I had an expensive item on ebay but withdrew it last night: although it had a good number of bids and was getting close to what I hoped for, all the bidders had very low feedback, and the things they had previously bought were very low value. I panicked and ended the item.

Now, I appreciate that's irritating when it happens but I wasn't selling anything unique, there are at least 20 other similar items listed every day. So I was a bit surprised to find 2 abusive msgs from one of the bidders: the first says I'm a sellout, and ends with the F. word. The second says it's time for evil, and that I shouldn't post anything else. Over-reaction? Much?

It's not a question of dodging fees - I've paid my listing fees instantly - but all the bidders with little history bothered me, I had visions of posting the item then the money being sucked back out of paypal. Yes, I know we were all new bidders at one time.... On the other hand, I'm not a supplier, I changed my mind about selling, I checked the guidelines and couldn't see a reason not to....

Well, wait and see if the cyber-stalking continues! Or if they report me to ebay. Still, I haven't much left to sell! If I get banned, I get banned.

Actually Rosinate, you should report them to Ebay. I have sold many things on ebay, and you are being abused by one of their members. You must forward their emails to Ebay. I imagine they will get suspended, not you !

Thanks, starbrite. I'm just not sure of where I stand with having ended early.

As a retired ebay seller, I certainly do not condone the rudeness of the bidders!
On the other hand, if you made a mistake about the rules, you may not want to report them.

Here's the rules about ending a listing early: http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/end_early.html

1. If there are 12 hours or more before the end of the listing, you can end the listing early without restrictions.

2. If there are 12 hours or less before the end of the listing, your ability to end the listing early depends on whether there are any bids on the item and whether the item has a reserve price.

Yup, I read them. There was more than 12 hours to go.

I agree that you must report abusive messages. Ebay does very little to support sellers these days. The least they can do is protect you from abuse.

I know how ya feel about bidders with low feedback. I had to list the same purse 3 times because the first two didn't pay. Neither had much for feedback. Frustrating.

I sell a bit on eBay and Amazon and have 100% positive feedback on both. I would consider reporting them and definitely block them. You can block them from your future auctions or contacting you through eBay.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/manage_bidders_ov.html

Then, forget about it, life is way too short!

I used to sell on Ebay- had a store and everything. I finally dumped them and sent a nasty, yet professional email to them explaining why I dumped them. I was a Power Seller with sales of $1500-2500 a month and they just didn't give a rip!!! I use only Amazon, yahoo groups and a couple of free listing sites and all is fine- without their stupid fees and shady customers who know how to work the system.

Interesting to read others' experiences - thankyou.

I buy mostly, small stuff, but have sold when hard up. I have a 100% record and very few bad experiences.

I'll definitely block this guy if I sell anything else - tbh, I haven't much left to sell! He hasn't left any more msgs, perhaps it was the heat of the moment last night. Sorry to trouble you here, I was just a bit shaken up by the vindictivness of his posts.

I agree, report them! cc a copy of the emails too.

I had an experience with a big power seller who sells maily cosmetics and skin care. I went to fashion week in NY with my sister who works in the fashion industry. I got tons of samples and bags and giftcertificates and all sorts of stuff. I knew I would never use even use most of it so I decided to sell what I did not want (with profits going to our 501C animal rescue). I was selling the same suff way cheap and this "power guy" had he bought seven or eight auctions, then immediately sent me an email saying my shipping was too high and asking if I would cancel I was putting all the stuff into a large flat rate box (just as I said I would do in my description) so I was confused but said yes. The guy used the opened purchases to leave me 7 bad feedbacks! I only has 100 sales so it was a huge deal from me. I was going to let it go but the same thing happened with some of the other cosmetic items and I contacted ebay who found out that this guy had multiple accounts for buying as well as his seller account and was doing this to many sellers!

Ebay has changed a great deal in the past two years, most of it for the worse IMO, but it's the job of the buyers and sellers to make sure it stays civil. So bottom line, I think eeryone neeeds to report nastiness.

Also, I have had other minor problems with newbie so last year I added a new rule that anyone with less than 10 positive feed backs needs to contact me before bidding.

Wow, I didn't realize I wasn't viewed in good favor for occasionally bidding on an item because I didn't make a habit of regularly using eBay! I can't believe people are really skeptical of individuals with few feedbacks or transactions (it's another ballgame if it is mixed or negative feedback).

That makes me kind of sad

When you're selling something high value (£400 is a lot to me, anyway) and you're doing it because you need it for vet bills for the dogs, you get very nervous when someone who'se been a member for 5 years but only every bought one or two low-cost magazines in that time suddenly takes an interest in your item.

As in all areas of life, the few bad apples (claiming the item didn't arrive/claiming the item was broken when it arrived/paying by paypal then sucking the money back out again) have spoiled it for the honest majority.

Plus, in this particular case, if a disappointed bidder could then email me with language too offensive to post here, and threaten to stalk/spoil any future auctions I might post, then it kind of proves the need to be cautious!