Joe,
This isn't really a forum for discussing eBay policies, but since many of us use eBay to trade in this hobby, I'll add this to the discussion. eBay also states the following:
Reasons for ending listings early include: a.. The item is no longer available for sale. b.. There was an error in the starting price or reserve amount. c.. There was an error in the listing. d.. The item was lost or broken. The section you referred to applies to completed auctions, which you can see if you read it carefully. eBay specifically states that, although they are widely seen as an online auction service, they are actually a unique online marketplace. The rules that they define establish what people can and cannot do. My point is that this is not a clear case of the seller doing something wrong, as you have described. I believe that reasonable people can have different opinions about the legitimacy of the action this seller has taken--probably based on whether they are sellers or buyers.
Steve Barner, Bolton, Vermont
> Date: Fri, 03 Sep 2004 17:08:51 -0400
> From: Joe Bender-Zanoni <joebz@optonline.net>
> To: Stephen Barner <steve@sburl.com>, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Subject: Re: [CR]Vintage Pogliaghi Track Bicycle Bike FB crank Italy EBay
>
> I knew this would get people going!
>
> The problem for me is that an agreement is an agreement. The Ebay policy
> obligating the seller is:
> 5.2 Binding Bids. Except for items listed in a category under the
> Non-binding Bid Policy, if you receive at least one bid at or above your
> stated minimum price (or in the case of reserve auctions, at or above the
> reserve price), you are obligated as the seller to complete the
transaction
> with the highest bidder upon the auction's completion, unless there is an
> exceptional circumstance, such as: (a) the buyer fails to meet the terms
of
> your listing (such as payment method), or (b) you cannot authenticate the
> buyer's identity.
>
> In this case there were bids above the minimum and the seller had an
> obligation to sell. There was no mistake in the listing. In fact by
offering
> a lot of two frames with a WYSIWYG disclaimer the seller was indicating
that
> he didn't care to carefully describe what he was offering and was
> indifferent to the consequences. By the way, with good pictures this
WYSIWYG
> type of listing often gets excellent results for people who know nothing
> about what they are selling. Even in this case I think the seller would
have
> received a good fair price in the first auction and he didn't need to
march
> off breaking agreements left and right in pursuit of top dollar.
>
> I guess I'm very firmly of the opinion that sellers should never back out
of
> an agreed deal based on information as to value learned after agreeing to
a
> deal.
>
> Joe Bender-Zanoni
> Great Notch, NJ