View Full Version : e.bay trick...?
percy toboggan
02-Mar-08, 16:05
I've just slipped up....
..Waiting until the last minute before bidding I placed an offer a good ten pounds higher than the previous high bidder on an item I really wanted.
I did it probably forty seconds too soon because immediately it was topped by someone else. I had time to get another bid in and won the item. On looking further into the 'bid history' I find my last minute rival has been a member of e.bay for almost five years and has never bought anything - no feedback!!
As I'd expressed interest in the item the other day by 'e-mailing the seller a question' I feel I've walked into a con here. Never mind it's only a tenner but....if I complain now I compromise prompt despatch and decent feedback. I don't like being duped but feel this is what has happened here...anyone else had a similar experience? Definitely a case of 'buyers beware'
I've tried to edit the title but can't...on reflection maybe this is more 'trick' than 'scam'
Shabbychic
02-Mar-08, 16:29
This happened to me a couple of years ago. When I checked the bidder and seller out, I found they had been bidding up each other on several occassions. Check out previous items sold by the seller and look at the bidding history. If you find this person has bid before, report it to Ebay.
This is called Shill bidding and is an offence on Ebay. Find out more about it here (http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/community/shill.html)
Bobinovich
02-Mar-08, 16:36
I've edited the title for you Percy and your tale rings a bell so I'm away to look up a recent transaction which sounds very similar :confused
Yep - looks like I was stung too. Only other bidder was a 3-year member with one previous transaction and a -1 rating (non-payer). Wise to it now so won't fall for it again!
percy toboggan
02-Mar-08, 16:46
I've edited the title for you Percy and your tale rings a bell so I'm away to look up a recent transaction which sounds very similar :confused
Yep - looks like I was stung too. Only other bidder was a 3-year member with one previous transaction and a -1 rating (non-payer). Wise to it now so won't fall for it again!
Cheers Bob.......there were a few other bidder son this item but they gave up the ghost at fifteen quid! I'll put it down to experience.
im prity sure u were not conned percy i think there is settings in ebay account were if you see an item for say £20 u can put a bid down for £21 and set it so your max bid is £30 so if someone outbids u and puts £22 the account will automatically put in £23 and so on for u until u hit your max £30 i think the idea it is stop u having to checking on it every 5 mins
im prity sure u were not conned percy i think there is settings in ebay account were if you see an item for say £20 u can put a bid down for £21 and set it so your max bid is £30 so if someone outbids u and puts £22 the account will automatically put in £23 and so on for u until u hit your max £30 i think the idea it is stop u having to checking on it every 5 mins
I think this actually proves Percy was conned as a genuine bidder would not have been able to top his bid so quickly unless they outbid by a large margin. The bid you enter is your maximum but what shows is whatever is higher than the previous bid.
I've never thought of checking a winning bidder's history but will in future. I'm sure this goes on a lot and most people just don't realise.
Best suggestion is to place your bid at 16 seconds left.i do and i ahve won alot of items...you can get the bid confirmed in that time and no-one else can get in..I have noticed alot having friends to bid to make it higher but thats the best i can do.....
Best suggestion is to place your bid at 16 seconds left.i do and i ahve won alot of items...you can get the bid confirmed in that time and no-one else can get in..I have noticed alot having friends to bid to make it higher but thats the best i can do.....
Tut tut Justine, here we have an expert sniper bidder in our midst! ;)
Tut tut Justine, here we have an expert sniper bidder in our midst! ;)
Of course.....But then i have had it done to me so whats fair for one is fair for all...dont you think...:lol:
Thats exactly how i bid also, nine times out of ten get the item:)
Thats exactly how i bid also, nine times out of ten get the item:)
Its the only way to win..I tend to watch the item for at least 6hrs and see what happening, but i have had a few when i just go on and notice something and have to cheat....:eek:
well i buy a lot of ebay and i dare say if u report it they will do something about it. there is nothing worse than being scammed by other people and ebay should put something in place to stop this.........;)
well i buy a lot of ebay and i dare say if u report it they will do something about it. there is nothing worse than being scammed by other people and ebay should put something in place to stop this.........;)
I think they do, but it is hard if the seller has an annonymous buyer..Its hard to keep track of all accounts, But the could put in place where if a buyer or seller registerd does not have any buys or sells but does alot of bidding then the account could be suspended until further notice,the auction will have to be restarted if either are on...might work...:eek:
Best suggestion is to place your bid at 16 seconds left.i do and i ahve won alot of items...you can get the bid confirmed in that time and no-one else can get in..I have noticed alot having friends to bid to make it higher but thats the best i can do.....
16 seconds is way early!! I have bid with only 3 or 4 seconds left. Even that is not good enough sometimes. If someone has left a proxy bid, it may well be a lot higher than you are about to bid late on, and you are automatically outbid. Even if your bid matches their's exactly, you still lose, as the other person has to be outbid by the relevant minimum increment. There are also sniping services that will bid for you at the last moment. You provide the details of the item and the maximum you are willing to bid and the service bids for you at the last moment. There is no cheating in bidding late, all auctions end with the person who placed the highest bid as the winner. Shill bidding is a different story though. I would check the sellers previous auctions to see if similar bidding patterns had occured on other items and whether the same person was the under-bidder on that occasion as well.
thats it aswell you have to try and work out what price you would pay, they would pay and what sot of high bid they may have put in...But thanks for the 2-3 second, will give that a go:)
thats it aswell you have to try and work out what price you would pay, they would pay and what sot of high bid they may have put in...But thanks for the 2-3 second, will give that a go:)
Beware, you need nerves of steel for late/late bids. I use my PC clock and the auction end time to judge the timing. I am on 2.3Mb broadband and find that the response to my bid is normally instantaneous.
Thaks for that.I will try it out on something cheap and see what happens..I should be able to figure out how long it takes of our pc normally runs at 5-6mb so hopefully it will work.........Gets habitual does ebay...post man hates it;)
The Angel Of Death
02-Mar-08, 23:43
There are programs out they one called ebay sniper that you can set up to auto place a bid x seconds before the auction ends
Penelope Pitstop
03-Mar-08, 11:54
www.auctionsniper.com (http://www.auctionsniper.com) are very good. Usually set it for the bid to go in in the last 3-4 seconds. They only take a very small % fee - so are very handy for an item that isn't expensive or you know you won't be at your computer when the item is up.:Razz
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.