I need your thoughts....

[402Bowtie]

I don't know what to think......I recently won a truck on ebay that had no reserve. After the auction is over they tell me that Ebay somehow did not include their reserve in the auction, and therefore they will not give me the truck. Am I screwed .....What do I do?

[kwmech]

Call E-bay

[Gee_Emm]

Contact ebay and ask them, sounds like they want to back out of the deal.

[RainFade]

Report them to ebay (file a case)
If you really want to go for it contact an attorney and explore breach of contract litigation.
Do NOT do any deal with them outside the auction you already won and not one penny more.
If they won't complete the transaction leave them feedback to warn others.

Be warned both Ebay and their square trade are toothless and don't care one bit about you, their only interest is in your money!

[Already Gone]

Sounds to me like your seller didn't get what he wanted for the truck so he/she is trying to BS you to get out of the deal.The seller probably didnt want to pay Ebays rip off reserve fees or forgot to add a reserve price when they did the listing or figured they'd get more the truck than was bid. From past experience EBay wont do anything for you except frustrate you. Its even hard to contact EBay as you cant phone them. All contact with EBay is done on line and from personal experience the people they have responding to your questions are computer geeks who dont understand anything, just quote Ebay policy.. In my humble opinion if I was you I'd let the deal go and try to get the seller to leave you positive feedback first ( cause it can't be retracted) and they should do that if they are good EBayers and once that is done leave them scathing feedback. If they don't leave you feedback just wait as you have 90 days to post feedback and on the 90th day I'd leave the scathing feedback then and they will have fortgotten about you and it will be to late for them to leave you bad feedback. Yes you can go legal and let the lawyers get richer and age yourself, but you know what, there will always be another truck to buy and you might like the next one better.. I guess you have to decide is it worth the fight????????

[J.Lance]

How bout a little more background. Do you feel like you got a great deal or did you bid about what the truck is worth? The seller is still out some money on this deal for auction costs. If you feel you bid a fair price, I'd tell them so and let them know you feel the transaction should be completed under the auction guidelines. If they still refuse, leave some negative feedback but nothing over the top.

"seller refused to complete transaction for auction price"

However...if this is a vehicle you really want, you may want to make another offer. It would be tuff to do but then again it's not the vehicles fault the owner is a dumba$$. Explain to them again that ebay does not just "forget" to include a reserve price and the vehicle is more than likely worth whatever the high bid was or darn close to it. If you end up having to pay a little more for it, I would still leave at least neutral feedback.

Personally, I don't think I'd be able to negotiate with them with out tossing in some pretty foul language so option two might not work for me but it is an option.

Do you have a link to the auction, I'm sure a few of use could express some "concern" via email to the seller!

[J.Lance]

I just did a search and found it. Pretty solid looking '67 but hard to tell from the pics. Body damage on the front pass fender and bumper. Did you look at the truck in person. The description sucks. Does sound like they may have dumped some money into it recently. However, I also don't believe it would be worth much more than you bid. Kind of depends on engine specs, options, etc... which are not spelled out in the listing.

Here is the problem...obviously a new seller, no feedback. Probably would not care one little bit if you left negative feedback. On the other hand, might also explain why they didn't know how the reserve worked or how to set one up. Might have to give the benefit of a doubt on that point but it is still not an excuse.

I'd still push them for the sale agreed upon but I would have to say you're SOL if they don't see it your way. I'll leave it up to you if you want to post the auction listing for others to view. Laters!

[402Bowtie]

I think I am going to let it go. I did check out the truck in person. The reason I wanted it was because everything under the hood was basically brand new...suspension, engine, mechanicals etc. I also was very excited to see what appeared to be a rust free cab.
I think I have to let it go for a couple of reasons. The first is because the truck is worth what I would consider to be around $500 more. Like someone said, my chances of fighting this out and winning are pretty slim. The person who sold the listed the truck was not very familiar with ebay...he said he hit the reserve button, but "for some reason ebay did not give the auction a reserve."

Bummer

[special-K]

Once the truck was listed and could be viewed on Ebay,the seller would have seen it had no reserve and could have added that info.

[402Bowtie]

special k: That is exactly what we told him.....The truck was the son's truck. His Dad was out of town the entire week, and therefore he says he never looked at it I have a very tough time believeing that no one in the family ever looked at it over the 7 days it was listed.

I notified ebay...still waiting to see what they say...john

[LUV2XCLR8]

I FEEL FOR YA, IMO THIS SUCKS @SS, HE IS STILL OBLIGATED TO YOU, MY $.02

[farmaller]

From eBay

It is not permitted for a seller on eBay to refuse payment or delivery of an item at the end of a successful sale.

5.2 Binding Bids. Except for items listed in a category under the Non-binding Bid Policy, if you receive at least one bid at or above your stated minimum price (or in the case of reserve auctions, at or above the reserve price), you are obligated as the seller to complete the transaction with the highest bidder upon the auction's completion, unless there is an exceptional circumstance, such as: (a) the buyer fails to meet the terms of your listing (such as payment method), or (b) you cannot authenticate the buyer's identity.

Non-binding Bid Policy, Certain eBay auctions involve non-binding bids, for example, certain real estate auctions. Non-binding bidding does not culminate in a contract between the seller and the buyer. However, even though non-binding bids do not contractually obligate the parties, non-binding bids represent a serious expression of interest and bogus bidding is prohibited.

Good Luck!

[RON WOODGEARD]

I was bidding and winning a Radio Controlled truck a couple of months back.. The seller 5 minutes before the end of the Auction pulled the item off the bidding boards. I contacted the seller, he sent me an answer that he wasn't going to let it go for that little of money... Then I contacted E-bay, They told me he did NOTHING WRONG ????

But you had won this auction, a transaction had completed. It's too bad you don't want to take him to court. If you are close enough to go check the vehicle out then I would file a case of Breach of Contract..

E-bay has gotten so it's Screw the Buyer because they don't get money from the Buyer only the Seller.. Check E-bay rules out real well, It's all Seller oriented..

[modifiedGMC]

It sounds to me like what some others said, that the seller didn't get what he wanted for the truck. I don't believe that someone would put something on e-bay that would potentially bring more than a few bucks and NOT check it at least every other day. Heck when I put something on there I check it almost every day. That sounds like crap about e-bay "forgetting" to put the reserve on it. They should have noticed it when it was listed during the preview before submitting it. That's just my $.02.

[71swb4x4]

I looked at that auction too. I was in Omaha this weekend and wanted to see if there were any trucks for sale. I thought that what you won it at was about right. I wouldn't go any higher.
If you do want it, and since you are both in the same area, small claims court could handle it pretty easily for you. The only problem is if you win the case you have no idea what condition the truck will be in.

[chipflyer]

You need to report him to EBAY, what he did was against the rules and the part about EBAY not listing the reserve is bologna. You do not want to just drop it, he could report you as a non paying bidder and get to relist it again free. Report him, leave him bad feedback and feel a little better knowing that it cost him a little money in listing and selling fees.

Jeff

[Deuce]

Originally Posted by RON WOODGEARD

E-bay has gotten so it's Screw the Buyer because they don't get money from the Buyer only the Seller.. Check E-bay rules out real well, It's all Seller oriented..

Buy from friends on 67-72 forums.

[402Bowtie]

71swb4x4: I agree with you in that it is not worth a whole lot more. I did however check it out in person and everything under the hood is for the most part brand new. But its still got too many little things for it to be worth what they are asking for example a poor repaint, heater and radio don't work, one door and window don't open, damaged fender and bumper, turn indicators, etc...

chipflyer: he already has relisted it...once again don't understand how ebay allows this...I don't see him getting a single bid especially since he now has figured out how to use a reserve

[RON WOODGEARD]

I wished I knew how to circumvent my account to enable me to bid from another account... I would make the jerk think that he was really finding a dummy, I would bid it sky high.. Then tell him to shove it.. I would like to do it, then call him on the phone and ask him how it feels. !!!!!

[Randy70C-10]

Wait and see if it shows up on EBAY again. If not, maybe someone offered him more than your winning bid.

[Huck]

I listed a vehicle and the reserve that I designated didn't show due to the fact that I had to go back and forth on the listing pages to gets stuff right and somehow the software let the reserve drop. I notified e-bay, pulled the listing and relisted it with the reserve---no big whoop. Now if the guys son did the e-bay listing and he is under 18---you can't do squat in any court of law as he is a minor. Plus, as previously stated, e-bay is a toothless bunch of technoweenies who don't care about anything but the money.
Perhaps if enough board members send the seller questions about his ethics, he will get the idea and pull the listing. He can't leave feedback on anyone who is not a bid winner or seller so all he can do is read dozens of questions asking him how come he is such a worm to renig on a sale or so stupid to not relist with the reserve???? He will go nuts!!!

[GreyHoundSteve]

Unfortunately this guy screwed you. You can file a complaint with ebay as he did break the rules but ebay will do nothing to help you. The point of filing is that if two more people do the same then the sellers acount will be suspended and its more of a good will jesture than anything else.

The seller could have ended the auction before it was over and that would be legit.

I would just leave negative feedback to warn others and move on.

[bigblock73]

Post the auction link here, then perhaps one of us can "ask the seller a question" and see if the winning bidder came thru with payment or if it is still for sale. I would be intersted in hearing his response.

[Randy70C-10]

Did you ask him how much he was trying to get for it?

[402Bowtie]

Ron W: lol

Randy70c10: it's already on ebay again...which, like i said earlier, i don't understand how ebay permits that

Here is the original link:original

Here is the new one:new
I don't think he will get a single bid because in my opinion the truck is not worth what he is starting it at. When I went over and looked at in person, they had a sticker in the window asking for $3500.

I would rather no one email him any dirty letters, rants, etc. I agree with you all in that I'm pretty much screwed, but I would still like to somehow get the truck, if that's even possible.