I tried handling this peacefully . . . Now what do I do?

I was going to ask that, how does he know it is you, if eBay codes the bidders ID. I sometimes suspect by their transactions score. I mean the person must respect your knowledge and business decisions and is doing it on purpose for their own collections. Jim

 

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It absolutely is an enforceable contract although Ebay doesn't care because the contract is between the seller and buyer not Ebay. A buyer or seller has every right to sue the person who breaches that contract if they so desire.

 

Question Mike

How many sellers are going along with this guy?

 

You can sue anyone you want for anything you want at any time. It doesn't mean you will win or your suit will have any merit. It's not enforceable at all, eBay allows for no hassle cancellations by either party.

 

To ToughCOINS, Dealer Member & Moderator. You claim to have handled this problem "peacefully". It looks more like weakness. To have tolerated such shameful behaviour as a mere nuisance is like, reluctantly, colluding. My feeling is that it is unethical and illegal, and someone is responsible. You may even be partly responsible for being over-tolerant. There are certain rules for auctions, in the United States, and anyone crossing the line could be banned, or, possibly, punished for criminal behaviour. By stating, as some CT members do, that nothing can be done is tantamount to accepting immorality - "that's how the world goes !" - You may need witnesses, and evidence that procedures which should be transparent are underhand, even deceptive. The "offender" isn't just that devious guy, but also those who conduct their business dishonestly, with total disregard for decent customers.

 

The sellers are the ones they would go after if it was moved off of eBay. If the new sales were on eBay again you would very likely just get some lip service that they're concerned about it and will address it ect ect and really nothing will happen.

 

It's a type of collusion, and unfortunate that EBay does not do the proper thing in an honest and ethical business setting. EBay is never on anybody's side but their own. If you are not going to be bound by the rules of the auction, why bother having an auction at all?
When they relist the item bid a million dollars, and then explain why you won't pay.

 

It'seems a possibility that the person is working with the seller. The item may have sold for less than the seller had hoped for, so he'll claim he has a higher offer to avoid selling the coin for less than he thought he could get. The idea is pretty far out, but I have had sellers cancel eBay auctions I have bId on, "item is no longer available" and I suspect they were not getting the price they wanted or sold off eBay. I saw an action for a 1968 SMS Kennedy Half, and contacted the seller letting him know there was only 1965, 66, and 67 SMS. He responded he realized his mistake, but eBay wouldn't let him correct the mistake because the item had been bid on. It was actually a 1965 SMS in MS68 and I won that auction for way below the coins value and the seller completed the sale.

 

I'm curious -- how does anyone go about tracking a particular buyer on eBay, now that buyer IDs are anonymized? Sellers see de-anonymized information, but people not involved in the transaction never do.

 

Makes sense. Not foolproof, but errors would be rare.

When I took a course on computer security (decades ago), one of the topics was using correlations like that to identify individuals in anonymized datasets. You've got to be very careful if you want to prevent that kind of analysis. eBay hasn't shown evidence of being that careful -- heck, they once botched an eBay/PayPal payment transaction on my account, something that could've meant serious legal trouble. If they can't get payment-processing algorithms right the first time, I don't expect them to get "privacy" algorithms right ever.

 

While I have never had this happen to me, I do know it would make me very mad. Especially if it was coin for my personal collection and happened more than once.

I take it eBay doesn't allow the buyer any leverage here? As the buyer, can you refuse the cancellation and demand the seller completes the transaction?

 

If they listed it, they are saying they own it and have it for sale.Once the auction is done technically you own it. Why are you letting them cancel?

Isn't it against the rules to resell it first and then ask your permission?