OT - guess I didn't really win that Probstein auction
 

I won an eBay auction held by Probstein 6 days ago. The item hadn't yet shipped, so I sent a message this morning, asking for tracking. Their reply:

"First off, thank you for the bids and interest in our auctions. We regret to inform you that due to an ebay glitch this item was double listed and
we no longer have anymore in stock. Please open an ebay dispute and we will process you a full refund.
Thank you."

I found a previous listing from roughly two months ago, when the exact card (cert # and all) sold for around 40% more than my winning bid.

My question is this:

What would you do in this situation? So many options on my mind at the moment. Trying to think things through before acting.

I’d open a case with eBay and then thank them for letting you know. Mistakes happen and, even if they aren’t being transparent here (I have no way of saying one way or another), there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.

I'd leave a negative. The auction ran it's course and the seller is now unable to fulfill their obligation. If this was a buy it now or some ancient listing that was auto-renewed that would be different. Sellers are responsible for all their auctions, no matter how many there are.

+1

I haven't looked into the double listed ordeal that I've heard about here and there, but assuming it happened would both listings have the same listing ID number or different ones?

I'd probably just take the refund and leave it alone but I'd also ask them for the other listing ID number.

I don't think you'd get a double item number because that would be a redundancy. I'm sure it was two different numbers. It's entirely possible it was a simple mistake but the auction ran its course and you are owed something for the inconvenience. If you told the seller your bid was a mistake I'm sure they'd do what they could to enforce the payment anyway, or at least leave you negative feedback.

Never mind, read the whole post.

Due to an ebay glitch, eh? Sounds sketchy. Assuming it was an "ebay glitch", the seller should have no problem providing you the item number for both listings, right?

As packs noted, I would imagine the auction ID is the unique identifier of the listing, though not seeing the code, this is only a guess (though an educated one).

I would recommend to move on. I have spent far too much of my time fighting such things and the results have been trivial at best.

I would just let it go. As the OP states, he found the exact card was listed and sold 2 months. Makes it much more understandable that it is just a mistake. Is it disappointing as a buyer, absolutely. Should the seller have caught it, absolutely. Is the OP hurt financially, don't think so. Is this going to really make difference in OP's life, don't think so. Mistakes happen. Just move on. Not everything has to become a big deal and you don't need to be compensated every time someone messes up.

Requesting refund, leaving a neg, moving on. Life is too short.

I thought about posting pics of the card; however, ultimately decided against it. The cert # would make it easily identifiable. There's a chance this wasn't the seller (or consignor) changing their mind after seeing the hammer price. I'd hate like hell if it really was a "glitch" and my post threw shade on the person who's currently holding the card.

Still...it sucks to win an auction, get a great deal, and have someone force a mulligan.

Even if a mistake (or not) by the party listing the auction on Ebay, I wouldn't leave negative feedback, especially if you hope to continue bidding on that party's auctions in the future. It is possible they could ban you from their auctions going forward then.

Tough one
 

I haven't had any dealings personally with Rick, but know I have read quite a few threads with accusations here on Net 54.

I would likely take the refund (after which I do not think you will be able to leave negative feedback) and keep the card/cert on your radar.

Possibly just an "Ebay glitch" - though one I haven't heard of before - Ebay automatically relisted a card that had sold already? Really?

Possibly - someone looking to flip the card and unhappy with the 40% loss?

Yes, really. A few months ago there was a thread on Blowout that discussed this very problem. It started happening when eBay went to the automatic monthly relisting. At the time, I started receiving BIN's for several items that had already sold. I went through my entire inventory, item by item, which was around 1500 items at the time and I found 24 that had sold in the past couple of months and then eBay had relisted them. It still happens once in a while, but at this time, I am not going through all 3100 of my listings to verify that they are all correct.

Rick

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity."

I’ve had the same happen a few times. This sounds like an auction, where it happened to us on BIN listings…but could be the same glitch or just a mistake. If you list thousands of items, a mistake or two is bound to happen.

I'd open the dispute, take the refund and move on. Maybe it was an innocent mistake, maybe it wasn't, but I don't think there's a whole lot that can be done. It's disappointing, but at the end of the day, you won't be out any money and unless it was a very rare card it will come around again.