I've done a very stupid thing. Ebay bid dilemma

[Guest MoJo]

Recently a bass popped up on eBay that the search algorithms though might interest me. I'm pretty sure, that at the start of the auction, it had a 'Buy It Now' price of £450. Being the nosey beggar I am, I stuck it on my watch list. Yesterday, I got an alert to say that it the auction was ending. I had a look and the item was up to £155 (Reserve not met). I figured that if the seller was looking for £450, the reserve must be at least £350-£375. I stupidly placed a bid of £255, thinking I was safe. A short while later, I received the news that I'd won the auction. Initially I felt a bit sick then felt like a complete donkey, repeating, 'why place a bid'?' in my head. 

I don't need and can't play a six string bass (I struggle with damping a five string successfully) but hate backing out of an agreement, especially as I subsequently found out, the seller had relisted the bass 'due to a time waster'. Really don't know what to do and too ashamed to contact the seller. What would you guys do in this situation?

[Ricky 4000]

Suck it up!! 😃

A new bass is a win, sounds like a good price, play with it then sell it on here for what you paid? 👍

[JimBobTTD]

Buy it. 

Take out all the electronics and replace them with expensive ones. Have it defretted. Then realise the true meaning of "don't need" and "can't play" with the added sting of it no longer being a bargain. 

That's what I would do!

[Monkey Steve]

I think we need to see the bass to judge

If it's a Fender Bass VI in mint condition then well done

If it's a chinese knock off with the headstock hanging off then you might need to suck it up and make it an amusing tale to tell your bandmates

Edited July 3, 2019 by Monkey Steve

[Beedster]

8 minutes ago, JimBobTTD said:

Buy it. 

Take out all the electronics and replace them with expensive ones. Have it defretted. Then realise the true meaning of "don't need" and "can't play" with the added sting of it no longer being a bargain. 

That's what I would do!

That resonates

[Woodinblack]

I would buy it and at some point later sell it at a large loss. Works for me

But if I have got something on ebay I buy it, sometimes it is a good reminder of that the only reason to put a bid on anything on eBay is if you are prepared to pay the amount you bid for it.

So what is it? A 6 string something for £225 doesn't sound the worse thing that can happen

Edited July 3, 2019 by Woodinblack

[Al Krow]

Learn to play 6 string bass and then sell all your four and five string basses! 😉

[Ricky 4000]

13 minutes ago, Beedster said:

That resonates

... like an undampened B string! 😄

[Al Krow]

...although tbf 6 string basses are probably the work of the devil. Our Creator clearly meant us to play 5 string basses given how many fingers he gave us, right? 😁

[bartelby]

If it's that Ibanez BTB, then I'd say that was a good score!

[petebassist]

I'd be surprised if there wasn't a 'pull-out clause' on this site or a whole raft of them in the legal page, check the small print.

[hooky_lowdown]

1 minute ago, petebassist said:

I'd be surprised if there wasn't a 'pull-out clause' on this site or a whole raft of them in the legal page, check the small print.

You can, not pay on fleabay, you will get a non payment strike, which means very little as fleabay need consumers.

[Guest MoJo]

9 minutes ago, bartelby said:

If it's that Ibanez BTB, then I'd say that was a good score!

It is

[bartelby]

I'd say, if you can afford the short term hit financially, keep the bass for a bit and give it ago.
I'm sure you'd be able to recover your money selling it here, if necessary.

[Al Krow]

Hah! Depending on its condition, it sounds to me you've potentially bagged yourself a bargain!

Time to change the thread title...

I've done a very clever stupid thing. Ebay whizz kid struts his stuff bid dilemma

Fixed! 😁

[Rich]

19 minutes ago, bartelby said:

If it's that Ibanez BTB, then I'd say that was a good score!

 

9 minutes ago, MoJo said:

It is

I paid 120 for my BTB sixer. Mind you, it is a right mess  yours (if I'm looking at the right one) is immeasurably better.

Pay the money, keep it as a toy and try to get on with it, and chalk it up to experience.

[Monkey Steve]

17 minutes ago, hooky_lowdown said:

You can, not pay on fleabay, you will get a non payment strike, which means very little as fleabay need consumers.

yes. 

Technically the winning bid is legally binding and there isn't a way to just pull out of the purchase.  However, if you don;t pay it won't be worth the bidder taking you to court, especially if you don't pay because you don't have the money - what would they expect to gain from it?  Apparently it's the same for real auction houses - they rarely pursue non-payers.

So really the worst is a non-payment strike to let other sellers know that you can't be trusted

 

[pbasspecial]

The right thing to do is buy it as you made an 'offer/contract' with eBay/seller.  Play it, if you like it keep it.  If not, sell it.  If you pay via your credit card, you have a month to sell it/settle your bill.  I doubt the financial hit will be too great.  Do the right thing, it will make you feel better.

[bartelby]

12 minutes ago, Rich said:

 

I paid 120 for my BTB sixer. Mind you, it is a right mess  yours (if I'm looking at the right one) is immeasurably better.

I paid £200 for a lower spec 5 string a few years back. Sold it for £220 though, so that was good (and that didn't include the 3 wraps of heroin that were still hidden in the gig bag when I bought it).

Edited July 3, 2019 by bartelby

[Ricky 4000]

Was it good for playing 'Golden Brown'? 😬

[paul_c2]

How long was the time period from placing the bid to the auction ending (with you winning it)? I believe there is a bid retraction mechanism in place, but you might not be able to do that in the last few hours etc.

Anyway, that's for next time or for others if a similar thing happens.

I personally think you should just go ahead and buy it; but there's not much actually stopping you not doing so, and earning a non-payment strike. It depends if your future reputation on eBay is valuable to you, since that non-payment strike will be visible to other sellers when you bid on something (I think).

[Richard R]

It is a legal contract, so as others have said the best thing is to buy it then flog it later. The financial loss should be small, the grief from the missus will abate, you won't have  p-d off the sellerand your conscience will be clear. The latter is worth a lot .

Edited July 3, 2019 by Richard R
Corrected autocorrect

[Monkey Steve]

as an aside, I do quite often toy with the idea of getting a dirt cheap instrument on eBay, just to try something new, the idea being that I can always upgrade to a better one if I take to it but avoid having chucked a load of cash at something I didn't really get on with it

A sixer would probably fall into that category (also an 8 string (2x4) or a fretless)

Edited July 3, 2019 by Monkey Steve

[Stylon Pilson]

3 minutes ago, Monkey Steve said:

as an aside, I do quite often toy with the idea of getting a dirt cheap instrument on eBay, just to try something new, the idea being that I can always upgrade to a better one if I take to it but avoid having chucked a load of cash at something I didn't really get on with it

A sixer would probably fall into that category (also an 8 string (2x4) or a fretless)

Last year I bought myself a Yamaha BB235 on a whim. I'd always played 4 strings before that, but I'd had a beer and it was at a very attractive price.

Got on really well with it, and now I consider myself 100% a 5 string convert.

S.P.

[Marc S]

I too hate backing out of an agreement. If you're like me, you would feel guilty about adding to the sellers woes - especially as they've already been mucked about
If the bass is worth anything like that upper price, you have a bargain anyway.

I've bought and sold several basses (and a couple of 6 string guitars too) - just because I fancied them at the time, or fancied trying something different
So give it a whirl (or two, or three) see how you get on with it, then sell it on at a later date if you decide it's not for you
Sounds like you won't be losing much financially, or you may even make a few quid....

Happy UX-NBD