I just last week I put an item up on eBay. It came as part of a warranty ugrade and is basically brand new. It’s a part of a PowerTap system, a really expensive bicycle computer that tells you how much power you’re actually putting out. The difference between this and the “retail” version is that my computer needs a PowerTap wheel to work at all (which he’ll have to get from somewhere) while the retail version works with just a spoke magnet and a ridiculously overpriced cycle-computer which can be upgraded to a PowerTap later on. Essentially something with the slightly more value retails for $300 plus sales tax.
To my suprise the item was bid up to $291.00, just $9.00 short of the retail price of them item for something better new in box. He called me today to arrange a pick up over the weekend, and he mentioned that he bid up this high in error. Apparently he says he works at some sort of mortgage firm and meant to enter a bid of $110.00 and accidentally bid $110,000, “because he’s used to working in those units.”
Because of this error, I’m inclined to accept $250, which I consider a fairer and more expected price for this item when he picks it up.
On the other hand, I wonder if I should demand the full $291 because:
a. Someone (stupid) was obviously willing to pay $291 for this object.
b. Bidding correctly is his responsibility and that’s why there are confirmation screens, etc.
c. He could be lying about it actually being a mistake in winning the bidding.
So, Dopers, what do you think I should do? Hold him to the full $291 or just $250? I’ve got until Saturday afternoon when he picks it up.
The bidder is responsible for his own mistakes, so I think you should demand $291. If you want to be charitable, you can give him an option of (A) buying it for $291, or (B) cancelling the purchase, in which case you have a good chance of selling it to the 2nd highest bidder for his/her bid ($290?).
My guess is he realized after the fact that the item had the limitations you outlined in the first paragraph of the OP and is now trying to get out of it. As long as your description of the item was clear enough that any reasonable person (who actually read it) would realize the difference between this item and the retail item, that’s not your problem.
It would be nice of you to cancel his bid and let the second highest bidder have the item, but that does raise an ethical question of its own: why should he/she have to pay a price set by a bidder who wasn’t willing to follow through on his bids?
Before cancelling his bid, contact the second highest bidder. Only allow the first bidder off the hook if the second bidder will pay. It would be unfair to the second bidder to sell to the hish bidder for less than the second bidder’s price. But also it would be unfair to the second bidder to expect them to buy after losing the auction. It is quite possible the second bidder has started bidding elsewhere or bought the item new in the time after their bid was beaten. The first bidder could have cancelled their bid at any time they saw they made an error, I did that once when offering $4000 insetad of $40.00 by accident. It gives you a black mark from EBAY for doing it, but is better than the potential monitary loss.
That’s what bid cancellation is there for. Urge him to use it if he doesn’t want to pay the auctioned price. Remember, you are goig to pay eBay based on the ending price. Do try to avoid any feedback wars. Just go for what doesn’t cost you much or anything, but don’t fall into the neg feedback trap.
An e-mail to eBay administration wouldn’t hurt either. Present the facts, ask for recommendations.
Thanks for the feedback, but this really isn’t that adversarial yet.
First, he hasn’t even asked for anything short of paying the full $291.
Second, he really does want this item and it’s relatively close to what I think a fair price was, but this individual bidder probably didn’t want it at this price.
Third, he’s local and coming to pick it up, significantly less hassle than dealing with another out-of-state bidder.
He called me this morning to arrange the pick up, and although he’s obviously not happy about the mistake, he doesn’t seem overly upset about it and is willing to go ahead with the deal at $291.
The bidding all ended on Tuesday and I’m not sure that the second-place winner really wants it, but I’ll shoot off an e-mail and see if he’s still interested.
If he’s local he is already avoiding postage and package costs. Do you think you may sell other things to the high bidder in the future? It may pay off to keep him happy if it gets you more custom down the line.
Okay, so here’s how it played out. When he called today he insisted on meeting me at a Starbucks that’s a 15 minute walk from my dorm instead of at my dorm (I guess I’m creepy on the phone, I don’t know) and when I got to Starbucks he already had the check written out for $293. I gave him the item, talked a little about his riding, and then I told him that I’d accept $260 (after having to spend 45 minutes for a “local pick-up I was feeling slightly less charitable”), around what I anticipated getting, instead of $293. He of course accepted and wrote me a new check.
So of course I dashed out with both checks and now I’ll make $553!
