eBay Bidding for Car
Discussion
I'm looking to bid on a car available on the Bay and currently the top 2 bidders are showing bid retractions in the last 6 months of 21 and 14 respectively. In all my time on eBay I have never retracted a bid so why would these 2 retract so many.
Is it likely to be mates of the seller bidding the item up and inflating the price. I did have a guy once retracted a bid of £100,000 as a mistake, which clearly it was, but it did show him the reserve and I guess that's why he made the "mistake".
So perhaps eBay experts can throw some light on what's going on here.
Is it likely to be mates of the seller bidding the item up and inflating the price. I did have a guy once retracted a bid of £100,000 as a mistake, which clearly it was, but it did show him the reserve and I guess that's why he made the "mistake".
So perhaps eBay experts can throw some light on what's going on here.
Mr Gear said:
Never accept a second-chance offer
I'd disagree with that.If you get a second chance offer, and it's a price your willing to pay, then accept it.
Or, perhaps use it as the start point of a negotiation to get the price knocked down a little more.
Shill bidding is a pain in the arse on an auction.
But we all know it happens, so just work out a way to go with it.
With the best will in the world, nobody is going to let a £5k car sell for £250 just because nobody bid on it.
Snowboy said:
With the best will in the world, nobody is going to let a £5k car sell for £250 just because nobody bid on it.
That's what a reserve price if for. If people don't want to play by the rules of ebay, I don't want to play with them. If they are left at the end of the auction with no buyers, that's their own fault for mucking people about.Mr Gear said:
That's what a reserve price if for. If people don't want to play by the rules of ebay, I don't want to play with them. If they are left at the end of the auction with no buyers, that's their own fault for mucking people about.
That's fair enough.But I don't consider shill bidding on ebay to be a massive crime.
It's just something that happens, and as I customer I just need to accept that or walk away.
As suggested, just put in your max bid and wait and see if you win.
The reason people don't use reserve prices or even start the auction at a higher price is (possibly) because ebay charge more for those services.
Starting at 99p and shill bidding makes for a cheaper auction. (although I'm not sure exactly how much cheaper, and whether it’s a lot of effort to save £3 when selling a £3k car)
Mr Gear said:
Probably does, but it's still illegal and you could be arrested for fraud if you do it, online or otherwise.
It is not illegal in "real" auctions and happens all the time. It is part of the process - the auctioneer "runs up" most cars to somewhere close to the reserve regardless of whether anyone bids. Works like this at everything from a scrap auction to BCA Prestige.confused_buyer said:
It is not illegal in "real" auctions and happens all the time. It is part of the process - the auctioneer "runs up" most cars to somewhere close to the reserve regardless of whether anyone bids. Works like this at everything from a scrap auction to BCA Prestige.
Any attempt to artificially influence the outcome of a financial transaction is fraud. Do a quick google search. Countless people have been fined for shill bidding in the UK.If the price has been run up openly by the auctioneer, then it's not fraudulent because bidders can see it's happening.
I hate selling cars on eBay, I've sold the same car twice this month and met the reserve. Had a full MOT at winning bidders request then no more contact.
As for buying there's loads of idiots pushing their items up to make more money or save them the extra £8 of putting a reserve on - all I'm bothered about when buying is that I'm happy with the price and never bid until 10 seconds from the end. If I get it I get it but if it jumps up I don't get caught in the moment and cost myself more money.
The bidding should be public so you can see if people with 0 feedback are bidding on the same item - gives you the choice if you want to get involved or you smell a rat.
As for buying there's loads of idiots pushing their items up to make more money or save them the extra £8 of putting a reserve on - all I'm bothered about when buying is that I'm happy with the price and never bid until 10 seconds from the end. If I get it I get it but if it jumps up I don't get caught in the moment and cost myself more money.
The bidding should be public so you can see if people with 0 feedback are bidding on the same item - gives you the choice if you want to get involved or you smell a rat.
It's annoying. Last week I was winning bidder on two Alfa 147s (one after the other). Both listings were canceled with hours to go and "re-listed due to time wasters" a short time later. 
One car was at less than £300 when it was canceled and I got a message from the seller saying he'd take £1100 for it. I suggested he set a reserve and stoped wasting peoples time.
My brother was watching an E46 touring and with an hour to go the bidding went from £340-ish to £1200 in one bid. SSold for £1200 and was re-listed an hour later "due to a time waster".
It costs £7 to set a reserve on a car so if the sellers are too cheap to do that what else have they not bothered to spend on the car? £7 is a Polish valet and magic tree for heck sake! So it says it all really.
One car was at less than £300 when it was canceled and I got a message from the seller saying he'd take £1100 for it. I suggested he set a reserve and stoped wasting peoples time.
My brother was watching an E46 touring and with an hour to go the bidding went from £340-ish to £1200 in one bid. SSold for £1200 and was re-listed an hour later "due to a time waster".
It costs £7 to set a reserve on a car so if the sellers are too cheap to do that what else have they not bothered to spend on the car? £7 is a Polish valet and magic tree for heck sake! So it says it all really.
Ebay also does a classified add for £40 one off fee for 4 weeks.
That's about the same as the fees on an auction if it sells.
I sold my car recently using the Classified add and it worked a treat.
High price on week 1. (no interest)
Price drop week 2, (a few absurdly low offers from traders and wreckers)
Price drop week 3… SOLD for a decent price.
Much lass hassle for me than mucking about with a 99p auction and hovering over the cancel button in case it doesn't sell.
The thing with ebay is that buyers want to get a massive bargain – but there's no way the sellers going to let that happen.
That's about the same as the fees on an auction if it sells.
I sold my car recently using the Classified add and it worked a treat.
High price on week 1. (no interest)
Price drop week 2, (a few absurdly low offers from traders and wreckers)
Price drop week 3… SOLD for a decent price.
Much lass hassle for me than mucking about with a 99p auction and hovering over the cancel button in case it doesn't sell.
The thing with ebay is that buyers want to get a massive bargain – but there's no way the sellers going to let that happen.
DanielJames said:
Don't buy cars off ebay? 
Other than my 968 I've bought my last 10-15 cars off eBay. Not once bought a dud and not once been diddled. You've got to know what you're doing and have your eyes open. Plenty bargains if you keep searching. I know a few of my friends, like me, haven't spent money on a daily driver in 5 years yet mine its now a 54 plate ML55 which cost me £4001.23 but originally that was a V plate 156 @£900. Buy it, run it then sell it for a few hundred quid more 5-6 months later.
Mr Gear said:
Shill bidding is killing ebay. Place a bid you are happy to pay and then sit back and close your eyes.
If you get outbid, so be it. Never accept a second-chance offer - this is a classic tactic by shill-bidders. f
k em.
Correct, my misses wanted this chest (as in a box) the other day, and we bid up to what we wanted.. £50 or something, we got outbid at the last second to £55. She got all disappointed, I said not to worry just to wait a day or so.If you get outbid, so be it. Never accept a second-chance offer - this is a classic tactic by shill-bidders. f
k em.A day goes past, and yep, the winner had pulled out, and I could have it. So I said I will collect today in cash for £45 which is the max I wanted to go to.
They agreed, I got the chest that day for £45 and a happy wife.
Shill bidding takes the piss.. so just undercut when it happens.
Mr Gear said:
Any attempt to artificially influence the outcome of a financial transaction is fraud. Do a quick google search. Countless people have been fined for shill bidding in the UK.
If the price has been run up openly by the auctioneer, then it's not fraudulent because bidders can see it's happening.
Bidders can bid on their own cars at BCA and Manheim. It is even in their terms and conditions!If the price has been run up openly by the auctioneer, then it's not fraudulent because bidders can see it's happening.
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