So, what's your thoughts on this Ebay auction
Discussion
hornetrider said:
Result.
The cynic in me tells me it's him and this is like hush money. Not everyone would pick that pattern up so if he has to pay one or two bidders back over the course of time... well he's in it for the long game.
Whilst it may well be, it could also be genuine... earlier this year I had 15 lots on ebay, all were old server room equipment, total value of maybe £2kThe cynic in me tells me it's him and this is like hush money. Not everyone would pick that pattern up so if he has to pay one or two bidders back over the course of time... well he's in it for the long game.
When the auctions ended, I was surprised to note that they had all been won by the same, zero feedback bidder whose account had been created that day.
There was obviously no communication from him and 3 days later I got a mail from ebay telling me that they had cancelled his bids as he "was no longer a member of ebay" This cancellation meant that I could no longer make a second chance offer of any kind to any underbidders.
A week or so later I listed the items again and blow me if the same thing didn't happen again.
This time though I went to the bidding history of every auction immediately it ended and contacted the underbidder in every case (one of whom sent me incredibly shirty emails accusing me of shill bidding) explaining what was going on and offering the items for the price they would have won if the fake ebayer hadn't bid.
Annoyingly, with one exception all the underbidders suddenly decided they didn't want the items after all, leaving me high and dry yet again.
To add insult to injury, Ebay initially refused to refund me the final value fees that they had charged for the auctions won by fake bidders - I eventually got them to change that decision.
I'm really not sure what these fake accounts hope to gain but I wish ebay would start to charge people a decent sized fee to register an account - say £50 or so, that's refunded after 10 positive feedback transactions - would likely solve this issue overnight.
Gary C said:
Just been searching for this effect as I've been looking at some vintage computers to build a collection and the number of auctions closing with zero history bidders is crazy.
Seems an attempt to push up price history on items ?
There are a number of very lively posts on the E-bay seller support forums where people are seriously questioning whether these fake accounts are created by E-bay themselves.Seems an attempt to push up price history on items ?
An odd thought maybe except for the fact that E-bay (generally) refuse to refund the final value fee when an auction is won by one of these fake accounts.
Given the sale amounts involved, the amount of extra money they're raking in must be huge.
K50 DEL said:
There are a number of very lively posts on the E-bay seller support forums where people are seriously questioning whether these fake accounts are created by E-bay themselves.
An odd thought maybe except for the fact that E-bay (generally) refuse to refund the final value fee when an auction is won by one of these fake accounts.
Given the sale amounts involved, the amount of extra money they're raking in must be huge.
Doubt it. Ebay would obviously give these accounts something like 354 feedback to same it seem credible.An odd thought maybe except for the fact that E-bay (generally) refuse to refund the final value fee when an auction is won by one of these fake accounts.
Given the sale amounts involved, the amount of extra money they're raking in must be huge.
That and it'd be entirely illegal for Ebay to do this.
Fitting that this thread pops up.
I have sold a few items on eBay this week, after months of not using it, had a clear out of IT things.
One auction went through fine, seller paid etc, then the next two each had a new bidder that day join and bid at last minute. Having been on eBay for years I thought no chance of them paying so offered to next winner. However, the next bidder on both items ignored the offer, as they proabbly thought it was shill bidding to up their amount, but it wasn't.
I initially thought I had been targeted by someone directly, as both the users who bid on my items were similar in user name format. I thought it could be someone who I turned down for the item paying cash right now.
Whoever, whatever it is, it is seriously annoying and reminds me why I rarely sell on eBay anymore. eBay customer services were useless, I ended up listing as BIN with immediate payment required.
I have sold a few items on eBay this week, after months of not using it, had a clear out of IT things.
One auction went through fine, seller paid etc, then the next two each had a new bidder that day join and bid at last minute. Having been on eBay for years I thought no chance of them paying so offered to next winner. However, the next bidder on both items ignored the offer, as they proabbly thought it was shill bidding to up their amount, but it wasn't.
I initially thought I had been targeted by someone directly, as both the users who bid on my items were similar in user name format. I thought it could be someone who I turned down for the item paying cash right now.
Whoever, whatever it is, it is seriously annoying and reminds me why I rarely sell on eBay anymore. eBay customer services were useless, I ended up listing as BIN with immediate payment required.
Ebay don't do jack s
t about this as it benefits them as they get a higher fee from a higher final selling price.
I once got into an argument with Ebay when I forwarded information from over a dozen auctions where the same 2 accounts kept bidding on every item from one seller and then withdrawing their bids after the auction ended.
t about this as it benefits them as they get a higher fee from a higher final selling price. I once got into an argument with Ebay when I forwarded information from over a dozen auctions where the same 2 accounts kept bidding on every item from one seller and then withdrawing their bids after the auction ended.
joestifff said:
Fitting that this thread pops up.
I have sold a few items on eBay this week, after months of not using it, had a clear out of IT things.
One auction went through fine, seller paid etc, then the next two each had a new bidder that day join and bid at last minute. Having been on eBay for years I thought no chance of them paying so offered to next winner. However, the next bidder on both items ignored the offer, as they proabbly thought it was shill bidding to up their amount, but it wasn't.
I initially thought I had been targeted by someone directly, as both the users who bid on my items were similar in user name format. I thought it could be someone who I turned down for the item paying cash right now.
Whoever, whatever it is, it is seriously annoying and reminds me why I rarely sell on eBay anymore. eBay customer services were useless, I ended up listing as BIN with immediate payment required.
I had exactly this on some old IT we pulled from a rack. Variations on similar names kept on winning the auctions and then zero communication. ebay eventually tells me they've cancelled the accounts and the auctions, and so it goes on rinse and repeat.I have sold a few items on eBay this week, after months of not using it, had a clear out of IT things.
One auction went through fine, seller paid etc, then the next two each had a new bidder that day join and bid at last minute. Having been on eBay for years I thought no chance of them paying so offered to next winner. However, the next bidder on both items ignored the offer, as they proabbly thought it was shill bidding to up their amount, but it wasn't.
I initially thought I had been targeted by someone directly, as both the users who bid on my items were similar in user name format. I thought it could be someone who I turned down for the item paying cash right now.
Whoever, whatever it is, it is seriously annoying and reminds me why I rarely sell on eBay anymore. eBay customer services were useless, I ended up listing as BIN with immediate payment required.
I just could not understand what the motive was behind someone creating accounts to ruin auctions with nothing to gain, but there was a definite pattern and a number of emails on this thread (particularly regarding IT kit) support this.
It seems that eBay is now useless even for cash on collection auctions due to this activity - maybe Shpock have created some bots...?
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