Problem with Chezababy- is this fair? opinions needed

[dollval]

Thanks again Ruth- this is exactly what I'm trying to understand- not condemn....understand.

[chezababy1]

When the highest bidder contacted me to say CANCEL MY BID - I went to second chance offer and that was VAL at £1,325.00 Now that's not me deciding what the bids are, I was going by e-bay's rules. The very fact that people can bid so high on an item and then say cancel is disgusting, I have no idea how to tackle this problem, because e-bay surely don't care !!!!
Val you were messaging and messaging me before I could even think straight ! You then stated that I had 'tainted' the previous 3 dolls you have of mine....and said you would post on DOLL FAN......seriously....I've done nothing wrong. As for posting the bidding history, I feel I should have to show exactly what occurred because you actually called the highest bidder a FAKE BIDDER that sounds like you were accusing me of arranging this !!!!
I have re-listed this beautiful doll which is completely within my rights to do so.
I had NO intention of causing any problems.....I feel you jumped to conclusions and accused me of trying to get a higher price out of you !!

[chelle77]

When the highest bidder contacted me to say CANCEL MY BID - I went to second chance offer and that was VAL at £1,325.00 Now that's not me deciding what the bids are, I was going by e-bay's rules. The very fact that people can bid so high on an item and then say cancel is disgusting, I have no idea how to tackle this problem, because e-bay surely don't care !!!!
Val you were messaging and messaging me before I could even think straight ! You then stated that I had 'tainted' the previous 3 dolls you have of mine....and said you would post on DOLL FAN......seriously....I've done nothing wrong. As for posting the bidding history, I feel I should have to show exactly what occurred because you actually called the highest bidder a FAKE BIDDER that sounds like you were accusing me of arranging this !!!!
I have re-listed this beautiful doll which is completely within my rights to do so.
I had NO intention of causing any problems.....I feel you jumped to conclusions and accused me of trying to get a higher price out of you !!

I agree. That's how second chance offer works.
It isn't a chance to argue down the price....and it is completely within the rights of the seller to offer the doll to the person with second highest bid. The bid should stand as is,imo
Sucks that ebay is so spineless it does nothing to address these people that bid then cancel

[dollval]

When the auction ended, I was shocked I hadn’t won; but thought- well, at least My bids raised the price for Cheryl at least $800. Then when she wrote and said the winner canceled their bid and the doll was mine if I wanted it it never occurred to me that it would be at the price that I myself had just increased for her that was raised due to the rogue bidder. Yes I said fake bidder because the bid didn’t count and the bidder seemed to never have any intention of following through with their bid. I never accused Cheryl of anything . I thought she understood how bidding worked would see that without me and the rogue bidder the doll would've sold for whatever it was 790 GBP and since I’ve purchased four dolls from her which is at least $6000 worth of business over the years : I thought that she was going to negotiate with me to find a fair price so that the doll could be mine . She never said it would be my highest bid and that never occurred to me . Then before I knew what had happened or had received an explanation the doll was relisted. I guess that is eBay‘s policy to just offer to the second highest bidder but usually there is not such a huge jump in price that is only the result of the non-paying bidder. It was upsetting to first lose the doll; then be told the doll was mine then have the doll relisted with no discussion . I guess that’s ebay. And yes the whole episode did leave a bad taste in my mouth .

[dollval]

And this rogue bidder- if you look them up they have about 150 feedback seemingly of less expensive items like clothes and greeting cards; had never purchased a doll that I could see but I didn’t look at everything ; and they suddenly swoop in and literally in the last seconds of an auction bid almost $2000 and then within seconds cancel the bid. I know a lot of you deal with non-paying bidders all the time ; is this how it works ? Or are they usually doll people who get cold feet or just don’t really have the money ?

[dollval]

Cheryl had said I was the first one she thought of when she finished the doll . When she said the winner canceled the Doll is yours I kept writing and saying yes what is the price what is the price ? Knowing the price had been raised by the rogue bid. I guess Cheryl didn’t understand why I was asking what is the price because she was just following the policy and offering it to me at my highest bid . So it was a misunderstanding and miscommunication but I feel I have a deeper understanding of how the bidding process works than Cheryl does . But nobody meant any harm . I hadn’t tried to make a major doll purchase like that since January 2015 when I got her Wilma so of course I was very disappointed .

[chezababy1]

No more disappointed than me !! She's one of my best and I'm sorry it ended up with all this drama

[Shannon]

When the auction ended, I was shocked I hadn’t won; but thought- well, at least My bids raised the price for Cheryl at least $800. Then when she wrote and said the winner canceled their bid and the doll was mine if I wanted it it never occurred to me that it would be at the price that I myself had just increased for her that was raised due to the rogue bidder. Yes I said fake bidder because the bid didn’t count and the bidder seemed to never have any intention of following through with their bid. I never accused Cheryl of anything . I thought she understood how bidding worked would see that without me and the rogue bidder the doll would've sold for whatever it was 790 GBP and since I’ve purchased four dolls from her which is at least $6000 worth of business over the years : I thought that she was going to negotiate with me to find a fair price so that the doll could be mine . She never said it would be my highest bid and that never occurred to me . Then before I knew what had happened or had received an explanation the doll was relisted. I guess that is eBay‘s policy to just offer to the second highest bidder but usually there is not such a huge jump in price that is only the result of the non-paying bidder. It was upsetting to first lose the doll; then be told the doll was mine then have the doll relisted with no discussion . I guess that’s ebay. And yes the whole episode did leave a bad taste in my mouth .

This is the part that is confusing to me. You couldn't have known that the person you were bidding against had no intention of paying. So, the bids you were placing were prices you had been willing to pay. People come in at the last second all the time on auctions using those sniper tools. I don't see where a bid by that winner was placed prior so wouldn't you have had to put that bid in place prior to that person's bid?

[dollval]

The fact is if I and the rogue bidder had not bid the doll would have sold for 760 GBP/$1065. Without the rogue bidder I could have won the doll for about $1100. Yes I bid higher and would have paid more to beat legitimate bids. But would you pay $800 more than you would have needed to to win a doll just because someone made a bid then cancelled it? I don't think you would. What if I had bid $5000 to make sure I won- should I have paid that even though the last legitimate bid was for $1065? Ebay is not supposed to bid up to your maximum bid unless it is needed to beat the bid below you. I don't want to beat a dead horse but since some still don't seem to understand I thought I would explain it one more time. And yes I am suspicious of this bid. It came in timed to seconds from someone who doesn't seem to buy dolls, and was immediately cancelled. And two other dolls I've gotten from Cheryl have been because the initial buyer fell through. Three out of four of Cheryls dolls I wanted to purchase I was only offered after the original sale fell through. That is odd. It's like I knew the second I lost it; it would be offered to me- but this time there was too much of a gap between the last bidder and me. A smaller gap and I would have taken the second chance offer yet again.

[NadiaK]

I have to agree that the high bidder is very questionable. All minimal purchases and then sweeps in at the last minute and puts in a bid for 2,000 doll. eBay should not allow people to just cancel bids like that. But then they usually support the buyer, not the seller which is why I hate dealing with them.

[LindaBforbabies]

I would be suspicious too if 3 out of 4 auctions ended with a cancellation on the final bid and that is how you won the doll.

[dollval]

To clarify- the other dolls didn't necessarily end in exactly the same way but each time I was the second chance person- once due to the doll being returned when she has a no return policy and the second that 2 weeks later the doll was offered to me as the winner did not pay.

[cookielover]

Does the "post completed" mean you no longer want opinions? Ruth

[anjsmiles Angie]

Sounds to me like the best case action in this is just to relist the doll and start over. I totally agree that the buyer who cancelled at last minute should not be allowed to do that. Being that the auction is now over, the 2nd chance offer option goes to who had the 2nd highest offer under the cacelled bidder, not as if the cancelled bidder never bid. That is why it is called a 2nd chance offer. Not to say it is necessarily beneficial to the buyer's pocketbook but it is no longer a case of an auction. It is a case of are you willing to pay as much as the person who did not pay was in order to get the doll? You did place a cap on your bid up to that amount, otherwise you would not have been 2nd in line. It is very tricky and confusing I know......
This is why I think the seller relisting the doll to avoid any more confusion was the best option for her to do. I would have done the same. SO if you want it now, go bid on it again.

[dollval]

No Ruth- it's just that I was posting in stages as I was trying to post photos- opinions are still welcome, especially yours- however I just spoke with ebay and am going to do a new post to finally clarify completely according to ebay.

[dollval]

It's so nice that now you can speak with a real person so easily at Ebay. I called regarding the issue and basically we all have been correct. The ebay guy agreed with me that it would have been very foolish for me to pay my highest bid for the doll 1345 GBP/$1886 when without the rogue bid my winning bid over the other bidder below me would have only had to be 780 GBP /$1095. So I would have been paying $800 more because someone bid in error.
Now the seller has no choice but to offer the second chance at the bid that is there 1345 GBP because ebay software isn't sophisticated enough to know what has happened and adjust. But the seller is. All of this is at the seller's discretion and Cheryl should have realized I was paying $800 for someone's mistake and negotiated a fair price for me, especially as I am a long standing customer, a huge fan of her work, and the first person she thought of for the doll. And I would have been willing to pay an extra couple of hundred to get the second chance offer but $800 more? No.
As to the rogue bidder , as this is likely to be the only sale she reneges on there will be no consequences for her. So yes, anyone can bid, jack up a price, and then cancel as long as they only do it once, and it is not a pattern. So I'm glad the ebay person reassured me that I would have been foolish to pay my high bid. It's easy for you all to say bid again but it ruined my whole Easter, scheduling my day around the auction, waiting to see what Cheryl decided, having the doll offered at an unreasonable price then losing her again. My trust has been broken. As we know doll purchasing is an emotional thing and this put me through the wringer. and I am always the second chance person for her dolls. So that's the story then- straight from ebay's mouth lol. I still want the doll.....waaaah. lol I mean basically I won the auction fair and square with a bid of 780 GBP/$1095 but did not get the doll because of someone else's mistake and poor behavior. Someone who's mistake might have worked greatly in Cheryl's favor had I not been knowledgeable about bidding. So basically after I have been a loyal customer for years Cheryl was more than happy to have me pay $800 above the actual winning bid for someone's mistake and for her own profit.

[cookielover]

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Thank you for the eBay information. Ruth

[Susan Cornelius]

You are only expected to pay the bid increment necessary after the last good honored bid. It doesn't matter what you are "willing to pay". The artist should honor that. Period. The retracted bidders bid should be taken out of the equation. I have bought and sold a ton on ebay - over 3,000 items. Not a newbie here.
You will find artist will jump in to defend other artists, but the facts remain.
Personally, I wouldn't buy from this artist again.