Sorry, Joe. I just can't side with you on this one. I agree that there is nothing to be gained by wising up a chump, but I can't agree that the seller is obligated to let a valuable item sell for pennies on the dollar because he didn't realize what he had until after the auction started. Now, if the auction had ended, that would be an entirely different story. Look at it this way. Perhaps there is someone who really wants the bike, but who would not have noticed it with the previous descrption. That person would really appreciate a more accurate listing. In fact, this is certainly what IS happening, or else the biding pattern should not significantly change. Certainly, his offer of a private "Buy it now" is an infringement of eBay's terms of service and is probably intended to circumvent the associated seller's fees.
We had an instance up here that made the paper where a couple of guys bought a painting at a yard sale, then found out it was an original and had it auctioned off at a major auction house for a substantial amount of money. A lot of people in the area thought the most fair thing was for the two guys to share some of the proceeds with the hapless original owner. What if they had known exactly what the painting was worth when they bought it? Would their purchase have constituted fraud? Some people might think so.
My point is that these are not black & white issues. eBay provides the opportunity for a seller to end an auction early if there is an error in the listing. In this case, there were errors of omission.
On topic: that bike has a very short top tube if there's that much headtube showing on what appears to be a 20" frame. Steep angles for a bike of that vintage, too. I wish I could buy it for a song, as it looks perfect for me.
Steve Barner
> Date: Fri, 03 Sep 2004 14:59:36 -0400
> From: Joe Bender-Zanoni <joebz@optonline.net>
> To: themaaslands@comcast.net,
> Classic Rendezvous <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Subject: Re: [CR]Vintage Pogliaghi Track Bicycle Bike FB crank Italy EBay
> Itemnumber: 2267774042
>
> In my opinion, whoever gave this seller the idea that the second bike is
the
> valuable one, a Pogliaghi etc.did not do the hobby a favor. While I'm
> certainly not in the "never wise up a chump" school, wising up this guy
irks
> me because the information is being put to bad purposes.
>
> Based on this information the seller now figures he has a hot ticket and
> that justifies 1) Breaking a contract with his original bidders in
conflict
> with Ebay policy, 2) Soliciting private so-called "buy it now" offers in
> another apparent attempt to mess with the bidding process and violate Ebay
> policy and 3) Possibly misrepresenting the bike as a Pogliaghi (I don't
know
> if it is or not).
>
> The first auction had a number of bidders and no reserve. The auction was
> on. The seller cancelled those legitimate bids using the basis of an error
> in the listing. This was a false pretense. The listing clearly said the
> second bike was unidentified and "what you see is what you get".
>
> Then in the second auction he now has a reserve, not yet met and "WILL
> CONSIDER OFFERS AND OFFER A BUY IT NOW FOR THE RIGHT PRICE."
> So he's already fishing to violate the auction terms and Ebay rules again.
>
> I really detest this sort of predatory double dealing and see this as a
good
> example of why a little information can be a dangerous thing.
>
> Joe Bender-Zanoni
> Great Notch, NJ
> > http://ebay.com/