is absolutely not E-Bay's problem. In the future, you should have used a Buy It Now! or placed a minimum limit on the auction you would have been happy to sell the book at.

 

I feel sorry for the person who didn't get the book he won in auction because you didn't get the price you wanted for the book.

 

 

 

If you really believe this entire thread was started because the seller "didn't get the price he wanted for the book", you're deluding yourself.

 

Do you...or anyone else who believes this...REALLY think this seller would expose himself to this kind of scrutiny if that was his real motive...?

 

Do you?

 

If that was my motive, I wouldn't have said a word about it. I CERTAINLY wouldn't have exposed myself to the uberdetectives of the CGC message board (of which I like to think I'm a member), who have a knack for rooting through lies, damned lies, and statistics to get at the truth.

 

Tell me...what possible benefit would bringing this complaint to the CGC boards have, if it's all made up?

 

Hmmmm....?

 

If I read everything correctly, the seller mentions a conversation with an E-Bay representative where they say E-Bay has a policy of asking for more information from bidders if the items goes for more than $10,000. Someone else calls E-Bay and finds out there is no such policy.

 

There is, in fact, such a policy. The amount, however, is $15,000.

 

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/bidding-overview.html

 

This second person learns that there is a Spyware (which is a PC problem, not an E-Bay website issue) program that may have "blocked" the bidder by asking for additional information. Presumably this Spyware infected multiple bidders' PCs for this single auction.

 

This "spyware" issue is an unrelated issue. There is, in fact, a policy whereby bids for all items over $15,000 must be approved by placing a credit card on file or going through the ID verification process.

 

Understand, I believe the seller did have a conversation with an E-Bay representative who apparently did not understand E-Bay's own policies. I'm having a hard time believing the auction results are due to an E-Bay "glitch" based on the information provided. I'm also dubious of the number of bidders who had a problem bidding. It sounds like only one bidder had an issue and that shouldn't invalidate the entire auction because their PC was infected with Spyware.

 

 

See above.

 

Okay, so E-Bay has a policy concerning bids over $15,000. What was the "glitch" that invalidated this auction?

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

One thing I was wandering you said people e-mailed you and said they were trying to bid on the book but it wouldn't let them. Did e-bay show anything to prove this in there system.

 

This whole story sounds very fishy to me.

 

It sounds more than likely that the people saw the book go for less than they realized and wanted you to know they would have bid more. If they waited until the last minute to bid and failed to place a bid because E-Bay required additional information due to the amount of the bid, oh well, they should have placed a bid earlier and not tried to snipe. E-Bay's auction system is not some manual process, but automatic. It doesn't just "fail" on high priced books.

 

This is absolutely not E-Bay's problem. In the future, you should have used a Buy It Now! or placed a minimum limit on the auction you would have been happy to sell the book at.

 

I feel sorry for the person who didn't get the book he won in auction because you didn't get the price you wanted for the book.

 

 

I just finished reading this thread and am convinced this was not E-Bay's problem. It turns out E-Bay did not even block the bids waiting for additional information, if any bids were blocked at all. There was a posting about a potential Spyware problem, but that would have been on a bidder's PC, not on E-Bay's website.

 

 

I'm sympathetic to the buyer in this case because this is a very similar situation to an auction I won a few years ago. I had won a $0.35 Star Wars #4. I got it for a great price too. (Sub $75.) Sure enough, the seller (a large New York dealer) didn't honor the sale. In this case, he "lost" this rare book so he had to refund my money. Uh huh. I'm always misplacing my rare books. I'd be willing to bet someone e-mailed him a higher offer after the auction ended and that is why I didn't get the comic.

 

Proof...?

 

I'm sure the seller (original poster) is a honest person. I think his view of the auction's results have been tainted by the e-mails he received after the auction on supposed "phantom" bids unfortunately. It would make me wonder about E-Bay too, but I'm having a hard time believe there were any glitches on E-Bay's part.

 

 

You've apparently not used eBay for very long. "Glitches on eBay's part" used to be SOP. Now, they've finally been relegated to "infrequent."

 

(thumbs u

 

 

I'm an E-Bay user since October 1, 1998 with over 3300 verifiable transactions (probably more as this is the number of feedbacks I have), both as a seller and a buyer. I've never experience a glitch with the auction process. Now, I've had problems with their policies and agreements and during a couple of stretches of time didn't like the search capabilities, but the actual auction process has always been solid. It would have to be since it is the core of their business.

 

You've been an eBay user since 1998...in fact, 29 DAYS before I joined...and you've NEVER experienced a glitch with the auction process...?

 

NEVER...?

 

Come on. eBay used to have serious problems on a WEEKLY basis in 1998, 1999, and 2000. It was so bad, they had to make outage policies! And you're saying you NEVER experienced...or even heard of...a glitch...?

 

Now you're just making it up out of whole cloth.

 

 

By the way, the "auction process" is NOT the "core of their business", and hasn't been for some time. Ever since Donahoe became CEO in 2008, eBay has tried very hard to be a fixed price supermarket, much like Amazon.

[RockMyAmadeus]

 

Okay, so E-Bay has a policy concerning bids over $15,000. What was the "glitch" that invalidated this auction?

 

As has already been explained, the OP contends that bidders who were already verified through this process were nonetheless blocked, and the OP further contends that eBay confirmed this problem.

 

Look...you are absolutely correct in this regard: if there was a personal issue (be it spyware, or whatever) that prevented bidders from bidding, too bad, that's the way life goes, and he should have sold to the high bidder, regardless of the high bidder's hostility. But that's not what the OP has said at any time during this thread. If it was, in fact, eBay's problem...and I believe that it was, based on the evidence presented thus far...they should, at the very least, allow a do-over, invalidate the negative feedback, and invite everyone who bid to bid again.

[skypinkblu]

Shouldn't you be getting some sleep? Since you are in California, you must be tired by now...

 

As for my blocking bidders who did wacky things...if you remember the very wise Buster44...he taught me LONG ago..."the blocked bidder list is your friend".

 

I use eBay as part of my hobby, I do my best to have the most relaxed time using it as possible. Stressful transactions are not what I crave;)

 

[RockMyAmadeus]

Shouldn't you be getting some sleep? Since you are in California, you must be tired by now...

 

 

Touché

 

 

As for my blocking bidders who did wacky things...if you remember the very wise Buster44...he taught me LONG ago..."the blocked bidder list is your friend".

 

Who could ever forget Buster?

 

I betcha HE didn't block people who asked to pay more after the auction ended, ya big meanie...

 

 

I use eBay as part of my hobby, I do my best to have the most relaxed time using it as possible. Stressful transactions are not what I crave;)

 

 

You haven't blocked me....yet....

 

 

(by the by...the original winner of the auction in question..? carsonjj? Blocked.)