I think Flippa just screwed up my auction

[Lyubomir]

Hi all, I have a problem with Flippa (again) !

I received an email from some person that told me he's interested in one of my domains on auction. He told me that he has registered in Flippa, but they want him a credit card that he haven't got. The email was received 1 hour before the end of the auction. I wrote to Flippa's premium support(I've PAID for it) how we can fix this. 1 hour later the auction ended and still NO RESPONSE from Flippa!

I also received couple of bids last seconds and the auction WAS NOT EXTENDED. Here in their 'terms' is written with BOLD following: ...any non-BIN bids which are higher than the current bidder, will extend the end time by one hour...

I think they screwed my auction ... what do you think is the best option in this case :/

P.S.: I need some sleep now, but tomorrow I'll share with you how I'm waiting this "premium" support more than 1 week to tell me why I did not receive newsletters from them.

 

[Sanwal]

The good old days when Kevin was at Flippa. Sigh..

 

[Chris Hydrick]

From Flippa HERE

@FlippaDomains How are you going to remedy this?

 

[xn--v4h.com]

If the last bid on Flippa was made within an hour before close, then it should have been extended regardless. Are you sure the last bid was made less than an hour before close?

 

[Chris Hydrick]

Realist it

If they have messed up, perhaps flippa should relist it as a premium listing with no charge.

How can you relist something that SOLD? I think that is OP's problem. He / She now needs Flippa to tell the buyer (bidder 1) the auction is still ongoing due to a system error.

Last bid: 20:32:28 UTC
Auction Ended: 20:36:19 UTC

If I'm correct - the auction ended 4 minutes and 9 seconds after last bid.

The previous bids (there was a bidding war at the end which makes this more effed up!)...

Bidder 2 - 20:32:27

Bidder 1 - 20:31:47

Bidder 2 - 20:31:45

Bidder 1 - 18:46:07

Bidder 3 - 18:46:07

 

[Want2learn]

Well if Flippa isnt following their own rules realist it. I mean it sounds like it sold. But it also sounds like bidding should have extended auction. Who knows?

 

[xn--v4h.com]

Wow! That's also unfair for the bidder too but ultimately it seems Flippa should make everyone whole.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

This is a streeeetch but Flippa could contact the bidders. Ask what is the highest they are willing to pay for the domain -- then Flippa covers the difference between highest bidder and OPs BIN. (doubtful - but hey FLIPPA system error ending the auction less than 5 minutes after last bid is closer to a BIN - since they closed the auction prior to auction ending...)

EDIT: They could pay out the difference between auction end price and BIN in Flippa credits.

 

[Lyubomir]

Hey guys, this is their brilliant answer:

"
The last bid placed by XXXXXXXXX was $1600 which is less than the cap placed by LLLLLLLLL so the system upped LLLLLLLLL's proxy bid by $50. LLLLLLLL could not have lost the auction as their proxy cap was higher than that of XXXXXXXX's.

This statement "any non-BIN bids which are higher than the current bidder, will extend the end time by one hour" also takes proxy bids into consideration. Since the proxy of LLLLLLLLL was higher the auction was not extended."

I am the only one who thinks that this is totally different from what it's written here:

"
On Flippa we try to avoid "sniping", which is bidders putting in bids right at the end of the auction listing time. Sniping leads to sellers getting lower prices, and buyers missing out on items they want. This advantages no one but the sniper, and we don't like it.

To avoid sniping, in the last hour of a listing, any non-BIN bids which are higher than the current bidder, will extend the end time by one hour from the time of the bid. This allows the seller to evaluate the last bid, and gives other bidders a chance to reply to that bid, if they choose.

Some specifics around this:

• We consider the time the bid is accepted as the time of the bid
• Only auctions with more than one bidder qualify for an extension"

?!

@FlippaDomains , can you please provide us with more info?

 

[Chris Hydrick]

Wow! Based off their response,it appears Flippa supports sniping. There is no other explanation. This is unfair to the other bidder. I mean ending the auction not even 5 minutes after last bid.

@Lyubomir - if I were you, in light of @FlippaDomains breaking their own TOS, I would not accept payment for the domain, nor would I transfer it. This domain is worth way more than the mistaken end price.

 

[mdent]

This is normal @ Flippa, if you place a bid that is less than the proxy bid of the current high bidder, the auction is not extended. You need to bid higher than the current proxy bid in order to extend the auction time. There is no way to snipe domains.

I personally don't think this is unfair at all, in fact I prefer this system to the way other marketplaces handle proxy bids

 

[Chris Hydrick]

Why don't you invite flippa people from NP into this converation? Let them explain what happened.

How about being proactive and tagging any if you know their usernames.

@iHaveThisIdea is no longer with flippa.

In case you didn't notice, myself and OP tagged @FlippaDomains

 

[Ollie3000]

The good old days when Kevin was at Flippa. Sigh..

I used to send Kevin some right rubbish when i first started lol But he always politely replied and pointed me in the right direction. Where has Kevin gone now? Whenever I email them I get Herwin now

 

[D Haynes]

Hmmmm pretty grey area. So if bidding is at 1500 and I bid 1550 when the leading bidder has a proxy of 1600, nothing changes? Thats not really fair as I have no way of knowing by opponents proxy without bidding. Maybe in this situation they should extend by 5 mins like GoDaddy auctions so you have opportunity to bid again.

 

[iHaveThisIdea]

Where has Kevin gone now?

Answer - I don't think he is with Flippa anymore, but I could be wrong.

He hasn't answered any questions on here for a while and I don't think they have anyone else from Flippa here.

I guess when you have no explanation for how you conduct your business and you do not want to answer for your questionable business practices you do not have someone from your organization here to explain or fix problems.

Thanks for that, but I haven't been with Flippa since January.

 

[iHaveThisIdea]

@iHaveThisIdea , can I kindly ask you to provide me info who should I contact from Flippa different from support? And I would also be very happy to hear your opinion about this case : )

All the best : )

Unfortunately, there is no one active in the forums from what I can tell. I'll have a read through when I have time.

 

[Want2learn]

Realist it

 

[EmotiveDomains]

If they have messed up, perhaps flippa should relist it as a premium listing with no charge.

 

[ksusha64]

Why don't you invite flippa people from NP into this converation? Let them explain what happened.

 

[Nikhil Jain]

I don't think there was any error with the system and it was a fair auction.

The auction could have extended only after bidding more than the proxy of the highest bidder.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

I don't think there was any error with the system and it was a fair auction.

The auction could have extended only after bidding more than the proxy of the highest bidder.

Fair according to what?

Bidder #2 was willing to spend $1,600 on this domain. Imagine being that bidder (familiar with Flippa's auction extension rule) going to the bathroom, and coming back to find the domain has been sniped.

https://support.flippa.com/hc/en-us/articles/202469934-What-is-proxy-bidding-

Do a CTRL+F for "extend" and the only result is a link to:
https://support.flippa.com/hc/en-us...n-auction-just-extend-after-a-bid-was-placed-

Do a CTRL+F on that page for "proxy" and the only result is a link back to What is Proxy bidding.

Please find where Flippa's statement is outlined on their site or TOS.

 

[Nikhil Jain]

Bidder #2 was willing to spend $1,600 on this domain. Imagine being that bidder (familiar with Flippa's auction extension rule) going to the bathroom, and coming back to find the domain has been sniped.

I have used Flippa for a good extent and I'm aware that if I place a bid which is lower than a proxy bid, then as soon as I click 'Submit Bid', the page refreshes the very moment with the message that I have been 'Outbid'.

So I know it immediately in the very next second of placing a bid that I have been outbid due to a higher proxy bid. Thanks.

 

[Chris Hydrick]

Where has Kevin gone now?

@iHaveThisIdea = Kevin

 

[Nikhil Jain]

SEDO states this in their website.

Show attachment 64000

Are you saying Proxy bids don't extend the auction time on Sedo?



It doesn't. Pretending for a second that I don't focus on the bold...
Show attachment 63999

... that support page neglects to mention anything about proxy bids not being subject to the one hour extension.

I think you did not read this part -

• Scenario 3 - New bidder enters auction in last hour but doesn't take over lead -> no extension
  Bidder 1 is the highest bidder at $5,000 but with a max bid of $6,000. Bidder 2 places a higher bid of $5,500 with 10 minutes remaining on the auction.
  Result: The system automatically places a bid of $5,600 for Bidder 1 to keep him in the lead. Bidder 2 is immediately informed that she needs to place a higher bid to win the auction. The auction IS NOT extended as there is no new highest bidder.

 

[Ollie3000]

@iHaveThisIdea = Kevin

Thanks