won an item I didn't bid on????

I have and idea. Check the bid history on that unwanted gizmo for the first date and time there was any bid on it. Then, can you remember when you placed your snipe on AS for the item you really wanted, or any other item you bid on around that time.

"Shop" and My Snipes

Nope, that doesn't work either because there was only one item I was sniping and I'd had it on my list for a few days by the time this bid I didn't make went in. I hadn't sniped anything else at all. I'm hoping to hear more from AS support about when I was supposed to have made this bid. I don't know if it will clear anything up--I doubt it--but I'm hoping when they check more into it the mystery will clear up. I have to think that the problem was on their end because I KNOW I only had that one item on my list!

Hi Wendy!

I routinely end up being first/low-ball bid on auctions for a lot of stuff. Then I follow the bidding progression and can see the final successful bid on my Ebay page without using up the limited slots in the "Items I'm Watching" section. (If you have a bid on something, the item ends up either in "Items I'm Bidding On" or "Items I Didn't Win". Almost ALWAYS I'm either below the reserve OR am outbid. (On items I REALLY want, I snipe later!)

On one occasion this Fall, I held the opening minimum bid on a no reserve item, and no one outbid me! I was rooting for the nibblers to show up, but they didn't! When I noticed that I had a good chance to win the thing, it was too late to cancel the bid. Sure enough mine was the only bid, so I won! (Yay!..Wait, Oh NUTS!) I more carefully re-read the description and decided I preferred NOT to have it.

After a few exchanged e-mails with the seller, I e-mailed the following proposal. How about I Paypal the seller the Ebay listing AND relisting expenses, the seller releases me from the contract, we part on friendly terms, no bad feedbacks (neither of us left any as I recall). The seller replied with what they wanted for listing expenses, they were reasonable, I zipped off a Paypal payment, and that was that!

It's something you might want to consider.

Jabbergah

P.S. I followed the item afterward. The seller had to relist TWICE before finally successfully (I presume) selling. The item was fairly large, so the seller REQUIRED pickup -- shipping not an option. May have been a factor in selling problems -- it was for ME!

Thanks, that is a great idea. I've already contacted the seller and she seems very reasonable, I bet she'd relist if I told her I'd pay the fees. It bugs me to deal with this when I KNOW beyond the shadow of a doubt the mess up wasn't on my end but at least she's reasonable and it was a small item. I worry about trusting AS now, but it seems that this has never happened to anyone before. But I'd feel better if I knew how it did happen in the first place.

Thanks for the advice, good plan!

LOL apparently!

Did you send AS a query on this?

"Shop" and My Snipes

Shop, yes and no answer there either.

Well, I have no explanation of how Wendy ended up sniping an item she didn't want. But I do have a suggestion to at least get your money back. If the seller is gracious and let's you back out of the deal (and keep your feedback intact) then there shouldn't be a problem. But if you feel better paying for it then just resell it on ebay. You may not get all your money back but obviously if you had to snipe it someone else wanted it too. I've done that with clothing that wasn't quite right when I got it and I got my money back (minus shipping) by reselling it.