Selling on ebay

[Khandro]

I am selling an illustrated book on ebay and I know that one of the bidders, if she is successful, would break up the book and sell it page by page to maximise profit, which I think would be a pity. If it turns out that she is the highest bidder, do I have any legal, beyond my moral right, to refuse the sale please?

[sherrardk]

I could be wrong, but isn't there a way to block a bidder?

[boxtops]

You can take it off sale if you want to stop selling it on eBay - but IMO this is a risk you run in selling any book. We have some prints of Scotland which we know came from an old book, since we bought a copy of the book for my BIL a few years back. Once you sell it, the buyer can do what they like with it. If you sold it any other way, the same would apply.

How do you know she plans to break it up?

[Old Salt]

Seems to me when you sell something, unless you sold it with restrictions, you no longer have any rights regarding the item sold.

I'm fairly sure that is the law of the land

OS

[jomifl]

If she can't pay you, she can't buy it. I once bought something from someone who had got her paypal details wrong, it took a couple of weeks to get it sorted out. Nobody else will be able to buy it if you sabotage your email, but you will be able to re-list it and block that buyer. Not moral but it might work. :-)

[factor-fiction]

If you sell it to someone else there is no way of knowing whether they plan to sell it page by page too.

[sinderella]

i suggest you break up the book and sell it

[EDDIE51]

You can block certain bidders but other than that you have an obligation to sell to the highest bidder. It is possible to withdraw a sale if for example an item is lost or damaged not moral but it could not be proved. So if she wins it you could withdraw it and say it has been damaged or lost. I once had to do this as the item was stolen from my car while it was parked.

[joko]

no, not for that reason. you have no rights whatsover over the item once its sold.

you would have to use another reason...but if you stated the item was damaged, tyou could not then list it again...unless you are going to claim you have 2 of them...

ebay would almost certainly rule against you if you gave that as a reason in a dispute

[bravejordy]

I don't wish to appear rude but if you're so concerned as to the fate of this book why on earth are you selling it?

[NOX]

No not technically you can't- but you can ignore her once she's won it and then she'll open a dispute with ebay, you ignore that too and end of story basically. You might get bad feedback from her but if you're hell bent on preserving the book ( which I probably would be too being a book collector) then it's a small price to pay, alternatively you can cancel her bids now and block her as a bidder, which is probaby simpler.

[ojread2]

Remove it from sale, put her on your BBL then relist
Simples

[ojread2]

If you can, even easier for you if you have other bidders, remove her bid only
http://pages.ebay.co....ers_ov.html#canceling

In general, sellers shouldn’t cancel bids on their listings. However, there are a few legitimate reasons for doing so:
A bidder contacts you to back out of the bid.
You cannot verify the identity of the bidder after trying all reasonable means of contact.
You end your listing early.
Note: Bids cannot be reinstated after they've been cancelled.
To cancel a bid:
Go to the Cancelling bids placed on your listing page.
Enter the item number, the user ID of the bid you're cancelling, and the reason you're cancelling the bid.
Click cancel bid.

[boxtops]

I don't understand though - why block this particular bidder, cancel this sale, when possibly everyone else who is also bidding for it may well be thinking of doing the same?

[Khandro]

The weight of opinion seems to be that there isn't much that can be done. Thanks.
Boxy, I know because I looked at her sales and that is what she does; breaks up books.
Sinder. I just couldn't do that to a book.

[ojread2]

did you miss the link I gave you then?

Of course you you can do something

[Questoz]

If she does become the winner, you can always proceed with the sale apart from actually sending the book to her. When she complains, you can then give her a refund and explain that it must have got lost in the post.

Oops, unfortunately, you have also lost your Certificate of Posting.

Of course, she may then give you a Negative Rating.

[ojread2]

And that would good because ....? It's obvious you know diddly squat

Seller has to prove delivery, not be vindictive
If the seller cant prove it, the buyer gets a refund

[joko]

i agree just withdraw it... claim it got water damaged, then block her from seeing your new listing...

although i agree its bad to break up a book, you have no control over what she does with it...if she will make a big profit she will very likely win

[teresa22]

I agree with ojread2. My husband buys Stephen King books and if he HAD to sell one that he loved I know he would feel the same way. He has become very close too many (sellers and buyers) and I know some sellers have only sold to him b/c they knew he would keep the books. You just have a good feeling knowing who you are selling the book to will cherish it like you once did.

[NOX]

you've been offered many ( pretty varied) ways of making sure she doesn't get her mits on your book, so why say 'The weight of opinion seems to be that there isn't much that can be done. Thanks.'
Simply not true if you read through all the suggestions. Not sure what you wanted anyone to say really- you've had some really good advice from a lot of people.