Does ebay Allow this.....

[doubs43]

.... or is it the seller's option? An item I've been watching clearly states that the seller ships only to the US. There were a number of bids from US buyers when suddenly a bid from overseas comes in. It's high so the top bid of the last US bidder has now been exposed.

Does this bid violate ebay rules in any way? Must the seller honor the bid and if he does, will the US bidder who loses out have a legitimate complaint?

I'm curious what others think of this. Is it OK or not?

Walker

 

[taffer]

AFAIK, the seller can remove the overseas bid, what I don't know is if the auction amount would get back to what it was before the 'intruder' appeared...

 

[peterc]

The bidder may have contacted the seller and received an OK to bid. Usually those one country only stipulations are put in because the seller doesn't want to ship internationally. I've contacted sellers who had U.S. only on items I was interested in and some have agreed to ship to Canada if I put in the winning bid. Others have just said they'll just sell it to the highest U.S. bidder.

Peter

 

[Poptart]

Yes, the bid would return to its previous status once the foreign bid is removed; however, anyone who figured-out the high bid before will still know it and I doubt that eBay would consider that within the scope of a single auction.

 

[Kim Coxon]

As already mentioned, the bidder may have contacted the seller and asked if he would ship it elsewhere. I have done this successfully in the past. Yet another possibility is the the buyer intends to have it shipped the a friend or collegue in the US and have them forward it. This option has been mentioned several times on this forum!

Kim

 

[XAos]

Ebay has demonstrated over and over again that they don't give a flip about bid discovery. It does after all only pad their bottom line - what's in it for them?

 

[JoshRoot]

As a seller, if you REALLY don't want bids from non-USA buyers, you have to specifically set it up when listing the item.

Just saying that you don't want foreign bidders doesn't stop people from bidding.

 

[Nick R.]

I think what doubs43 is asking is whether the high-bidder US has a legal right to claim that the winning foreign bid should be considered null because of the pre-auction qualifications.

 

[RML]

I think what doubs43 is asking is whether the high-bidder US has a legal right to claim that the winning foreign bid should be considered null because of the pre-auction qualifications.

That a seller doesn't ship outside the US doesn't necessary mean he won't take bids from outside the US. After all, the item might have to be send to an address within the US. So, I doubt whether a seller has a legal right to cancel/nullify/whatever a bid.

 

[ch1]

That a seller doesn't ship outside the US doesn't necessary mean he won't take bids from outside the US. After all, the item might have to be send to an address within the US. So, I doubt whether a seller has a legal right to cancel/nullify/whatever a bid.

Sorry, you're are incorrect. I've sold a lot on eBay. A seller can nullify any bid for any or no reason. Further, a seller can "ban" a bidder from bidding on his/her items. eBay is "seller friendly" because it is the seller who pays the fees! 😉

 

[kbg32]

.... or is it the seller's option? An item I've been watching clearly states that the seller ships only to the US. There were a number of bids from US buyers when suddenly a bid from overseas comes in. It's high so the top bid of the last US bidder has now been exposed.

Does this bid violate ebay rules in any way? Must the seller honor the bid and if he does, will the US bidder who loses out have a legitimate complaint?

I'm curious what others think of this. Is it OK or not?

Walker

A seller has the right to sell and accept or not accept bids from anyone he/she deems fit. If a seller says no to overseas bids and one does bid and wins, the seller then can sell the item to the highest US bidder.

 

[RML]

Sorry, you're are incorrect. I've sold a lot on eBay. A seller can nullify any bid for any or no reason. Further, a seller can "ban" a bidder from bidding on his/her items. eBay is "seller friendly" because it is the seller who pays the fees! 😉

Then it's no wonder bid discovering is rampant.

 

[julianphotoart]

WARNING: Legalese ahead.

In general, the law recognizes two types of auctions: "absolute" and "with reserve". "With reserve" is a broader term than what we usually think of (i.e., an auction with a reserve amount). "With reserve" basically means that aside from the putting-up of the item there are other conditions of sale. As far as I know, the majority of states have a presumption in favour of "with reserve" auctions, meaning that the law will presume that an auction was "with reserve" unless the intent clearly shows otherwise. Section 2-328 of the Uniform Commercial Code deals specifically with auction sales and the presumption that auctions are "with reserve". Reading section 2-328, on its face it is dealing with face-to-face auctions but it's just as applicable to on-line auctions. As the Buy-It-Now feature reminds buyers each time one uses it, an eBoy auction is a "contract".

In this case, eBoy has general rules that must be complied with and individual sellers can have individual rules, such as restricting bids to the U.S. Thus, by definition, eBoy auctions are "with reserve". For this type of auction, someone can be the high bidder but the auction item can be nevertheless withdrawn if the winning bidder hasn't, didn't, can't or won't comply with the additional terms. It is up to the seller, however. If the seller agrees to waive the U.S.-only condition, the other losing bidders don't have the right to compel specific performance (i.e., let them have it).

That's one side of my brain talking (the lawyer side). The other side says that when living in Canada, there were many, many times (at least 40) when I'd see a U.S.-only item on eBoy, I'd write to the seller, I'd ask him/her/it to look at my feedback, and I'd ask him/her/it if he/she/it would sell to me even though I was in Canada. I only had one refusal. Of course, those conversations don't get seen by anyone else. I never made a U.S.-only bid without first asking the seller if it was OK. If someone does make a bid without getting that go-ahead, it's their problem. But, as I said above, it's between the seller and non-conforming bidder.

 

[ChrisN]

That a seller doesn't ship outside the US doesn't necessary mean he won't take bids from outside the US. After all, the item might have to be send to an address within the US. So, I doubt whether a seller has a legal right to cancel/nullify/whatever a bid.

I've been in this situation. I won a Canon P with a damaged shutter curtain at a fairly low price; the seller would not ship outside USA but was happy to take my money and send it to a nominated US address - in this case the camera is still visiting with Mark Hama.

 

[oftheherd]

Dumb me. I didn't know you could tell a bidder was foreign, that is, outside the US (in my case). How do you do that?

 

[Kim Coxon]

Check the bidder's feedback. It will tell you where he is from.

Dumb me. I didn't know you could tell a bidder was foreign, that is, outside the US (in my case). How do you do that?

 

[doubs43]

Nick is correct in that I wondered what the highest US bidder's options are. Sorry I didn't make that more clear.

There are some excellent answers here, especially Julian's legal explaination. Being in real estate, I deal with contracts almost every day and his information is quite clear. It would seem that the seller can pretty much do as he pleases.

I did send a message to the seller asking why he'd accepted a bid from outside of the US but hours later he hasn't replied. I do want to bid on the item but I also know the other bidder has very deep pockets. I know this from past auctions I've watched and his feedback. It's not a life-or-death situation but annoying just the same. If a seller posts "rules" then I expect them to honor those rules...... especially after watching an item for more than a week.

But, just as I've survived losing other auctions, I'll move on and put this one behind me. Life's too short to do otherwise. 🙂

Walker

 

[ch1]

I don't know if it is rampant or not. What led to this discourse was the fact that although the seller said US-only bids in his description, he did not "restrict" it when inputting the various required data such as where he will accept bids from.

Without such a restriction, a non-US buyer's bid will be accepted. With a restriction it will be rejected (and often, international buyers will then ask the seller to allow them to bid).

But regardless, the seller has the right to reject any and all bids for any or no reason. He also has the right to terminate the auction early (but not to then sell to a bidder privately thereafter 😉 ) for any or no reason.

As other threads here have discussed, many US sellers are reluctant to sell to international buyers - particularly "newbies" or "occassional" ones. Often these same sellers are not aware that they can "check the box" when listing an item to prevent non-US bidders - and this is what leads to situations as has occurred.

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

Chances are the bidder from overseas contacted the seller and agreed to terms. Lots of good overseas bidders will do that in order to bid on US-only auctions.

The bid cannot be placed if the seller did not permit it (there is a way for sellers to literally block certain countries/areas). So either the seller agreed to it, or he/she didn't feel strongly enough about it in the first place to set up the US-only block.

 

[doubs43]

I've been looking at ebay once in a while the past year, and I noticed there are times stuff sell a little high, and times when they tend to go lower. So I'm wondering, for ebay experts 😀 , when (what days, months, season ,etc) is the best time to buy from ebay?

The last few days just prior to Christmas seems to be a time when prices are low. I made a couple of nice "deals" then.

BTW, the item I was watching - a very rare "Fat" Elmar 9cm f/4 lens - didn't go to the overseas bidder but I do think he began what turned into a bidding war. It went for more than I could afford.

Walker