eBay are a little strict about letting you withdraw your bid. They call
it a 'bid retraction', and have a stringent set of conditions that you
must meet before you are allowed to do it. Here are eBay's three
acceptable reasons for withdrawing a bid.
You made a typographical error: This means that you
accidentally typed the wrong amount into the bid box, bidding a far
higher price than you meant to. This can be scary: imagine bidding $100
and accidentally adding an extra '0'! You are entirely allowed to
withdraw your bid in this situation, and bid again if you want to.
The item's description changed: If you bid on something and
then the seller updates the description, you have the right to withdraw
your bid. It wouldn't be fair, after all, to force you to take
something that you now realise you don't want.
The seller is uncontactable: If emails to the seller bounce
and they don't answer their phone, then the auction obviously can't
continue, and you can cancel it.
Now all you need is the item number from your auction: this can
be found on the item description page's top right corner. If you can't
see it on the page, look in your browser's title bar, and in any emails
eBay have sent you about your bid on the item. Choose one of the three
allowed reasons, click 'retract bid', and you're done.
Are There Any Consequences?
Well yes, there are. The more unethical among you might have
considered that you could just cancel bids anytime you feel like it by
saying that you accidentally entered the wrong amount. eBay are one
step ahead of you. Each time you retract a bid, it is counted on your
feedback page for all to see - and anyone with a lot of retracted bids
looks more than a little dodgy. eBay also say that abusing the bid
retraction feature could get you banned.
So is there a way to retract your bid without facing a
penalty? There is if your seller is nice, and most are. Sellers can
cancel bids on their auctions at any time, and if you email them with a
half-decent excuse then most will be more than happy to do this for
you. After all, it's not in their interest for their item to go to
someone who won't like it, as you might leave negative feedback.
Resources Box:
Jason James is a 10 year Internet marketing veteran
and an eBay Power Seller of 4 years. His website "The Auction
Resource Network" reveals his inside secrets, tips, and sources
that help him pocket over $10,000 per month on eBay. His proven step-by-step
system shows even users with little or no business experience how they
too can make huge profits selling products at online auctions.
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Article added to SearchWarp.com on Thursday, October 20, 2005 View other articles written by Jason James(5,079)
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