Expert: Marvinator - 2/10/2004

Question
Hi there,

Im a librarian at a public library about to teach my first class on Ebay. Here is my question: if a bidder has a questionable history, with some neutral or negative feedback, does the seller have the option to disapprove his bid, or cancel it? How does that work? Are there certain criteria for doing that?

Thanks in advance for your expertise on this subject...
Katie

Answer
First and foremost, every seller must learn the main rule of Ebay and that is "The seller sets their own criteria and rules for doing business on ebay".  The rules set by the seller are what Ebay will go with in any dispute.  If a seller does not wish to deal with a disreputable buyer (there are even sellers that will not deal with a buyer with a ZERO feedback rating) then they have the power to cancel that bid.  The second thing that every seller should learn is the SITE MAP.  Everything you need can be found on the Site Map and there is a link to the Site Map at the top of every page.  

The Seller controls their auction in three ways.  First, there is the Blocked Bidder Management. If a seller hears about a person with whom they do not with to deal, they can add this person to their Blocked Bidder List.  Any one on that list who tries to bid will be notified that they are not allowed to bid on that auction.  Anytime a seller has a bad buyer experience, you can bet that the buyer will be added to this list.  

The Second way that the seller controls who deals is the by keeping track of bidders.  If a bidder comes along who has questionable feedback (or as noted above, Zero Feedback) The Seller can cancel the bid. This is also available on the Site Map.

Whether or not a bidder is allowed to bid on an item is purely at the discretion of the Seller, though no seller can know in advance whether a bidder will or will not bid.  A good seller keeps track and checks out the auction reguarly, cancelling  bids as they choose.  In addition, some Sellers will even use a Private Auction, where bidders must apply for permission to bid. To grant permission, a Seller adds the bidder to their "Approved Bidder List" (also available from the Site Map.)  This can actually keep people from bidding and is rarely used by the selling members as a whole.  It is available for those few times when a seller wants only to sell to an established clientelle.

I hope this information helps you in your teaching.  Should you need to, please feel free to ask again!