Reversal of high bid

Well I just had a first happen to me. Had five of my little paintings bid on by one person (unknown) and with three days left she reversed her bids!! So now none are sold. Not happy because of her bids others were discouraged from bidding. Has anyone else had this happen to them?? I probably will not list on this site anymore when these run their time.

I got notified of one today at 6:34 PM eastern - for a 9 PM ending (single bid). Bid was out there for a couple of days. Never heard of a reversal. There goes the rent :wink:

I didn’t even know reversing your bid was a thing!
I didn’t know you could do that.

@Mary_Datum and @Johnna_Schelling, I am sincerely sorry for these reversed bids. They are all from one bidder. Occasionally we will get a request from a bidder to have one bid reversed, and when they ask, they are always apologetic. This is the first time, in the more than 10 years we have had auctions, that anyone has asked to reverse more than one bid at one time. Unfortunately, this bidder didn’t offer a reason, even after I asked, and so will no longer be able to bid again in DPW auctions.

When someone bids in our auctions, we let them know clearly that their bid is an agreement between them, the artist, and DPW, to pay their amount bid if they win the auction.

Unfortunately, neither we nor even eBay can force a buyer to pay if they are unwilling. And honestly, no one wants to force someone to buy a painting when they have changed their mind.

I am always grateful, however, if they at least ask us to reverse a bid before the auction ends instead of winning the auction and simply not paying.

If a bidder doesn’t pay after four or so days, the most effective response by the artist is to flag them. This sends the bidder a friendly reminder email and keeps them from bidding again in DPW auctions until they do pay. If they don’t pay then they cannot bid again.

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Thanks fo the explanation, Still feel upset but I’ll get over it. I am glad that they will not be able to do this to someone else

Mary

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thanks David for your unflagging diplomacy - very much appreciated!

Johnna_Schelling - I wonder if it was the same person?? First time for me also.

yes - early in David’s note - Guess I was assuming as much and even slightly concerned it might be hacking. So sorry for you though.

Just re read his note. Wow
I always offer a return policy and free shipping - so I found it very strange.
Oh well moving on. :slight_smile:

This happened to me when I started using the site about 5 years ago - she bid on x 3 paintings, then contacted me direct and asked if did commissions and when I said ‘yes’ she asked to cancel her auction bids and do the commission instead. Then she didn’t proceed with the commission. It is just one of those things and never happened subsequently. It dents your confidence but it is not typical and I think you should pick yourself up, dust yourself down, shrug - it’s their loss. When your work fetches $$$$$$ in the secondary art market in years to come, they will be very sorry, so there!
:wink::grin:

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Hahahah . This was a first for me - I have been using this site for about the same amount of time. :slight_smile: . I just found it very strange. Who knows their reason for this but at least they will not be bidding on anything from here again.

I think that is just a fluke. I have had one person in 4 years change her mind. I just thanked her for her interest and went on.

I list on eBay as well and there, it happens constantly. People will just put a “follow” on you because they’re interested but not certain, or they may be a fellow artist who just wants to see if that type of painting will sell. I don’t even bother considering them anymore. Its the actual bid that counts. :wink:

Patricia, you are right about the ones that follow - but these were accual bids . :frowning:

Thats just downright sad. There should be a way to block them if they habitually bid and then rescind the bid. That stops others who may want to bid on a piece. On eBay you can block any bidder for any reason.

David said that he did block the person because they did not respond with a reason. Funny that they had bid on both Johnna and myself.

I’m happy David can do that. Seems the more you interact with the public the more you see some very strange ones. Its sad that they may have prevented an honest bidder from bidding.

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Not exactly the same thing, but I had two different people offer to buy oil paintings from me after a plein air event. Since the paintings were wet and needed a little more work, I got their names and email addresses. When I contacted them later, they changed their minds, or the prices were more than they expected, although very reasonable.

Guessing a lot of art is purchased “in the moment” and usually that’s a good thing! For me, auctions add excitement and anticipation - wish more sold this way, but a sale is a sale. Happy Painting!