Rusty Addiction
Freshman Member
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Hi all, I want to apologize for the long rant but I really need to get this off my chest and I'd like some feedback.
Today I had my first negative experience on ebay acquiring parts for my car.
Last week there was a front nose for a TR3 offered at auction. Opening bid at $99 with 0 takers and a "buy-it-now" set over $1200. To set the story, I'm gathering many different odds and ends for this toy of mine but the front end was not on my radar. In fact, the plan for that part was to simply do the body work on my original when the time comes. I read the description:
"Triumph Tr3 a front apron panel. Condition is Used. But outstanding .fully stripped to bare steel inside and out primed and edged in in dark carmine ready to install.has only one area of minor body work (see picture)
This is the nicest apron I have seen in 40+years Freight will not be cheap and will vary by your zip. ballpark 150$"
When I poured over the photos of this piece - it was immaculate. Absolutely no rust and only a tiny ding that was hammered out. It was a dream. I did some quick math on what I thought was a fair price plus freight to save me the trouble of having to weld and hammer the existing one. Since I was the only bidder the first bid didn't start at my top offer but started at $99. The larger surprise happened once I saw my first bid - NO RESERVE was posted. Usually something like that has a reserve. The seller was relatively new, but they had all positive feedback so I figured they knew enough and this would be a fun contest to ride out until outbid. Keep in mind, 9 days remained on the auction after my bid was placed. At this point I surmised I'd be outbid with my max price in no time. Part of the fun of this game is seeing if I can get a bargain... and I usually kiss more frogs than princes in the quest for a good price.
Well, as luck would have it, today the timer expired and I am now the winner of a $99 TR3 front end worth well more than what I just paid. This probably was a feeling similar to hitting the lottery (I don't really know because I've never hit the lottery but I expect it's the same). I was ecstatic. I immediately paid for my purchase and messaged the seller to ask how they wanted me to handle getting a bill of lading to them for the freight pickup. Hours passed. no reply. Finally the seller contacts me with this message:
"Sorry, I thought I made it clear that this was the nicest one I have seen in many years.
Had I thought that there was NO real interest in the item I would never have posted it.
There has been quite a lot of time and materials invested in the re-conditioning of this
really fine apron. Much much more than 99$ I can not give it away. So ,I apologize but
NO sale."
So much for winning the lottery. I understand the seller's position but this is an auction - there was no reserve and it was fairly won. My response to the seller was calm but annoyed:
"While I appreciate the prompt refund, this is not fair practice and will be reported to eBay. A deal is a deal. A fair bid was placed on the item and since there were no other bidders, the sale was closed with the opening amount. I do understand your frustration at not receiving an expected price but an auction is a binding sale to the highest bidder, period. Even if you feel the amount was too little. Buyers are also bound to a final sale and cannot retract if they feel they have paid too much. If a seller has a minimum amount they expect, a reserve must be placed on the item to prevent this very scenario."
Their followup to my response was something to the effect they made the mistake of not offering a reserve and could not reverse the action. I find that hard to believe. I'm pretty sure a seller can cancel the sale prior to the deadline.
Even though everything was refunded right away, I still feel cheated. I doubt the seller had any ill will nor did they intended to cheat me but I'm hung up on the principle. There's not much I can do but complain to ebay and the best that will happen is the seller will probably get a "bad" mark. I have a few things I'm still thinking through.
Sorry for the long rant. I've acquired many fine things through ebay and this is my first bad taste. I have one other bid open on a rear fender that's sitting at about $50 that's up tomorrow and now I fear the same thing. I expect that to go well if I win based on this seller's history but once bitten, twice shy.
Thanks for listening.
Today I had my first negative experience on ebay acquiring parts for my car.
Last week there was a front nose for a TR3 offered at auction. Opening bid at $99 with 0 takers and a "buy-it-now" set over $1200. To set the story, I'm gathering many different odds and ends for this toy of mine but the front end was not on my radar. In fact, the plan for that part was to simply do the body work on my original when the time comes. I read the description:
"Triumph Tr3 a front apron panel. Condition is Used. But outstanding .fully stripped to bare steel inside and out primed and edged in in dark carmine ready to install.has only one area of minor body work (see picture)
This is the nicest apron I have seen in 40+years Freight will not be cheap and will vary by your zip. ballpark 150$"
When I poured over the photos of this piece - it was immaculate. Absolutely no rust and only a tiny ding that was hammered out. It was a dream. I did some quick math on what I thought was a fair price plus freight to save me the trouble of having to weld and hammer the existing one. Since I was the only bidder the first bid didn't start at my top offer but started at $99. The larger surprise happened once I saw my first bid - NO RESERVE was posted. Usually something like that has a reserve. The seller was relatively new, but they had all positive feedback so I figured they knew enough and this would be a fun contest to ride out until outbid. Keep in mind, 9 days remained on the auction after my bid was placed. At this point I surmised I'd be outbid with my max price in no time. Part of the fun of this game is seeing if I can get a bargain... and I usually kiss more frogs than princes in the quest for a good price.
Well, as luck would have it, today the timer expired and I am now the winner of a $99 TR3 front end worth well more than what I just paid. This probably was a feeling similar to hitting the lottery (I don't really know because I've never hit the lottery but I expect it's the same). I was ecstatic. I immediately paid for my purchase and messaged the seller to ask how they wanted me to handle getting a bill of lading to them for the freight pickup. Hours passed. no reply. Finally the seller contacts me with this message:
"Sorry, I thought I made it clear that this was the nicest one I have seen in many years.
Had I thought that there was NO real interest in the item I would never have posted it.
There has been quite a lot of time and materials invested in the re-conditioning of this
really fine apron. Much much more than 99$ I can not give it away. So ,I apologize but
NO sale."
So much for winning the lottery. I understand the seller's position but this is an auction - there was no reserve and it was fairly won. My response to the seller was calm but annoyed:
"While I appreciate the prompt refund, this is not fair practice and will be reported to eBay. A deal is a deal. A fair bid was placed on the item and since there were no other bidders, the sale was closed with the opening amount. I do understand your frustration at not receiving an expected price but an auction is a binding sale to the highest bidder, period. Even if you feel the amount was too little. Buyers are also bound to a final sale and cannot retract if they feel they have paid too much. If a seller has a minimum amount they expect, a reserve must be placed on the item to prevent this very scenario."
Their followup to my response was something to the effect they made the mistake of not offering a reserve and could not reverse the action. I find that hard to believe. I'm pretty sure a seller can cancel the sale prior to the deadline.
Even though everything was refunded right away, I still feel cheated. I doubt the seller had any ill will nor did they intended to cheat me but I'm hung up on the principle. There's not much I can do but complain to ebay and the best that will happen is the seller will probably get a "bad" mark. I have a few things I'm still thinking through.
- were the seller's actions warranted (Am I being too harsh)?
- should I go easy on them since they explained the lack of reserve was a mistake?
- what's the point of an auction if a seller can just cancel like that after the sale?
- is there a proper grievance route through ebay that others have followed?
- should I stop using ebay?
Sorry for the long rant. I've acquired many fine things through ebay and this is my first bad taste. I have one other bid open on a rear fender that's sitting at about $50 that's up tomorrow and now I fear the same thing. I expect that to go well if I win based on this seller's history but once bitten, twice shy.
Thanks for listening.