Someone hijacked my auction.

Wow. That's terrible. How can other people be contacting you? You mean the buyer has passed your contact details on without your permission. That is a serious privacy breach. I would Community Watch the relisted auction to try and get some action from TradeMe that way. Or try live chat for a faster repsonse than email. A seller is supposed to have the item in their possession. Clearly they don't, because you have it. You have the money so potentialy you can just ignore anyone else who contacts you about it?

The buyer has contacted me directly asking questions, then I see the same questions being answered on his auction. I would have kept my own auction running if I knew I was going to be used like this. I’ve been politely answering questions because he said he’d pick up before the weekend but his auction closes after the weekend (Monday). I’m being played.

Cheeky Buyer… especially if they have passed on your details to others. Of course they can do what they like with the item…relist etc once they have paid for it but the decent thing to do would be for them to collect it before listing.

BTW Just because they have listed it @ 4 times what they paid is kind of irrelevant if they accepted and paid your asking price they can try for the moon - doesn’t mean they will get it but it’s a free world.

They do have to abide by Sellers T& C’s & TM Code of Conduct.

I would insist they made arrrangements for collection ASAP otherwise it might get damaged while it sits around waiting. 
Don’t let someone else’s problem become your problem.

Hi Sheree, thanks so much for posting on Community and for letting us know about this. 

This is a bit of an unusual situation so we've taken the appropriate action and will reply to your email shortly.

Presumably since you still have the items, they have also used your photos too, which is not on either. 

Kind of drop shipping but locally.

Got to admire the cheek of it.!

I would thank the person who picks it up - presuming its the NEW BUYER  from the "relisted at higher price " auction and tell them that the $... is going to come in handy - this is of course is a 1/4 of what they actually paid....... that would stir the pot . LOL

I'd love to know the final outcome of this....

Yes, I. Would like to know if they actually broke any law... 

Of course it is morally wrong to use a person's place as free storage while their auction runs but this is effectively what they have done. Sheree? You should tell them you want $25 a day form storage or it goes out on the street. 

The street. TONIGHT. They will be responsible if it is 
Stolen or damaged
That way, you may get some of the extra money you missed out on by offering the item for sale cheaper than They think it's worth. They may not get what they are asking!! 

However, if that's your only motivation :- To punish them for being an Innovative opportunist, then I think you need to look at yourself and your motives.
AFTER ALL, you got the price you wanted😁😁
Why aren't you grateful?
Sometimes when Our PRIDE IS HURT. and we wish that we'd made a better choice. ie asking more, we can lose perspective and lash out.😏
I'm beginning to see a devine hand 😀👌in this😞👍
Maybe God 👍👌has rewarded you with a quick SALE.$$$* AND provided the Charity with some much needed Income  💵💵that will benefit someone in greater need than YOU??? 
only He knows all things. Glory to God., 🙏. 🙌. 🙌. RUA PAKI Fort the Lord. 
Sheree? +? Would you be willing to name the buyer or charity??
Roy.

The final outcome….. TradeMe stepped in and shut down his auction on the bases of one of their rules which stipulates that the goods must be in possession of the seller. Since my auction with the seller was not complete (he hadn’t picked up the goods from me to complete the sale and purchase) he did not have the right to sell the goods on. As soon as his auction was stopped he immediately contacted me for a refund. I gladly returned his money and l felt relief because I no longer needed to rely on the outcome of his auction for my own auction to be completed. I relisted the dining suite a couple days later. Someone else made an offer, arranged to pick up and they arrived when they said they would and were very happy with their purchase. I’m very happy with the how TradeMe stepped up in a timely manner to resolve the issue.

Great outcome! Don't forget to blacklist the first buyer who hijacked your auction, if Trade Me hasn't banned them.

Allan. You can't mention other traders names on here like you have. Perhaps have a read though the rules. You might want to edit or even delete your post.

Like you say it is a buyers responsibility to check prices, feedback, shipping costs and everything else.

A seller can place asking prices at whatever they want.............