Bid Retractions - A Punk Move?

[steve B]

I've got one retraction since I think 1998.

I saw a nice film projector at well below the going price and bid. Later that night I was telling my film collecting friend about it and he said "didn't you see the shipping is $80?! " Which put it about $40 over the usual price including shipping. I cancelled that bid, but haven't had a reason to cancel any others. I've mistyped a few times, but the give you plenty of chances to catch it.

I can see maybe using it to find the reserve, but have never done it. Just nothing I want that much, that's also within my budget. I also usually ask about a reserve. Some sellers will tell you what the reserve is, some won't. I always did as a seller and eventually started putting it in the description.

Most buyers were really good about that, and I learned a lot about a couple items I had. One thing a buyer sent me a few links to sales of the same item at major auctions or dealers, showing me I'd made the reserve about double what I could expect. It gave me time to change the reserve to be more reasonable. Another item I had 3-4 potential buyers ask about the reserve then tell me I was going to be very pleasantly surprised. I was, it went for over 6X my reserve.

Steve B