My child put in an eBay bid, can I cancel without penalty?

[Noel]

One of my sons (11 yrs old) managed to put in a winning bid on eBay for something he doesn't need nor want. I daresay he knew exactly what he was doing but tells me it was an accident... At the end of the day it was my fault for leaving things logged on.
Anyway if I ask the seller if I can retract the bid and he agrees will I get penalised? I'll offer to pay his fees. Or should I go through the resolution centre? Or is just safer buying the damn thing?
The item isn't costing a fortune and I've had a 100% feedback for over 10 yrs so obviously wish to keep that.
Any assistance would be appreciated.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Tricky.
If it's not a lot of money I'd be inclined to pay up, then relist it and if there is any shortfall, deduct the difference from pocket money. At 11 someone knows exactly what they are doing.

It depends on your relationship with your son, how much you love him, whether or not you think that bailing him out without consequence and letting him get away with it constitutes love, or teaching him a lesson constitutes love.

I should point out that I am not a father.

I have lots of complaints about the way I was brought up, but I was, at least, taught how to be responsible with money, and from my very first pocket money payment, too.

Only you can decide what is right here.

HTH
Steve

 

[wizer]

It's not actually a legally binding contract. You don't have to pay for the item. You will get an 'unpaid item strike'. Which is like a slap on the wrists. The seller will then get his fees back.

 

[Woody Alan]

I accidentally bid on something and won two of the same item from a seller when I didn't intend to. I just contacted the seller and explained and asked if we could mutually withdraw from the transaction which he did.
Most people are reasonable even if they get a little grumpy as you are not the first to experience this. It pays to communicate, don't ignore it and suffer the consequences.

Alan
Edit for appalling mistake one not won :roll:

 

[mr grimsdale]

I accidentally bid on something and one two of the same item from a seller when I didn't intend to. I just contacted the seller and explained and asked if we could mutually withdraw from the transaction which he did.
Most people are reasonable even if they get a little grumpy as you are not the first to experience this. It pays to communicate, don't ignore it and suffer the consequences.

Alan

My experience too. Any sensible seller will be quite understanding. You have to ask them to cancel - it's a common procedure.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I agree. Occasionally I have had people make duplicate orders. It's obviously a mistake and I am happy to sort it out.

But this is a different scenario from accidentally buying something twice, is it not?

Don't get mewrong. A sympathetic seller, especially if they are a parent, would be understanding. They might be annoyed, but would, perhaps, understand. But if it were me, I'd want my costs covered, even though I may not hold the "bidder" to his contract.

I think communication is the key.

S

 

[studders]

Thrash 'im to within an inch I say. The boy I mean, not the seller.

Or...

Sell him on ebay to recover costs. The boy that is.

Or

Explain to the seller it wasn't your bid and ask to retract, he can't give you a Neg anyway. I'm not that sure on the leagalities of wether you've made a contract or not but, if it isn't that dear (assuming the seller refuses to cancel) it might be easier just to pay up.
Be kinda ironic if you did end up with the item, then resold it at a profit.

 

[big soft moose]

One of my sons (11 yrs old) managed to put in a winning bid on eBay for something he doesn't need nor want. I daresay he knew exactly what he was doing but tells me it was an accident... At the end of the day it was my fault for leaving things logged on.
Anyway if I ask the seller if I can retract the bid and he agrees will I get penalised? I'll offer to pay his fees. Or should I go through the resolution centre? Or is just safer buying the damn thing?
The item isn't costing a fortune and I've had a 100% feedback for over 10 yrs so obviously wish to keep that.
Any assistance would be appreciated.

I'd be inclined to buy it and then deduct from pocket money til its paid for

11 is old enough to know what you are doing and to take responsibility for your actions .

once you are satisfield that he contrite and has learnt his lesson you could sell the item, and if you are feeling generous give him the value back - or a proportion of it.

He needs to learn or next time he might put a bid in on a ferrari :shock:

(and also learn your lesson and dont leave the computer logged on and unattended in future)

 

[wizer]

I don't think Noel is asking for parenting advice.

If you want to keep 100% FB (I can't imagine why), then your best bet is to buy the item and re-ebay it. There's no way to be certain the seller will be understanding. I know I'd be a bit miffed, not just because I've come across 100's of eBay cretins (and it's hard to pick out those who are genuine), but also because now I'd have to re-ebay that item. Sometimes I depend on the sale of one thing to buy another. So don't nescessarily expect the seller to be happy about it.

Personally, I couldn't care less. But then my missus calls me a heartless ba$tard

 

[mr grimsdale]

I don't think Noel is asking for parenting advice.

If you want to keep 100% FB (I can't imagine why), then your best bet is to buy the item and re-ebay it. There's no way to be certain the seller will be understanding. ..

Yes there is - you ask him to cancel the order (with suitable explanations and apologies). If he says yes (which 99% will) you are OK. He then sends a cancellation thing which you have to agree to.
No problem, shouldn't cost you anything either. If he is stuffy about it you don't deal with him again and you can give him a negative rating.

 

[kasandrich]

I would just explain and politely ask if it were possible to cancel.

Accept responsibility but ask for compassion.

 

[big soft moose]

If he is stuffy about it you don't deal with him again and you can give him a negative rating.

yeah that certainly seems fair - you give him a neg because your child screwed up his auction and caused you to waste his time and he wasnt "understanding" of how this came to pass.

IMO this isnt just about keeping a 100% ebay rating, its also about acting like a responsible citizen.

the "right" thing to do is to buy the thing , and then either keep it or ebay it, then you dont get into whether the seller has to be understanding of something that is none of his concern, and you show the child an object lesson in doing right and keeping your word.

 

[matt]

Did your son pay a good price for the item? If so then I think you should be prepared to cover any loss on a subsequent auction of the item as a gesture of goodwill. This alone should reduce the risk of the seller thinking you're a "timewaster".

It's a tough one. In writing this post I've wavered between saying just pay for it and be done versus appealing to the sellers good nature.

There's no doubt that the seller will be frustrated - it's a pain losing a sale and there are very few reasons that lessen that. Your son bidding is not really one of them IMO, although personally, if I were the seller, I'd be pragmatic and give you the benefit of the doubt.

 

[miles_hot]

When ever I've sold anything there's always been the "second chance" option which has mystified me - is this the sort of thing that's in play here whereby ebay knows how much it would have gone for if your son hadn't put in the winning bid - if it a small percentage less than your bid would that not help the seller? Would there be a need to re-list and waste another days??

Mind you I know very little about ebay and the second chance thing has always confused me

Miles

 

[Jake]

When ever I've sold anything there's always been the "second chance" option which has mystified me - is this the sort of thing that's in play here whereby ebay knows how much it would have gone for if your son hadn't put in the winning bid - if it a small percentage less than your bid would that not help the seller? Would there be a need to re-list and waste another days??

Mind you I know very little about ebay and the second chance thing has always confused me

It will be one bid increment less than the winning bid. The seller isn't necessarily out all that much at all and indeed may be better off than he would have been without the "erroneous" bid.

 

[mr grimsdale]

The second chance option allows you to re-list an item if the sale doesn't come off for whatever reason, and notifies all the earlier bidders I believe.

To the original question "My child....., can I cancel without penalty" the answer is no (strictly speaking) but you can ask the vendor to cancel the order. It's all there in the blurb somewhere.

 

[Steve Blackdog]

I think you should only consider the seller. If it is a big organisation, then maybe try to get out of it. But I don't think it's fair to pull out otherwise.

How much are you talking about? If it really isn't much I'd go ahead and buy it. On the other hand if it is more than you would spend, you should offer the seller compensation for messing them about and give them the choice of how they want to deal with it.

I'm not sure I agree with Wizer's approach to this. The seller is still a person and deserves to be treated as you would want to be treated yourself.

Also I know this isn't about parenting, but will it hurt your son to realise his actions have consequences attached to them?

 

[Noel]

Well, thanks for the contributions, eBaying and parenting alike.
The young fella has been suitably admonished and punished, both financially and otherwise. He understands exactly what he did, why it was wrong and that such things do carry consequences which in itself is perhaps the most important aspect.

I'll pay for the item (X-Box 360 game which he already has) and re-list it.

 

[Russell]

what x box game was it might save you relisting it if my son wants it.

 

[mr grimsdale]

Well, thanks for the contributions, eBaying and parenting alike.
The young fella has been suitably admonished and punished, both financially and otherwise. He understands exactly what he did, why it was wrong and that such things do carry consequences which in itself is perhaps the most important aspect.

I'll pay for the item (X-Box 360 game which he already has) and re-list it.

Why didn't you just ask to cancel the order instead of making a big song and dance about it?
Everybody makes mistakes, and this was a very trivial one.