Re: Dodgy seller(?) Q.

Casper wrote:
I recently bid on an item - was forced to bid early as I was off to work. Anyways, 10minutes before auction end, a new bidder has bumped me up to my max - immediately after, he places a bid in excess of my max - he then immediately withdraws his bid stating 'entered wrong amount'. The result is that I win the item - for my max bid, and I come home from work to find 2 emails - 'you have been outbid' followed by 'you are the winner'.

There's a step missing here. What makes you think there's a connection between the withdrawn bid and the final bid being your max. Would the auction have ended at your max bid if this person had never bid in the first place? Did the person rebid lower? Were there other bidders?

So there are two issues, firstly, was the seller involved ? If so, surely I don't want to deal with this dodgy seller (a noob) - despite the fact that I did choose my own max bid, an amount I am happy to pay for the item.

You can never have absolute proof that it's the seller. eBay however can see much more evidence (e.g. whether the bidder and the seller are using the same computer or have the same contact info, etc.). Anytime you have a suspicion like this, just report it to eBay and let them sort it out.


Secondly, even if the seller was not involved, doesn't it suck that my bid was bumped up to my max by someone not genuinely interested in buying - I recieved an email stating I was no longer the highest bidder - doesn't that release me from any obligation pertaining to this auction ?

No. eBay does warn you that you are committing to buy the item and that you may become the high bidder again if other bids are withdrawn or cancelled.
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