Genuine question about ebay bid retractions

[JustinD]

Okay, I am asking this out of actual curiousity and it's not a slight on anyone.

I have been an active user of ebay since around 96', in that time frame and having just short of 3500 feedbacks on my current account I made in 01', I have never retracted a bid. In fact I did not know how until I just looked it up on the ebay help pages.

Am I the outlier?

If you want to be anonymous please just vote. With all the talk of these retractions I was just wondering the general bidding practices out there to put it in perspective.

Thanks for your feedback. :D

[spaidly]

Ebayer since 1999 and I retracted once because I put too many zeros in my bid. I have wanted to retract many times since but feel a bid is like my word, which is my bond.

[bnorth]

I have been on eBay for 20 years and I have retracted 1 bid around 15 years ago because I entered the wrong amount and didn't notice it at first.

[gnaz01]

Ebayer since early 1998 with over 1000 feedback at 100%, I have had 1 bid retraction and notified the seller on the front side.......

[icollectDCsports]

On eBay since '97 or '98 and 0 bid retractions.

[Leon]

Been there since '98 or '99 and don't think I have done any. That being said there is a chance I forgot and could have done 1 in the last 17 yrs. But I put 0 as I can't remember it.

[jefferyepayne]

Never had a retraction.

jeff

[pherbener]

Ebayer since 2000. Hundreds of bids, 0 retractions. I honestly don't understand why ebay doesn't have a "three strikes and you're out" policy. I understand putting an errant zero etc. occasionally but beyond that, the only answer is shill bidding. What else can it be?

[swarmee]

Started on eBay in college (1998 or so?) and have probably retracted one bid lifetime due to my cellphone app not putting the decimal point I typed in the bid price.

[Jantz]

Justin

You are not the outlier.

I voted 1-5 only because mistakes do happen. In all honesty, I believe 5 is a high number for one reason.

Buyers who use multiple accounts can accumulate a large number of bid retractions before it throws up a red flag.

Even then, start a new account and start all over again.

** Sorry, I misread your question Justin. I read it as how many do you think should be allowed. I have been on Ebay since the late 90s and have 0 bid retractions. I'm not going to change my original reply.**

[MW1]

eBay member since July 1998. Zero retractions.

[jefferyepayne]

My caveat for this poll would be that it should be how many times did you have a retraction DUE TO A MISTAKE.

I don't care how many times a shiller has had a retraction. They are doing it on purpose.

jeff

[philliesfan]

16 years on ebay = 0 retractions for any reason.
Robert

[Republicaninmass]

retracted once, card was over graded and had paper loss after closer inspection

didnt pay once, card was obviously shilled up

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

one retraction since 1998. missing decimal point.

[PhillipAbbott79]

Okay, I am asking this out of actual curiousity and it's not a slight on anyone.

I have been an active user of ebay since around 96', in that time frame and having just short of 3500 feedbacks on my current account I made in 01', I have never retracted a bid. In fact I did not know how until I just looked it up on the ebay help pages.

Am I the outlier?

If you want to be anonymous please just vote. With all the talk of these retractions I was just wondering the general bidding practices out there to put it in perspective.

Thanks for your feedback. :D

A bid retraction can come in a couple of forms as far as I know. I have never officially retracted a bid. I have retracted a best offer, and I have retracted a counter offer to a buyer because I no longer wanted to do business with that person.

I believe both of them counted. Did I ever retract on an auction, no. Do I have retractions, yes. 0-5.

[frankbmd]

16 years

retractions = 0

I think I asked a seller once or twice to cancel a bid, when I realized that I had misread the listing. Does this count?

Having a hissy fit because I don't know whether I should vote (0) or (2). :D

[Cmount76]

Member since 2003 - 0 retractions.

Made a few mistakes, but always bit the proverbial bullet.

[savedfrommyspokes]

In 16 years on ebay, I have had 3....2 were due to changes in the listing (number of items offered in listing lowered) and 1 due to a mistype. My mail lady would concur that this is an extremely low percent based on the total items she delivers on a near daily basis.

[iowadoc77]

Just one. It was my mistake and contacted seller who was cool about it as it was very early in auction. Felt really bad about it anyway. Won't do it again.

[vintagetoppsguy]

I can only remember one. I thought I was bidding on a 1980 Topps Baseball vending box, but it was actually a Basketball vending box. Totally my fault for not reading it correctly.

[irv]

I made a couple rookie mistakes shortly after I joined and had one retraction after the person ahead of me retracted their bid.

I no longer wanted the card as I spent my money elsewhere, but I did ask this question a few times with no answer?

The question was, "If someone ahead of you retracts their bid, making you the highest bidder again, are you obligated to purchase that card if your high bid wins the auction"? :confused:

[sterlingfox]

Ebayer since '96 and have never retracted a bid once.

However, I have asked a seller to cancel a BUY-IT-NOW sale when I found out I bought the wrong type of cell phone cord. They obliged.

[Buythatcard]

18 years with 0 retractions.

I have no problem if someone retracts a bid at one of my auctions as long as they place another bid. We all make mistakes and that's why eBay allows us to retract a bid. According to their policy, a bidder must place another bid if they retract a bid. Retractions are only for correcting a wrongful bid.

Once a bidder retracts a bid at one of my auctions without placing a corrected bid, they are blocked for good. If it's done on the last day of an auction, I make a phone call to eBay to file a complaint. Not sure if they ever follow up with any action against the bidder but I was told to call every time a bidder retracts a bid. They assured me that action will be taken.

[rajah424]

I have a question about retractions. I have never retracted a bid but I use snipe services.

Lets say I bid $200 on an item and I'm currently the high bidder at $100. Someone comes in and starts bidding to bump my bids up incrementally until they surpass my max bid. At that point they know what my max bid is and then retract their last bid to leave me at my high bid of $200.

In this case I would feel justified in retracting my bids.

My question is, What would happen if I retracted my $200 dollar bid? Would the other bidder have the high bid now at just under $200?

[bmattioli]

Member since 2 July '97.

Zero retractions

bmattioli

[Bliggity]

I've been a member since 1999, and have only retracted a "bid" once, if you can call it a bid. An 8% eBay Bucks promotion was running and I submitted a best offer on an item. I was not interested in the item at that price absent the promotion, and I included a note in my best offer asking the seller to accept the offer (if he wanted to) before midnight the following night when the promotion expired. The seller never responded, and I did not want the seller to accept the offer after the promotion ended, so I cancelled the offer shortly before the end of the promotion.

Not sure if that counted as a bid retraction or not, but I've never retracted a bid during an actual auction.

[Econteachert205]

Only one for me. I bid 18k on an 18 dollar card. Genius.

[itjclarke]

I have a question about retractions. I have never retracted a bid but I use snipe services.

Lets say I bid $200 on an item and I'm currently the high bidder at $100. Someone comes in and starts bidding to bump my bids up incrementally until they surpass my max bid. At that point they know what my max bid is and then retract their last bid to leave me at my high bid of $200.

In this case I would feel justified in retracting my bids.

My question is, What would happen if I retracted my $200 dollar bid? Would the other bidder have the high bid now at just under $200?

Pretty sure in this scenario, once the other bidder retracts, all his bids (between the previous high of $100 and your max bid of $200) will disappear and the high bid will go back to $100. That said, anyone watching will now know what your max bid was, which I think is often what the other bidder wants to see.

[rajah424]

If that's the case then when I retract my bid wouldn't it also retract my $100 bid? Technically I only placed one bid at $200. That's what I don't understand. In my scenario I only actually placed one bid at $200 and was bid up in increments. The other bidder (shiller) would have made a series of bids. Does he have to retract all of his to find the next bidder below my $100?

[Beastmode]

I've been on e-bay for a long time with many purchases. Never retracted one bid.

But hey, I'm just a $20 card collector so doesn't mean much.

[mikemb]

Member since 1999, 0 retractions. Mike

[steve B]

Been on Ebay since I think 1998.

One retraction. Nice price on a 16mm projector that usually went for around $80 saw one for 40 and bid. Talking to my friend later he asked why I'd bid when the shipping was $80. That model usually shipped for around 20 at the time.

Steve B

[itjclarke]

If that's the case then when I retract my bid wouldn't it also retract my $100 bid? Technically I only placed one bid at $200. That's what I don't understand. In my scenario I only actually placed one bid at $200 and was bid up in increments. The other bidder (shiller) would have made a series of bids. Does he have to retract all of his to find the next bidder below my $100?

When you retract, I'm 90% sure it retracts any/all prior bids on the item. So in your story, if the potential shiller retracts, it goes back down to the next highest bidder's bid below your max. That said, if the seller and shiller(s) are in cahoots, they could just have someone re-bid it back up to your max. For these reasons, I typically never place my max bid early in the auction.

[Stampsfan]

Been there since '98 or '99 and don't think I have done any. That being said there is a chance I forgot and could have done 1 in the last 17 yrs. But I put 0 as I can't remember it.

+1

This is exactly my scenario.

[JustinD]

Thank you everyone for the replies and it is a bit eye opening on this practice.

I do believe everyone makes a mistake and it seems that most respondents are zero or roughly averaging about one a decade. This certainly helped change my perspective on what constitutes questionable bidding habits.

Thanks again!

[smotan_02]

When you retract, I'm 90% sure it retracts any/all prior bids on the item. So in your story, if the potential shiller retracts, it goes back down to the next highest bidder's bid below your max. That said, if the seller and shiller(s) are in cahoots, they could just have someone re-bid it back up to your max. For these reasons, I typically never place my max bid early in the auction.

Or, the buyer retracts their bid in an effort to get you scared and think you are being shilled. At which time you retract your bid also and the retractinator now has a clear path to bid and win the item at a much lower cost.

[Eric72]

Only one for me. I bid 18k on an 18 dollar card. Genius.

Was that a Dean's Cards listing? :D

To answer the OP, i have been on eBay for 15+ years and don't remember ever retracting a bid.

[arcadekrazy]

Using eBay since 1998. One retraction, which was just recently. Typed in 4,999 instead of 49.99 using the app. Immediately contacted the seller and explained why I retracted. Then proceeded to place a correct bid.

[Jayworld]

eBay member since April 1998. No retractions.

[BleedinBlue]

Member since 1998. I remember retracting 1 bid. Maybe 2 in that time. And always for putting in too many zeros. Not once in at least a decade though.

[darwinbulldog]

Could be I'm forgetting one, but I think it's zero. Joined in the late 90s but didn't really get started until 2002.

[cardinalcollector]

Ebay member since 2000

7500 transactions

0 Retractions

[smotan_02]

I think a better question is posed to our Net54 members that feel that multiple bid retractions are acceptable and explain their reasoning for use.

Note: I've had one bid retraction in 9 years and it was because the seller updated the item description with lesser condition. I retracted my bid and bid lower. I've had several I wanted to do, but always felt I entered a contract with the seller and was obligated to honor that agreement.

[ibuysportsephemera]

I have been an eBay member since almost the very beginning. I retracted one bid in that time because of a change in the auction description. The seller gave the impression that they were selling a group of items, but in reality they were selling each item individually.

Jeff

[Jim65]

1, had my only one a few days ago. Ibid on a jersey described as a NJ Devils game used, when I looked at the pics I realized it was a Trenton Devils jersey, I asked the seller to cancel my bid explaining the reason and he was cool about it.

[bnorth]

I think a better question is posed to our Net54 members that feel that multiple bid retractions are acceptable and explain their reasoning for use.

Note: I've had one bid retraction in 9 years and it was because the seller updated the item description with lesser condition. I retracted my bid and bid lower. I've had several I wanted to do, but always felt I entered a contract with the seller and was obligated to honor that agreement.

I have been on eBay since almost the beginning and I have retracted 1 bid and shilled 1 item. I entered the wrong amount so I retracted my bid and then bid my intended amount several years ago. I also shilled 1 item around 18 years ago. I listed several very rare error cards and put reserves on all of them except 1 I missed by accident. It almost instantly received a bid so I could not correct the listing. I had a friend put in a bid at what my reserve would have been instead of canceling the auction.

I have talked about shilling and bid retracting with people that do it a lot. Most say they do it to protect their investment or get maximum value. Some retract because they over extend themselves and have to retract a bid so if they win another item they can pay for it.

[smotan_02]

I have been on eBay since almost the beginning and I have retracted 1 bid and shilled 1 item. I entered the wrong amount so I retracted my bid and then bid my intended amount several years ago. I also shilled 1 item around 18 years ago. I listed several very rare error cards and put reserves on all of them except 1 I missed by accident. It almost instantly received a bid so I could not correct the listing. I had a friend put in a bid at what my reserve would have been instead of canceling the auction.

I have talked about shilling and bid retracting with people that do it a lot. Most say they do it to protect their investment or get maximum value. Some retract because they over extend themselves and have to retract a bid so if they win another item they can pay for it.

Re: over extend themselves. I think sellers are understanding if someone needs to delay payment. However, when you retract a bid repeatedly because you can not pay for items, it hurts the sellers sales. People see the price of an item fluctuate up and down and do not want to bid out of fear there is risky bidding associated.

[earlywynnfan]

on ebay since 1999, one bid retraction because I entered the wrong amount. I then immediately re-bid with the correct amount.

Say, is there anywhere to see how many total transactions I've had?

[Section103]

Does cancelling a Best Offer after 36 hours and no response from the seller count?

[BosseFieldBoy]

Never, but there have been a few times where I wanted to. I view it as a binding agreement. That said, if I accidentally enter too many digits, I will try to retract.

[laughlinfan]

Going on 20 years on eBay - 0 bid retractions. Can't understand how they ethically allow people to repeatedly retract and abuse the process.

[bn2cardz]

There have been plenty of threads on Ebay bid retractions lately so I didn't want to start a new thread and opted to use the most recently commented in thread for this post.

Lately I have been on both sides of the bid retraction.

Last week I bid an amount but did not have the high bid. So I went on to reallocate my money elsewhere. The high bidder then proceeded to retract their high bid leaving me with the high bid. I tried to retract as I no longer had the funds to cover the price, but couldn't because it was within 12 hours of the auction end. I politely told the seller the situation and he cancelled the sale after the auction ended with me as the winner. It is possible that the person that retracted their bid and left me holding the bag had retracted because someone had done the same to them because there was another bidder that retracted their bid.

Now I have some items for sale with .99 cent starting bids. I got an email stating one of the items had a bid, but when I went to see how things were going it didn't have one. I checked and someone had bid and retracted the bid. They put the reason as wrong amount, but then never put a new bid in.
I went on to see that the person has to retracted bids in the last 6 months.

This make me realize how hard it really would be for a large auction house to police since as a seller I didn't get an email stating someone had retracted the bid. What I don't like is that ebay is so flippant about it. To really cut down on it maybe you should have to call ebay to remove the bid, most people wouldn't put up with the hassle if they had to talk to customer service to retract a bid. Then as added protection to only allow so many in a year's time, before a suspension. Just a thought.

[Buythatcard]

There have been plenty of threads on Ebay bid retractions lately so I didn't want to start a new thread and opted to use the most recently commented in thread for this post.

Lately I have been on both sides of the bid retraction.

Last week I bid an amount but did not have the high bid. So I went on to reallocate my money elsewhere. The high bidder then proceeded to retract their high bid leaving me with the high bid. I tried to retract as I no longer had the funds to cover the price, but couldn't because it was within 12 hours of the auction end. I politely told the seller the situation and he cancelled the sale after the auction ended with me as the winner. It is possible that the person that retracted their bid and left me holding the bag had retracted because someone had done the same to them because there was another bidder that retracted their bid.

Now I have some items for sale with .99 cent starting bids. I got an email stating one of the items had a bid, but when I went to see how things were going it didn't have one. I checked and someone had bid and retracted the bid. They put the reason as wrong amount, but then never put a new bid in.
I went on to see that the person has to retracted bids in the last 6 months.

This make me realize how hard it really would be for a large auction house to police since as a seller I didn't get an email stating someone had retracted the bid. What I don't like is that ebay is so flippant about it. To really cut down on it maybe you should have to call ebay to remove the bid, most people wouldn't put up with the hassle if they had to talk to customer service to retract a bid. Then as added protection to only allow so many in a year's time, before a suspension. Just a thought.

Andy,
eBay always send a notification when someone retracts a bid. Perhaps your notifications aren't set correctly in your account.

[ibuysportsephemera]

Andy,
eBay always send a notification when someone retracts a bid. Perhaps your notifications aren't set correctly in your account.

I have never been notified when a buyer retracts their bid. I have checked all of the communication settings in my eBay control panel and do not see anything about bid retraction communications.

Can you please let us know where the setting is?

Thanks,

Jeff

[bn2cardz]

Andy,
eBay always send a notification when someone retracts a bid. Perhaps your notifications aren't set correctly in your account.

Because of your response I did find the email that ebay sent, it is an account setting on my email side I will have to fix.

[obcbobd]

Retracted my first bid in 1999 :-( .
As I realized the card was a reprint.

Learned my lesson. Think I retracted one more as I entered the wrong amount, not 100% sure thhough

[stlcardsfan]

0 times in approx. 20 years.

[Buythatcard]

I have never been notified when a buyer retracts their bid. I have checked all of the communication settings in my eBay control panel and do not see anything about bid retraction communications.

Can you please let us know where the setting is?

Thanks,

Jeff

Jeff,

I know that there are settings to send and receive certain type of notifications. I am assuming there is one to receive notifications about retractions. I don't know exactly where they are. When i wasn't receiving certain notifications, I called eBay's customer service and they walked me thru it.

[irv]

1 bid retraction within the last couple months. I accidently, instead of hitting the period/dot button on my number keypad, hit the 3 instead.
Admittedly, I did it in a hurry and didn't double check before I confirmed, but I ended up bidding $10,397 instead of $10,97. :o

I immediately retracted the bid, stated the reason why then rebid the correct amount.

As to Andy's question, I have asked that numerous times without ever receiving an answer? I always wondered/wanted to know, if the seller refuses to cancel the sale, are you obligated to purchase the card?

I assume, as nobody can force you to pay, that you'd be left with negative feedback, but is there anymore to it than that?

[Beansballcardblog]

You wouldn't get a negative, as eBay doesn't allow sellers to leave negatives.
That's on of the 10,000 issues I have with feeBay.

-kin

1 bid retraction within the last couple months. I accidently, instead of hitting the period/dot button on my number keypad, hit the 3 instead.
Admittedly, I did it in a hurry and didn't double check before I confirmed, but I ended up bidding $10,397 instead of $10,97. :o

I immediately retracted the bid, stated the reason why then rebid the correct amount.

As to Andy's question, I have asked that numerous times without ever receiving an answer? I always wondered/wanted to know, if the seller refuses to cancel the sale, are you obligated to purchase the card?

I assume, as nobody can force you to pay, that you'd be left with negative feedback, but is there anymore to it than that?

[ibuysportsephemera]

Jeff,

I know that there are settings to send and receive certain type of notifications. I am assuming there is one to receive notifications about retractions. I don't know exactly where they are. When i wasn't receiving certain notifications, I called eBay's customer service and they walked me thru it.

Thanks Howard...I will try calling. I looked again and just can't seem to find it.

Jeff

[glynparson]

Chance it was 2. One time back when you could see buyers a good friend warned me he had been ripped off by a seller so I retracted bid. There was one other time I asked a question and got a vulgar rude response. I can't remember if I had retracted my bid or was outbid after I got the rude response.

[cardsfan73]

Only one time. I retracted an offer I made on a buy it now/best offer after finding the same item much cheaper almost 2 days after making the offer. Normally I would not do this but the 48 hour window for the buyer to respond was almost up anyway. I have been an active ebay user since 1998.

[Yankees1964]

I've been on eBay since 2001, I know of one because I was half asleep and put the bid in wrong. I can't remember any others.