Paid for auction immediately, money refunded, but auction still listed - what next?

[edx2012]

Hi,

I decided to bid on an item on eBid for the first time to see how it works here compared to the number one auction site. So I looked and looked, then found something for about ten pounds that I could use. I bid on it, and behold, won it immediately because it was "Buy Now". The listing page also stated he had a quarter of a hundred of these items available. I quickly paid for it through PayPal, got a receipt, and eBid showed that I had bid on and won this item.

I waited a week and saw that I had email proclaiming I had won an item and should expect it soon.

The next time I looked, as I thought enough time had passed, I saw that the money was refunded to PayPal. I wonder what went wrong, what did I do? I went to eBid, and looked up the listing. It was still there, and listed me as a winner, and also listed 24 more of the same items that the seller still has in stock. What happened?

I sent a question to the seller, who responded to me by saying that my money was refunded because the item is out of stock!

Just to make sure, I logged out of eBid, and went back to eBid to check and see what the listing looks like when I'm not logged in. Sure enough, the listing is still there over a week later, with me as one of the winners, and still saying 24 of these items are in stock.

I began to wonder, if the seller doesn't want to send me the item because I'm not located in the UK? Whatever the reason, the auction is still up claiming to have 24 of the same items ready to ship under "Buy Now".

So, help me out, please, because this doesn't make total sense.

Does it matter that this seller continues to list an auction claiming to have items in stock, allowing eBidders to potentially bid on or buy now on items that he does not actually have? Does it matter to anyone that it took several days (nearly a week) for the seller to inform me, the bidder / buyer, that I actually am not going to receive anything that the system told me I was supposed to get?

It seems a bit bold that a seller would keep a listing up for items that he may not have had to begin with. As I leave this message, the seller still has the auction up, claiming to have nearly two dozen in stock, yet claims to me personally, to be out of stock.

Finally, is the next step of action for me, the disenfranchised buyer, to now leave "negative feedback" for the seller?

[terry5732]

Yes, please leave honest feedback

[meebo1]

If the seller doesn't want to send to the US he shouldn't have added that option to his listing and you would not have been able to see it in the first place. The seller should also have emailed you with an explanation as to why he refunded before doing the refund. As the listing is still in place, please use the 'report this auction' explaining the situation so support becomes aware of it. And do leave feedback either neutral or negative, depending how strongly you feel about this.

[burgyeb]

If this were a regular auction instead of a bin, I would think the seller was looking for more money. Strange.

[JanetB]

What is the auction ID # ?

x

[PetBazaar]

It's always possible that the seller is a dropshipper who just isn't keeping his/her eBid listings as up to date as they should be.

Rather than there being anything sinister behind their motives, it may just be that his supplier is out of stock but the auction hasn't been closed - perhaps they're anticipating an imminent arrival of stock, or that it's already arrived. A much less satsfactory situation would be that they have no stock but don't bother to update their listings very often in order to attract shoppers.

I have to admit that as a seller who uses a mixture of suppliers, that it has happened to me ocassionally. I do try however to close my out of stock auctions every day and re-open when the item becomes available, and always contact a customer as soon possible if a similar situation arises. I do still get caught out every now and again.

In this case, it might just be sub-standard customer service rather than anything like a conspiracy.

[SherMari]

If you are a drop shipper and do not have the item available state this in the listing with a shipping time frame; If you do not ship to US, the untick USA otherwise be prepared for negative feedback.