He Won the Bid, Not the BMW

If you’ve been tracking the legal analysis, you probably think the buyer is going to get the BMW. Sorry, you’re mistaken about that

by John Draneas

BMW’s new M3 sport sedan offers very impressive performance in an appealing package. At an MSRP of approximately $70,000, they fly out of dealers’ showrooms, and there have been reports of dealers selling them at $30,000 over MSRP. So a BMW dealer apparently tried to cut a fat hog by offering a heavily optioned new M3 on eBay on a so-called “no-reserve basis” with a $60,000 starting bid. Of course, a sale isn’t truly “no reserve” if an opening bid is set, as was the case here. However, the seller made it clear that the first bid of $60,000 or above would be enough to own the car.

Our bidder figured he couldn’t go wrong, so he bid $61,000, and eBay dutifully recorded his $60,000 opening bid. A week later, he ended up as surprised as anyone that his was the only bid in the auction.

About 15 minutes after the end of the auction, the bidder claims the...