As a seller, can I cancel a winning eBay bid?

[DocHolliday]

I just had an auction end, and the winning bidder ignored the terms of the auction. I had specified that overseas buyers had to contact me for a shipping estimate before bidding, and the winner, in China, failed to do so. Can I cancel this bid and make a second-chance offer? Do I risk negative feedback?

If this were an established buyer, I might not worry too much. But the person has 0 feedback, and I'm reluctant to continue with an overseas transaction in which an unknown buyer has already demonstrated an unwillingness to comply with the terms of the contract.

 

[whusurdadi]

There's nothing you can do now to cancel out his bid - you can always take the risk of a second chance offer and risk the negative, but ebay has these new policies that feedbacks left by members who are active for less than 90 days can get revoked if the user is suspended indefinitely - so if he does leave you a negative, you can email ebay to have him suspended because he violated your auction terms...
Also, if he's a 0 who fails to follow your auction terms, I find it hard to believe that he'll actually follow through and pay for the item...
Good luck...

 

[AlanC]

You can file a non-paying bidder dispute. You can also initiate a mutual agreement to cancel the auction obligation. Beyond that I'm not sure what you can do.

 

[DocHolliday]

What a load of nonsense. The auction didn't even list China as a shipping destination. I think I'm willing to take a negative over this.

 

[Hard2Fit]

Try to contact him first.
Explain he didn't follow your instructions.
It would also give him an opportunity to convince you he's legit.

 

[Hard2Fit]

Originally Posted by DocHolliday

Can I cancel this bid and make a second-chance offer? Do I risk negative feedback?

Just realized I didn't answer your questions.
No, but you can ignore the winning bid.
Yes.

 

[DocHolliday]

I just wrote him and explained that he had not met the auction terms and that I would be willing to ship to a U.S. address. If that's not possible, I said, I'd be willing to cancel the auction. We'll see what happens.

 

[A Harris]

If he ignored auction terms just sell to the next bidder. Especially if he is a 0 feedback bidder from China.

 

[sjmin209]

I'd go with the second chance offer & be sure to tell that buyer exactly what happened. Also, file a non-paying bidder dispute with eBay. I believe that there's a specific category on one of the drop-down menus (which ask you to specify why you're filing) for bidders who don't meet the terms specified in the auction.

 

[AlanC]

I know that I have been blocked from bidding on UK auctions before because they did not ship to the US. I wonder why he was even able to place a bid.

 

[Holdfast]

Originally Posted by AlanC

I know that I have been blocked from bidding on UK auctions before because they did not ship to the US. I wonder why he was even able to place a bid.

The seller needs to select the "block bidders from non-shipping destinations" (I paraphrase) restriction when listing to do this.

Doc- you can ignore the winning bid because the bid does not comply with the terms of the auction. You're under no obligation to sell to them.

 

[Karo]

Rather risk a negative fb than risk your item. Besides I don't think they'll pay for it anyways.

 

[rockyfella]

I am just wondering: if he pays and the payment clears, what is to worry about?

 

[knowsnothin]

I mean no disrespect, but if the auction terms are as you stated, I don't see how he violated the terms of the auction.

If you said buyers need to contact you for a "shipping estimate," and he did not, all that means is he does not care how much shipping to China costs. You can charge him or her as much as you like for shipping, but you also have to follow through on your auction.

Actually, it seems that estimated shipping costs to China are not the problem here. From what you wrote, if the auction winner contacted you as you requested, you would not have provided the promised shipping estimate at all. Instead, you would have refused to ship to China, as you are now doing.

To repeat what someone else wrote, why do you care where you ship to if you are paid in full prior to shipping?

 

[DocHolliday]

Originally Posted by knowsnothin

I mean no disrespect, but if the auction terms are as you stated, I don't see how he violated the terms of the auction.

If you said buyers need to contact you for a "shipping estimate," and he did not, all that means is he does not care how much shipping to China costs. You can charge him or her as much as you like for shipping, but you also have to follow through on your auction.

Actually, it seems that estimated shipping costs to China are not the problem here. From what you wrote, if the auction winner contacted you as you requested, you would not have provided the promised shipping estimate at all. Instead, you would have refused to ship to China, as you are now doing.

To repeat what someone else wrote, why do you care where you ship to if you are paid in full prior to shipping?

No disrespect taken, as you ask valid questions. However, the problem, as I see it, is that he has already demonstrated an unwillingness to comply with the terms of the contract. I didn't list China as a shipping destination, and I included specific instructions for overseas bidders. Had he contacted me before the end of the auction, I might have agreed to ship to China. But he didn't, and that sends up a red flag.

In general, any sort of refusal to comply with the terms of a transaction makes me suspicious, but doubly so when the buyer has zero track record. I'd be just as suspicious if it were a zero-feedback domestic bidder who had written me after the auction to say that he didn't have PayPal and needed to pay with a wire transfer or somesuch. Well, no. You either agree to the terms of the auction or you don't. I don't like auctions that require money orders, so I don't bid on them.

With any auction, there's a possibility that the buyer will hit you with a chargeback, or that they'll claim the package never made it to them, or they'll argue that something's wrong with the item. The perils of international shipping then add to the risk, especially in countries with less reliable mail systems. As such, being able to trust the buyer is extremely important, and I'm nervous to trust a zero-feedback newcomer to eBay who won't comply with the terms of the auction. He's probably an honest, upstanding guy, but I have no way of knowing, and would prefer not to risk several hundred dollars to find out.