Ending an auction before time?

[stkhlmdk]

how much is the shipping going to set you back?

Not sure yet, I think I will resell one of them in the US as it was primarily meant for spares for the other one. On top of that I need to pay the 25% VAT on both item and shipping before I can get it into DK.

[Monkfish]

If a sellers can end at any time, in particular cancelling all bids, can a buyer retract a bid while the auction is still live too?

Seems one-sided if not.

[gung-hoeddie]

i wouldn't of thought so as it does say before you confirm bidding that you are entering into a legally binding contract,

[The Baron]

You can, but it is frowned upon. I think you can do it up to five times before ebay send you a warning.

http://offer.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?RetractBidShow

You can't do it within the last 60 minutes of the auction, AFAIK.

[Monkfish]

i wouldn't of thought so as it does say before you confirm bidding that you are entering into a legally binding contract,

That's the crux of what I thought - a contract needs (at least) two parties, so until reading this thread I thought that the seller was obliged to sell the item once bids were placed. Given also what the Baron's just said ebay's not so rigid as I imagined about this sort of thing.

[gung-hoeddie]

i'm rather suprised too. so technically the contract is nonsense.

[Sundance]

tintin's ended auctions before now when I've made him offers for stuff, even when it's been bid on...

[gung-hoeddie]

see if you close an auction and withdraw the item then thats fine the same as an auction house really, however if you bid and win an item and withdraw having agreed to a contract then as far as i'm concerned you should pay.

[The Baron]

You can't win and withdraw, Ed. You can only withdraw prior to the final 60 minutes of the auction.

[gung-hoeddie]

good, that makes more sense, at least i now know the world hasn't gone completely mental.