17 Sep
1999
17 Sep
'99
10:05 a.m.
I guess my feeling is that what the seller did was
unethical since he did
want to sell the item. If he wanted to sell the item, and put it up for
bid, then he is accepting the risk, like anyone else, of not getting what
they would like for it. That should not be sufficient cause for stopping
the auction and making those who bid in good faith suffer from his
greediness.
At one time, and perhaps still today, eBay allowed the seller to place one
bid on his/her own auction. This happened to me once on an auction where
the seller outbid me at the last moment on a non-reserve auction. I was
outraged, until the seller pointed out to me that he was within the rules in
doing this. If it's still ok to bid on one's own auction, then the seller could
put
in a huge bid, immediately cancel the auction, and then still abide by the
"rule"
that the item be sold to the highest bidder. Right?