Thanks Merv and Sharon, and cheers again Greg.
I am a bit disappointed but getting depressed about it won't get the job done.
At Least I have established some credibility as a legitimate buyer anyhow.
I was reluctant to go too much past 50 K anyhow, as that would cut into my rego transfer, insurance and spend on bits to fix him up slush fund.
I am a bit old school and only will offer or bid with money that I have saved and have already rather than pay outrageous interest rates borrowing, so I will keep saving, all they while that offsets against the mortgage (my one exception to the rule as Sydney and surrounds house prices are ridiculous) and my overall budget increases.
In Merv and Sharon's quote an interest question is raised.
As far as protocol goes, noting that I got the auction rolling by initially bidding over reserve and was only outbid by the winner, in the event that this sale falls through what price would be valid.
In this case I held the winning bid for 36 odd hours at $40501 (500 over reserve), then back bidded myself twice (due to internet problems making a last 20 second snipe bid unreliable) at $45011 and then $50111, just prior to auction close.
It would be reasonable to assume that if the buyer could not finalize the sale due to insufficient funds or otherwise then their bid would not be valid (this prevents artificial Mock up bidding) and my previous winning bid of $40501 (noting no other bidders outbid this amount) would be the reasonably assumed winning bid.
By rights if the vendors reserve was met he would be obliged to sell at this price under the EBay terms and Conditions.
What do you guys think. At this stage the discussion is somewhat academic as the sale will probably be fine and the new owner probably has the 15 to 20 K needed to get these wheels back up to speed.
Cheers Adam!