I was wondering how many times you have won and paid for a winning Ebay auction bid and then have it cancelled and get a refund? I had this happen to me today after winning a nice IHC in an auction yesterday. My thoughts were that maybe the seller didn't get the price they wanted or that someone contacted the seller after the auction, offering a higher price for the coin. If that's the case, it's a bit unethical in my opinion. I guess in the end it's their coin and they can do what they want.
It's just to bad that "What they want", isn't "Maintaining integrity" in a lot of cases. The reason that we can't have nice things is because people suck. If a system is open to a large enough number of people, and there is any opportunity for manipulation, then ethics tend to go out the window at some point. This is how I think about Ebay listings: Buy It Now = Priced too high Auction = Shill bidding, reneging Seller's Fees = Ridiculously high All that being said, I still use it from time to time. Just have to keep these things in mind
On that I would guess 99% of it being closed down is from shill bidding. It happened to me once. I got mad and never bought from that Ebay seller ever again and warned as many people here on CoinTalk, NumisSociety, and CollectorsUniverse not to bid from him. If enough people hear about how he is shill bidding he will loose business over time.
I've only had it happen once. Several years ago I won a generic 1oz silver round for $15 as nobody else bid on it. The seller cancelled my order and told me straight up it was because he didn't get enough. I think silver was $16 or $17/oz at the time. I reported it to ebay who of course did nothing and blocked that seller. I don't care to deal with people who don't feel the need to act eithical. On the flip side, I managed to buy an 1854 Seated 25c for 99c and free shipping. The seller listed it as a BIN instead of an auction and I just happened to come across the listing right afterwards. They messaged me and told me what happened and I offered to cancel the order but they insisted I bought it fair and square and sent it anyways.
I picked up something recently in a "buy it now" transaction that was fell through. The seller had a coin up for auction that I had my eye on but forgot about and it went without any bids. The seller put it up again as "buy it now" at the same starting bid and I placed the order. I contacted the seller eight days later because it had not shipped. His response was that he "couldn't find the coin", but would offer up two other examples. Both examples were culls about two grades lower than the one I purchased so I declined and responded to his offer with... "awful". The thing that really ticked me off is when I found out that I couldn't even leave feedback after the transaction was cancelled.
It could just be an oversight on the seller's part. One time (thankfully only 1) I sold an item on eBay that I had already sold at a local show. It taught me to be better at keeping my records up to date.
(Never for me)like you said it's common for this to happen.Seller doesn't like the final sale price and says something like they can't find the coin and give a refund.Or the seller just flat out does a refund with no response like a (screw you)deal for example.Or your bid was canceled and the coin didn't sell do to suspicious activity within the history.But really the possible causes are endless with no true answer unless contact the seller with a possible true reason.
I won an auction last fall for 10 ANACS graded Kennedy 40% halves. The relatively new seller (based on feedback) thought he would get more bids with a gimmick - he put little pieces of Post It note to cover up the actual grades (so I obviously guessed "Details") so it was a MYSTERY??? auction and it got almost no attention - the coins looked pretty good in the pictures, so I took a flyer on it for a bit under $80 plus shipping. He contacted me after the auction to say that he wouldn't follow through as the price was far too low. I responded that he had set up the auction so that I didn't know exactly what I was buying and that he should do what was right - he did, and I did very well, 2 of them were not details, all were between MS 63-67 and most were Details (Cleaned) - but at less than $8 each, I was very pleased and I appreciate that he went through with it. I just looked him up, he's still selling some coins - Morgans, silver quarters and others, his shipping prices are silly, so that's his new angle apparently (he's also got some awesome 8 track tapes!) I feel bad because he'd be better off just running straight auctions in my view, but to each his own. It's too old an auction to get any of the pictures, except the little picture on my old order -
Sorry that happened to you. I had it happen once and sent a message to the seller, who privately told me that when he went to get the coin, the envelope was empty and he couldn't find the coin. He sent me another coin, not the one I wanted, for free, just for my inconvenience.
They might have also lost it or something or was an accidental double listing. It's kind of dumb to be running auctions like that since you have to pay fees on refunded money now but some people still do it that way. That said while it sucks as long as eBay allows buyers to cancel bids/orders whenever they want sellers should have the same right. Just the cost of doing business where nothing is really binding
I've received refunds for several auctions I've won over the years with excuses ranging from they couldn't find the coin, had sold it and forgot , and had posted the wrong coin.
I contacted the seller and he said that his kids were playing with the coins he had up for auction and he can't find them. I'm not sure if I'd let my kids play with a slabbed $500 coin but it is what it is. I told him that if he does find them I'd still be interested in buying it.
Obviously that's complete BS as expected and the seller can't admit he just didn't want to sell it because you won the coin for easy money,find it?I'm sure the person still has it and knows exactly where!!!Just look for the same coins to be up in another auction within a few days.
The sale shows up in the PCGS Coin Facts recent NGC sales. I contacted PCGS suggesting they remove the item since it was cancelled. Whether or not it gets removed only time will tell.
They wont remove it because some random person emails about a sale they had nothing to do with. That's also why the eBay button is there though. You can choose whether or not to see eBay sales in the https://www.pcgs.com/auctionprices
I myself had an order cancelled. I used the buy it now and the seller, international coin, could not even send me an email stating as much. No, "Sorry it was listed wrong" or any other multitude of reasons. Only that I received a refund after two weeks of no coin in the mail and checking the purchase history. So as expected, a very sharply worded negative feedback. Then, and only then, did they contact me. Worst part? I was a repeat customer of some high grade, top population coins. Not cheap. But no longer from these people.
You have a point and the listing probably won't be removed. I'm going to periodically check the sellers listings to see if he lists it. Honestly, the bid I won with was most likely considerably lower than the seller expected. My max bid was higher than what the hammer price was. It's his coin so he holds all the cards. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. There's more fish in the pond.
I had some dude buy a WLH of mine from a friend who listed it on Ebay. He found a cheaper one and declined to complete the purchase. Soooo, I went to his listings and did a BIN on his most expensive item, then refused to pay for it. He was quite irate and pointed out that my seller friend allowed free returns anyway so the situation was different in his warped opinion. He never got paid for his coin. Another seller listed a $1600 shield proof inadvertently as a BIN for the opening price. As soon as I saw it, I bid to keep someone else from stealing the coin from him and told him to relist it at the higher price and I would purchase it. He was VERY APPRECIATIVE and I refused to accept a discount for "honesty." When the coin arrived, he had enclosed a small gold coin as a token of appreciation. We became friends and I helped him dispose of a large number of coins that he was selling due to failing health. Winning an auction is a contract. It is not the prerogative of the seller to decline to deliver. But where there is clearly an honest mistake made, only a rat would take advantage of a situation like that.
I'd have put that guy in my favorite sellers list and given him a lot of future business. I've pretty much abandoned ebay because of the sales tax and their outrageous fees that are reflected in the prices of the coins though.