How to deal with a questionable eBay bidder?

June 27, 2016 6:47 AM

I am selling a mint vintage item on eBay, and am halfway through a ten day auction. I stated in the item description that I reserve the right to refuse high bids from any bidders with questionable feedback, location, or reputation. I now have a couple of bids from someone who fits this description. What is the procedure now? How should I notify the person and/or eBay?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium to Shopping (3 answers total)

Best answer: To cancel a bid:
1. Go to Canceling bids placed on your listing.
2. Enter the item number, the username of the member whose bid you're canceling, and the reason you're canceling the bid.
3. Click cancel bid.

Step 2 will notify the buyer that his/her bid is cancelled and why.

Source
posted by neda at 6:58 AM on June 27, 2016 [7 favorites]

You should setup ebay to automatically block buyers based on your criteria if you can. Are you doing this?
posted by gorcha at 2:34 AM on June 28, 2016

If this is a pricy auction, I might call eBay to 'get permission,' so to speak -- people can put whatever text they like in an auction but it doesn't supersede eBay's own rules, and if that bidder ends up pissed, you could end up with a hassle. You should be setting things up to block unwanted bids as gorcha mentioned -- you can run into trouble by doing it after the fact --

"Cancelling bids
In general, sellers shouldn’t cancel bids on their listings. However, there are a few legitimate reasons for doing so:
A bidder contacts you to back out of the bid.
You cannot verify the identity of the bidder after trying all reasonable means of contact.
You end your listing early." via
posted by kmennie at 3:10 AM on June 28, 2016