From: chance wolf (chance_wolf@shaw.ca)
Date: Wed Dec 08 2004 - 09:50:05 PST
----- Original Message -----
From: "42Ford GPW" <ilovejeeps@hotmail.com>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2004 9:17 AM
Subject: [MV] Ford Prototype Jeep pulled off Ebay
> Does anyone why this was taken off of ebay??
No. When it happens to stuff I bid on though, it's usually because:
a) seller wasn't getting the bids he wanted;
b) someone sent him a letter offering to buy it for x-price before the close
of the auction.
Ebay makes them give a reason for cancelling the listing, but from external
evidence they're 'multiple choice' type reasons with "there was an error in
the listing" and "this item is no longer available" being two of the running
favourites. I'm sure more people would tick off "there was no way I was
going to let it go for that" if such an option were available, but I think
that would be a 'true colours' moment a few steps outside the character
orbit of many Ebayers. ("It's not lying...it's *strategy*...") Not saying
that happened with the prototype specifically, of course, but if it did -
precedent-setting it ain't. ;)
You can try and mail the vendor through the system and ask, but I think any
and all answers should be regarded as "for entertainment purposes only."
I've asked once or twice and have been told things like "I decided not to
sell it after all" (which is why, naturally, it showed up again two weeks
later with a higher reserve price), or the rationale gets dumped on some
Invisible Friend third party ("I was selling it for someone else who decided
to keep it"), or my favourite of all:
"This item is listed in several magazines and other auction venues and may
be pre-sold."
That last one belongs to the type of person who hasn't worked out the
difference between auction listings and magazine listings. It's like
someone dropping off a diamond to get auctioned at Sotheby's, then going
back after the sale to tell all concerned that it sold for a higher price at
Herr Dettweiler's Hamburg Auction-o-terium simultaneously, so too bad for
Sotheby's. Those people should be dragged through town behind a stagecoach.
Alot.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Sat May 07 2005 - 20:38:51 PDT