eBay question

[sr71blackbird]

I saw an item for sale that I was interested in and saw that it had a "best offer" option, so I bid like $50 less than it was asking for. I did not expect the person to agree to it.
Next thing I knew I get an email that said I bought the item!
Apparently they accepted my bid. I would have like it if they asked me if I still wanted it, because I did later on see a similar item that I might have liked better.
Is it common that if they have a best offer option that they just do it like that?
Just curious, I had not expected this and now I feel a little upset.
Am I wrong or maybe I did not read the fine print or whatever?

[BlackSpider]

as far as I know, if you are the winning bidder, you are expected to buy it.

[MisterSmith]

You are making an offer to purchase the item, not necessarily haggle over the price.

If the seller thinks your offer is good, you just bought it for the price you offered.

If the seller thinks it is too low (or whatever), they can turn you down and you will get an email stating that.

Any time you make an offer, just like any time you place a bid, you are attempting to buy the item.

[paracetamol flanders]

Your submitting the best offer through eBay was essentially agreeing to buy that item at that price should the seller accept your offer. You should pay for the item promptly and call it a lesson learned. The seller did nothing wrong. Don't use the best offer, buy it now or even bid on something unless you absolutely intend to buy the item at that price. The end.

[sr71blackbird]

You are making an offer to purchase the item, not necessarily haggle over the price.

If the seller thinks your offer is good, you just bought it for the price you offered.

If the seller thinks it is too low (or whatever), they can turn you down and you will get an email stating that.

Any time you make an offer, just like any time you place a bid, you are attempting to buy the item.

Damn! I feel like an idiot for not knowing that! It was a very expensive lesson! I guess I should have offered less. Fuck!

[Zipster90]

It's okay. My first eBay was for a t-shirt. I just wanted to pay ten for it, but I got caught up in the first-eBay jitters, endlessly bidding and bidding, and ended up paying 26 bucks. Luckily, I'm now much wiser.

[bobrobot]

You can always try & explain your situation and see if they will let you off the hook. I've gotten away w/ it before in similar circumstances on Ebay . It's kinda embarrassing but it may work!!!

http://www.great-lakes.org/graphics-2/TTI/713-733-BLOODRED-HOOK.jpg

[KC2OSO]

Agree with Bobo, did you try asking them to retract your bid? They may let you off that big hook.

[MisterSmith]

Or -> You could explain your position and offer to pay the listing fee, which is likely a fraction of what it would cost to outright purchase the item. That way you aren't out a ton of money and the seller isn't out their listing fee; they can then re-list the item without going into the red.

You don't have to offer to pay the listing fee up front, but it is certainly a useful bargaining chip. It still costs something to learn the lesson, but not as much. :wink: