Auctions - Why do people bid on something and not pay for it

[Birds & Eggs]

It really boggles my mind how people will bid on an auction (even last minute bid) and have absolutely no intentions of paying for it. It is just beyond me how someone could conduct themselves in such a manner. Ok.. rant over.

 

[Runt Of The Litter]

agreed.
perhaps because it is anonymous they dont perhaps feel as loyal to morals and rules,as they woud physicaly buying from a shop.

people have a legaly binding commitment to buy once they go through the bidding/buy it now process,so its very possible to threaten them with the law.

have had a google for US law on ebay buyers doing this,but can only find a good official UK guide,and not sure how well our laws compare:
http://reviews.ebay.co.uk/LEGAL-ADVICE-REGARDS-BUYING-AND-SELLING_W0QQugidZ10000000001449898

am not a seller,but have bought off ebay for years,and in the early days had found it quite hard to buy anything thanks to these non payers,as sellers associated people with low feed back as being the same as the guys who screwed them over.


woud recommend using this site for checking out a bidder before an auction ends:
http://www.toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs
it works with all international ebay users,have just found it now,very useful to check out all the negatives as it might show something about them not paying.