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by
Nancy L. Hix
The
whole idea behind listing an item for auction is for the price
to climb, so it's frustrating for a seller when the current high
bid suddenly drops. This happens when someone retracts a
bid--which can be a real irritation for sellers, because any of
the user's proxy bids on that auction retract along with it. The
item could end up closing at a fraction of where it was headed.
Meanwhile, other bidders who were put off by the original high
bid probably took their business elsewhere.
Yahoo Auctions is one
of a few online auction sites that doesn't allow bid
retractions. Some sites will allow only sellers to cancel bids
(bidders must ask the seller to retract a bid for them). Sites
such as eBay and Amazon.com Auctions, however, allow bidders to
back out of their offers--with a few narrow restrictions.
Retracting
a Bid
Instructions for bid retractions are usually buried in either
the user agreement or on the "how to buy" information
page. Calling back bids isn't in the best interest of the sites,
so they subtly discourage it. Auction venues such as eBay,
Amazon.com Auctions, and many others show how many bids you've
retracted right on your feedback page, as a potential warning to
other users. A high bid retraction number usually indicates
questionable bidding practices. For a buyer, a bid retraction is
something of a blemish on your record.
Buyers can retract a
bid by entering their site ID and password along with the
auction number. Most of the online auction sites have users
enter a one-line explanation of why they're canceling their bid.
The seller receives this information, and so does anyone else
who's watching that auction. Bid retractions and the bidder's
explanations become part of the bid history for that listing.
Why do sites allow bid
retractions? In a few situations, it's justifiable for a bidder
to call back a bid. Amazon.com Auctions, for instance, allows
retractions in four cases:
1. The seller edits the
auction description, changing your impression of an item
you've bid on.
2. A mistake with a decimal
point, such as if you bid $4,000 when you meant to bid $40.
(At some sites, you can change only the location of the
decimal point--not cancel the bid altogether.)
Other sites give
similar instances, including situations where one photo was
replaced with a significantly different one during the auction
run, or an included hyperlink is no longer active.
Think
Before You Bid
Once a buyer calls back a bid, all bids he or she placed on that
item, including proxy bids, fall out of the system and the high
bid is adjusted downward. Once a buyer retracts a bid, he or she
can no longer bid on that item. If you're a buyer, it's best to
think through your bids before placing them. Bid cancellations
shouldn't be routine practice, and abusing the function is
grounds for termination of your account.
Users with high bid
retraction amounts are usually new to the online auction scene.
A warning from the site usually sets them on the right track--or
sends them elsewhere.
How
Are Bid Retractions Abused?
The most frequent bid retraction misuse is what one user
describes as "shopping cart behavior." A buyer places
a bid on an item, then arbitrarily changes his or her mind, and
retracts the bid. This is similar to taking an item out of your
shopping cart and putting it back up on a store shelf.
More blatant abuses
include bid shielding, which involves using two site IDs to keep
the winning bid low by canceling the high bid right before the
auction closes, and shilling. If a shill bid doesn't
successfully raise the high bid, it's retracted in order to let
a "better than nothing" bid stand. Both of these
tactics usually will get a user banned from the site.
In some cases, bid
retractions also can be considered auction interference. For
instance, an unscrupulous user "blocks" another
seller's auction by placing a high bid to deter anyone else from
bidding. Then he or she cancels the bid with seconds left on the
auction clock. If there were no other bidders or the retraction
drops the high bid below the reserve price, the item won't sell.
If any of these things
happen to your auctions and you feel like flushing out a bad
user, report the suspicious activity to the site.
Excuses,
Excuses…
Bid retractions usually result from someone simply changing his
or her mind about making the purchase. However, this isn't an
allowable reason for calling back a bid. To avoid the appearance
of misuse, the "reason for bid retraction" entries can
get pretty lame. For example:
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"I bid on the wrong
item."
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"This item isn't my
size."
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"I thought this was a charity
auction."
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"It's not in mint
condition."
Unless the auction
description changed after the bid was placed, none of these
would be valid reasons for retracting a bid if the user followed
the online auction bidder's golden rule: Read the auction
description and ask the seller questions before bidding.
Seller's
Recourse
Most sellers just shrug and hope for another bid, but there are
times when you may want to consider taking action if the
retraction causes problems for you. If the user has a high bid
cancellation history and you feel like doing something about it,
alert the site.
Check the bidder's
activity to see if he or she has bid on another auction for the
same item at a lower price. Report this and any suspicions of
shilling or other bid retraction abuse to the site
administrators. The site will want to investigate and, if
necessary, suspend the user on the grounds of site misuse.
Sellers can keep
frequent bid retractors from wreaking havoc with their auctions.
Either cancel the bid yourself, which also usually prevents that
bidder from placing further bids on that item, or contact the
site and request that that bidder be blocked from bidding on
your listings. Some sites will notify the user via email with
the request not to bid on your auctions. Be prepared to provide
information to support your claim. Indicate on which of your
auctions the suspected offender has retracted bids, and explain
why you suspect misuse.
Most sellers find bid
retractions irritating, but in the words of one user, "I
usually read the explanation, then get on with my life. At least
they didn't leave you high and dry with a 'non-paying bidder'
situation."
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