Why do ebay dealers list things they don't have?

[Love Bug]

This has happened to me twice now. I bid on an item, win it, pay for it, then get an email from the dealer a week or so later telling me, "Oops -- can't find the item, here's a refund." In the meantime, I've passed up other auctions for the same item because I thought I already won it from someone else. Dammit, that pisses me off.

[grasswire]

1. I didn't know that happened.

Must be massive disorganization!

Although....I can see how a power seller with thousands of listings might have a problem keeping things in order.

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. More likely, they chose to sell it to someone else offline

Someone who may have offered more than the auction end price.

Regardless, you have the right to file complaint through Safe Harbor. To post item up for auction, then not follow through on the seller/bidder contract, the seller has broken the rule, and can lose status/ability to sell again on eBay.

If this has happened wthin the past 30 days, you can still file with Safe Harbor.
http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/programs-investigations.html

[brer cat]

3. There are sellers who contract with wholesalers

to list on ebay. They apparently have no way of knowing whether the product will still be available when the auction ends. I had this happen to me a couple of years ago, and exchanged a couple of emails with the seller before I gave up...she was recovering from cancer and this home job was all that she could do to make money. She was at the mercy of the wholesaler whether the product would actually be there. I think she was a victim as much as the "buyer" of her non-existant product. I don't think ebay should allow this type of selling, but apparently it is widely used.

I know sellers who will cut deals off-ebay, but they end auctions early. I don't know of any who let them go to winning auctions, and then don't have the product.

[zabet]

4. I have had it happen twice....

on a 10 piece dining room suite. The first time the
seller said that they actually had listed for someone else.
Said seller 'changed their mind'. The second time, won dining
set, paid, was guaranteed delivery in 6 weeks, 9 weeks later,
seller said their storage barn burned down - with my not yet
shipped set.

[grasswire]

5. I hope you got your money back!

Wow.

[zabet]

6. Yes...

actually got my money back both times.
3rd time was the charm, purchased a 10 pc.
set from a lady in Pennsylvania that had
been in her family since new. She even
helped me arrange the shipping - a man left
SC, went to Pennsylvania, got my set, and
brought it back to NC for $450!! He arranged
other pick-ups and deliveries along the way.
That was
a little over 18 months ago.

Here is one pic of 2 of the 10 pieces...

[Horse with no Name]

7. I had it happen with slipcovers

with one of the Sure Fit stores on Ebay.
I bid and got them for a GREAT price (on other sites were listing for as much as $50 more). They sent me an invoice.
Two weeks later they sent me a notice saying those covers were unavailable but I could choose another or take my money back.
Then even more strangely, I got an email from the bidder that I was bidding against and she said that AFTER the auction, they offered the same covers to her but did the same thing to her. :wtf:
Anyway, it pissed me off because in the meantime, I had purchased some pillows, a matching slipcover for my wingback chair (wasn't cheap), a painting, and also painted the room in anticipation.
I don't know why it took two weeks to determine they didn't have them, but I wrote a scathing email to them.
I ended up getting a free wingback chair slipcover, but still.
The next week, the actual slipcover I won was listed again with a higher starting out price.:eyes:

[CountAllVotes]

8. I just bought a great slipcover

from overstock.com. I had a 10% off coupon as well. The entire deal came out to be abt. $47.00 including shipping! :D

Sometimes (often I think), you can find better deals outside of eBay.

[shenmue]

9. Because they're trying to take your money.

At least you didn't get the "we ran out, here's a substitute we're only going to tell you about after the fact" thing. I hope you didn't.