Ebay advice, suspicious bidding?

[incoherent]

Hey folks, I'm an ebay n00b so hoping someone can give me some info/advice. (feel free to point me elsewhere if this is the wrong forum!)

I was bidding on a lot today sold by (say) PersonA. I'm in the lead with a bid at $20. Around 20 minutes before the listing ends, PersonB places a high bid that ends up topping my max bid at the time, so now the max bid's around $50 and they know what my max bid was. Then I get an email saying PersonB retracts their bid (wait, what?). I'm the high bidder again, back at $20.

About a minute before the auction ends, PersonC (with zero feedback, zero bids on any other stuff) places a bid of $40, way over my $20 high bid. No automatic bidding or anything in between, just a big jump from 20->40.

I end up winning the auction at ~41, but the suspicious jump in bidding from a zero-feedback guy, plus the retracted bid, makes me feel this is a tad sketchy. If I report the listing and ebay determines the seller was shilling, what happens? Would I still receive the item, but at a corrected price? I still want the goods, but it feels unfair to have (potentially) overpaid by 2x due to fraudulent bidding

[sk33tr]

sometimes people do have their friends place bids to raise a price on an item.

yes, it's morally wrong but it happens.

[geekesmind]

yeah it happens just like you can bid on an item be top bidder for 5+ days then 5 secs until auction end time somebody bids and boom you just lost that item.

[timhollerbach]

My boss is notorious for doing that....he sells a lot of beer memorabilia on ebay....he can see when a bidder has bid twice in a row, then he'll have someone split the bids....just keep bidding till they are somewhere in the middle, just to run the price up....he's asked me to do it for him, and I politely told him no....=)

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by timhollerbach

My boss is notorious for doing that....he sells a lot of beer memorabilia on ebay....he can see when a bidder has bid twice in a row, then he'll have someone split the bids....just keep bidding till they are somewhere in the middle, just to run the price up....he's asked me to do it for him, and I politely told him no....=)

I think this happens more than one thinks.

[timhollerbach]

Originally Posted by Johnny Vinyl

I think this happens more than one thinks.

oh yeah, I think it happens on most auctions....and that is probably a low guess... I pretty much quit going to ebay for stuff....after loosing out with 20 or 30 seconds left a number of times, or item not being quite what I wanted, I've pretty much quit eBay....

I do however see a couple diecast cars from time to time of my old race car for sale on there.... Always neat to see someone selling something with your name on it and I have no clue who they are....my first inclination is "what idiot bought one of my diecast to begin with"....then I watch it to see what idiot buys it.....

[terp_fan99]

That's called shill bidding (http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/...l-bidding.html) and it is against ebay rules. However, I've caught sellers doing it and reported them, ebay does nothing.

[chip75]

I've never used Ebay but shouldn't a bidder's maximum bid be confidential between Ebay and themselves?

I guess at the end of the day you hope for a bargain under your maximum bid but make sure your maximum bid is something you're happy to pay for the item.

[incoherent]

Yeah, thanks guys - sounds like I shouldn't expect much to happen here even if I report it. I'm fine with the end price but it's just the "coulda gotten a better deal" side of me that's nagging a bit

I suppose I could extend the seller the benefit of the doubt; maybe a legit newbie bidder randomly decided that bidding 2x the high bid might be a winning strategy and this is just how it happened to have panned out.

Good lesson to me to only last minute bid, or Buy It Now/Amazon/fixed price sales from now on.

I've never used Ebay but shouldn't a bidder's maximum bid be confidential between Ebay and themselves?

It was confidential until one bidder ran up the bid until my automatic overbids stopped, and then that person retracted their bid. Anyone looking at the bid history would be able to infer my max bid based on retracted bid's amount.

[sk33tr]

Originally Posted by incoherent

Yeah, thanks guys - sounds like I shouldn't expect much to happen here even if I report it. I'm fine with the end price but it's just the "coulda gotten a better deal" side of me that's nagging a bit

I suppose I could extend the seller the benefit of the doubt; maybe a legit newbie bidder randomly decided that bidding 2x the high bid might be a winning strategy and this is just how it happened to have panned out.

Good lesson to me to only last minute bid, or Buy It Now/Amazon/fixed price sales from now on.



It was confidential until one bidder ran up the bid until my automatic overbids stopped, and then that person retracted their bid. Anyone looking at the bid history would be able to infer my max bid based on retracted bid's amount.

that's all i ever do if i shop on ebay.

i hate bidding on items and seeing the price go way above what i'm prepared to pay. i've only ever actually bid on about 3 items and that was when i first started using ebay. i lost a bid on something i really wanted. i was pissed for a while until i found it cheaper than my highest bid on a buy it now. from then on that's all i've ever used on there. sure sometimes i could probably get it cheaper by going the bid-by-bid route, but if it's something i really want, then i don't mind paying a bit more for it.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by incoherent

It was confidential until one bidder ran up the bid until my automatic overbids stopped, and then that person retracted their bid. Anyone looking at the bid history would be able to infer my max bid based on retracted bid's amount.

Ah. I get you. You'd think you'd be able to only bid in increments of equal amounts whilst having a maximum bid. So when you were at $20 bidders could go up in 21, 22, 23, 25 or whatever and not straight to $40. That way EBay's system would keep bidding for you in until the auction finished or you get outbid with bids over $50.

[Blu-Dog]

Originally Posted by incoherent

Hey folks, I'm an ebay n00b so hoping someone can give me some info/advice. (feel free to point me elsewhere if this is the wrong forum!)

I was bidding on a lot today sold by (say) PersonA. I'm in the lead with a bid at $20. Around 20 minutes before the listing ends, PersonB places a high bid that ends up topping my max bid at the time, so now the max bid's around $50 and they know what my max bid was. Then I get an email saying PersonB retracts their bid (wait, what?). I'm the high bidder again, back at $20.

About a minute before the auction ends, PersonC (with zero feedback, zero bids on any other stuff) places a bid of $40, way over my $20 high bid. No automatic bidding or anything in between, just a big jump from 20->40.

I end up winning the auction at ~41, but the suspicious jump in bidding from a zero-feedback guy, plus the retracted bid, makes me feel this is a tad sketchy. If I report the listing and ebay determines the seller was shilling, what happens? Would I still receive the item, but at a corrected price? I still want the goods, but it feels unfair to have (potentially) overpaid by 2x due to fraudulent bidding

Any system that is based on competing to spend more money on an item is built for suckers. Always has been, always will be.


Don't be a sucker. Comparison shop, and either buy at the prevailing rate, or below it. Nothing you really need, doesn't have a price tag on it.

Walk away from any bad deal, without looking back.

[TxDave]

I used to buy and sell on Ebay but have not in a long time. I know sellers that do get their friends to bid on things for them. Or they use a second Ebay id and bid on their own items. What I used to do if I saw another bidder or seller that I was curious about, I would check their feedback and transaction history to see if it shows any connection between the 2 of them. Often I would find they were bidding on everything the seller sold but conveniently never winning. That is a red flag there and I would make note to avoid any auctions involving either of them as either seller or bidder.

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by incoherent

Hey folks, I'm an ebay n00b so hoping someone can give me some info/advice. (feel free to point me elsewhere if this is the wrong forum!)

I was bidding on a lot today sold by (say) PersonA. I'm in the lead with a bid at $20. Around 20 minutes before the listing ends, PersonB places a high bid that ends up topping my max bid at the time, so now the max bid's around $50 and they know what my max bid was. Then I get an email saying PersonB retracts their bid (wait, what?). I'm the high bidder again, back at $20.

About a minute before the auction ends, PersonC (with zero feedback, zero bids on any other stuff) places a bid of $40, way over my $20 high bid. No automatic bidding or anything in between, just a big jump from 20->40.

I end up winning the auction at ~41, but the suspicious jump in bidding from a zero-feedback guy, plus the retracted bid, makes me feel this is a tad sketchy. If I report the listing and ebay determines the seller was shilling, what happens? Would I still receive the item, but at a corrected price? I still want the goods, but it feels unfair to have (potentially) overpaid by 2x due to fraudulent bidding

Im an Ebay seller and buyer - regardless of foul play, you wanted the item and it was worth 41 dollars to you.

[silversnake]

Originally Posted by toddly6666

Im an Ebay seller and buyer - regardless of foul play, you wanted the item and it was worth 41 dollars to you.

Not sure what your point is ? He already stated that.

The principle is the issue and it's against the rules of ebay. . .

[toddly6666]

Originally Posted by silversnake

Not sure what your point is ? He already stated that.

The principle is the issue and it's against the rules of ebay. . .

I just noticed that he was worried about the guy with zero feedback. In my EBay settings, I just don't let people with zero or negative feedback bid on my stuff. It's not fair to new buyers but I'm not taking the chance.

eBay is great regardless of the flaws - best way to get the highest amount of profit when I sell my crap and definitely good for buyers who prefer to buy things with their Paypal money rather than credit card, especially for buying from other countries.

[Sherlock Holmes]

I've bid on items with no-feedback and low-feedback accounts before. I always waited until around 30 seconds or less to bid and I usually won. I changed my id a lot because I'd get sent hate messages (back before eBay hid your id from everyone) from people I'd outbid.

[Agent Bond]

yeah it happens just like you can bid on an item be top bidder for 5+ days then 5 secs until auction end time somebody bids and boom you just lost that item.

E-Bay trolling