eBay cheating

Son0vagun

This has probably been discussed before. But I can't find anything.

Any way. I'm growing fuscated by the rise of apparent cheating on eBay. It seems to me that sellers use fake accounts to up their prices. It has happened to me a few times now were i was bidding on a item and narrowly missed out on it. Only to be offered it on a second chance offer! Seems a bit fishy to me. Am I just been paranoid or do eBay police such things?

BengaLover

What you are referring to is called shill bidding, where a seller has another account and bids on his own items or gets a family member or friend to bid the item up.
When you miss an item by seconds it could also be because some buyers use an automated bid service to put the bid in on their behalf literally one or two seconds before the auction ends, thats called sniping and is enormous fun.
I would be suspicious of a second chance offer though, but check to see if the seller is a business seller, in which case it wouldnt be unusuall for them to have duplicate items and offer them to the underbidders.

Son0vagun

Don't eBay police that? Or is it all part of playing the game?

I reject any second chance offers on principle.

Thanks for you're reply Benga

Access

BengaLover wrote: »

check to see if the seller is a business seller, in which case it wouldnt be unusuall for them to have duplicate items and offer them to the underbidders.

I agree... i have lost out on items from business sellers at the last moment and i have received second chances from those business sellers who have a many of the same item in stock anyway.

I think if it was a once off item from a private seller... then i would be wary but only then.

BengaLover

Agreed, if its a private seller be wary, but with business sellers it can be the norm.

chopsey

thanks for the heads up, i sell a good bit on ebay and do tend to offer second chance offers if a buyer doesnt pay or pulls out of a sale. but now i think i'll just re-list in future, dont want anyone thinking i'm trying to pull a fast one

Son0vagun

I take it eBay don't police it too well. From what I see they only investigate it if a buyer makes a complaint.

So I guess you only pay what you're willing to spend!

patwicklow

Ebay was good when it started out first but now its just a money making scam
they get money from all angles money for listing then a final fee, then rip you off through the pay pal even taking a % out of the postage costs.

Madam

Ebay has changed for the worst, Found a lovely bag and bid for it - bought it and was kind of pleased with it but when I visited the actual business site the bag was £10.00 pounds cheaper! lesson learned though, I now check if there's a website just in case it's cheaper to do that.

allthedoyles

Son0vagun wrote: »

Any way. I'm growing fuscated by the rise of apparent cheating on eBay. It seems to me that sellers use fake accounts to up their prices. It has happened to me a few times now were i was bidding on a item and narrowly missed out on it. Only to be offered it on a second chance offer! Seems a bit fishy to me. Am I just been paranoid or do eBay police such things?

Correct me if I'm wrong , but I do believe that the OP is mixed up between second chance offer and shill bidding .

The OP states that he received some second chance offers recently .
This is genuine eBay rules and can happen when a seller has many of the same item on sale .
Seller will send an email offering the item at an amount equal to the persons last bid .

If the seller is purposely ending an item with their own bid , and then emailing the highest bidder offering a second chance , the the seller is foolishly costing himself eBay fees .- unlikely to be happening .

Son0vagun

[QUOTE=allthedoyles;77517554)

If the seller is purposely ending an item with their own bid , and then emailing the highest bidder offering a second chance , the the seller is foolishly costing himself eBay fees .- unlikely to be happening .[/QUOTE]

Good point.

Just thought it was odd that I'd get outbidded and then a second chance offer!

nxbyveromdwjpg

Madam wrote: »

Ebay has changed for the worst, Found a lovely bag and bid for it - bought it and was kind of pleased with it but when I visited the actual business site the bag was £10.00 pounds cheaper! lesson learned though, I now check if there's a website just in case it's cheaper to do that.

How is that ebay's fault? They seller is responsible for the prices they put in their ad's on ebay, the £10 extra was probably to cover ebay and paypal fees. You're the one that bought it there without shopping around?

A Dub in Glasgo

Shill bidding has been rampant on ebay since it started. Ebay actually make it harder for buyers to check as they block bidder identities. Of course, the only safeguard against shill bidding is to bid in last 20ish seconds of an auction. If you are not around, use a webiste like bidmate.

2nd chance offers are a valid way of selling multiple items. My experience is buyers do not understand them

n.d.os

I am a business seller on ebay and i have noticed over the last year how eBay has rally tightened up things. What you are saying is infact sellers bidding on their own items so just ignore their offer because they are generally crooks. Do a bit of research on the bidder and see if the persons location is similar to the seller. If so possibly report them. Too many people on ebay doing this and selling fake crap.