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eBay shill bidding

Discussion in 'Hangout Lounge' started by day7a1, Mar 23, 2010.

  1. day7a1

    day7a1 Member

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    So I'm bidding on an item on ebay, and it's ridiculously cheap, like 1/7 the value, until some "bidder" with 0 feedback comes in and bids 5 times, slowly increasing the price to 1/3 the value. Now, it's a clear case of shill bidding, but I'm not sure how I feel about it.

    Am I getting ripped off? I'm honestly not sure because the price is still fair, but I know bidding like that is not simply wrong and illegal, but wholly unnecessary (honestly a more egregious sin IMO).

    What should I do? I bid a low price because it is not that high priority of an item at this point, but I might as well get it now if its only $x.xx, right? I would be more than happy to buy the item at any price up to my max bid if it had been an actual bid war, but I realize if it were an actual bid war I would have lost (1/2 the value is what my max bid was).

    Opinions please!!!
     
  2. tcoop

    tcoop Active Member

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    If you think the max bid that you have is fair then let it go at that. if they are shill bidding then they will most likely go over your bid... let them have it. If it does don't get cought up in the shill bid war. If you don't need it right now let it go.
     
  3. schmuckaholic

    schmuckaholic Well-Known Member

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    Either that or try to snipe it at the end.
     
  4. wamaxim

    wamaxim Active Member

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    Go to www.auctionsniper.com Do not use this site against me on any items I'm looking at!!!!!!!

    Works great. I have won a number of auctions with this tool. Set your max price and wait for the email

    Loren
     
  5. yamasarus

    yamasarus Member

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    I use Esnipe. Same thing. I have been able to buy several parts really cheap. The only way to bid!
     
  6. MiCarl

    MiCarl Active Member

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    Shill bidding is a violation of the terms and I believe illegal in most places.

    You can report it to eBay but I doubt they'll do much.

    I saw a motorcycle on eBay that suddenly bid up at the end. The next day it was for sale here on Craigslist. When I reported it to eBay they suggested I report it to CraigsList. When I explained that it was eBay's rules that were violated I pretty much got a verbal shoulder shrug.
     
  7. PickupMan92

    PickupMan92 New Member

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    The best thing to do is to stop bidding them let them win their own auction. They'll have to pay the fee for selling and then also for listing, and for re-listing again (if they decide to try and sell it again).
     
  8. day7a1

    day7a1 Member

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    UPDATE:

    In the last 3 seconds, a real (or at least it seemed) bidder bid the exact same amount I did. Because I had bid before them I won. I didn't want to say what it was while the auction was going, but I got a brand new pair of brake shoes for $20. Still a GREAT deal.

    Lessons I learned:
    1: Wait until the end of the auction to be concerned about shill bidding, until everyone has had their chance, a few small increases don't matter if someone makes a serious bid at the end.
    2: Don't snipe. If you have a price you want to pay, set it and forget it. You will win if you are willing to pay a fair price, though if you want it NOW you might have to pay a bit more. Remember, its an "what are you willing to pay" game, not a "who is willing to pay more" competition.

    In the future, I will do everything I did, except complain about what seems to be unfair practices. :)
     
  9. MiCarl

    MiCarl Active Member

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    I just re-read your original post.

    When you bid on eBay you enter a maximum amount. eBay automatically bids for you up to that amount.

    In other words, if the item is at $10 and you bid $20 eBay will put you in at $11.00 (or whatever the bid increment is). If someone else bids $15 eBay will bid you $16.

    When you look at a bid history eBay will show you all those intermediate bids, even though you each only entered one maximum bid.

    Might not have been shill bidding at all.....
     
  10. day7a1

    day7a1 Member

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    No, some one bid, $5.95, then $6.95, then $8.95, then $10.95, then $12.95. Those were actual bids, not automatic bids, thereby increasing my automatic bid to 6, 7, 9, 11, 13....automatically. Ahem....of course.

    Those bids are not enough to win, but they are spaced so that if I decided I really wanted the item, like a lot of ebayers do, I could add another bid for only $1 more and no longer be out bid.

    If I were shill bidding, that's how I would do it. If I were trying to win, that is the opposite of how I would do it.

    There's a lot of stupid people, but not that kind of stupid.

    It seemed pretty clear to me that the seller didn't want to sell the item for $5, which is where it was just 1 day before the end of the auction.

    I don't blame him, really, $5 is way to cheap to get rid of brake shoes, but he should have a reserve or decent starting price.

    In the end, he still gets rid of a part for way too cheap, and loses my repeat business. I was WILLING to pay $20, so in the end it doesn't matter if there are shill bids. I beat out a bid for $20 by bidding earlier and not trying to snipe. I wouldn't have wanted it for $21. I wouldn't have been upset if I had lost by $1.

    Maybe I'm different. Actually I just re-read my own post, as I said, the price is still fair, and the shill bidding was quite unnecessary. Stupid seller. I guess I can't recall ever buying from the same ebay seller twice, so I guess it may not matter to keep repeat business anyway.

    I know Chacal would never do that. But Chacal wouldn't be dumb enough to get rid of $38 parts for $20, either. In fact, Chacal is why I was only willing to pay 20. Apparantly, good service is worth $38-21= $17 to me. At least for brake shoes. The price of the shoes: $20, the price for bad service: $17, total cost of brake shoes, still $38.

    Sorry Chacal, but I really didn't expect to win them for $20!
     
  11. markie

    markie Member

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    You are right on both counts. I wanted to report something to ebay and unless it fits neatly into their catagories - you can't.

    I previously posted a moan about my bikes previous owner who pretends to be a regular biker but is trying to make a living buying and selling bikes. Most people who do this are honest and either say they are a trader or the bike was traded in.

    This guy doesn't - he makes excuses as to why he is selling "His" bike. Maybe I was a bit gullible and should have been more careful.

    I have seen him shill bidding. When he was selling a bike, suddenly a better offer came in from an ebayer who he bought perfume from 2 weeks before. I think he and his girlfriend have been giving each other good feedback.
     
  12. TIMEtoRIDE

    TIMEtoRIDE Active Member

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    Day7a1- - Im curious, are these NOS , 28 year old brake shoes, or recently manufactured parts?
    An old, unused part would be worth less (worthless?) compared to the new Chacal part due to the glue/delam problem.
     
  13. hellvis

    hellvis New Member

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    I once called a guy out on this by contacting him and saying that I have a rating of 100+ and this person with a 0 was outbidding me so I was going to leave it to him as to who would pay for sure and who might not... and i would not be increasing my bid any furtehr mysteriously the 0 bidder quit bidding after that email nothing is worse than someone bidding like that (it happens all the time)
     
  14. day7a1

    day7a1 Member

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    Time, supposedly they are brand new. We'll see.

    BTW, i've seen the NOS label on things, but other than a brand of energy drink and nitrous bottle, what does it mean in this context?
     
  15. cutlass79500

    cutlass79500 Well-Known Member

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    i see that alout on there i agree set what you want to spend in your mind then stab at it at the end . i bought some custom painted stuff last weekend noticed the 0 feedback buyer kept overbidding on his own bids with only 2 of us bidding . i think they create an account especially on a 0 reserve auction just to cover their buts
     
  16. ManBot13

    ManBot13 Well-Known Member

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    NOS = New Old Stock - meaning a part is "new" because it was never used, but sat on a shelf, so it is "old"...and was in "stock."

    NOS is also a fuel additive to some...even when it's an energy drink :lol: :twisted:
     
  17. tcoop

    tcoop Active Member

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    NOS - New Old Stock

    Old part but has not been used
     

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