Saving Old Seagulls

Well there's a surprise.

This morning my bids had been withdrawn for the ON on eBay. Now I'd already dropped out of the auction - there was no way I was going any further without being able to look at the thing - but it strikes me that ebay is far from reliable way of buying things.

I don't buy much through it - but looking back over the last few months I have noticed that things tend to get withdrawn because 'the item is no longer available'. Two Marstons within the last two months, and now this one.

Is it because people contact the seller and make an offer he (or she) can't refuse? Is it because the seller changes his (or her) mind and decides not to sell?

Something fishy about this I think...

Much as I regret saying this, "I'm forced to say, I agree with you Charles".

This must have been a fishing trip.

Charles UK

I agree. I think the secret of ebay is to decide on a low figure you are willing to risk, and then never bid upwards from that. I picked up a fantastic 102 for £50 a few months ago - for some reason it didn't get much interest - but it was original and perfect. But some people do break the rules - I think Ebay are partly to blame as they charge extra for a reserve - so that encourages people to take a chance, and pull the plug at the last minute. It would be much better if Ebay let people put a reserve on for free.

Hi , yes i have to agree with you too,I have had two bad experiences buying and selling on ebay in the last month,both of no fault of my own.Beware of sellers with separate e bay addresses, i know of at least one e bay seagull trader trading under alias's.I do trade under the name of "spevans66" so hopefully you can trust me ,if not at least you all know who and where i am.

I don’t like reserve auctions and often won’t bid on these items. I think the sellers should just set the minimum-opening bid at a price they will accept. In the past I’ve made what I considered very generous bids which failed to meet the reserved price. Having never sold anything, maybe I don’t understand the all the ramifications of Ebay pricing and selling strategies such as whipping up a frenzied bidding war.
John, Alabama, USA

Now there's an idea - if we all exchange eBay names we'll at least know who we're dealing with.

More to the point we could keep a register of 'dodgy' eBay dealers - I'm sure we're all aware of a few..

Im ' abscate' on ebay but I rarely sell things on ebay, usually just buy. I have done well with purchasing but since I travel professionally I can always inspect the items before sending payment, without incurring large personal travel expenses....

I do all my parts needs through John of course