You can cancel a winning bid however eBay still allow the potential purchaser to leave negative feedback, even when you go through Customer Services and follow their advice. Not that it’s your problem but some people don’t like that negative mark. Hopefully he’ll do the right thing and you’ll get it..
It was a Pistonheads listing not Ebay. I understand the new Pistonheads platform incurs a 6% + VAT fee for the buyer and is free for the seller. So the seller can list for free and sets an agreed reserve. If it doesn't make the agreed reserve, as in the case here, then there is an option to list it as a Buy It Now for a set/fixed price. Which is what happened here.
The complication has occurred it seems as the Buy It Now was still live and running after we had agreed the sale/purchase so wasn't taken down. Then just a few hours before it was due to end someone had click on the Buy It Now button. I think the seller could end the Buy It Now listing early but then Pistonheads would have a right to ask the buyer to foot the 6% + VAT fee.
It is good to know and understand how these platforms work as the all seem different as some have seller fees and some buyer fees. I suspect they will always want their fee from buyer or seller as they have listed and advertised/marketed the car. So rightly so in that sense. I guess the only way they don't get their fee is if the car is not sold for the agreed price or reserve. Which is totally understandable too.
I think I would just stick to and prefer the standard way to advertise then list a car with a fixed fee classified ad style. Many of these newer auction style platforms often seem to cause some issues and not sure they often achieve high selling prices either from what I have seen. Most only charge a small fee.
For PH:
On Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren the adverts cost £39.99, all others are £29.99 for a 30 day listing.
For Ebay:
List your vehicle using the Classified ad format, and it costs a non refundable listing fee of £19.99, but when the vehicle sells, there are no Final fees to pay, nothing else to pay.
List it in auction format or as a regular Buy it Now, this will costs a non refundable listing fee of £14.99 but here, when the vehicle sells, there is a seller fee, a Final Value Fee to pay which is 1% of the final transaction, minimum £25, maximum £45.
For Autotrader:
Basic is £36.95 for 2 Weeks
Standard is £46.05 for 3 Weeks
Premium is £58.95 for 6 Weeks
Ultimate is £74.95 live until sold
I have mainly used the £19.99 Ebay Classified Ad option to sell any cars with decent success. I tend to look at all the usual platforms anyway as I expect we all mainly do.